Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

THIS or MacBook Pro

S

SouthTexas

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 5, 2012
19
0
Texas
Hi guys, I am going to try to make this real quick in order to avoid taking up your time. I have recently sold my 11" MacBook Air as it was not what I wanted. Here are my uses: I do daily things such as Safari, Mail, iCal, iTunes, (for personal and business) religiously. I am however interested in the occasional iMovie (putting photographs in tune with music). I am also an amateur wildlife photographer/photographer so I will also be using Aperture 3 and Photoshop Elements. I do not want to spend $1000+ on a MacBook Pro, refurbished at that. I am looking to replace my early 2008 iMac with THIS

http://www.ebay.com/itm/230794612093?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

Don't worry about me "buying through eBay" I have made that decision. But does this look like a good machine? I know that it is a 2008 but this thing had been fully loaded at the time of purchase and customized rather extensively with RAM and HD at the Mac Online Store.

My current 2.66GHz iMac 4GB gets the job done fine for now, but I will need a laptop for portability and I plan to make this my only computer. What do you guys think? Next on my list is iPad 3 and around Christmas Time my first real DSLR.

Thank you all so much!
 
I'm a little hesitant to say get it. Core 2 duo is probably fine but I'm cautious about the screen resolution. If you can hook it up to a bigger monitor just in case the screen isn't up to par I would say go for it.

The display resolution is only 1280 x 800.

SouthTexas said:
Hi guys, I am going to try to make this real quick in order to avoid taking up your time. I have recently sold my 11" MacBook Air as it was not what I wanted. Here are my uses: I do daily things such as Safari, Mail, iCal, iTunes, (for personal and business) religiously. I am however interested in the occasional iMovie (putting photographs in tune with music). I am also an amateur wildlife photographer/photographer so I will also be using Aperture 3 and Photoshop Elements. I do not want to spend $1000+ on a MacBook Pro, refurbished at that. I am looking to replace my early 2008 iMac with THIS

http://www.ebay.com/itm/230794612093?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

Don't worry about me "buying through eBay" I have made that decision. But does this look like a good machine? I know that it is a 2008 but this thing had been fully loaded at the time of purchase and customized rather extensively with RAM and HD at the Mac Online Store.

My current 2.66GHz iMac 4GB gets the job done fine for now, but I will need a laptop for portability and I plan to make this my only computer. What do you guys think? Next on my list is iPad 3 and around Christmas Time my first real DSLR.

Thank you all so much!
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Well, it'll be quite a bit slower than your iMac, but if your priority is portability and not speed, then I'm sure it's a fine computer. I have a late 2008 macbook that I recently put an SSD in, and it runs just great for the light-duty work I use it for.

One thing I'd add is that it is now over 4 years old and may be in need of a new battery. I'd budget for that and before pulling the trigger I'd ask the seller to download icoconut battery and post a screenshot of the battery health.
 
Doesn't really seem like an upgrade from your old Macbook Air. What didn't you like about the Air?

Without an SSD that Macbook will feel quite a bit slower in day to day tasks.
 
I had one of these laptops. When I opened Aperture the fan ramped waaaay up and didn't come down until I was done. Drove me nuts and I sold it for a desktop that isn't so taxed running Aperture.
 
No, wait and save, look for a 15" newer the better. This is a very basic machine with a low resolution display, frankly your Air was far superior computer, barring the storage. You are better to, up your budget and hold off on the iPad, or you risk being frustrated by the machines lack of capability, and eventually have to change the system again.
 
If you dont mind getting your hands dirty, or possibly losing money, I totally recommend buying broken :)

I built myself a Late 2008 MBP out of parts for $500, and got it into amazing condition with some $150 in upgrades (RAM, battery, HDD, etc). So $650 total for a 3 year old mac? Totally worth it IMO.
 
bozz2006 said:
An SSD will feel like a whole different world for any computer. Seriously. It's a night and day difference.
Click to expand...

Be mindful that an SSD only improves launch times it has no impact on heavy computational work like video editing, image rendering where a stronger CPU/GPU is more desirable.

Not to knock the suggestion, however in this case the extra $$$ would be better served spent on a 15" with discrete GPU
 
Queen6 said:
Be mindful that an SSD only improves launch times it has no impact on heavy computational work like video editing, image rendering where a stronger CPU/GPU is more desirable.

Not to knock the suggestion, however in this case the extra $$$ would be better served spent on a 15" with discrete GPU
Click to expand...

In my experience, for photo work, having a fast disk is way more important than a high powered CPU. Photo work is very disk intensive. If he said he was primarily going to be doing video editing, I'd agree.
 
SouthTexas said:
Yes I did. Hopefully it'll be great!
Click to expand...

I didn't see this thread before, but I have to ask why you feel a 2008 white macbook is an upgrade from (presumably) a 2011 Air. It's actually slower. It had one of the weakest displays out of all the macbooks. Ram maxes out at 6 GB or so and it'll cost you over $75 or so to upgrade from 4-6. Unless it was an older macbook air, how is this an upgrade for your intended uses? The price only stays that high because it's a mac.
 
I'm confused. You sold your MacBook Air (2010 or 2011)... and now want to replace both that and your iMac with a 2-3 year older MacBook? I don't understand the logic here unless it is to save money by making a small profit after selling both the Air and the iMac, otherwise, I think this is an awful decision.
 
Queen6 said:
Be mindful that an SSD only improves launch times it has no impact on heavy computational work like video editing, image rendering where a stronger CPU/GPU is more desirable.

Not to knock the suggestion, however in this case the extra $$$ would be better served spent on a 15" with discrete GPU
Click to expand...

I find it a bit amusing that whenever there's a discussion of how much an SSD will improve performance of your Mac, someone always throws the old "it will only improve program launch times and boot time" argument out there.

Adding an SSD to your Mac is the single best thing you can do to improve the overall performance of your Mac, period. With prices falling on them so much in the last year, it's an absolute no brainier.
 
phpmaven said:
I find it a bit amusing that whenever there's a discussion of how much an SSD will improve performance of your Mac, someone always throws the old "it will only improve program launch times and boot time" argument out there.

Adding an SSD to your Mac is the single best thing you can do to improve the overall performance of your Mac, period. With prices falling on them so much in the last year, it's an absolute no brainier.
Click to expand...

It`s a fact that`s why, an SSD will not help with heavy computational demands, you can upgrade virtually any system to SSD, in general CPU`s in mobile systems are non upgradeable period.

Buying a more powerful system and later upgrading to SSD makes sense, buying a machine with a weaker processor and adding an SDD will not be the best solution for the long haul...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back