Upgrade or get a new macbook

[nicolanicola]

I have a mid 2010 macbook pro, 2.4 GHz, I5, 8GB RAM.

It's quite slow though. Slow to start up compared with how it used to be. Slow save anything, slow when I click the 'All My Files' option in Finder; this takes about a minute before spinning beach ball goes away.

So I was thinking, should I get a new one, or is it just a case of upgrading my hardware? I did a blackmagic speed test and read & write speeds are averaging at around 36 mb/s. Is that slow? I was wondering if a SSD would make things better.

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[Krazy Bill]

So I was thinking, should I get a new one, or is it just a case of upgrading my hardware?

Well, just apply some simple logic. If it was fast enough when you bought the MBP... what changed to make it slow? (Hint: it wasn't the hardware). And I really doubt going from Snow Leopard to MLion is the cause. You have other issues causing all that system lag.

Yes, an SSD will improve performance but again, if your MBP worked fine out of the box with a conventional HD, it should still work that way today. Your speed test looks fine for the drive you have.

Before everyone else chimes in here insisting you throw money at your problem I would do a diligent backup and consider a clean install of MLion.

 

[nicolanicola]

Well, just apply some simple logic. If it was fast enough when you bought the MBP... what changed to make it slow? (Hint: it wasn't the hardware). And I really doubt going from Snow Leopard to MLion is the cause. You have other issues causing all that system lag.

Yes, an SSD will improve performance but again, if your MBP worked fine out of the box with a conventional HD, it should still work that way today. Your speed test looks fine for the drive you have.

Before everyone else chimes in here insisting you throw money at your problem I would do a diligent backup and consider a clean install of MLion.

Hmm thats a good point. Can you direct me as to how I go about doing a clean install? I'm pretty sure I upgraded via app store, so i don't have a physical copy of the OS. Plus I suppose I will need to back everything up, so I will need a external HD?

 

[robvas]

I wonder if your HD is broken/failing. Those are more in line with the numbers you'd see from a 30GB drive, not a drive that would have came in a 2010 model!

 

[Krazy Bill]

Hmm thats a good point. Can you direct me as to how I go about doing a clean install?

http://osxdaily.com/2012/07/25/how-to-clean-install-os-x-mountain-lion/

Before the install though... create another user account, log into that one and see if there's any improvement.

so I will need a external HD?

You haven't backed up since 2010?

If anything, yes an external drive with a time machine backup is a must. They really are pretty cheap.

I wonder if your HD is broken/failing.

And so it begins...

 

[ramram55]

Get a 250gb ssd (if your budget allows) and install it in your mbp, should make it flies and speed above 150, also makes your mbp feel 10 years younger.

 

[jav6454]

Just upgrade it. There are s many things you can do to a computer to make it faster. Save $$

 

[Agent-P]

I'd first try a clean install as Krazy Bill suggested because over the course of three years a lot of stuff accumulates on your hard drive. If after that you still don't see much of an improvement in performance, then I'd say get an SSD and install that.

 

[tann]

My recommendation:

Buy SSD.

Clean install on SSD.

Experience awesomeness.


Seriously, I had a 2010 MBP as well and I was going to get rid of it last year, but I clean installed then upgraded to an SSD and oh my WOW. It literally feels SO GOOD. Everything just works so smoothly after!

If you aren't maxing out your CPU or getting close to that then I would recommend the SSD/clean install. Maybe when Mavericks is released!

 

[nicolanicola]

My recommendation:

Buy SSD.

Clean install on SSD.

Experience awesomeness.


Seriously, I had a 2010 MBP as well and I was going to get rid of it last year, but I clean installed then upgraded to an SSD and oh my WOW. It literally feels SO GOOD. Everything just works so smoothly after!

If you aren't maxing out your CPU or getting close to that then I would recommend the SSD/clean install. Maybe when Mavericks is released!

O. M. G. I didn't know about the new os release! Why's it called Maverick I wonder? Maybe they ran out of big cats.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I may try to do a clean install then at some point, see how that goes, and if I'm still struggling go for the SSD.

I use photoshop a lot and the lagginess is quite bad on that, it bugs me.

So it's superfast now then? Do you have word on your mac? Mine atm takes about 1 - 1 1/2 minutes for it to open and be usable.

 

[tann]

O. M. G. I didn't know about the new os release! Why's it called Maverick I wonder? Maybe they ran out of big cats.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I may try to do a clean install then at some point, see how that goes, and if I'm still struggling go for the SSD.

I use photoshop a lot and the lagginess is quite bad on that, it bugs me.

So it's superfast now then? Do you have word on your mac? Mine atm takes about 1 - 1 1/2 minutes for it to open and be usable.

Before the SSD I took 45 seconds to log in screen then another 40 to usable state inside.

With the SSD it was on in about 20 seconds (to log in) and another 20 seconds to usable!! Everything just was faster. Before when I would open chrome I'd open it and wait a while for my tabs to load, after SSD I wasn't ever worried that I'd have to wait a while, because it was so much faster.

It just made the whole experience a lot more pleasant.

 

[chevelleguy3]

I have a Mid 2010 MBP 2.4GHz/8GB RAM, I installed a SSD along with my 500GB 7200RPM drive in a DIY Fusion drive. Everything has been night and day different. So much quicker. Boot time is down to about 20 seconds. Applications open when you click on them.

Hands down, go with a SSD and clean install.

 

[nicolanicola]

Which SSD did you guys buy?

I've been doing a bit of research and it seems the samsung 830s are the most popular.

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I have a Mid 2010 MBP 2.4GHz/8GB RAM, I installed a SSD along with my 500GB 7200RPM drive in a DIY Fusion drive. Everything has been night and day different. So much quicker. Boot time is down to about 20 seconds. Applications open when you click on them.

Hands down, go with a SSD and clean install.

Oh I notice you have a normal hard drive and an ssd. How does that work? Do you have to chose which drive to save stuff on?

 

[Agent-P]

Oh I notice you have a normal hard drive and an ssd. How does that work? Do you have to chose which drive to save stuff on?

You take out the optical drive and put either the SSD or HDD in that spot. Then you arrange the system so that the OS and applications are on the SSD and your home folder, media, etc. is on the HDD. If you go this route, you don't even need to get a very large capacity SSD.

 

[tann]

Which SSD did you guys buy?

I've been doing a bit of research and it seems the samsung 830s are the most popular.

I had a Crucial M4 256gb ssd, however the Samsung 840s are meant to be quite awesome. I'd probably look into those as they're newer and I've only seen great reviews of them!

 

[chevelleguy3]

Which SSD did you guys buy?

I've been doing a bit of research and it seems the samsung 830s are the most popular.

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Oh I notice you have a normal hard drive and an ssd. How does that work? Do you have to chose which drive to save stuff on?

Yes, I have both in there. I got a kit from macsales.com called the Data Doubler. It allows you to take out the DVD drive (who uses them anyways) and put a HDD there. There are some good write-ups on how to make a DIY Fusion drive. The Mac basically sees the 2 drives as 1 drive and knows to put the OS and frequently accessed files on the SSD and put everything else on the HDD. I did that so I didn't have to buy a huge SSD. I went with a 120GB SSD and combined it with my 500GB rotational drive for a total of 620GB.

 

[nicolanicola]

Yes, I have both in there. I got a kit from macsales.com called the Data Doubler. It allows you to take out the DVD drive (who uses them anyways) and put a HDD there. There are some good write-ups on how to make a DIY Fusion drive. The Mac basically sees the 2 drives as 1 drive and knows to put the OS and frequently accessed files on the SSD and put everything else on the HDD. I did that so I didn't have to buy a huge SSD. I went with a 120GB SSD and combined it with my 500GB rotational drive for a total of 620GB.

Rotational drive, what's one of them? My mbp frequently overheats and I think thats down to my hard drive.

Was it complicated setting up the datadoubler and getting everything installed in the right drive?

Oh just looked at that datadoubler and I don't think its compatible with a 15" mid 2010 mbp .

 

[chevelleguy3]

Rotational drive, what's one of them? My mbp frequently overheats and I think thats down to my hard drive.

Was it complicated setting up the datadoubler and getting everything installed in the right drive?

Oh just looked at that datadoubler and I don't think its compatible with a 15" mid 2010 mbp .

A rotational drive is just a standard hard drive. They call it a rotational drive because the hard drive platter inside it spins.

It's not complicated to setup. They have a video showing how to install it on the macsales.com website. It will work with the 15" MBP Mid 2010. They have a typo on the website showing "Early 2010" which doesn't exist. Works fine with my Mid 2010.

 

[KUguardgrl13]

Before you go installing SSDs or anything else, delete bloat ware and old apps you don't use anymore! Doing that keeps my 2009 MBP running well even with a normal hard drive. SSDs are more than I can afford in college, so I do what I can with what I have.

 

[glenthompson]

Which SSD did you guys buy?

I've been doing a bit of research and it seems the samsung 830s are the most popular.

I went with the Samsung 840 Pro. Half my boot time now is moving the cursor to my ID and typing in my password. This is the best upgrade I've ever done to a computer.

 

[VTECaddict]

So it's superfast now then? Do you have word on your mac? Mine atm takes about 1 - 1 1/2 minutes for it to open and be usable.

It takes MS Word less than 30 seconds for it to open and be usable for me, and I have a Late 2008 MBP with 8gb ram.

 

[andy9l]

Only one person commented that it sounds like a dying HDD. Honestly, that speed is SLOW, and spinning beach ball for all files on a 2010 MBP? Something is wrong.

Make a backup, whatever you do. I wouldn't have much faith in that hardrive of yours.

I put a Samsung 840 in my 2009. Boot time is 12 seconds, no 'usable' wait time as you described. After 12 seconds, Chrome opens in under a second. That said, I'm still going to get a new MBP because my 2009 suffers with Photoshop and resource intensive tasks. Fact is, it's an old beast. It's incredibly good for an Internet/Word processing/coding/email machine, very fast indeed, but for serious work, it's too old.

My point is, an SSD will fix OS/app start up time problems, but Photoshop lag etc. will still be present. That's inherent from your other dated components.

 

[Judith123]

My suggestion is also to upgrade your Mac with SSD. SSD is the easiest way to improve computer speed. At the same time, you can also try to drag your hard drive. That may do some help.

 

[maflynn]

My 2010 Mac Mini with an SSD is producing about double the speeds. Pretty slow compared to my rMBP but faster then what you're seeing


Potentially this is what you'll be seeing if you upgraded to a SSD. For me, I did see a nice improvement on my mini going from a hard drive to the SSD.

It all depends if you want to try to squeeze out a few years with the laptop or want something that is all around faster (disk, memory, gpu, etc).

 

[nicolanicola]

Only one person commented that it sounds like a dying HDD. Honestly, that speed is SLOW, and spinning beach ball for all files on a 2010 MBP? Something is wrong.

Make a backup, whatever you do. I wouldn't have much faith in that hardrive of yours.

I put a Samsung 840 in my 2009. Boot time is 12 seconds, no 'usable' wait time as you described. After 12 seconds, Chrome opens in under a second. That said, I'm still going to get a new MBP because my 2009 suffers with Photoshop and resource intensive tasks. Fact is, it's an old beast. It's incredibly good for an Internet/Word processing/coding/email machine, very fast indeed, but for serious work, it's too old.

My point is, an SSD will fix OS/app start up time problems, but Photoshop lag etc. will still be present. That's inherent from your other dated components.

Is that true though? I have 8GB of ram and a fairly fast processor, so what other components apart from the HD would make photoshop lag? i say photoshop because that's mainly what I use my mac for.

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My suggestion is also to upgrade your Mac with SSD. SSD is the easiest way to improve computer speed. At the same time, you can also try to drag your hard drive. That may do some help.

What does that mean?