MacBook Pro penryn 2008 17 inch?

[gdourado]

Hello,

How are you?
I have the opportunity to pick up a 2008 17 inch MacBook Pro BTO.
With the C2d 2.6, 4gb of ram, 200gb 7200rpm hdd and matte 1920x1200 screen.
It is in pretty good condition.
Is this still a good laptop for web browsing, iWork and manage the iTunes library?
Also, is the optical drive sata? Can I install an optibay?

Cheers and thanks.

 

[robvas]

It's not SATA - so you can't use an optibay, at least not one from OWC. Even if you found an optibay that worked, you'd have to get a PATA drive to put it in which would be really expensive and hard to find.

 

[gdourado]

It's not SATA - so you can't use an optibay, at least not one from OWC. Even if you found an optibay that worked, you'd have to get a PATA drive to put it in which would be really expensive and hard to find.

Thank you for your reply.
So the optibay is out of the question.
How about the rest? Is it a good laptop still today?

Cheers

 

[Idefix]

Still has the NVIDIA 8600M graphics problem, meaning that even if it has had the mother board replaced, the replaced MB could also go bad.

 

[gdourado]

Still has the NVIDIA 8600M graphics problem, meaning that even if it has had the mother board replaced, the replaced MB could also go bad.

Now you got me scared... What is that problem?

Cheers!

 

[gdourado]

The person who has the Macbook Pro says that the Logic Board was replaced in 2009 under warranty because of the know issue with the graphic unit.
Does this make the problem solved?

Also, that specific Macbook Pro has an Express card 34 slot. Will it be able to use a USB 3 express card from Lindy for example?

Best regards.

 

[yusukeaoki]

The person who has the Macbook Pro says that the Logic Board was replaced in 2009 under warranty because of the know issue with the graphic unit.
Does this make the problem solved?

Also, that specific Macbook Pro has an Express card 34 slot. Will it be able to use a USB 3 express card from Lindy for example?

Best regards.

Im not too sure about the replaced logic board but the graphic failure was a major problem.

No, so far only 1 or 2 /34 USB3 adapters are available.
They exist but not compatible.
Mac compatible models cost nearly 100$.

 

[chrisperro]

i wouldn't touch that laptop with that graphics card even if is been replace ,is a ticking time bomb.My opinion

 

[gdourado]

i wouldn't touch that laptop with that graphics card even if is been replace ,is a ticking time bomb.My opinion

Hello,

Can you please ellaborate a bit more?
Can it fail again? And if it fails it would need a new logic board?
How bad was that 8600m problem?

Cheers!

 

[chrisperro]

Hello,

Can you please ellaborate a bit more?
Can it fail again? And if it fails it would need a new logic board?
How bad was that 8600m problem?

Cheers!

the problem was and is massive,search google,thousands of people had that problem,it was a 4 years recall that ended lat week and yes can fail again ,is less chance but...
http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/feedback/MacBookPro_video_failure.html
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how much are the seller asking price?
and is a early 2008 or late? ,i guess does not matter ,is the same chip anyways.

 

[snaky69]

Hello,


Can it fail again? And if it fails it would need a new logic board?
How bad was that 8600m problem?

Cheers!

Yes. Yes. Very bad, pretty much every single 8600M GT is a ticking time bomb, heat cycling causes soldering to come undone on the poorly made dye, which means it'll most likely fail again.

 

[T5BRICK]

Hello,

Can you please ellaborate a bit more?
Can it fail again? And if it fails it would need a new logic board?
How bad was that 8600m problem?

Cheers!

Some people have reported that they needed several replacements due to this problem over the lifetime of their MBPs.

I agree with the other posters. It's a good idea to stay away from the models affected by this (now expired) repair extension.

 

[gdourado]

The asking price is 630 euros.
Is it a good deal?
I like it for the screen, but I guess I can try to find a more recent unibody model if there is a risk of it failing any day without notice.

Cheers.

 

[chrisperro]

The asking price is 630 euros.
Is it a good deal?
I like it for the screen, but I guess I can try to find a more recent unibody model if there is a risk of it failing any day without notice.

Cheers.

i would recommend to do just that.