Should I breathe new life into my 2010 17" MBP?

[u6crash]

My 17" MBP turns four this year. It's running 10.9 and it's kind of slow. I wonder how much I could benefit by putting in a brand new hard drive and doing a fresh OS install. Or should I save my pennies for a new computer?

If I go the hard drive route, any that you recommend or suggest staying away from?

 

[DeltaMac]

If your sig is still accurate, you could start by upgrading the memory to 8 GB.

Then, replacing your hard drive with an SSD would be a great upgrade, too.

 

[Marty62]

I always find a new HD and fresh install of OS/Apps makes a HUGE difference.

RAM bump and a nice Samsung EVO SSD and it would feel like a brand new
machine.

That's a great Mac, i would have loved a 17 but they stopped making them
in 2012.

Total cost maybe $450 ... I think that's worth it.

M

 

[u6crash]

It would be a small nightmare finding all the original install sources for some of my applications, but maybe it would be worth it.

$450 is more than I can spare right now, but I guess I don't have to do it all at once and I should still be getting a tax return.

Thanks for the help!

 

[bigeasy_uk]

If you don't use your optical drive just get a 120-128gb SSD for OS and apps and install the old hard drive in the optical bay. that way it is a cheap upgrade and you get the benefits of the ssd without losing storage space.

 

[Mike Boreham]

It would be a small nightmare finding all the original install sources for some of my applications, but maybe it would be worth it.

After doing the RAM and SSD, you could do an erase-install-import-from-clone using Setup Assistant (not Migration Assistant). This will put a fresh operating system on your SSD and preserve all your data, apps, settings, serial numbers etc.

If you are not satisfied with the result you can then do the completely fresh install where you reinstall everything from scratch.

You will have lost little by trying the import route first and will avoid the pain of the completely clean install if it works.

I have done a completely fresh install twice in 13 years of OSX on about seven different macs, but I have lost count of how many times I have done erase-install-import.

PS I also have a 2010 17inch MBP and there is plenty of life in it yet.

 

[u6crash]

Hey folks, bumping this post again because my computer is making me sad. I upgraded my RAM so I've got 8GB now and I've got a 1TB hybrid SSD hard drive that seems to be doing well. Did a fresh install and imported my data. Lost a handful of settings and contacts (I still have the hard drive if I really wanted to bother), but it was a pretty successful transfer.

One thing I neglected to mention before is that two of my three USB ports are fried. Basically only one of them works so if I want to use multiple USB ports at a time I'm using a hub.

In more troubling news, my battery was not working correctly. On and off for a while I'd had the "Service Battery" notice when I was working on battery power. I took a gamble and bought a third party battery on eBay. It seemed great for a week and now I don't dare run the computer without being connected to the power supply. Once while the battery icon indicated 50% life, the computer just shut down and I've since received the "Service Battery" notice again. I'd read a message somewhere that the cost to get Apple to put a genuine battery in was around $175. Should I splurge or just keep on keeping on as best I can until I can afford a new system?

 

[DeltaMac]

Batteries (the correct Apple part number is 661-5535) range pretty wide in price.
Check at an actual Apple store, or authorised repair center for Apple's real cost.
Here's the lowest price I could find (for one that claims to be OEM, anyway)
http://www.welovemacs.com/6615535o.html
Easy to instal - do it yourself (you do need the correct tri-wing tool for the battery screws - but maybe you already have one? Or, here's one of those tools: http://www.ifixit.com/Tools/Tri-wing-Y1-Screwdriver/IF145-107 )

 

[Hieveryone]

DeltaMac is right. Upgrade your RAM to 8GB and your hard drive an SSD. You can youtube videos that compare HDD vs SSD and you can get an idea of how big the difference really is.

If you computer is working, I'd keep running it. The couple of tweaks mentioned essentially make your computer new, because if you bought a new computer from Apple, I assume you'd get 8 GB and an SSD anyway which would be the main highlights.