I have a mid 2009 2.26 GHz, 2GB DDR3, 180g HD and want to know if it is worth upgrading with an 120GB SSD Hard Drive and 4GB 5300 DDR2.
Suggestions?
Thanks for your time.
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Upgrade worth the money?
- Thread starter Bobthjanitor
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It depends on what you do, but 4 to 8 GB RAM are almost always a good choice, but please get 204-pin DDR3 SO-DIMM RAM and not the DDR2 RAM you mentioned.
As for the SSD, the Crucial M4 and Samsung 840 are the current recommended SSDs, 250 GB can be had for around 150 €.
As for the SSD, the Crucial M4 and Samsung 840 are the current recommended SSDs, 250 GB can be had for around 150 €.
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The SSD would definitely be worth it. The SSD I put in my wife's Early 2008 MacBook made a significant impact on performance. The RAM is probably worthwhile as well. 2GB is not much these days. To be sure you can use Activity Monitor and take a look at the "Page Outs". If you see hundreds of megabytes than you should upgrade RAM.
I just purchased a Samsung 840 SSD for my early 2008 MacBook yesterday. I got it for $90 new in box. You can get them on Amazon for about $100. The Samsung seems to be highly regarded.
I just purchased a Samsung 840 SSD for my early 2008 MacBook yesterday. I got it for $90 new in box. You can get them on Amazon for about $100. The Samsung seems to be highly regarded.
I have the same model MBP. I just put 8gb of Crucial RAM into it (http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-PC3-8...id=1378768081&sr=8-8&keywords=crucial+8gb+ram), and that's helped with some slowdowns I was starting to have. I also got a new 500gb HDD from Apple (free--even though AppleCare expired--because the Genius was AWESOME!) which has helped a bit. This is my third HDD, but SSDs are out of my college budget.
With the cost of DDR3 RAM you may as well go up to 8gb. That particular set from Crucial is priced pretty nicely. DDR2 is WAY too expensive, and our machines call for DDR3 anyway.
While I love the 2009 model, I'm thinking of getting either a MBA or a rMBP after the refresh (with help from the parents) and retiring the 2009 as my main machine. It's just not ideal for lugging up to campus every day anymore.
With the cost of DDR3 RAM you may as well go up to 8gb. That particular set from Crucial is priced pretty nicely. DDR2 is WAY too expensive, and our machines call for DDR3 anyway.
While I love the 2009 model, I'm thinking of getting either a MBA or a rMBP after the refresh (with help from the parents) and retiring the 2009 as my main machine. It's just not ideal for lugging up to campus every day anymore.
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Crucial m4 SSDs are old now. The new model m500 is recommended. I bought a 120 gb SSD from them on amazon and I am never looking back. Everything runs faster than most macbook pros nowadays since they only have HDDs. My macbook is a 2008 uni body aluminum.
For what it's worth, a year ago I upgraded my 2009 Mini with an additional 4 GB of RAM and Mountain Lion. I am still well pleased with the way it is going for my simple needs.
Next year some time I may swap out the remaining 1 GB of RAM to pair the new 4 GB stick with another, replace the HDD (which will have done 5 years by then), and upgrade to Mavericks. It should see me sweet for a good bit longer.