Good time to buy new 15" MBP?

[RestUnknown]

Hi

I currently use an almost 8 year old pre-unibody MBP. I recently bought a GoPro and have made a lot of 1080p (or higher) videos. They lag too much to be enjoyable and I get a beachball a lot with other apps as well. Basically, it's getting too slow.

I know I can upgrade my 5400rpm HD to an SSD. But I am wondering if it is just not better to buy a new MBP. I want the 15" basically because it has better specs and hopefully will at least last me as long as my current MBP. I'm not a gamer, I just want a fluent experience as long as possible.

I know this MBP is currently in mid product cycle as per the buyers guide. Should I wait or should I go for it?

Thanks

 

[snaky69]

Is your 2008 MBP on its original hard drive?

Sudden slow downs and beach balls can indicate a failing drive. At that age, it wouldn't be surprising at all.

It shouldn't be lagging with 1080p video though.

 

[RestUnknown]

Is your 2008 MBP on its original hard drive?

Sudden slow downs and beach balls can indicate a failing drive. At that age, it wouldn't be surprising at all.

It shouldn't be lagging with 1080p video though.

Original drive indeed.

It's horrible with 1080p, but it has this for a very long time even before the beach balls and slow downs.

 

[krishmk]

Original drive indeed.

It's horrible with 1080p, but it has this for a very long time even before the beach balls and slow downs.

Try replacing the OHD with SSD and this will fly..

 

[T5BRICK]

Should I wait or should I go for it?

I'd go for it. The next rMBP most likely won't be released until February.

 

[RestUnknown]

I went to an Apple Store and they said that 4gb ram is maybe the bottleneck and that changing the drive probably won't bring much benefit. I find this weird as I'm just watching the movies, not editing them. Are they trying to make me buy a new one, or is this true?

When watching the movies and checking the ram usage I still see plenty of unused space.

 

[Fl0r!an]

My Late 2008 MBP (with SSD) doesn't have any problems with 1080p playback, but I think that it utilizes the GPU for h.264 decoding (older MBPs can't do this afaik), maybe this is the reason. For normal usage a SSD will definitely have a much bigger impact than upgrading the RAM.

hopefully will at least last me as long as my current MBP. I'm not a gamer, I just want a fluent experience as long as possible.

Hard to say what hardware we'll need for 'normal' use in 8 years, but by looking back I can say that I would have sold my MBP some years ago if it was as un-upgradable as todays MacBooks.
I bought it with a slow 5400rpm HDD and 2GB RAM; today I have a SSD, 8GB RAM and USB 3. Difference like day and night.