MBPro Mid 2009 who owns one , how long are you planning on keeping?

[whoknows87]

I have mid 2009 pro 2.53Ghz, 8GB Ram, 320 GB, it's been great, only one issue and that was fixed turned out to be a minor issue, with that said I'm thinking of making the switch to an Air just to get something new and portability plus I dont want to keep waiting and then can't sell the 2009 for any money I can't belive I saw some for $500 , how long do you plan on keeping your 2009 model if you do have one?

 

[clyde2801]

8 gigs (which you already have) and a modest SSD breathed new life into my wife's 2008 2.4ghz c2d MBP. Keep an eye out for SSD specials on newegg and amazon, and you can give it a shot in the arm for a relative pittance. If you need 320 gb or more storage, you can get a Momentus XT 750 gig hybrid for roughly 3/4 of a pittance.

Presumably, you're doing general consumer usage on it, since you're not mentioning a specific program or asking about gaming.

If it's still meeting your needs, use it for as long as you can; God knows Apple will have something even niftier in a year or two.

 

[whoknows87]

8 gigs (which you already have) and a modest SSD breathed new life into my wife's 2008 2.4ghz c2d MBP. Keep an eye out for SSD specials on newegg and amazon, and you can give it a shot in the arm for a relative pittance. If you need 320 gb or more storage, you can get a Momentus XT 750 gig hybrid for roughly 3/4 of a pittance.

Presumably, you're doing general consumer usage on it, since you're not mentioning a specific program or asking about gaming.

If it's still meeting your needs, use it for as long as you can; God knows Apple will have something even niftier in a year or two.

it's definitely meeting my needs and as for storage space I don't that much at all, I have 2 externals that i can use that total up to 750 GB , I'm not a gamer , little photos here and there light editing, everything else is casual , only reason I thought about selling is the resale value wait and wait it will be worth almost nothing ( pisses me off lol) so i figured sell so i don't come out pocket that much , and ifi decide to upgrade then selling a machine that is 1 year old will give good return

 

[snoylekim]

Mine is a Mid 2009 2.66 C2D .. It's the 'living room/kitchen' laptop, so it gets consumer and MS Office use these days..Upgraded the memory to 8 GB and replaced 5400 320 Spinner w/ 256 Samung 830 SSD .. It has a few years left unless Apple starts moving to everything not upgradeable .. will be around at least another year or so, I figure .. Best damn laptop I've ever owned , and I started owning them in 1994 !! It will be a shame when it comes time to pasture it ...

 

[clyde2801]

it's definitely meeting my needs and as for storage space I don't that much at all, I have 2 externals that i can use that total up to 750 GB , I'm not a gamer , little photos here and there light editing, everything else is casual , only reason I thought about selling is the resale value wait and wait it will be worth almost nothing ( pisses me off lol) so i figured sell so i don't come out pocket that much , and ifi decide to upgrade then selling a machine that is 1 year old will give good return

I do hear what you're saying, and have definitely felt your pain. The yearly intel upgrade cycle and more people buying and selling macs has taken its comparative toll on used mac resale values. Unless you're using the machine to make money, having the newest and brightest every year is a cost prohibitive, losing game.

Use the machine for as long as you comfortably can and save in the meanwhile for a new one. Since storage isn't a problem for you, a decent SSD may give your tried and true system a little bit of new car smell for a bit.

 

[whoknows87]

I do hear what you're saying, and have definitely felt your pain. The yearly intel upgrade cycle and more people buying and selling macs has taken its comparative toll on used mac resale values. Unless you're using the machine to make money, having the newest and brightest every year is a cost prohibitive, losing game.

Use the machine for as long as you comfortably can and save in the meanwhile for a new one. Since storage isn't a problem for you, a decent SSD may give your tried and true system a little bit of new car smell for a bit.

You feel my pain, I'm in no need of getting a new MB but the consumer in me wants a new box , new laptop This Pro treated me well , my first Mac I recently upgraded the ram and I do notice the difference lot smoother, these things lose value year after year, I just figured I might be in better position if I sell now ( hoping to get 600-850, I know I'm aiming high ...but you never know) for this model i'll try eBay , Craigslist etc so I only come out a few hundred bucks for a laptop that will last me few years down the line if Apple comes with something remarkable the following year, selling the previous year model can't be that bad you will lose a small amount of $, wont get a huge hit, but if keep this 2009 model around i'll probably get ......... peanuts lol

 

[thekev]

You feel my pain, I'm in no need of getting a new MB but the consumer in me wants a new box , new laptop This Pro treated me well , my first Mac I recently upgraded the ram and I do notice the difference lot smoother, these things lose value year after year, I just figured I might be in better position if I sell now ( hoping to get 600-850, I know I'm aiming high ...but you never know) for this model i'll try eBay , Craigslist etc so I only come out a few hundred bucks for a laptop that will last me few years down the line if Apple comes with something remarkable the following year, selling the previous year model can't be that bad you will lose a small amount of $, wont get a huge hit, but if keep this 2009 model around i'll probably get ......... peanuts lol

It's definitely not worth $850. You really have a problem with the way you see these things. Electronics by their nature are sunken costs, and you aren't looking at them from the perspective of their potential market today. First off if the battery is from 2009, it won't last forever. Older batteries have been known to swell (happened to me) or they eventually die due to cycle count or whatever else. Chargers can wear out and break too, usually due to cord wear. Displays dim over time and can eventually run into problems. If the hard drive is already 3 years old in a computer that has been frequently used, it has maybe another year before it's due for retirement. You can run these things until they die, but it's not necessarily a good idea. Overall you have to figure the wear and tear from use, that it's a used item with no warranty of any kind, and that this just is older. Someone buying it today to use for the next 3 years would be going off completely different requirements, and these have to include that they may soon be cut off from the latest versions of various things.

Beyond that 2010 and 2011 were both significant performance increases compared to the prior years. If you aren't comfortable with the fact that these are worth a fraction of their initial value, spend less next time. Also trying to recoup most of the value on a prior year purchase only works at the lower end where you're catering to a used crowd who just wants a Mac. If you look at the 15" models, an early 2011 15" was worth over 40% less by mid 2012 when the new ones came out.

 

[T5BRICK]

Older batteries have been known to swell (happened to me) or they eventually die due to cycle count or whatever else. Chargers can wear out and break too, usually due to cord wear. Displays dim over time and can eventually run into problems. If the hard drive is already 3 years old in a computer that has been frequently used, it has maybe another year before it's due for retirement.

Batteries, chargers, displays and hard drives can all be replaced. Three of those are actually very simple jobs. If the computer suits your needs, why not? Also, as for displays, I don't believe LED displays have the drastic dimming issues that the old CCFL backlit units did.

You can run these things until they die, but it's not necessarily a good idea.

Why exactly isn't it a good idea?

 

[yusukeaoki]

Still have it as a back up.
I dont mainly use it but still runs most of the time.

3.06GHz/8GB/256GB SSD + 500GB optibay.

Keeping it until support dies on me

 

[zepman]

I also have a 2.53 MBP. I have update it with 8 GB RAM and a 256 GB SSD. About a month before the AppleCare experienced the battery showed "Service battery" so I was lucky to get a brand new battery.
The SSD made a huge performance different and the computer feels fast enough for most of my needs now. It's only when I editing photos now and then that I feel the computer could use some more power, both graphics and CPU.
I planing to keep the computer at least till new MBPs with Intels Haswell comes out some time next year, maybe longer.
I doubt I will sell my 2009 computer when I finally buys a new one. It's by then probably not worth very much and it's always good to have a backup computer.

 

[thekev]

Batteries, chargers, displays and hard drives can all be replaced. Three of those are actually very simple jobs. If the computer suits your needs, why not? Also, as for displays, I don't believe LED displays have the drastic dimming issues that the old CCFL backlit units did.

You're right in that LEDs don't dim as much. The displays still shift somewhat, which is evident if you track their profiles. You may have mistaken my overall message. The OP was annoyed by the perceived market value. I was trying to make the point that this someone buying a used machine with wear on such components for use over the next several years has to factor in the potential for such maintenance costs more than the first owner. If you're creeping toward the $1000 mark on a significantly slower model, it can often make more sense just to look at Apple's refurbished options. I'm just saying that it makes no sense to worry about decreasing used value unless you think it's about to take an enormous hit due to an upcoming transition to unsupported status or something like that. The OP can complain, but Apple already undercuts a lot of people on here when it comes to 2011 machines.

Why exactly isn't it a good idea?

Older drives can slow down and sometimes encounter an increasing number of bad sectors. It's usually easier to change the thing once every 4-5 years if it's a primary drive that is constantly in use rather than deal with the higher chance of failure or corruption due to long term wear. This is especially prevalent in notebooks that are opened and shut frequently. The things are spun up and down constantly. It's not as big of a deal with external storage assuming a quality solution is used (not cheap firewire drives with bad cooling that often experience bridgeport failure).

My statement is obviously somewhat opinionated, so feel free to add corrections or counter points.

 

[svendobbelaere]

We still have and use a mid-2009 13" MacBook Pro. I maxed out the RAM to 8 GB, and replaced the hard drive with an 128 GB SSD (Intel).

My wife uses it for her business, connected to an external screen + keyboard + magic touchpad, using it for word / excel / pdf / indesign / mail / internet / music. It's more than adequate for what she uses it for.

The battery is still pretty ok; had to replace the charger but that's no biggie.

We're not thinking of replacing it anytime soon. Should it fail, she'll probably take over my early 2011 13" MacBook Pro (12 GB RAM + 128 GB SSD), and I'll get a newer machine.

 

[Zedsdead185]

I have the 2.66ghz mid 2009 MBP and it still serves me well as my main computer. I do a lot of design stuff on there with the adobe suite (mainly indesign, dreamweaver and photoshop) and it serves its purpose fantastically.

I upgraded the ram to 8Gb a while ago, and have recently this past week had to replace the 320gb HDD with a replacement due to it failing, and so bought a crucial v4 256gb which has boosted its performance to new heights.

I have thought about getting a new iMac soon (would preferrably want a mac pro for power and longevity, but can't really afford one and would like them to be updated first) But I would definately keep the MBP as a portable/backup computer.

Oh, and I still have the original battery. After a total of 575 cycles it still has 95% health best laptop battery I've ever experienced!