Hello! I'm a computer science student with 2 years to go until I join the frightening world of corporate America. About 4 years ago I purchased the late-2008 aluminum MacBook. I bumped up the RAM to 8GB, installed a DataDoubler, and I boot off of a 120GB OCZ Vertex 3.
My first issue: I seem to have an abundance of KPs lately (they seem to only occur when I'm shutting down and occur 1-2 times a week) and I'm not sure what the cause is. I speculate it could be either: a) the 8GB of RAM (since Apple says it only supports 6GB but the last SMC update I did allows 8GB) b) the thirdparty SSD c) Mountain Lion not liking my MB or d) a combination of the previous. Because I had these KPs back in Lion as well, I don't believe this is a Mountain Lion issue (but I won't rule it out completely). I could downgrade my RAM from 8GB but I typically use most of it when using my Windows VM in Parallels for a portion of my class work (VisualStudio and .NET framework junk). I could use BootCamp but it's a hassle to reboot constantly and I find myself switching back and forth constantly between my VM and OS X.
My second issue: My battery has 656 cycles with a health of 60%. The decline is noticeable when I'm told an hour or 2 after use to plug back in (usually when there isn't a free outlet around). When I'm unplugged, I typically only use my browser, outlook, sublime text 2, and a terminal. I know to only use my VM on outlet because it would drain the battery even faster. At the time of writing this, I could go to the Apple Store and buy a new battery for $129. It may not seem like a lot but I'm having to pay for my education myself so money is a bit tight.
TLDR: KPs and aging battery make me question my MacBook's longevity.
So now for the questions:
Do I shell out the $129 for the new battery and wait for something else to go on it since laptops seem to not last as long as they used to. Or should I wait and see what comes out this summer for new MacBook Pros with the new Intel CPUs?
Also, if I get a new computer, should I go with a quad or dual core? Keep in mind that I use VMs, so would I really benefit from the extra cores or would a dual core i7 be sufficient?
Many thanks!
Garrett
My first issue: I seem to have an abundance of KPs lately (they seem to only occur when I'm shutting down and occur 1-2 times a week) and I'm not sure what the cause is. I speculate it could be either: a) the 8GB of RAM (since Apple says it only supports 6GB but the last SMC update I did allows 8GB) b) the thirdparty SSD c) Mountain Lion not liking my MB or d) a combination of the previous. Because I had these KPs back in Lion as well, I don't believe this is a Mountain Lion issue (but I won't rule it out completely). I could downgrade my RAM from 8GB but I typically use most of it when using my Windows VM in Parallels for a portion of my class work (VisualStudio and .NET framework junk). I could use BootCamp but it's a hassle to reboot constantly and I find myself switching back and forth constantly between my VM and OS X.
My second issue: My battery has 656 cycles with a health of 60%. The decline is noticeable when I'm told an hour or 2 after use to plug back in (usually when there isn't a free outlet around). When I'm unplugged, I typically only use my browser, outlook, sublime text 2, and a terminal. I know to only use my VM on outlet because it would drain the battery even faster. At the time of writing this, I could go to the Apple Store and buy a new battery for $129. It may not seem like a lot but I'm having to pay for my education myself so money is a bit tight.
TLDR: KPs and aging battery make me question my MacBook's longevity.
So now for the questions:
Do I shell out the $129 for the new battery and wait for something else to go on it since laptops seem to not last as long as they used to. Or should I wait and see what comes out this summer for new MacBook Pros with the new Intel CPUs?
Also, if I get a new computer, should I go with a quad or dual core? Keep in mind that I use VMs, so would I really benefit from the extra cores or would a dual core i7 be sufficient?
Many thanks!
Garrett