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Free Macbook Pro 2Ghz Core Duo.

P

pyromaniaque

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 16, 2008
267
0
Well..Ask your mother.
Someone wants to give us a free MBP. But, since its the 2006 version, I was wondering if it was too old for use. The clock speed is 2Ghz. So my question is, you people with the first MBP, is it running fast??

Also, is it true that I would be able to put 6gb of RAM on that thing?

Will I be able to upgrade the drive to an SSD?

The battery doesn't work, do they sell replacement batteries for cheap?

Will it be Snow Leopard compatible?

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BIGGEST QUESTION:
How would this old MBP fair out against the new Macbook?
 
yes and you should be able to upgrade the drive no problem.

and like I always say: "if its free, its me"
 
pyromaniaque said:
Someone wants to give us a free MBP. But, since its the 2006 version, I was wondering if it was too old for use. The clock speed is 2Ghz. So my question is, you people with the first MBP, is it running fast??
[...]
Click to expand...

If the answers to your questions will make you give up the offer, I am ready to take it. Even if not for free: I will send some hundreds euro back upon arrival.

Let's keep in touch :)
 
pyromaniaque said:
3.3? How in the world does anyone get 3.3?

EDIT: I looked online, and on many sites, it says 2gb, so which is it?
Click to expand...

The official max is 2GB. But it will work with 2x2GB chips ... which only register as 3.3 because of the hardware limits.
 
pyromaniaque said:
Someone wants to give us a free MBP. But, since its the 2006 version, I was wondering if it was too old for use. The clock speed is 2Ghz. So my question is, you people with the first MBP, is it running fast??
Click to expand...
The brand new Mac Mini comes with a max 2GHz processor and Apple sells a bunch of those, so no, 2GHz isn't too slow to be useable, provided you're not doing anything too intensive.
Also, is it true that I would be able to put 6gb of RAM on that thing?
Click to expand...
Depends on which 2006 model you're talking about. Max RAM in the early 2006 MBP is 2GB; late 2006 is 3GB.
Will I be able to upgrade the drive to an SSD?
Click to expand...
I don't see why not, as long as it fits.
The battery doesn't work, do they sell replacement batteries for cheap?
Click to expand...
They sell them; not sure how cheap. I'd call Apple and also do some Googling.
Will it be Snow Leopard compatible?
Click to expand...
I think so.
BIGGEST QUESTION:
How would this old MBP fair out against the new Macbook?
Click to expand...
It would be much slower
 
GGJstudios said:
The brand new Mac Mini comes with a max 2GHz processor and Apple sells a bunch of those, so no, 2GHz isn't too slow to be useable, provided you're not doing anything too intensive.

Max RAM in the early 2006 MBP is 2GB; late 2006 is 3GB.

I don't see why not, as long as it fits.

They sell them; not sure how cheap. I'd call Apple and also do some Googling.

I think so.

It would be much slower
Click to expand...

Great post, thanks for the input. Mac Mini is Core 2 right? not core duo
 
pyromaniaque said:
Great post, thanks for the input. Mac Mini is Core 2 right? not core duo
Click to expand...

From: http://www.apple.com/macmini/:

Picture 23.jpg

Bottom line: Free is free. Even a slower MBP is better than counting on your fingers! Take it!
 
everymac.com for max ram.

SSD yes, but there are different qualities of SSD drive.

Replacement batteries of course. cheap is relative.

Snow leopard, yes.
 
I have a MBP 1,2 2.16 Core Duo 17 inch, which is very similar to what you are describing. Even though it's now almost 3, it runs great, fast is a relative term, but it's fast enough for me. It's my only machine! And I would take one for free in a heart beat.

2 gig ram max not 6, 4 or 3 which some other models can run this is not a core2duo but a core duo

Should be able to run SL but only at 32 bit not 64, even though I don't know the real difference between the two, I've tinkered with a pre release version of SL and it ran pretty well but only at 32 bit, the official release, I assume would do the same, it is an intel.

Yes, you can get replacement batteries from Apple, Frys, MacMall, etc. but cheap???
,
YMMV, good luck
 
I still have my old 15" MacBook Pro (2.0GHz Core Duo) here and it runs absolutely fine, it doesn't feel slow at all, its a perfectly capable machine, and if you're getting it for free, that's amazing!
 
Thanks everyone for all your input. So far, what the message I'm getting is that it runs pretty smoothly, correct?

free is free, and I guess I really can't complain. However, I do want to know whether it can handle photoshop cs4.

I'm sure it can't be THAT bad, considering the fact that I have a 2.53Ghz Single Core Pentium 4 PC and it runs all of my stuff pretty smoothly. I can even do graphics on it....

Since it's not going to be that great anymore in speed, will an SSD make it a lot faster?

Lastly, for Boot Camp, can I install Vista/XP on an external drive?
 
Since you want a MacBook; accept the machine, sell it on ebay and then take the money and buy yourself a MacBook.
 
I have exactly the machine you're looking at: Rev A MBP with 2.0 GHz and 2GB RAM. I constantly have at least 10 safari tabs open, iTunes, iphoto, Lightroom, 40000+ mail, iChat, Skype and various other things running and it's still fine. iPhoto and Lightroom gets a bit slow but it's still acceptable. In fact, Lightroom is faster than both iPhoto and Aperture. I was doing a trial on both Aperture and Lightroom at one point and had all three (iphoto, lightroom and Aperture) running at the same time and it still wasn't really THAT slow. Mind you, when I had a MacBook before I bought this three years ago, I had only had it for two years and after maxing out on RAM, I had to buy the MBP two years later because I couldn't stand how slow it was getting. I'm just about to swap out for a bigger hard drive so that this can last a little longer. MacBook Air's processor is only 1.6 or 1.86GHz.
 
Dude Seriously? Your not sure if you want something FREE??? Even if you dont want it, get a new batt and sell it. Its a MBP not a PB, so i promise someone will be willing to buy it. People even want PBs so, y would you not get something thats free. Its not like its gonna be a huge burden and financially bankrupt you what have you.
 
pyromaniaque said:
snip...
Lastly, for Boot Camp, can I install Vista/XP on an external drive?
Click to expand...

Generally, Windows cannot be installed or run from external drives (with some limited exceptions of certain eSATA configs).

VMware Fusion or Parallels can house their virtual machines on external drives.

Cheers,
 
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