Macbook Pro 15" 2.4 Ghz - Upgrade to 10.6?

[kasofo]

I have an opportunity to buy a used Macbook Pro 15" 2.4 Ghz Intel Core 2 duo with 4 GB of ram for $350 from my nephew. Question is, it's running 10.5.8 now. Can I upgrade to 10.6? At $350, is it a steal?

Any advice gladly welcome since I'm not so savvy on these things. 😉

 

[falterego]

That should have no problem running 10.6. I had the 2006 MB 2.0 CSD and now a 2010 MBP 2.2 C2D that both had no issues with 10.6. If you're concerned about performance, you could invest in a SSD, or the less expensive option of a memory upgrade.

Personally, If I could find one of those for $350 I would snatch it up as fast as I could.

 

[wegster]

I have an opportunity to buy a used Macbook Pro 15" 2.4 Ghz Intel Core 2 duo with 4 GB of ram for $350 from my nephew. Question is, it's running 10.5.8 now. Can I upgrade to 10.6? At $350, is it a steal?

Any advice gladly welcome since I'm not so savvy on these things. 😉

Unless I'm wrong, the cpu speed means it's at least a (pre-unibody) Santa Rosa chipset: http://www.everymac.com/systems/app...k-pro-core-2-duo-2.4-15-santa-rosa-specs.html

which can take up to 6GB of RAM, and yeah, for $350, would be a pretty good deal, as non pro 13" macbooks of the same era still go for $400-$500-ish. it may be newer, which has incremental but relatively minor improvements, or may be a unibody, can't guess.

Check that it's indeed a 2.4GHz C2D, and not an earlier core chip...any C2D can upgrade not only to Snow Leopard but to Lion.

 

[kasofo]

Unless I'm wrong, the cpu speed means it's at least a (pre-unibody) Santa Rosa chipset: http://www.everymac.com/systems/app...k-pro-core-2-duo-2.4-15-santa-rosa-specs.html

which can take up to 6GB of RAM, and yeah, for $350, would be a pretty good deal, as non pro 13" macbooks of the same era still go for $400-$500-ish. it may be newer, which has incremental but relatively minor improvements, or may be a unibody, can't guess.

Check that it's indeed a 2.4GHz C2D, and not an earlier core chip...any C2D can upgrade not only to Snow Leopard but to Lion.

Thanks so much for your quick reply! I don't get everything you've said but basically get that: 1. it's a good deal, 2. find out if it's C2D so I can upgrade.

 

[kasofo]

That should have no problem running 10.6. I had the 2006 MB 2.0 CSD and now a 2010 MBP 2.2 C2D that both had no issues with 10.6. If you're concerned about performance, you could invest in a SSD, or the less expensive option of a memory upgrade.

Personally, If I could find one of those for $350 I would snatch it up as fast as I could.

Hey, your original post has some offensive language in it. I don't like that.

 

[snaky69]

Hey, your original post has some offensive language in it. I don't like that.

Go to the -> About This Mac -> More Info... and tell us what the model identifier is.

If it is the 4,1, you have the nVidia 8600GT ticking time bomb. The graphics card in those models has a known defect where it will eventually fail, leading to a computer that will not display anything.

Fortunately for you Apple will change your logic board free of charge should this happen.

 

[Freyqq]

I have an opportunity to buy a used Macbook Pro 15" 2.4 Ghz Intel Core 2 duo with 4 GB of ram for $350 from my nephew. Question is, it's running 10.5.8 now. Can I upgrade to 10.6? At $350, is it a steal?

Any advice gladly welcome since I'm not so savvy on these things. 😉

I have a very similar mbp, except it is 2.2 c2d instead of 2.4. Yes, it can run 10.6. Only issue is finding a 10.6 dvd, now that lion is out.

That's a great price, and it is a very good computer. The only thing to watch out for is the video card. It should have a 8600gt from nvidia, which had a large recall due to a defect. It potentially could die on you at some point, or you may never have an issue. Mine hasn't died yet, but the motherboard, which includes the video card, has been replaced a couple times for unrelated issues.