Software should never cause a hardware failure. Additionally, we're talking operating systems, not video games - even though OS X offloads some functions to the GPU, it's not really GPU-intensive.
I have that model and I am typing this on it now, I also play cod 4 on it ALOT and the card is still running super fast.Since its been official that all 8600m GT cards are defective that we can only prolong the gpu failing..
Ok so this makes me feel like I've just gotten kicked in the crotch for the 2nd time. So this means the 3 year apple care I bought might be a lottery pick.
For the people who hardly ever games and reaches a low temperature of their gpu cards would take much longer for the gpu to die and what if your gpu dies a year after the 3 year warranty~
This has ruined my day, no week, no month.. no year~!!
There was actually a known problem with some 2007 models of MacBook Pro, although I can't remember the exact time frame... I had a model from 2007 (this was before they started with the "late/mid/early" designations, and the graphics card was an ATI Radeon x1600), and had the battery replaced twice for free due to swelling and early loss of charge capacity. They didn't check my AppleCare support status either time. That was a few years ago, though; for all I know the policy is no longer in effect, and most of the Apple Store geniuses probably wouldn't be familiar with it either.
A friend of mine bought a third-party battery replacement, although I don't know what company it came from. He has issues with the battery's status occasionally not being recognized, which also messes with the charging. If you're not using the computer as a portable and don't need a battery, save your money and just work without a battery. If you really need a battery then a third-party supplier is better than nothing, but you're taking a risk.
Go to the Apple, select "About this Mac" and then click on "More info" at the bottom. If you're already in System Profiler, then great; on OS X 10.8 (and if I remember right, 10.7) a different screen comes up, and you'll need to click "System Report" to get there.
As was mentioned previously, it's partly a usage thing. You have more software running now than you did when the computer was newer, which slows things down. Further, while the software supports your system, it's likely picked up new features designed to make use of newer and better hardware, thus slowing things down a bit.
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Sell it for parts. It's not worth putting money into it as it's likely to fail again.
As was mentioned previously, it's partly a usage thing. You have more software running now than you did when the computer was newer, which slows things down. Further, while the software supports your system, it's likely picked up new features designed to make use of newer and better hardware, thus slowing things down a bit.
Then there's also a change in expectations. From what I can tell, my 2008 Macbook Pro isn't much slower - if it's really slower at all - compared to when it was new. It feels that way, though, because it's not the only computer that I use or see in operation, and thus I know how much faster computers can be. That it feels slow or less responsive has more to do with my expectations and comparisons than the computer itself. (However, the inverse also works - force yourself to use a very old computer for a while, and your 2008 MBP will feel positively cutting-edge
I'm not familiar with Toshiba's hybrid drives, but I would keep away from that one and go with the Seagate Momentus XT instead. The specific reason is the rotational speed: the Toshiba is running at 5,400 RPM (the same as your stock hard drive) while the Momentus XT line runs at 7,200 RPM. That alone makes a big difference.
