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Is upgrading my 2nd gen macbook pro really worth it?

A

Alovesey

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 24, 2009
4
0
Hi all,

I have a 2nd gen 15" (2.16 core2duo) MacBook pro and was thinking about upgrading to the new unibody mbp.

Will I see much difference in performance compared to my current mbp?
I use the machine mainly for designing, CS4 usage etc and also some logic pro work.

Anyone think it's a good time to upgrade my laptop?
 
Core 2 hasn't changed much in the past 3 years in terms of performance unless you add more cores.

Is time more money? I'd get a newer laptop. Otherwise you have a fine machine.
 
Thanks. I've got 2gb of Ram in the machine, but I think it only takes 3gb to max it. Do you think the screen would be better for PS work on the newer models?
 
Nope...not worth it. Throw in a SSD in it if you can, and it'll feel like you just bought a new computer...
 
I wouldn't advise changing either. If it is so slow that it is slowing down your productivity then make a change. You shouldn't be feeling that with what you have though. Max the RAM and put in a 7200rpm HHD and it will feel a lot quicker. SSD's are still too expensive for what you would gain.
 
JCastro said:
I wouldn't advise changing either. If it is so slow that it is slowing down your productivity then make a change. You shouldn't be feeling that with what you have though. Max the RAM and put in a 7200rpm HHD and it will feel a lot quicker. SSD's are still too expensive for what you would gain.
Click to expand...

I bought an SSD for my main PC and thought it was worth every penny. This is coming from someone who had a velociraptor...
 
Thanks, I was thinking of installing a 7,200 drive, it'll give me a lot more disk space too. Have just been googling the prices of the SSDs and although they look very tempting they are just too expensive. Getting a decent sized one is almost half the price of a new MBP.

Has anyone here swapped out their drives? Is it a particularly daunting refit?
 
If you can wait till q1 2010 the new core architecture will be out which will offer a substantial performance increase over core2duo. In the meantime, buy some more ram, it's cheap.
 
nutritious said:
I bought an SSD for my main PC and thought it was worth every penny. This is coming from someone who had a velociraptor...
Click to expand...

I was not saying that he would not see a difference. I just don't think that for the average user the advantages outweigh the cost difference. A 7200 RPM HDD will give enough of a boost at minimal cost. I am glad it was worth it for you though.

A friend of mine has two SSD's in his PC Laptop and loves it. We travel a lot and he wanted the SSD's because his HDD's were getting banged around a lot while in transit. I would love to have an SSD but I would need about 500GB and that would cost a fortune right now. A year from now maybe it will more affordable.
 
Alovesey said:
Thanks. I've got 2gb of Ram in the machine, but I think it only takes 3gb to max it. Do you think the screen would be better for PS work on the newer models?
Click to expand...

Side by side, I do notice a difference in screen quality between the LED backlight MBPs and the older non-LED displays. That being said, I only notice the difference when they are placed side by side.

I would max RAM and maybe get an SSD depending on your capacity requirements.
 
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