Early 2009 MBP 17" Inquiry

[Mr D]

Looking to upgrade to one of the new MBP 13" - however I'm going to hand down this MBP 17" from early 2009.

Was looking to purchase a Samsung 850 EVO 500GB SSD today and install it in this computer - do you guys think it would be a good idea? Would this be proficient enough to prolong to the machine to run daily tasks such as watching netflix, browsing, microsoft word/excel, basic computing functions?

The processor is a 2.93 Intel Core 2 DUO with 4GB DDR3 RAM 1067 MHz

I could always upgrade the RAM too if it would make the computer run better, as long as the processor is still good enough for modern day functions.

Thanks for any help!

 

[thats all folks]

does it stream Netflix fine now? an SSD will have no effect on that. if the machine still has it's original hard drive, it is a good idea to replace it (as it has certainly outrun it's intended lifespan), even with another hard drive (just that will be much faster than what you have now). but an SSD will be helpful. you could up the RAM to 8GB, but not necessary. maybe leave that choice to the new owner?

what I wonder about is the battery. is it still holding a good charge? that might be the part to replace.

certainly this machine is "old" but still a nice gift for someone who needs it. it's not going to perform well for intensive media production work but for everyday stuff, nothing to complain about. you might consider setting it to use only the 9600M GT graphics card (thought at a hit to battery life) for a better experience.

 

[kchow]

Looking to upgrade to one of the new MBP 13" - however I'm going to hand down this MBP 17" from early 2009.

Was looking to purchase a Samsung 850 EVO 500GB SSD today and install it in this computer - do you guys think it would be a good idea? Would this be proficient enough to prolong to the machine to run daily tasks such as watching netflix, browsing, microsoft word/excel, basic computing functions?

The processor is a 2.93 Intel Core 2 DUO with 4GB DDR3 RAM 1067 MHz

I could always upgrade the RAM too if it would make the computer run better, as long as the processor is still good enough for modern day functions.

Thanks for any help!

I have basically the same laptop, with a Sandisk SSD and 8GB of RAM. I can tell you that the processor is hopeless in playing 1080p60 videos on youtube. Only thing the SSD is going to do is help you load the apps a lot faster, but the SATA II bus limits the speed to 250MB/s anyway. So in short I'm changing my laptop, simply because the processor this has can't even handle daily tasks like youtube and having 20+ tabs open in safari anymore. If you are getting a SSD for it save your money for the cheapest SSD around, the SATA II bus will limit the speed so much that a faster SSD won't be any different to a cheap/slower SSD.

 

[curmudgeonette]

MBP 17" from early 2009.

Was looking to purchase a Samsung 850 EVO 500GB SSD today and install it in this computer

I'm typing to you from a March 2009 MBP15. About a year ago the hard drive died. I replaced it with an 850 PRO 512GB. I chose the PRO model for reliability of MLC over TLC, 512GB 'cause the next size up was serious money and one size down wasn't worth my time swapping drives.

The system is perfectly adequate for offline use. It is also fine for my online use, however note that my slow internet limits Youtube to 720p (sometimes 360p). I've had 8GB in it longer than I can remember (make sure you buy 1066MHz RAM!), and see my signature for a hint of what OS I run.