Worth upgrading 2006 MB with SSD

[sinar]

Hi,

I have an old white MacBook, its a 2006 model, with a 2.0 intel core 2 duo, 2GB ram and 80GB hd.

Since i got an iPad when it first came out i have not used it very much, and now when i do use it i'm frustrated at how slow it is, I'm wondering if it is worth upgrading the HD to a SSD to help make it faster and more responsive.

At the moment i just use it for basic things, web browsing, email, i'd like to use it for photoshop and lightroom, but its just too slow.

The battery has also failed (probably because i've hardly used it for 2 years), so i'm considering if its worth investing in a new one, or just calling it a day and getting a new 13" MBA.

My dilemma is if i should buy an SSD and new battery for my old MB, or put the money towards a MBA, so I was wondering if anyone had done an SSD upgrade and could comment on how much faster and usable it is after the upgrade, also, is anyone running PS CS5 and LR4 on such a machine, i'm thinking the 2GB of ram is really going to hinder using such apps (I think my MB ram is maxed out at 2GB)

I know nobody can make the decision for me, but would be interested to hear thoughts.

thanks for reading

Julie

 

[CausticPuppy]

My old mac mini has even lesser specs than your macbook (1.83 Core2Duo) but I put in a 60GB OWC SSD and it really brought it back to life. Also upgraded to 3GB memory.

So yeah, you could easily extend the lifespan of your macbook with a small SSD and 4GB memory; if it's your primary computer, it may not be worth it. But as a secondary computer, it would be fine. The old Mini is in my wife's office, and she has no complaints about the speed, it's way faster than her old HP desktop it replaced.

As for the battery-- I also have the original macbook but only with the Core Duo chip. Its ram is maxed out at 2GB. I did get a new battery-- mainly so that the system would be easier to sell. You can get a cheap battery off Amazon or eBay but it seems there's a lot of complaints about the fit.
So I forked out the $99 for a NuPower battery from macsales; perfect fit and a higher capacity than the OEM battery had when it was new.

I haven't put it up for sale yet but I should be able to get more for it now that it actually runs on battery power.

 

[sinar]

My old mac mini has even lesser specs than your macbook (1.83 Core2Duo) but I put in a 60GB OWC SSD and it really brought it back to life. Also upgraded to 3GB memory.

So yeah, you could easily extend the lifespan of your macbook with a small SSD and 4GB memory; if it's your primary computer, it may not be worth it. But as a secondary computer, it would be fine. The old Mini is in my wife's office, and she has no complaints about the speed, it's way faster than her old HP desktop it replaced.

As for the battery-- I also have the original macbook but only with the Core Duo chip. Its ram is maxed out at 2GB. I did get a new battery-- mainly so that the system would be easier to sell. You can get a cheap battery off Amazon or eBay but it seems there's a lot of complaints about the fit.
So I forked out the $99 for a NuPower battery from macsales; perfect fit and a higher capacity than the OEM battery had when it was new.

I haven't put it up for sale yet but I should be able to get more for it now that it actually runs on battery power.

Thanks, i don't think i can upgrade my MB to 4gb, if I could i would defiantly do that as i think it would really help, I went to crucial and did the system scan and it said the max i could have was 2x1GB, which i already have.

 

[j0ester]

Dude, SSD is amazing. Do it and you'll see big improvements.