When to Upgrade MacBook

[shamrock1213]

At what point do most people feel it is time to upgrade their MacBooks?

I currently have a Black MacBook Core Duo which I have absolutely loved (save for the lack of a graphics card) that I purchased about a week after they came out. I did upgrade the ram to 2GB and the HDD to a 160 GB drive, and honestly do not have any speed issues with the laptop.

My main motivation for upgrading is that I have regretted not purchasing a MacBook Pro for both the graphics card and the backlight keyboard pretty much from the time my return period for the MacBook expired.

How great of a performance gain would there be in the current Pros/ or the projected Penryn Pros in June for real world applications other than gaming.

 

[cherry su]

Any Core 2 Duo system will be a lot faster than your Core Duo MacBook, especially in video encoding, computation, and anything processor intensive.

 

[heatmiser]

Any Core 2 Duo system will be a lot faster than your Core Duo MacBook, especially in video encoding, computation, and anything processor intensive.

This is true, but for normal things (iTunes, Firefox, Office, etc), you won't notice a difference. If you're running a task that requires 800mhz to run well, it won't matter whether you use a 2000mhz or a 2400mhz processor to run it.

To the OP, it's up to you. I plan on keeping my Macbook for 60 months if I can, as I'm tired of constantly switching computers whenever something newer comes along. I went through 6 last year, and would really like to stick with 1 this year.

Ideally, I'll have mine from 12/07 to 12/12, barring any hardware failures. I'm tired of following the upgrade circuit, and would like to transcend that for a while.

 

[Hoo03]

I had the exact same blackbook until about a month ago.

It really depends upon what you do with it and how frugal you are. Unfortunately (fortunately for Apple) for me, I've upgraded to MBP and just bought another brand new SR MBP.

My original "needs" were size of screen real estate and matte screen...so I "had" to trade up from MB to a MBP.

Now, I can't justify why I purchased SR MBP other than LED screen and a different graphic card...but this time, I "swore" that I won't upgrade my MBP for a while... 🙄

 

[billdoublewide]

Is there something that your current model (same as mine) cannot do, or not do well (fast enough)?

I still find my original MB to be more than sufficient. The 2Gb of ram makes all the difference. My core2 iMac with only 1Gb doesn't seem any faster. That will change as soon as I pop in new memory, but still.

Unless you are doing video editing or high intensity gaming, I'd keep the MB until the AppleCare runs out, at least. By then there will likely be more significant differences which could justify the $$.

 

[Hankster]

I would upgrade when I feel my current machine is lagging behind in what I do with it 🙂 My machines are upgraded as programs require more resources.

 

[Pees330]

I decided to get the new MBP mainly because of the bigger screen and the dedicated graphics card. Of course if you upgrade now the new machine will be better than the one you have right now. It's up to you if you can afford a newer model or if you really need some of these features.

If it is more of a want than a need, I would tell you to wait a few more months. Get the most out of your machine and wait for a newer upgrade on the MBP or MB, whichever. I've been lusting for a new laptop for the last few years and finally bought a new one on Tuesday. I got good mileage out of my iBook and I could have gotten more easily, but my new MBP beats is by a mile overall.

 

[Abstract]

How great of a performance gain would there be in the current Pros/ or the projected Penryn Pros in June for real world applications other than gaming.

If you have never had any speed issues with your current MacBook, then you won't get any advantage with a new system.

You're better off just buying a cheap desktop and gaming on that. It's cheaper than a MBP, too. The backlit keyboard is "pretty", but is it worth getting a new laptop for?