Need advice for upgrading my memory and hard drive in late 2008 MacBook Pro

Hello Everyone,

I am currently using a 15 inch, late 2008 MacBook Pro with 2.53 GHz intel core 2 duo, 4GB 1067 MHz DDR3, and 320 GB SATA Disk. It is starting to slow down quite a bit and I am thinking of upgrading the memory and hard drive. I'm currently a professional student living on loans, so I'm hoping I can extend the life of my computer awhile longer instead of buying a new one. From what I have read online I believe I can go up to 8GB of DDR3 and it seems like my best option on hard drives is an SSD (I think I only need ~250GB). I would really appreciate it if y'all could give me some recommendations on products that are reliable and also some advice on actually switching out the memory and drive. I'm hoping to find some deals as the holiday season starts, but I don't have a ton of time to research products because I have finals in about a week and a half. Thanks again for taking the time to help me out!

Your memory specs are correct, 8 GB maximum. As for the hard drive, a SSD would give you a nice boost in speed if you can afford the price of one large enough to suit your purposes.

You can buy both the memory and SSD from Other World Computing who are Mac specialists. Here's the LINK to their site.

There are other sites that sell memory and SSD drives. Another good recommendation is RAM Memory Upgrade: Dell, Mac, Apple, HP, Compaq. USB drives, SSD at Crucial.com.

crdolan13 said:

I'm currently a professional student living on loans...

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I would love to know the difference between a "Professional Student" and an "Amateur Student".

I've always considered a "Professional Student" to be someone who wants to stay in school as long as possible...in order to avoid getting a "real" job.

crdolan13 said:

I'm hoping to find some deals as the holiday season starts...

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Generally speaking (especially when it comes to Macintosh computers)...it's rare to get any sort of special deals. But ram and hard drives are two things that could possibly go on sale as part of a "Black Friday" special. Just got to make sure you get the correct ram (depending where you buy). Hard drives are more flexible. So it's easier to buy them almost anywhere.

crdolan13 said:

...but I don't have a ton of time to research products because I have finals in about a week and a half.

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If you want to "catch" something on sale...you're the one who's going to need to stay on top of this!

- Nick

Thanks for the replies so far! I'll keep your suggestions in mind.

pigoo3 said:

I would love to know the difference between a "Professional Student" and an "Amateur Student".

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Sorry, that probably sounded weird. I'm actually in veterinary school so we are commonly referred to as "professional students" instead of "graduate students" because we are working toward a professional degree (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, or DVM) rather than working toward a PhD.

Are there any qualities in an SSD that I should be looking for or are they all relatively similar?

crdolan13 said:

Sorry, that probably sounded weird. I'm actually in veterinary school so we are commonly referred to as "professional students" instead of "graduate students" because we are working toward a professional degree (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, or DVM) rather than working toward a PhD.

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Yes...I knew that was another possibility for the definition a "Professional Student" (medical, dentist, vet., lawyer, etc.).

It was just that is a "play on words" sort of thing. There are some "Professional Students" out there (the kind I described)...

- Folks that take 6 or 7 years to complete a 4 year degree.
- Then they do a Masters degree (a long Masters).
- Then a PhD. (a lonnggg PhD.)
- Then maybe a post-Doc (with no intentions of teaching)

Then there is also the sports related analogy of "Professional" vs. "Amateur". As in professionals earn money...and amateurs don't. In this case most students are amateurs (assuming you discount scholarships, fellowships, assistanceships, grant monies, etc.)...compared to official wages/salaries.

In any case...good luck with your finals...and good luck with your computer upgrade project.

- Nick