How worth it is to upgrade late 2011 17"?

[b2387692]

MacBookPro8,3 late 2011 17", Lion OS X (pre-loaded; no disk) 10.7.5
The original issue was the hard drive (750 GB) has a "S.M.A.R.T. Status: Failing" so I began looking into upgrading to an SSD.

Now, when I place a CD in, it does not show up in Finder. I hear it load and I am able to eject it with the keyboard button but it just doesn't show in Finder.

FWIW, the MBP has been dropped a few times resulting in a barely visible indentation on the bottom left corner below my left arm as I type this as well as a slight gap in the seem, which separates the removable base from the unit.

Also, the Power Adapter cord is broken right next to the main square piece. I've taped it's so close to the square that it just keeps coming undone.

That said, how worth it would it be to upgrade my late 2011 17" or would you just get a new notebook?

Thanks!

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Well it's probably gonna get radeongate

That model will be prone to GPU failure as well which will pretty much kill it, I would sell it as is.

Many enthusiasts are after the 17 inch model and it can still get fairly good money even in not the best condition ($400-600 I'd guess).

Then a new macbook is teh order of the day...

 

[b2387692]

Hmmm...
FWIW, I have no dvd player to watch movies and was using the MBP to do so…Even got an HDMI cable to hookup and watch on my big screen TV.

A few other concerns…
1) I have a stack of CDs from previous backups, how do I access that info moving forward?
2) How can I erase 100% of my data before I sell??
3) Which notebook (or tablet?) to replace it with???

 

[jdphoto]

1) external usb disc drive, either the apple superdrive or third party (I've had good luck with an Asus external drive)

2) Make a bootable OS X Lion usb install disk and boot from it. From there use the built in Disk Utility to format the internal drive and reinstall a fresh copy of OS X.

3) Depends on what you want to use it for. 13" Macbook Airs are capable machines for office, web browsing, and light photo/video editing. If you do more intense media work a Macbook Pro would be a better choice, also depends on your budget.

 

[Zerka]

I think it might be time for a new MBP. If you're happy with your current system, the user above had some pretty good solutions. In my opinion, a new MBP would do you good, although the change from 17" to 15" might be a bit clunky at first. If your budget allows, this would be the best route

 

[b2387692]

Thanks!

2) Make a bootable OS X Lion usb install disk and boot from it. From there use the built in Disk Utility to format the internal drive and reinstall a fresh copy of OS X.

PROBLEM IS… I tried that already on a USB Flash Drive but I apparently did NOT quit the install process at the right time thus I believe the installer app deleted itself on install because I can't locate "Install Mac OS X Lion.app" on the USB Flash Drive. ;(

What options does this leave me??

 

[jdphoto]

Thanks!



PROBLEM IS… I tried that already on a USB Flash Drive but I apparently did NOT quit the install process at the right time thus I believe the installer app deleted itself on install because I can't locate "Install Mac OS X Lion.app" on the USB Flash Drive. ;(

What options does this leave me??

Not sure what process you used to create the usb drive, but here's an article on how to create one. It is more than just copying it to the USB disk.

http://lifehacker.com/5823096/how-to-burn-your-own-lion-install-dvd-or-flash-drive

 

[b2387692]

OK,,,Here's the process I used in my attempt to make bootable USB Flash Drive…
http://www.macworld.com/article/1165337/create_a_bootable_lion_install_drive_for_newer_macs.html

I first formatted the flash drive as follows: In Disk Utility, I choose "1 Partition", "GUID Partition Table" & "Mac OS X Extended (Journaled)"...I named it "OS X Installer".

PROBLEM IS... As I said...I apparently did NOT quit the install process right at the beginning thus did not save a copy of the installer app to a safe location.

Am I out of luck here or what other options are there?