2009 MBP still chugging along

[Nhwhazup]

Good memory for most of you but still a work horse. I had an old 2009 MBP that hadn't been used for probably 5 years. It had been hanging out on the basement floor just waiting to be scrapped. So then I plugged it in and turned it on - no ball of fire but still worked. I have an eleven year old grandson techie and gave it to him yesterday. He couldn’t be happier. I was thrilled to see it still in use.
Just wanted to share.

Any other stories of old work horses still in service?

 

[Amethyst1]

Any other stories of old work horses still in service?

Plenty if you know where to look.

 

[Nhwhazup]

Cool. Thanks for sharing.

 

[MultiFinder17]

My late 2008 15” still sees near-daily service in my classroom. My classroom is basically a museum of computers far past their prime still being pressed into active service though

 

[eyoungren]

My late 2008 15” still sees near-daily service in my classroom. My classroom is basically a museum of computers fat past their prime still being pressed into active service though

Your classroom (kingdom) represents what teachers can do with their own resources to provide for students when districts and administration (and voters) are unwilling or unable to produce what is necessary.

 

[MultiFinder17]

Your classroom (kingdom) represents what teachers can do with their own resources to provide for students when districts and administration (and voters) are unwilling or unable to produce what is necessary.

Doing more with less, ‘tis the teacher way. At least it gives me something to do while the kiddos are busy with independent projects; there’s always something that needs fixing, even if it isn’t technically broken

 

[Amethyst1]

My classroom is basically a museum of computers far past their prime still being pressed into active service though

Perhaps it also helps tell the kids they don't necessarily need a brand-new machine.

 

[MultiFinder17]

Perhaps it also helps tell the kids they don't necessarily need a brand-new machine.

I’ve had kiddos shocked to find out that the 24” iMac that I use for announcements and the seating chart is nearly as old as they are (I teach middle school and it’s a 2008 iMac)! Whenever a kiddo asks about my computers, I tell them that they’re all old as dirt, work great, and were all super cheap. I’ve had a couple ask me for recommendations on used starter Macs to get before.

They’re in middle school, so I usually steer them towards something like a 2010 MacBook or something along those lines and price range, then give them advice on some upgrades. A lot of the time they’ll bring in the parts and we’ll upgrade it together since they may not be comfortable working inside a computer alone yet.

 

[torasaurous1]

I have had my '09 MBP 15" since it was a baby. It has only 4 GB for memory with Intel installed on it. It is slow as hell but I use it still fairly frequently as long as I keep it plugged in. Also, I'm pretty sure I might be able to fry an egg on it at times but that's usually when it's time to turn off the old girl and take a break. More frequently though, it purrs angrily at me when I overwork it. 😂

I plan to finally give in and upgrade to a M1 MacBook Air with 16 GB of RAM in the coming weeks. Pretty excited, but the nostalgic side of me wants to just buy a new battery and freshen up my '09 and make it purr happily again. We've been through everything together.

 

[bobesch]

I have had my '09 MBP 15" since it was a baby. It has only 4 GB for memory with Intel installed on it. It is slow as hell but I use it still fairly frequently as long as I keep it plugged in. Also, I'm pretty sure I might be able to fry an egg on it at times but that's usually when it's time to turn off the old girl and take a break. More frequently though, it purrs angrily at me when I overwork it. 😂

I plan to finally give in and upgrade to a M1 MacBook Air with 16 GB of RAM in the coming weeks. Pretty excited, but the nostalgic side of me wants to just buy a new battery and freshen up my '09 and make it purr happily again. We've been through everything together.

If your '09er MBP hasn't got an SSD upgrade nor maxed-out RAM yet, I would rather go that way first ...

 

[torasaurous1]

If your '09er MBP hasn't got an SSD upgrade nor maxed-out RAM yet, I would rather go that way first ...

What do you suggest? Here are my stats: 2.53 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo with 4 GB 1067 mHz DDR3

I believe I have only ever replaced the battery 1 or 2 times, hard drive back, screen, and keyboard unibody. I don't think I have actually upgraded anything, though I did ask a local macintosh repair shop to see how much they would charge to tune it up. They said about $200.

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

You could do it yourself for probably $50 bucks. 8gb DDR3 1067 should run you 25 bucks about and a 120-256gb SSD for another 25 bucks or so. Install is easy. Download carbon copy cloner to clone the old hard drive onto the new SSD, pop open the back and swap everything out and you're done.

 

[bobesch]

What do you suggest? Here are my stats: 2.53 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo with 4 GB 1067 mHz DDR3

I believe I have only ever replaced the battery 1 or 2 times, hard drive back, screen, and keyboard unibody. I don't think I have actually upgraded anything, though I did ask a local macintosh repair shop to see how much they would charge to tune it up. They said about $200.

As @Certificate of Excellence said:
Better upgrade to an SSD and max-out RAM to 8GB first before spending money on an M1.
My daily driver and favorite machine is a 17" early-2008 2,5GHz MBP with 6GB DDR2-RAM and 1TB SSD-drive.
An SSD and more RAM makes your MBP fly again.
Replacement of SSD and RAM is a snap following the guidance on iFixit.
To swap the hard drive for an SSD get an SSD(50€/500GB), an external USB3-case (9€) and a clone-copy-App like SuperDuper! or CarbonCopyCloner. SuperDuper! is easier to use - CCC has more options.
First attach the SDD (within the external USB-case) to your MBP and clone your internal drive to the SSD.
Then replace your internal HDD with the SSD following the steps on iFixit (make sure to disconnect the internal battery and ground yourself before replacing the drive e.g. by simultaneously touching the MBP-case and a lamp or a heater)
Your old HDD (within the USB-case) may afterwards serve as your future backup-drive for clone-copies.
There are a few more tricks (clone the Recover-Partition for supported OSX up to ElCapitan, or upgrade to officially unsupported versions of macOS with @dosdude1 's Sierra/HighSierra/MojavePatches), but that definitely is step 2 and also easy done with some guidance ...