Did I get a good deal? a.k.a. "score".

last week I picked up a used (very gently, as for there isn't a mark on this thing) 15.4" 2.33ghz 2.5gb(ram) macbook pro. 120gb Hard Drive and the graphics card is a RadeonX1600 for $800.00

It came with it's box, DVDs, manual, remote, and upgraded OS to Snow Leopard (discs included as well as 09 iLife)

it's in pristine condition without a scratch on it and the battery cycle only reads 31 loads (new battery?).

I was curious as to what is my max limit on installed ram? will i really notice a huge difference?

right now it has a 2gb stick and a 512mb stick. Does that mean my limit will be 4gb?

Also, if i upgrade the HD to a 320gb 7200rpm drive (opposed to the stock 120gb 5200rpm drive) will that speed up application loading time? It's already pretty **** fast.

thanks!

Your thread title says..."Did I get a good deal? a.k.a. "score""

It's kind of hard to give an opinion since you didn't tell us what you paid for it!

- Nick

The RAM is intended to run in pairs of equal size. You'll get better performance from 2X1GB sticks than what you have right now. To upgrade to 2X2GB sticks would be affordable. You're in the U.S. so it's gonna be roughly $90-$95 depending on the online retailer you purchase from.
I believe you can go as high as 2X4GB for a total of 8GB of RAM.

Yes, upgrading the HDD can speed things up slightly. 7200rpm will process faster than the stock 5400. Not to mention with the extra space, your Machine won't be bogged down and that will also help. However, the RAM is where the majority of the "speed" comes from.

pigoo3 said:

Your thread title says..."Did I get a good deal? a.k.a. "score""

It's kind of hard to give an opinion since you didn't tell us what you paid for it!

- Nick

Click to expand...

I have no idea how I left that out.

I must have typed it, then backed over it when I changed something.

I paid $800.00 for it.

MYmacROX said:

The RAM is intended to run in pairs of equal size. You'll get better performance from 2X1GB sticks than what you have right now. To upgrade to 2X2GB sticks would be affordable. You're in the U.S. so it's gonna be roughly $90-$95 depending on the online retailer you purchase from.
I believe you can go as high as 2X4GB for a total of 8GB of RAM.

Yes, upgrading the HDD can speed things up slightly. 7200rpm will process faster than the stock 5400. Not to mention with the extra space, your Machine won't be bogged down and that will also help. However, the RAM is where the majority of the "speed" comes from.

Click to expand...

Thank you. I didn't know if 4gb was the max for this macbook pro or if I could ever jump into the realm of 8gb.

Thanks again.

I'm fairly sure the max ram on this model is 3gig (based on the graphics card the post mentioned).
I'm still not sure whether 2 matched sticks of 1gig is better or worse than a 2gig and a 1 gig, but my intuition is that the 50% increase in capacity you get from 3gig may overcome the unbalance of the modules. Has this question been settled?

That machine will not take 8 GB RAM.

You can put 4GB which is what I put in mine over 2 years ago, but it can only use 3 GB max.
Putting 4GB is merely for maintaining it's dual channel capability.
I used 2 x 2GB CAS 4 Corsair memory designed for the MBP. At that time, no one else had CAS 4 memory.

whitehorse84 said:

I have no idea how I left that out.

I must have typed it, then backed over it when I changed something.

I paid $800.00 for it.

Click to expand...

I would say that you got a decent deal. It's current value is around $880.

I purchased practically the same laptop (2.33ghz processor, 2 gig ram, new battery, 160 gig HD, X1600 graphics)...but with the 17" display about 7 months ago.

At the time it was worth around $1350...and I paid $725. Current value on mine is $1050.

So $800 for your 15" MacBook Pro was a decent deal...but I would not call it a "score". Still a very nice laptop with the dedicated graphics hardware & what appears to be a relatively new battery. You should be very happy with it!!!

Congrats,

- Nick