Life in the old girl (Late 2006 MBP 15) yet?

[i-n]

I have a late 2006 MacBook Pro 2.16 C2D (2GB RAM, 160GB HD) running Lion which I no longer use. I've had it since new and it was my first Mac.

My question is, would there be any benefit to upgrading to SSD, replacing the now dead battery with a view to using it as an iTunes server or Handbrake workhorse? It's still running fine and seems a shame to cast it off.

On the other hand, I could sell it and put the money towards a refurbished iPad mini 2.

My current setup includes a mid 2014 rMBP 13, iPhone 6, Apple TV and ACD 23 HD.

Thoughts or ideas?

 

[2984839]

I'd do it. That would be a fun laptop with an SSD.

 

[srshaw]

I'd stick in a bit more memory and bigger hard disk and I think you would have a very useable computer.

 

[totten76]

I gotta be honest, that's just impressive lol

 

[garirry]

First, if you don't care about software compatibility, downgrade to Snow Leopard. Most programs will work, but a few won't unfortunately, so make sure to double-check that, although it will run faster. If you stick with Lion, upgrade to 4GB of RAM (I think that's the max but I may be wrong).

Considering the SSD, if you put one, it'll run quite fast, faster than an HDD, and will let you boot into OS X much faster and load files faster, overall. I recommend a 128GB for about 80$. You could put a 64GB if you put nothing on there or 256GB if you're actually planning on storing a lot of media on the thing.

About the dead battery, you could just permanently connect it via Magsafe and not move it around at all (you could connect it to your TV for example and putting it closed on the table or something like that). A battery is expensive and may cost you 50-80$, but you could buy that if you prefer carrying it around.

Personally, if I had a little bit of money to buy an SSD and memory, I'll do it. Selling it is pointless since you aren't getting a lot for a partially broken and outdated computer (max 150$), so using it for media is a great choice.

 

[snaky69]

I have a late 2006 MacBook Pro 2.16 C2D (2GB RAM, 160GB HD) running Lion which I no longer use. I've had it since new and it was my first Mac.

My question is, would there be any benefit to upgrading to SSD, replacing the now dead battery with a view to using it as an iTunes server or Handbrake workhorse? It's still running fine and seems a shame to cast it off.

On the other hand, I could sell it and put the money towards a refurbished iPad mini 2.

My current setup includes a mid 2014 rMBP 13, iPhone 6, Apple TV and ACD 23 HD.

Thoughts or ideas?

Meh, a computer nearing the 10 year old mark really isn't worth sinking money into to me.

 

[i-n]

First, if you don't care about software compatibility, downgrade to Snow Leopard. Most programs will work, but a few won't unfortunately, so make sure to double-check that, although it will run faster. If you stick with Lion, upgrade to 4GB of RAM (I think that's the max but I may be wrong).

Considering the SSD, if you put one, it'll run quite fast, faster than an HDD, and will let you boot into OS X much faster and load files faster, overall. I recommend a 128GB for about 80$. You could put a 64GB if you put nothing on there or 256GB if you're actually planning on storing a lot of media on the thing.

About the dead battery, you could just permanently connect it via Magsafe and not move it around at all (you could connect it to your TV for example and putting it closed on the table or something like that). A battery is expensive and may cost you 50-80$, but you could buy that if you prefer carrying it around.

Personally, if I had a little bit of money to buy an SSD and memory, I'll do it. Selling it is pointless since you aren't getting a lot for a partially broken and outdated computer (max 150$), so using it for media is a great choice.

Thanks for the suggestions. I wouldn't mind downgrading to Snow Leopard as it will allow me work on some old Logic 8 projects, would it make a noticeable difference to the speed of the system? I see that iTunes 12 is only supported from Lion upwards, could that cause any issues with Apple TV 7.2 and iOS 8?

 

[garirry]

Thanks for the suggestions. I wouldn't mind downgrading to Snow Leopard as it will allow me work on some old Logic 8 projects, would it make a noticeable difference to the speed of the system? I see that iTunes 12 is only supported from Lion upwards, could that cause any issues with Apple TV 7.2 and iOS 8?

I'm surprised that iTunes 12 dropped support for 10.6.8 (not even XP). Regardless, every single device is capable of syncing with iTunes 11.4, still compatible with Snow Leopard. All current devices will work, although it is unknown for newer ones in the future.

About Logic, I'm not really advanced in the Logic pre-X business, but I assume you can get Logic 9 which works fine on my Macbook 2008 running SL.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

First, if you don't care about software compatibility, downgrade to Snow Leopard. Most programs will work, but a few won't unfortunately, so make sure to double-check that, although it will run faster. If you stick with Lion, upgrade to 4GB of RAM (I think that's the max but I may be wrong).

That specific model can take 4GB RAM, but it will only utilize 3.2Gb, so upping it to 3Gb is most logical. Also, I agree on the Snow Leopard part. Lion don't really provide any features that are worth it IMO, apart from a few API changes for various programs.

I have the exact same model as OP, and upgraded it with a 160Gb X-25 Intel SSD some years back and was plesantly surprised at the speed boost, so I highly recommend it. It actually felt markedly faster in most things compared to my 2011 iMac with a quad i7 3,4 Ghz, until I also upgraded that with an SSD.

I am still actively using it to this day for writing on the go, presentations, etc. Still gives me 2 hours on its 3rd battery!

 

[chevalier433]

I have a late 2006 MacBook Pro 2.16 C2D (2GB RAM, 160GB HD) running Lion which I no longer use. I've had it since new and it was my first Mac.

My question is, would there be any benefit to upgrading to SSD, replacing the now dead battery with a view to using it as an iTunes server or Handbrake workhorse? It's still running fine and seems a shame to cast it off.

On the other hand, I could sell it and put the money towards a refurbished iPad mini 2.

My current setup includes a mid 2014 rMBP 13, iPhone 6, Apple TV and ACD 23 HD.

Thoughts or ideas?

Add a SSD revert back to snow handbrake will be a little harsh but still should be a capable machine!

 

[darngooddesign]

If you want it as a media server, upgrade it with a small SSD and replace the optical with a really big platter drive. Then stick the optical in an external enclosure.

I put a new battery in my 2008 2.4 C2D Pro and it runs Yosemite like a champ. I have a work computer so I use it for modest things like music, browsing, coding, Lightroom/Photoshop, and Photos.

I might do the above mentioned upgrade as I already have the 1TB drive in it.

 

[i-n]

That specific model can take 4GB RAM, but it will only utilize 3.2Gb, so upping it to 3Gb is most logical. Also, I agree on the Snow Leopard part. Lion don't really provide any features that are worth it IMO, apart from a few API changes for various programs.

I have the exact same model as OP, and upgraded it with a 160Gb X-25 Intel SSD some years back and was plesantly surprised at the speed boost, so I highly recommend it. It actually felt markedly faster in most things compared to my 2011 iMac with a quad i7 3,4 Ghz, until I also upgraded that with an SSD.

I am still actively using it to this day for writing on the go, presentations, etc. Still gives me 2 hours on its 3rd battery!

That's great to hear you saw such a speed boost, especially in comparison to a quad i7 2011 iMac!

In terms of SSD, are there any brands/types that work well/don't play well with this vintage of MBP? For example, this machine is SATA 1.5 Gb/s but most modern SSDs are SATA 6 Gb/s. I'm currently looking at a SanDisk 128GB SSD.

Also, does 10.6 allow scheduled starts? I think this would work perfectly for an iTunes server.

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions.

 

[JTToft]

In terms of SSD, are there any brands/types that work well/don't play well with this vintage of MBP? For example, this machine is SATA 1.5 Gb/s but most modern SSDs are SATA 6 Gb/s. I'm currently looking at a SanDisk 128GB SSD.

- Not particularly, I don't think. Most SSDs should be fine. A SATA III SSD will simply negotiate at your SATA I speed - it shouldn't be a problem.
Have a look at the budget-priced Crucial BX100.

 

[Badrottie]

I had 2007 15" MBP I upgraded an Intel 320 Series SSD 160GB and it also have a 4GB memory so I sold it for $400 almost 3 years ago.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

- Not particularly, I don't think. Most SSDs should be fine. A SATA III SSD will simply negotiate at your SATA I speed - it shouldn't be a problem.
Have a look at the budget-priced Crucial BX100.

While transfer speeds are limited by SATAI, seek times and whatever stuff an SSD do without communicating through the SATA interface will of course be faster on a modern SSD, I would still recommend just finding something cheap and maybe used, for such an old machine.

The X-25 I used was already a used drive, and worked fine as mentioned. I wouldn't spend many $ on a new drive personally.