Prolonging the life of a 2008 MBP

[bigmc6000]

So I'm trying to figure out how to prolong the life of my early 2008 MBP. It's still holding up just fine in all regards except it's getting a little slow and the 250GB hard drive just isn't cutting it. I've thought of a couple of options but wanted some opinions. I could get a 7200rpm 750GB drive for only $80 or so and that's obviously a huge step up in capacity and a nice increase in spindle speed but I'm worried that won't be enough to really make a difference in keeping me from going to a new mac mini within the next year or so. The other option I've thought about is going with a 128GB SSD and then permenantly hooking up a larger (1-3TB) external drive via FW800 and putting all my iTunes and iPhoto libraries on that as well as all non-system files. Do you guys think that would save my MBP for another 2-3 years or should I just go ahead and get the new i7 mac mini with the fusion drive (although now we're talking $1000 - $1100 after monitor and such).

Thoughts?

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Or I could invest in an express card to USB 3.0 adapter and hook up an external HD that way - I've never messed around with the Express Card slot though so I'd need a full range of advice on that option.

 

[zackkmac]

The 750GB hard drive upgrade would really only do you good in terms of capacity. If you want a noticeable performance increase an SSD would be the way to go. Or even the 750GB Seagate Momentus XT, which is a hybrid of the two. Granted, it won't be true SSD speeds as it's not all solid-state, but it would be an improvement.

Also, if you haven't done so, you could upgrade the RAM. Those are about your only options as far as prolonging the life and usability of the laptop.

The Mac Mini would be a huge difference in performance, but it does cost more and is not a laptop. But, you do get a new computer with a new 1-year warranty with the option of adding AppleCare. So if you can afford to, I would recommend that or maybe a 2011 MacBook Pro. In another 2-3 years your MBP will be 6-7 years old which would then not be a very ideal setup.

 

[bigmc6000]

I upgraded the RAM to 8 a while ago so I think I'm set there. Would the XT drive give me a noticeable improvement? I've been reading about it online in a number of different places and some say it's a leap and others say it's just a little bit of a bump.

I've been looking at refurb'd/old Macs but the problem is only the newest ones are USB 3.0 and with those HD's costing virutally as much as the USB 2's I'd really like that for future expansion. I'm not stuck on the laptop as I really don't go anywhere with it any more since I have my iPad but getting a completely new computer would run me at least 1k (mini + fusion + monitor).

 

[zackkmac]

I think for yours it would be closer to a leap than a bump. A lot of the reviews I saw were from people who have 2011-2012 machines which have faster, newer hardware.

Not sure how easy it is to upgrade the HD in the new Mini but you can probably save a lot of money by doing your own Fusion Drive later. As for the USB 3.0, you would have to get a 2012 Mac.

 

[bigmc6000]

I think for yours it would be closer to a leap than a bump. A lot of the reviews I saw were from people who have 2011-2012 machines which have faster, newer hardware.

Not sure how easy it is to upgrade the HD in the new Mini but you can probably save a lot of money by doing your own Fusion Drive later. As for the USB 3.0, you would have to get a 2012 Mac.

Would my computer handle that without their software or would I have to run something on it to get it to figure that out?

 

[zackkmac]

If you're talking about the Fusion Drive, there are threads here and websites found by a Google search that explain the process of creating your own Fusion Drive.

Basically you do it on a Terminal Window at the OS X Installer screen before you install OS X Mountain Lion. It will work, be seen, and treated exactly as if it came from Apple with a Fusion Drive.