Prepare to buy new MBP or upgrade (HDD/RAM/Battery) old one?

[Chiefo]

Hey everyone,
I own an early 2008 (I think?) MBP. Coconutbattery says it is 34 months old. It is the aluminum body 15" 2.4 ghz Intel Core 2 Duo w/ 2gig of ram and Nvidia 8600M GT. It has run flawlessly. Thankfully, no problems with the video card, either...although, the only game I have ever played on it is Starcraft 2.

Anyways, aside from some loud fan noise when playing Starcraft or watching a long movie, it has been a great computer. The battery is at 61% capacity.Unfortunately, I've recently gone back to graduate school...so I don't have a ton of liquid assets.

My question: Is it worth it to consider upgrading to 4gig of ram, a larger HDD, and maybe a new battery...or to hold onto it until it dies?

I'm going to assume conventional wisdom is not to invest any money into it, and to just hold onto it until it dies...I suppose I'm looking to see what the life expectancy for this thing is. Honestly, I didn't expect it to make it this long. Part of me fears that I will wake up one morning and it will be dead. Especially since not as much of my research is backed up as it should be.

Similar experiences?

 

[miles01110]

If you are going to spend any money, your priority should be:

1) Some sort of backup
2) RAM
3) HD

In my opinion, $150 spent on an external hard drive for backup (or even a few largish flash drives) is a lot more cost-effective than buying another battery. It's annoying, but you can always stick close to outlets.

 

[cameronwilby]

Agreed, first invest in backing up your system, then worry about performance upgrades.

If performance is more important to you, then buy RAM, HDD then Battery (in that order).

If battery life is more important, buy the battery first, then RAM, then HDD.

 

[hawse771]

How much would it cost you to upgrade Ram/HDD/Battery vs selling your MBP and buying a new one?

I am new to the Mac world but the deal Microcenter has on 13" MBP is unbeatable at $999

From looking on craigslist in the past used MBP hold their value eerily well. People are asking for $600-700 for your model it seems. Factor in the $200 (seems to be the cheapest you could upgrade to 4GB, get a new HDD, and Battery) and you're not far from a brand new 13" (better for class than a 15") MBP from Microcenter. It would be under applecare too that way so thats another plus, along with latest Mac OS and sexy styling and awesome battery life.

Just food for thought lol

 

[NickZac]

Your computer isn't exceptionally old and is not really outdated. Given how long the MBPs seem to last and the not so old age, I say keep it! How much can you get a battery for?

As far as RAM goes, you can go to 4GB dirt cheap and you might as well as it will help.

If you upgrade the hard drive, consider getting one of good quality. Many of the high end hard drives will last many, many years; especially the solid state drives (SSDs). Also, for on-the-go mobility, the SSD has many benefits over the hard magnetic disk drive.