Replace 2007 15" MBP w/ New 13" MBP?

[Epsilon88]

Hello,

I have a laptop from September 2007. It is a Macbook Pro 15", 2.2 GHZ, 2 GB RAM. It is in perfect condition, and recently had the logic board and battery replaced. Anyway, I am kind of getting sick of it because it's quite big to lug around, and the programs are outdated (eg: Office 2004). The OS, Tiger, even refuses to connect with my iPhone 4! I also find that it's a tad slow. But it truly is a gorgeous laptop physically.

Anyway, I am in the position right now of acquiring a brand new, top-of-the-line Macbook Pro 13" loaded with 8 GB RAM, a 256 GB SSD, Aperture 3, Office 2008, Final Cut 4, Snow Leopard, etc., etc. for 1900 USD. I can afford it fairly easily.

Do you think I should buy the 13" laptop and sell my 15 incher? Or am I just thinking that the grass is "greener on the other side" and that I'll miss the screen space? Alternatively, for less than $600, I could upgrade my MBP to 4 gigs of RAM and a solid state drive, + buy the Mac box set.

Thanks! (By the way, I was the person who posted about the Sony Vaio. I bought it, used it for some time, and returned it. I just found the small touchpad was irritating after a while).

 

[js81]

I think by far your best bet would be to upgrade yours to 4GB of RAM and Snow Leopard. While not totally within the user agreement, its common knowledge (just google some) that you can use the $29 Snow Leopard disc to upgrade from Tiger. 4GB of DDR2 and that should run you less than $150. I do NOT think that an SSD is worth it for that machine, though... maybe a faster/larger HD, though?

 

[alust2013]

That's a pretty decent deal for the 13, although I think updating your current machine would do you just fine. 4GB of Crucial (first brand I saw on newegg) should run you less than 80 bucks, maybe a 500GB 7200 RPM disk for another $75, SL for $29 (or if you want the box set for iLife and iWork, that's $169) So you could be looking at a total upgrade cost of $320 or so

 

[Epsilon88]

Thanks for your responses! If I went ahead and upgraded the RAM, is there a place that I can take it to? For example, would the Apple Store put in more RAM and replace the HD for a fee? Or is this really easy to do by myself?

 

[alust2013]

It's definitely doable yourself. I'm not too familiar with the inside of a non-unibody MBP, but if you google it, there will be several video guides online, I'm sure. Also, the Apple store will not put in 3rd party components. You have to buy from them, and blah blah blah. Basically, it's BS, and you get overcharged, so if you don't feel up to the task after seeing how it's done, take it to a 3rd party shop.

 

[GDOX316]

use the guide from ifixit.com. It really is quite helpful. I have taken my early 08' model apart plenty of times. Upgraded the ram and took the hdd out to be replaced with an intel 80gb X-2.

 

[NicoleRichie]

DIY, save some cash. Best of luck.

 

[smartalic34]

I had never touched the inside of a computer before, and I replaced my hard drive (and RAM) in my core duo MBP (similar innards to your MBP). The guides found online are perfect; it's very doable! Save some cash!

 

[Cosmo M3]

Thanks for your responses! If I went ahead and upgraded the RAM, is there a place that I can take it to? For example, would the Apple Store put in more RAM and replace the HD for a fee? Or is this really easy to do by myself?

changing the RAM out yourself is mega easy. It's almost embarassing if you don't do it yourself (it's THAT easy).

 

[DiamondGCoupe]

I'd recommend you go with a new 15"er. Its probably lighter than the old model and has a better processor. SSD is def the way to go. 8GB of ram may be overkill though even if running Aperture etc..

 

[tpg]

From a performance point of view, the current 13" macbook pro lags significantly behind the 15", since it uses integrated graphics and the previous-generation processor and chipset.

Obviously, the longer you wait, the better spec you'll be able to get, so if you're reasonably happy with the general speed of your laptop, upgrading it with more RAM and a larger hard drive might be the way to go!

 

[Epsilon88]

Hey guys, I'm reporting back. So I decided to go ahead and upgrade my current 15" Macbook Pro instead of spending a ton of money to buy a new, smaller one. Anyway, Future Shop quoted $50 for installing the RAM (a 2 minute job!) so I went to a small independent shop and they did it for free. I maxed out the RAM to 4 GB, for $130.

I then purchased the Mac OS X box set, and have the latest edition of iLife, iWork, and of course, Snow Leopard. My computer is much faster, and looks and feels new. Also, I really prefer iWork to Mac Office '04, which I was using previously.

Anyway, my laptop is awesome now. Thanks for the help!