2008 Polycarbonate vs 2009 Polycarbonate for Minecraft

[JavierDiaz4]

Hi there guys, need some advice. I want to buy one of my son's his first laptop and he wants a macbook. I refuse to spend hundreds of dollars on something he's only going to use for Minecraft. Therefore, I found two on Craigslists/Ebay that are in excellent condition. I'm hoping I can get some feedback as to which may be better for minecraft play;

My debate is on the 08 Polycarbonate for 200 vs an 09 Polycarbonate for 300. The 08 has 4gb of ram and the 09 has 2gb. I know I can upgrade. What I like is that the 09 can get Yosemite and the 08 cant. But is it worth an extra 100 bucks.

 

[JavierDiaz4]

Thanks!

 

[bunnspecial]

The 09 gets you to the ability to install the most current versions of OSX, including Mavericks and Yosemite.

The 08 is stuck at 10.7, Lion, which is now 3 generations old and has reported recently been cut off from receiving security updates.

No question, the extra $100 is well worth it.

It's also worth noting that the '09 models can be upgraded to 8gb of RAM, while the '08 models are stuck at 6gb. The cost of an 8gb upgrade is quite high, however-most that I see on Ebay are around $140 for a pair of 4gb modules. An upgrade to 4gb is a bit more affordable, and can probably be done for well under $50.

With that said, I paid $140 for my Mid-2009 Macbook with 4gb of RAM, although I've sent put a little bit of extra money into upgrading it(I put a solid state drive in it, which really pepped it up).

It might be worth your trouble to shop around a little bit more.

 

[JavierDiaz4]

The 09 gets you to the ability to install the most current versions of OSX, including Mavericks and Yosemite.

The 08 is stuck at 10.7, Lion, which is now 3 generations old and has reported recently been cut off from receiving security updates.

No question, the extra $100 is well worth it.

It's also worth noting that the '09 models can be upgraded to 8gb of RAM, while the '08 models are stuck at 6gb. The cost of an 8gb upgrade is quite high, however-most that I see on Ebay are around $140 for a pair of 4gb modules. An upgrade to 4gb is a bit more affordable, and can probably be done for well under $50.

With that said, I paid $140 for my Mid-2009 Macbook with 4gb of RAM, although I've sent put a little bit of extra money into upgrading it(I put a solid state drive in it, which really pepped it up).

It might be worth your trouble to shop around a little bit more.

Holy cow, 140, wow I feel I'm getting ripped off then, It's the holidays so with demand being high and supply low I've seen prices go up for these for sure from just 5 months ago. I guess I'll look around some more too. Thanks for your response and feedback.

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bunnspecial, what do you think of the 09 Macbook vs the 08 Macbook Pro? The Macbook Pro has Yosemeti and obviously its a slightly bigger screen. Battery on the Pro was just replaced as well. Thanks.

 

[bunnspecial]

I'm assuming the MBP is a 15". Both the "old style" and Unibody MBP were made in 2008, so I would find this information out.

In any case, if I had to guess, I would guess that MBP will be supported longer than the Macbook, but no one(except Apple) can predict the future with this. It's overall a more capable and generally better computer, especially for gaming.

The downside is that if your son plans to carry it to school, the 15" MBP will be both larger and heavier. I've never owned a non-Unibody MBP, but I have a last generation Powerbook that is very similar in construction to these computers. I can definitely notice a difference between the Powerbook and a smaller laptop(whether my 13" MBP or 13" Macbook) when I'm carrying it on my back. The Unibody MBP is thinner, although as per Wikipedia it's actually slightly heavier(5.5lbs vs 5.4lbs).

As far as the replacement battery-with OEM batteries still available for these, I'd have a very strong preference for an OEM battery. I've had enough trouble with 3rd party batteries(particularly the cheap ones that many sellers like to stick in a computer to sell it) that I'd almost prefer a less-than-new OEM battery to a cheap replacement. My white Macbook, in particular, would randomly shut off with a 3rd party battery, and after a relatively small number of cycles(20 or 30, I think) the replacement got to where it would no longer charge. A gently used OEM battery has it working perfectly. So, this is something I would check.

Overall, I think the MBP would be a good choice for your son, but that's just one man's opinion.

 

[JavierDiaz4]

bunnspecial its the old style macbook pro, the flat non uni body one. You hit on some absolutely valid points. Yet I doubt he'll carry it around, well at least we'll ask him not to carry it out of the house too often as he can be a bit careless. That's why we dont want to spend a ton on his first laptop.

 

[BrettApple]

I would go with the 2009 MacBook. It will have the Nvidia GeForce 9400m that knocks the pants off the '08 with it's Intel GMA card.

I also would not recommend the non unibody MacBook Pros because of their famous GeForce 8600m failures, enough to get a lawsuit going even. That's not to say that they're all bad, but it's a risk worth noting.

I've got an Early 2009 model I got on eBay for $199 stock, threw in 4GB RAM I already had, and a 128GB SSD for $58, and it flies on Yosemite. If it comes with 2GB RAM and the stock HDD though, Snow Leopard would be a good fit until it can be upgraded.

Sources: I've owned a 2007 & 2008 MBP, 2008 MacBook (GMA) and 2008/9 MacBooks with the 9400m. The MBP does have a much better screen, build, and GPU power, but the risk of it failing is high. The GMA MacBook won't play games at any decent frame rate, and the 2009 MacBook is a good middle ground and at a good price.

 

[JavierDiaz4]

Noted. Ok, I have a bid going on the Macbook 2009. Right now I cant find anything on Ebay in decent shape for less than 260. Its the holidays so I guess everyone is unloading at a higher than normal price right before they upgrade with expectant mac gifts for xmas. My guess atleast. I may get the MBP as auxilary as bidding is around 104 right now.

 

[AlexxRyzhkov]

Btw don't expect that good performance. I ran Minecraft on a 2007 Macbook with the intel GMA Graphics and 2gb of ram, and also on a 2009 Macbook with the Nvidia 9400M and 3gb of ram.

I got about 20 Fps on the 2007, and 30 Fps on 2009, on the lowest settings with Optifine

 

[JavierDiaz4]

Btw don't expect that good performance. I ran Minecraft on a 2007 Macbook with the intel GMA Graphics and 2gb of ram, and also on a 2009 Macbook with the Nvidia 9400M and 3gb of ram.

I got about 20 Fps on the 2007, and 30 Fps on 2009, on the lowest settings with Optifine

Got it, I guess he'll have to settle with 30fps on the 09 then. Thanks.

 

[AlexxRyzhkov]

Well if you look around you can find the 2010 models for about $270-$320 which will probably run quite a bit better.