Buy new MBP or keep old MBP?

[lu0s3r322]

I have a late-2006 MBP with the following specs:

2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
3 GB RAM
500GB 7200rpm hard drive (which i plan to put into my new MBP)
128MB ATI X1600

My parents are willing to buy me the higher end 13" MBP or probably even the lower end 15" because I'm starting college soon, but I don't know if I want them to spend the money if I don't need a new computer.

However, I do notice that it does often have trouble when I run multiple apps and it has trouble when I videochat in iChat so I have to change the bandwidth settings to 100kbps (I know it's not my internet because other computers in my house have no problem). Also, my AppleCare will run out in November.

So do you guys think I should upgrade or keep my old MBP?

 

[akutad]

I'd keep it. With snow leopard, iChat will run in 64 bit mode and will use 1/3 the bandwidth. My wife has an older model and everything runs great other than I movie tends to run abit slower. Give it 6 months to a year and you could probably pick up a referb 15" uMBP with the 8hr battery for a good deal if our folks are still up to helping you.

 

[akutad]

I assume you installed the 500GB HDD and therefore your warrantee is void, no?

 

[AppleTecFan]

New Chipsets are coming so wait

 

[GreatDrok]

I'm still running an early 2006 1st gen MBP and it is still doing sterling service as my main computer. I expect Snow Leopard to bring some performance benefits although it isn't 64 bit but physically there is nothing wrong with the hardware so I still see no reason to upgrade to the latest machine. The whole point of buying the machine in the first place was to have a machine capable of lasting 5 years in my hands whereas every PC laptop I have had has lasted only a year. Given that the MBP cost about twice what I could have had a reasonable PC for I still consider it a great investment since it is closing in on lasting 4x as long as PCs did for me.

Squeeze every last bit of life out of your machine and that way you can justify spending a good chunk on another one in a couple of years time.

 

[P Mentior]

New Chipsets are coming so wait

New chipsets are always coming, don't get stuck in the endless cycle of waiting for things that aren't out yet. My advice on this though is that if your system still does what you need it to do then keep it until you need to upgrade. I'd say that chances are if your parents are willing to help finance an upgrade now they will be willing to later if you don't need to right now.

 

[jpyc7]

Yeah, you should wait. Especially if there is a new Apple product that might work better for college, like the rumored iTablet. You'll want to know how/if it works with textbook rentals.

 

[MacKiddyWiddy]

well i would wait a while and explain to your parents by doing this, they will realise that your a lovely child not trying to take money from them and that you actually do care.... this could result in a nicer mbp!

 

[Hrududu]

I've got the same model as you, and I'm still plenty satisfied with it. I'm going to try and wait another 2 years or so before I spend the cash on another new computer. At the same time, if they're offering you a free computer then I don't know any good reasons to turn it down even if you don't really need it.

 

[lu0s3r322]

Thanks for the advice guys. If I do get a new one, the old one will be passed on to another family member and used for a long time so I guess we'll still get what we paid for. But I was wondering, because of the Back to School deals and the prices right now, will there ever be a deal better than the one offered this year? I feel like they could raise prices on future MBPs. Also, how long would I have to wait for like Arrandale or Clarksfield processors (I don't know much about those)?

 

[ETID]

They do similar deals most years for students. I want to upgrade my white macbook but like many I'm going to see what snow leopard brings to the table.

 

[relativist]

New chipsets are always coming, don't get stuck in the endless cycle of waiting for things that aren't out yet. My advice on this though is that if your system still does what you need it to do then keep it until you need to upgrade. I'd say that chances are if your parents are willing to help finance an upgrade now they will be willing to later if you don't need to right now.

This time it's not just a new chipset coming, but a whole new cpu architecture, which takes several years. My suggestion is to call up applecare and make them fix what's wrong and keep your MBP till next year. There is a good chance that Apple will have released new MBP's with the new cpu by next year and hopefully they will have the same student deal with a free iPod touch or something similar. That would be a good time to do an upgrade from your current system.

I'm in a similar situation, I'm using a white Macbook to hold me over till the new cpu architecture is released. IMO it's reasonable to keep such laptops and upgrade on every new architecture. Good luck.