2008 Black MacBook Upgrade Question

[dmk1974]

I have a 2008 Black MacBook MB404LL/A that I bought off of ebay and should be arriving tomorrow (paid $450 total). It has a decent processor at 2.4 GHz C2D and comes with 2GB RAM and a 160GB hard drive. Actually still has about 2 weeks left on the extended AppleCare warranty too.

Anyway, I was wondering if it's worth upgrading a bit. RAM for this older model seems to be kinda pricey compared to current faster RAM, but I'd likely only bump it up to 4GB which would cost about $40.

I have a 64 GB SSD drive that I am not currently using and was thinking that I would pop it into this BlackBook. I don't need a ton of storage space since we have a separate home server for all of our family music, videos, and photos.

While it's an older laptop and has a slower bus and graphics as well, I am hoping that with the SSD and maybe more RAM, this may wind up being pretty close in speed to my wife's 2010 13" MBA that has a 1.86 C2D, 2GB RAM, and a 128 GB SSD integrated into it. What do you guys think? Thanks!

 

[Val-kyrie]

Based on personal experience and actual testing (check OWC for benchmarks) with this particular model, I can tell you that upgrading to 4GB RAM will speed up the MB considerably. I can't comment on an SSD, however.

 

[AdrianK]

With 4GB of RAM and an SSD you'll have a pretty sweet machine for anything that isn't graphically intensive. The 4GB upgrade is definitely worth it.

 

[doctormark77]

I've got a black book as well. Making the jump from 2gb of ram 4gb helped me out quite a bit. I'd go for it.

 

[dmk1974]

Thanks for the responses everyone. Sounds like bumping up from 2 to 4 GB RAM is definitely the way to go.

Anyone have experience with this RAM in their 2008 MacBooks? Seems like about the best price I have seen. Sucks it's about double the cost of DDR3 RAM.
http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Valu...TF8&coliid=I15TXPZSHK33BM&colid=1GHQK5I30KNRH


It would be great if UPS would get here already! Been on their truck and out for delivery for over 12 hours!

 

[Minicube]

Another vote for 4 gigs of RAM. Made a huge difference for me. I think I used Crucial RAM, but I've used Kingston RAM in the past and it's fine.

I just installed a Crucial M4 128 Gb SSD in my Blackbook. I realize the bus in this computer can't take advantage of the speed of this drive (I'm going to move it to the MBP 2011 I buy later this year). It gave a decent boost to many things, but is definitely not worth the price, however, if you have one laying around, go for it. I'd actually recommend a 7200 RPM drive; I was using a Hitachi Travelstar and it was almost as fast as the SSD in this particular machine.

Enjoy your Blackbook. They are so sexy; everybody comments on them. You'll get lots of girls!

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PS: that was a really good price...they still go for $600. Put in the RAM and a 500 GB 7200 HD, and you'll have a nice laptop for $550.

 

[dmk1974]

Well, I finally got it delivered! Was actually in near mint condition too! The only minor scuffs at all are little marks on the screen that line up with the corners of a bunch of the keys located in the middle of the keyboard (possible design flaw perhaps for when the lid is closed?). Otherwise perfect! The battery is authentic Apple and pretty new since it only has 36 cycles on it. It even still has a few days of AppleCare left til 9/1 so I'm going to take it in this week to the local AppleStore Genius Bar to just have them check it over.

So far, I did pop in my SSD drive...man this thing is fast with that drive! I'm going to have to do some side-by-side comparisons against my wife's 2010 MBA that also has 2 GB and SSD integrated!

If I do keep this, which I am VERY tempted to do...just wish it had the newer trackpad, I will for sure bump the ram up to 4GB. However, I am tempted to flip it if these really are going for about $600 or so still. I love the black color!

 

[jackc]

I've got a Black book, upgraded to 4GB RAM, it's still a solid machine.