Dumb Question Alert! Mid 2009 MBP-anything I should do or just use 4 backup?

[SD-B]

Dumb Question Alert:


Is a MBP from mid 2009 worth upgrading or not at this point?
I am guessing its not but I'm discovering that many people on these forums seem to keep their macs for 7-8 years where I have only kept them about 3 or 4 at the most. Maybe I am wrong?

I have a late fall 2011 MBP I am about to upgrade with memory.SSD and am also likely buying a new iMac so this one I am about to ask about will most certainly not be my main commuter nor has been for some time.
It sits on my desk and i use it to just download movies, TV shown and then run those through my Apple TV to my 50" TV Screen.
The irony is that I have been using, as my main MBP a late fall 2011 and back at that time of purchasing this one, the first one had been given to me and i was using it and I believed it was faster than the one 2 years older from 2011

The 2009 version is

Macbook 5,5
2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4 Gig 1067 MHz DDR3
NVidia GeForce 9400 256MB

WHEN I SAY UPGRADING.......i mean Ram......I can't imagine putting any money into this right? At least ram IF any?
Perhaps I should have done it 2 years ago but i am just not sure what to do with this as it still runs perfectly....

Just for comparisons sake
my MBP from Late 2011
2.4GHz
4 Gig 1333 MHz DDR3

But the 2009 versions battery is sort of on its way out i believe, although i have it plugged in at all times
( no, i admit i wasn't very good at doing it every month as I should have, letting it run down fully, etc )

According to Cocoanut Battery

Current Charge 2109 mAh
Max Charge 2109 mAh
Design Capacity 5450 mAh
Load Cycles 155

I see something for 38.7% but it does say CHECK battery status and has for some time

Sems such a shame to waste this


Soooo assuming that its really not worth doing anything to and/or that i missed the time to do so... (i had other computers and ws just too busy at the time to think about it)...what happens once the battery is completely dead?
You then have to plug it in 100% of the time, naturally, so it will still work once this batteries gone?
If so, if you unplug it by mistake, does the computer go off immediately or does it have any particular amount of time before that happens?


What do people do with their old macs if they do still work this many years in?
It seems sacrilegious to throw them out........so curious what you all do with them at this point?

 

[CanadaRAM]

You can upgrade this machine and it is quite worth it. It can go to 8 GB or 16 GB of RAM, the 16 GB may not be worth the money but 8 GB will be a good boost over your 4 GB. You can get a decent third party battery for about US$70 (CAN$90)

In the USA, I recommend Data Memory Systems http://www.datamemorysystems.com/ for a reliable supplier.

 

[SD-B]

You can upgrade this machine and it is quite worth it. It can go to 8 GB or 16 GB of RAM, the 16 GB may not be worth the money but 8 GB will be a good boost over your 4 GB. You can get a decent third party battery for about US$70 (CAN$90)

In the USA, I recommend Data Memory Systems http://www.datamemorysystems.com/ for a reliable supplier.

Now, I am surprised to hear that but perhaps it is worth doing for it was as good if not more powerful than the late 2011 I have been using.
Ive been too busy elsewhere until now to look into this.

I wouldn't put 16 gigs in but certainly 8 might be worthwhile.
IF i did that how longer do you think it would be good for?

Last but not least, IF the laptop is in one spot and never moved as i just have it on the corner of my desk up on a an iCurve i think it is, a stand but its always plugged in, do I really need to get a new battery for it?

If I don't plan on moving it so it will remain plugged, will it still work without a battery, and if so, as well?


Im in Toronto so if you happen to know a place here that I can do that through rather than the US, please let me know.


Thank you very much

 

[Naimfan]

Your Late 2011 is roughly twice as fast as your 2009, so if you're going to put money in either one you're more likely better served by upgrading the 2011. It will support 16 GB RAM and a SSD. From a processor standpoint it is not too far behind the current 13" MBPs.

 

[montgomeryr]

My MBpro

My brother gave me his 15 inch 2009 macbook Pro since it suffered one of the much talked about graphics failures. No picture to the screen and nothing out the side port. Having researched this, a few companies offered cleaning and resoldering the faulty components, at a fixed rate. A company in Ottawa (I'm Canadian) fixed it for $250.00 plus shipping and tax. I replaced the HD with a 1TB for another $80.00. It's been working great since August. (fingers crossed)
So since it's my only Mac right now, yes I think it's worth upgrading. I tell you this too in case your graphics give out.

 

[theatremusician]

My main driver is a late 2006 White MacBook. I maxed the RAM (4GB, it addresses 3GB but performs better with matching sticks) and added an SSD (80GB).

I'm using the machine right now with live TV via EyeTV, live internet video stream and posting this message. I also use Garageband with both live and virtual instruments and some light video editing.

Mine is a 1.83 Ghz C2D. I think you can safely upgrade your 3 year younger and faster machine and still get plenty of life and use from it. The SSD alone (there are some really nice deals out there) will make it feel like new especially if you do a fresh OS install.

 

[neil1980]

Still using a 2008 MacBook here and no intention of getting rid yet.

Admittedly I've ordered an iMac for the photo and video side of what I do but for everything else this is still a really good machine (though I did put an SSD in it which sped it up massively)

 

[SD-B]

Your Late 2011 is roughly twice as fast as your 2009, so if you're going to put money in either one you're more likely better served by upgrading the 2011. It will support 16 GB RAM and a SSD. From a processor standpoint it is not too far behind the current 13" MBPs.

Curious, I don't understand how you came to that conclusion? What am I looking at incorrectly?

The 2009 is 2.53 GHz
The 2011 is 2.4 GHz

Both have 4 gigs ram?

I seem to recall the 2009 being a more expensive MBC whilst the 2011 less so but I could have it wrong....??!!!


Anyhow, upon more reflection I have decided against upgrading the 2009 version at all. There is just too much damage to it thats doesn't make it worthwhile my laying money into it.
It will continue as a hard drive to download movies and TV shows from


Thanks for helping me out on all of this

----------

Still using a 2008 MacBook here and no intention of getting rid yet.

Admittedly I've ordered an iMac for the photo and video side of what I do but for everything else this is still a really good machine (though I did put an SSD in it which sped it up massively)

i wish i had spoken to all of you guys 2-3 years ago

 

[J&JPolangin]

There's a great free app called MacTracker that will tell you all the specs and the amount of RAM you can put into Mac's even the unsupported larger amounts than apple will state...

The 2009 machine is a C2D CPU while the 2011 machine is a Sandy Bridge i5 CPU so it would be more powerful.

I have an early 2009 whitebook - the 2nd to last of the removable battery whitebook models = it will still run Yosemite but I have it on Mavericks until the new owner decides what he'd like to have installed on it (and then I'll upgrade it for him if he chooses)...

I also run PC2-6400 RAM in it but officially it wasn't supported until the follow-on model but it works fine and benches a little faster with the faster speed RAM in it.

I also have a western digital 64Gb SSD in that whitebook so it feels pretty good for a ~6 year old 2.0Ghz C2D whitebook and it will run all current software well unless your into heavy video encoding = as a basic daily driver its still good with the minor upgrades its gotten!

Curious, I don't understand how you came to that conclusion? What am I looking at incorrectly?

The 2009 is 2.53 GHz
The 2011 is 2.4 GHz

Both have 4 gigs ram?

I seem to recall the 2009 being a more expensive MBC whilst the 2011 less so but I could have it wrong....??!!!


Anyhow, upon more reflection I have decided against upgrading the 2009 version at all. There is just too much damage to it thats doesn't make it worthwhile my laying money into it.
It will continue as a hard drive to download movies and TV shows from


Thanks for helping me out on all of this

----------



i wish i had spoken to all of you guys 2-3 years ago

 

[SuperCachetes]

You can upgrade this machine and it is quite worth it. It can go to 8 GB or 16 GB of RAM, the 16 GB may not be worth the money but 8 GB will be a good boost over your 4 GB. You can get a decent third party battery for about US$70 (CAN$90)

In the USA, I recommend Data Memory Systems http://www.datamemorysystems.com/ for a reliable supplier.

The 5,5 can only go to 8GB of RAM. Even the vendor link you posted states that.

OP, I have the exact same machine and use it for a daily driver. Over the years I maxed out the RAM to 8GB and put in an OWC SSD. The horsepower just isn't there for video conversion and processor-intensive stuff, but as my main iTunes libray, iPhoto library, and as a light-duty work computer, the 5,5 is perfectly viable.

FWIW, the SSD had a much more profound effect than upgrading the RAM. The machine boots very quickly, and has no trouble scrolling through 22,000 songs in my library, as fast as I can flick my finger.

 

[SD-B]

OP, I have the exact same machine and use it for a daily driver. Over the years I maxed out the RAM to 8GB and put in an OWC SSD. The horsepower just isn't there for video conversion and processor-intensive stuff, but as my main iTunes libray, iPhoto library, and as a light-duty work computer, the 5,5 is perfectly viable.

FWIW, the SSD had a much more profound effect than upgrading the RAM. The machine boots very quickly, and has no trouble scrolling through 22,000 songs in my library, as fast as I can flick my finger.

This is what i am discovering here and admittedly very surprised, that these SSD's seem to have a better effect than RAM does.

That said, Ram to bump this up is only about $100 I think so its worth it but since i at least know i can do the ram myself, I am going to get the SSD put in first so then I can see the difference each one makes, rather than both at the same time and not knowing which was responsible, for future needs.

Thanks...I just need to find the place in Toronto i can get the right SSD and for that reason, I just haven't had time to research those but will find out and get it done ASAP


I don't need 16 ram in this after all....i am not doing any video editing....i have to get away from the old mindset that more ram was never enough but it seems that the SSD is what one looks at now..

There's a great free app called MacTracker that will tell you all the specs and the amount of RAM you can put into Mac's even the unsupported larger amounts than apple will state...

Thanks ...got it now! This will be very useful.

The 2009 machine is a C2D CPU while the 2011 machine is a Sandy Bridge i5 CPU so it would be more powerful.

Funnily i seem to remember feeling that the 2009 was more powerful at the time I got the 2011 but I might have thought that simply because at the time the 2009 version was the expensive version whiles the 2011 I have was the lower priced version at the time but i assume thats why and i had that in my head so assumed incorrectly.

/off to read through MacTracker