Mid-2009 MacBook Pro--Keep Upgrading or Replace?

[Kristi12]

I have a Mid-2009 MacBook Pro that has been working great up until recently. I started having some slow issues after upgrading to Yosemite but it turned out to be my lack of RAM at that point. I have upgraded to 8 GB RAM (~$200) and have seen a big improvement. Therefore, I felt good about the computer. I have been having rainbow wheel issues and I will be taking the computer back to Tekserve who installed my RAM to see if it's defective as it's covered under a warranty.

Also, yesterday I saw (for the first time) Status: Replace Soon for my battery. I will be getting a quote on Friday for a new battery. I have seen on another NYC website they replace the battery for $100. I'm assuming Tekserve may be more expensive but I will see then.

Anyway, is it worth it for me to keep putting all this work into this MacBook Pro or should I consider getting a new one. Am I going to encounter issues every couple of months now?

I just purchased an iMac at the end of 2013. Lately, I haven't been using it much because I'm on the go all the time with graduate school.

I use programs such as Final Cut Pro and Photoshop Elements to name a few and it's been very helpful to have them on my MacBook to do work on the go.

Lastly, if I decided to get a new one, would it be worth it to sell this one? Any ideas what I could get?

8GB RAM
250 GB Harddrive
2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M 256 MB

Thanks!

 

[Richdmoore]

If you are going to replace the battery, I would go for a real apple part, while you still can. I believe the computer is about to become vintage, then a genuine battery will be impossible to source. Third party batteries are hit an miss, so it may not be worth the cost savings.

(I just did an official battery replacement with a 2009 17" macbook pro, the early 2009 is vintage and they can't do a battery replacement, but the late 2009 model is fortunately is still supported for now.)

 

[5aga]

Honestly, I say go ahead sell it off while you can still get a decent amount for it.

I just sold off my mid 2012 cMBP, which had 16gb RAM and an SSD, and the retinas are way faster. Plus I have a feeling the older machines probably won't be supported for much longer.

 

[David58117]

Honestly, I say go ahead sell it off while you can still get a decent amount for it.

I just sold off my mid 2012 cMBP, which had 16gb RAM and an SSD, and the retinas are way faster. Plus I have a feeling the older machines probably won't be supported for much longer.

Was that a 15" that you sold?

How much did you ask..?

I also agree that you should sell it OP.

 

[ghanwani]

It's probably not worth upgrading it too much. There are several things susceptible to breaking including
- Fraying of the charging cable
- Feet falling off
- SuperDrive failing

I've had all these issues and then some with mine, and many were covered in warranty.

What kind of apps are you running when you encounter slowness? I thought mine was slow when using Chrome until I installed an ad blocker. Then things got a lot faster.

You can see how much your machine is worth by searching on craigslist; e.g. I just searched for "2009 macbook pro".
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/search/sss?query=2009 macbook pro&sort=rel

 

[Quijano187]

If you wanna sell it . I might be interested.