MD101/102 MBP

[TianjinMBP]

I'm looking to buy a used MD101 or a 102 MBP and wondered what your opinions on the pluses and negatives of them. I'm a MBP 5,5 10 year owner and like the unibody/upgradable features. I like the 16GB RAM option of the MD 10? and just want to ask the people who have them what you think of them.

Thanks in advance

 

[spikie]

I have the base model with 2.5GHz CPU, upgraded to 16GB RAM and an SSD. It's still a completely capable laptop, I really don't feel it has any limitations for average use. It's absolutely powerful enough and can handle anything, except for heavy 4k video editing. I ran large simulations in R, worked on extremely large Excel files, 100s of browser tabs can be open if you want, it really won't struggle. Performance-wise it's really still perfectly fine for most.

My 2 issues are the low res screen and weight. The lack of Retina display is the biggest issue, the screen is just way better on the newer MBPs. Of course the display is not THAT bad but it is significantly worse than Retina displays, which is good enough reason to upgrade to a newer model in my opinion, especially if you spend a lot of time staring at your laptop everyday. It is also a very heavy laptop compared to what's out these days so if you will be taking it around daily with you to work it's not the best option for that.

Given that Apple still sold this laptop in 2016, you can definitely get a few more years out of it.

 

[Zen_Arcade]

Excellent machine. CPU is still adequate, and the ability to upgrade RAM and storage is a positive. Graphics are a bit long in the tooth - the HD4000 isn't competitive, and is probably the weak link along with the screen.

Worth doing if you get it cheaply enough - as @spikie wrote, the screen is also inferior (still good, but the retina screens are that much better).

 

[TianjinMBP]

I have the base model with 2.5GHz CPU, upgraded to 16GB RAM and an SSD. It's still a completely capable laptop, I really don't feel it has any limitations for average use. It's absolutely powerful enough and can handle anything, except for heavy 4k video editing. I ran large simulations in R, worked on extremely large Excel files, 100s of browser tabs can be open if you want, it really won't struggle. Performance-wise it's really still perfectly fine for most.

My 2 issues are the low res screen and weight. The lack of Retina display is the biggest issue, the screen is just way better on the newer MBPs. Of course the display is not THAT bad but it is significantly worse than Retina displays, which is good enough reason to upgrade to a newer model in my opinion, especially if you spend a lot of time staring at your laptop everyday. It is also a very heavy laptop compared to what's out these days so if you will be taking it around daily with you to work it's not the best option for that.

Given that Apple still sold this laptop in 2016, you can definitely get a few more years out of it.

Thanks! I'm using a 2009 13" and I mostly use it for writing and adding Chinese subtitles to movies. I don't mind the resolution issues. I'm wanting more RAM and my current model is maxed out at 8GB.
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Excellent machine. CPU is still adequate, and the ability to upgrade RAM and storage is a positive. Graphics are a bit long in the tooth - the HD4000 isn't competitive, and is probably the weak link along with the screen.

Worth doing if you get it cheaply enough - as @spikie wrote, the screen is also inferior (still good, but the retina screens are that much better).

I can get one here for about $400 second hand mostly because everyone wants the lightweight, glamorous Air models. Thanks for the advice!