Rebuild vs. Buying a New MBP

[macphotog718]

I am looking to save some money and rebuild an old computer rather than spend the 2000 on a new one. I have a late 2008 MBP that has lasted quite a long time and obviously performs at a much more sluggish rate. Im curious if I could restore some of its power by replacing the existing hard drive with a SSD and adding 8Gb of ram. Or would it still be slow since the processor and the rest of the internal parts are old?

 

[MCAsan]

You might breath some extra life by upgrading memory to 16GB, replacing the existing HD with an SSD, and replacing the optical drive with a HD. You can find kits and videos at http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/hard-drives/2.5-Notebook/

 

[DIMEZ]

I am looking to save some money and rebuild an old computer rather than spend the 2000 on a new one. I have a late 2008 MBP that has lasted quite a long time and obviously performs at a much more sluggish rate. Im curious if I could restore some of its power by replacing the existing hard drive with a SSD and adding 8Gb of ram. Or would it still be slow since the processor and the rest of the internal parts are old?

very possible. ive done the same...just upgrade to 8gb ram and install an sad. Wouldn't feel like you need a new machine at all.

If it wasn't for the washed screen I would def keep mine.

 

[tmanto02]

You might breath some extra life by upgrading memory to 16GB, replacing the existing HD with an SSD, and replacing the optical drive with a HD. You can find kits and videos at http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/hard-drives/2.5-Notebook/

A 2008 model wont take 16GB

I am looking to save some money and rebuild an old computer rather than spend the 2000 on a new one. I have a late 2008 MBP that has lasted quite a long time and obviously performs at a much more sluggish rate. Im curious if I could restore some of its power by replacing the existing hard drive with a SSD and adding 8Gb of ram. Or would it still be slow since the processor and the rest of the internal parts are old?

But yes it will definitely bring your old macbook back to life. I did this w/ my 2009 MBP (See Signature). A full restore onto an to a solid-state drive is the best thing you can do. I work in an apple reseller and my 3 yr old computer is now faster than a brand new cMBP

 

[macphotog718]

But yes it will definitely bring your old macbook back to life. I did this w/ my 2009 MBP (See Signature). A full restore onto an to a solid-state drive is the best thing you can do. I work in an apple reseller and my 3 yr old computer is now faster than a brand new cMBP

Is there anything else you would recommend replacing/upgrading. I recently got a new battery, other than that?

 

[MaxPower72]

Is there anything else you would recommend replacing/upgrading. I recently got a new battery, other than that?

update to the newest OS X that supports your machine's architecture

 

[clyde2801]

As already mentioned, first try going up to 8gb of RAM, should be relatively cheap. Then try replacing your hard drive with an SSD if you find you're still needing an additional boost for day to day stuff.

 

[maflynn]

Upgrading the memory will only provide a boost in performance if you're hitting a lot page outs. That is if you have 8gb now, and only use safari, email, etc - the increase in ram isn't going to be noticeable.

For laptops you really are limited to upgrading the ram and drive - Depending on your usage will dictate if a ram upgrade is warranted. SSD will certainly help the performance.