Wow.. Late-2008 Macbook still going strong!

[jafingi]

This is not really a question, but rather some impressions I've got the past few days.

I bought an used late-2008 13-inch Macbook some days ago at a bargain. The whole Macbook is in MINT condition - only a scratch on the lid and a missing rubber foot.

When I bought it, it had 2GB of RAM and the standard 5400RPM hard drive - actually it felt really snappy on Leopard when I got it.

But after putting in 4GB RAM and an Intel 320 40GB SSD and installing Snow Leopard, this (old) machine is SCREAMING fast (actually faster than my mid-2011 iMac when doing browsing etc). And the boot time? 20 seconds from turned off to the desktop is ready! That's impressive!

40GB sounds like little space, but this fresh install of SL, and removing unnecessary language files, only 6.53GB of space is used! I'm only using this for some school work, so only browsing and using Office:Mac. So I have plenty of space

Nevertheless, I'm really impressed of the build quality of Apple's products. Even this (soon) 4 year old product kicks ass compared to even brand-new PC's. Not only the build quality is fantastic, but also the design is timeless - I don't believe many 4 year old PC-laptops have the same "modern" feel.

This Macbook is only temporary for me, as I'll buy the rMBP next year when it's updated - but I've really come to love this old Macbook. It reminds me why I love .

 

[MarkDK2]

Well I am running an aluminum Macbook Late 2008 with 8gb of Ram and a OCZ Vertex 3 SSD and it screams no need to replace these anytime soon may need a larger SSD but that is it. Good Find man

 

[krspkbl]

I have the late 2008 aluminium MacBook. 2.4Ghz, 8GB RAM & 250GB HD. Originally came with 2GB. I'll be sticking a 256GB Crucial M4 SSD in next week when I do a clean install of ML.

This machine is still going strong! I've had it for almost 4 years (got it 21st Oct '08). The only thing wrong with it is cosmetic damage. I've never had the hardware fail or anything.

The battery is in reasonably good health. 1343 cycles and 89% health! Design charge is 4100mAh and it currently holds 3648mAh (dropped 472mAh). I get between 2.5/3hrs battery life. Currently at 82% battery with 2hrs 45 minutes left!

It came with 10.5.5 and it's currently at 10.7.4! Will be upgrading to 10.8 next week. It runs smoothly on 10.7.4. If what people are saying is correct then it will perform much better on 10.8!!

With the new SSD going in it will improve the performance even more and hopefully I'll get a little extra battery life thanks to the fact that SSD's are more efficient than HD's. Every little bit of extra battery life that I can get back is a big positive! I will decide in the months to come if I should invest in buying a new battery.

This is why I love Apple products. They are just so easy to use and they are such high quality! This MacBook has lasted longer than any other computer I've owned before. If this MacBook died right now then I'd head straight to the Apple website and order a new Mac without a second thought.

 

[robvas]

I'm running my '08 Macbook on a 64GB Kingston SSD right now - it's pretty fast. But this is just until my 120GB drive shows up. 15GB taken right now, Carbon Copy Cloner will image this drive to the new one in about 1 minute/GB over USB, then I just switch drives and I'm back right where I was.

 

[brop52]

I'm selling mine on eBay right now! It was a great machine. It had 8GB RAM and a Hybrid Seagate drive.

Edit: Sorry about the bump I need to stop looking at the "similar threads"

 

[rajivhifi]

I had mine for 7 years when it first came out till about a couple of months ago when the new 12" Macbook came out. I had upgraded to 8gb ram and 1tb regular hard drive. Sold it while it was still fully functional for $450 on craigslist.