MBP 2010 pre-owned or higher model?

[heyitsejohn]

Hey guys, I'm about to make an MBP purchase and I wanted to know your thoughts - a friend is offering me an MBP 2010 in very good condition (2.4GHz and 4GB RAM) for around $500. But at the same time it's a pretty old model already and I don't wanna miss out on anything cool. Also, I'm currently on a unibody white MacBook 2.4GHz with 2GB RAM and on this one I'm getting quite a bit of slowdown and spinning wheels already. So with the same processor speed as the 2010 MBP I'm wondering if I'm going to get similar performance.

In terms of usage, I do heavy web browsing (around 20 tabs open in Chrome), along with MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, and of course iTunes. This is in addition to Postbox and OmniFocus. The above pretty much represents what I have open at any given time, and responsiveness takes a hit. I also do some light Photoshop work and the occasional video edit. The system becomes laggy, especially on Chrome with a lot of tabs open. What do you guys think? Should I get the 2010 at that price or pony up additional cash for a newer model? Budget isn't a major issue as I'm willing to wait to save up some more, but at the same time, any money I save goes towards an iPhone 5S. Question I guess is, will the MBP 2010 keep me happy for another two or so years given the usage I described above?

Also, if I get the MBP it's going to be my primary computer.

 

[jdblas69]

I have the same laptop, I have put in 8gb ram and replaced with a SSD. Overall I have been happy with this unit. At this point if you only wanted to keep it for a year or 2 it probably would suffice. If you threw in 8gb of ram I think you would see a big improvement from the 2gb in your white macbook.

 

[Aaron from KY]

Your money would be better spent on a 250BG SSD and 4-8GB of RAM, because the 2010 macbook pro has the same exact motherboard and processor as your Whitebook. Those 2 tweaks, which should cost well less than $300 will boost your Whitebook's performance and keep $200 in your pocket. You don't necessarily need an SSD, as even a 750GB Hard drive would help and cost less to boot! Examples below:

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-MZ-7T...F8&qid=1375808588&sr=8-2&keywords=samsung+ssd

http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Tech...dp/B001PS9UKW/ref=amtcd_B00505EZYM_B001PS9UKW