Upgrade old MacBook or wait and buy new Imac

[ncboston]

Hello,

I have an old MacBook pro from around 2008 (It is running OsX 10.5.8, Core 2 Duo 2.1, w/ 1GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM) . I was lucky to use a brand new Macbook Pro from my previous job for the past 2 years but had to give it back recently. Now I am back using my old MacBook pro and it is wiked slow. (Exactly what you would expect from a 4 year old computer.)

We are wanting to wait for the new imac and upgrade to a desktop. But this wait is killing me.

I wanted to hear peoples opinion on whether I should try to wipe it clean and give it some more RAM and install Mountain Lion or just continue waiting for the new iMac.

Can I install Mountain Lion on such an old computer?

All I really use my computer for is picture and movies of the family through ilife, and streaming stuff. Nothing special. We do have apple tv to so the new mirroring feature Mountain Lion offers is pretty appealing.

Thanks for any help!

 

[mslide]

(Exactly what you would expect from a 4 year old computer.)

That's not what I'd expect from a 4 year old computer and it's certainly not 'old'. My Macbook is 6 years old and for typical stuff (web, MS office, iTunes, movies, etc), it's almost as snappy as a new machine.

4GB RAM, an SSD and a fresh install of OSX will make that macbook feel like a brand new machine and for a lot less money than a new computer.

 

[ncboston]

Thanks...maybe I just have bad luck with computers but I beat them up quite a bit too...especially this laptop

Don't mean to sound stupid but what is a ssd?

 

[DaKKs]

Thanks...maybe I just have bad luck with computers but I beat them up quite a bit too...especially this laptop

Don't mean to sound stupid but what is a ssd?

An SSD, is a new (Well, its old tech. But new for consumers) type of storage device, ie hard drive, that uses flash type memory (like USB Pendrives) instead of a spinning disc. SSD can be four five times faster than a conventional "spinner" aka harddrive.

Just like to point out that my SSD equipped Macbook1,1 (sig below) has yet to crack under anything I've thrown at it. Photoshop, Aperture, Final Cut Pro you name it, this little bugger has done it. You'll get plenty more out of that four year old Macbook of yours. Bump it up to 4gb ram and throw in an SSD, and it'll do four more years without an issue.

 

[ncboston]

Ok that sounds like some good advice thank you...what about being able to run Mountain Lion? How can you tell if that will run on your macbook?

Right now I still only running leopard (10.5).

 

[mwhities]

My MacBook is a mid 2010 but, 8G ram and SSD drive helped mine be brand "new" again.

Link

 

[DaKKs]

Ok that sounds like some good advice thank you...what about being able to run Mountain Lion? How can you tell if that will run on your macbook?

Right now I still only running leopard (10.5).

If you have a nvidia 9400 gfx card, I'll run fine. If you have the Intel card, you're more or less buggered. It can be done with the X3100, but its rubbish. Go with Snow Leopard, it will never lead you astray. The mother of all OS'.

To make sure if its compatible, you need the macbook model number. If you have a MacBook 5,1 or higher (newer) it'll run fine natively.