Help with Extending the Life of a 2006 15.4" MBP (2.33GHz)

[JulesK]

Can folks help me identify what steps I should take to extend the life of our old 15" MBP (from late 2006, 2.33GHz Core 2 Duo). Cosmetically, it's in good condition (although the power button has "collapsed" a bit). It has 3GB of RAM and the original 120GB HD. Right now running on Snow Leopard/10.6. It's really slowed down as of late, and I've needed to repair disk permissions with some frequency, so I'm thinking of the following:

-Do a clean install of Snow Leopard (last OS DVD I have), and perhaps update the OS to Lion (10.7, which is the latest OS that will run on this machine) if that would help.

-Replace the HD, although for what I would be using this machine for, I'd go with a 320GB drive (not a SSD).

Is there anything else? Is there a diagnostics program I can run on the machine to determine whether there are more significant issues with it?

Many thanks in advance.

 

[Intell]

Repairing disk permissions rarely, if ever, helps slow downs. To make it last a bit longer, I would suggest a SSD. That would give it the biggest speed boost possible.

 

[ET3SW]

Repairing disk permissions rarely, if ever, helps slow downs. To make it last a bit longer, I would suggest a SSD. That would give it the biggest speed boost possible.

+1 this is exactly what you should be thinking about upgrading

 

[JulesK]

Thanks! OWC sells a 120GB unit (Mercury Electra) for only $117, and I'm willing to spend that much to see if things improve.

 

[Intell]

For that price, I'd suggest a Samsung 840. You can get a 120GB model for $99 and free shipping from NewEgg. The Samsung 840's are some of the fastest and most reliable SSD's on the market. You could even put it into another machine when that Macbook finally dies.

 

[Luftwaffles]

+1 for SSD. I've got the exact same model, C2D 2.33GHz, bought refurbished from Apple. I maxed out the RAM and about two years ago I swapped the HDD out for an Intel solid state. The difference was incredible and my wife's been using it on a daily basis for browsing, iTunes, and graphic design/assorted GIMP stuff with no problems.