Author Topic: Refurbish MacBook?  (Read 3902 times)

thow

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Refurbish MacBook?
« on: October 06, 2014, 09:44:55 PM »
I'm using a 13 inch MacBook which I bought in early 2009. Here are the specs...

Processor  2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

Memory  2 GB 1067 MHz DDR3

Graphics  NVIDIA GeForce 9400M 256 MB

Software  Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5 (11G63)

I have never had a problem with this computer, don't think there is anything wrong with it, and would like to squeeze a few more years of life out of it. I'm inspired by the Early Retirement Extreme guy, who says he has a 7 year old Mac.

What can I do to make it run a little faster and generally extend its service life? I'm willing to spend $100 to $200 to buy some new components, etc.

Greg

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Re: Refurbish MacBook?
« Reply #1 on: October 06, 2014, 09:55:39 PM »
See if you can double the RAM, and maybe increase it, like 2x 4GB.  My 2008 MBP has 2 slots.  A SSD will make it very fast.  10.6.8 might run faster.

gimp

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Re: Refurbish MacBook?
« Reply #2 on: October 06, 2014, 09:58:24 PM »
Also, get rid of old shit you don't use, and airblast the dust out of the body (especially near the cpu, gpu, and fans.)

gooki

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Re: Refurbish MacBook?
« Reply #3 on: October 07, 2014, 12:24:03 AM »
As above.

Replace the hard drive with an SSD and if you have any dollars left upgrade the ram.

I did the SSD upgrade on the same model Macboom for my wife. She loves it, just as fast as a new laptop.

valk001

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Re: Refurbish MacBook?
« Reply #4 on: October 07, 2014, 01:26:40 AM »
Here is a link on how to do that with a fancy new SSD:
http://www.cnet.com/how-to/upgrade-your-macbook-install-ssd-hard-drive/

thow

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Re: Refurbish MacBook?
« Reply #5 on: October 07, 2014, 07:17:55 AM »
Thanks all for the advice. I am definitely going to upgrade the RAM, and will look into what it takes to swap in an SSD.

rmendpara

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Re: Refurbish MacBook?
« Reply #6 on: October 07, 2014, 07:25:43 AM »
Biggest difference will likely come from SSD. Next, consider a RAM upgrade (cheapest upgrade). Next, look at CPU/GPU/motherboard upgrades (more expensive, and need to check compatibility with other components).

Not sure what you use it for, but for $999 you can get a new MBP basic level (or maybe it's a MBAir?). If you're a light use, upgrading SSD and RAM will show a big boost for 2-300 $$.

minimalist

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Re: Refurbish MacBook?
« Reply #7 on: October 07, 2014, 07:49:59 AM »
A SSD will probably be a much more noticeable upgrade than RAM.

ketchup

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Re: Refurbish MacBook?
« Reply #8 on: October 07, 2014, 08:01:18 AM »
I'm with everyone else, RAM and SSD (max the RAM and drop in an SSD big enough for your use case).  RAM should be definitely an easy upgrade, I think hard drive accessibility varies by Mac.

Le0

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Re: Refurbish MacBook?
« Reply #9 on: October 07, 2014, 08:17:52 AM »
Ssd and ram and you'll see a significant improvement. Check out ifixit.

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