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Hello everyone. I have just purchased a white May 07 model from a friend of mine. He gave it to me pretty cheap so I couldn't resist. Always wanted to try the MacBook since I've been an iPhone owner for years and also about to get an iPad. Anyway have one question:

This computer is almost 5 years old. With technology going as fast as it is, was it worth the purchase? I'm not a graphic designer or anything, I'll be using it just for basic personal use. I will upgrade it to 4G RAM.

Ive searched for this question and only post I've found was back in 2010 and most people said it'll run fine. Just wanting more opinion. Thanks in advance.

Oh also few things I know about the computer:

Intel Core 2 Duo, 2gb RAM, 120gb HD, 2.16ghz, Mac os 10.5 leopard.

I guess it's the standard MacBook from that era.

You're asking us if it was worth it but you never stated how much you paid for it? If you overpaid, then it wasn't worth it. ;D

chscag said:

You're asking us if it was worth it but you never stated how much you paid for it? If you overpaid, then it wasn't worth it. ;D

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Ah yes.. I paid 300

$300 is about the right price (maybe a bit low) depending on the condition of the machine. So you probably did OK.

Thanks. What about performance? If I upgrade my ram to 4, I should be good? As far as doing research on the internet, reports, movies, etc.

Upgrading the memory to 4 GB and then maybe installing Snow Leopard, should give you a boost. Snow Leopard is leaner and faster than Leopard. The nice thing about Snow Leopard is you can purchase it from Apple for $29.99.

For what it's worth, we have a very similar machine with a 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo and 4GB of RAM and it runs Lion just fine.

Upgrading the memory to 4 GB and then maybe installing Snow Leopard, should give you a boost. Snow Leopard is leaner and faster than Leopard. The nice thing about Snow Leopard is you can purchase it from Apple for $29.99.

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I know it may be a bit more expensive, but if you can swing it, grab a copy of Lion on the USB stick from an Apple store or order it online instead of going to Snow Leopard first. It's less hassle and you can have the latest OS on your machine.

Nothing against Lion (I use it on both my machines) but for the OP, Snow Leopard will give him better performance. Lion still needs around 2 more updates before it gains its "sea legs". Just my opinion of course....

The Blackbook I'm typing this on was manufactured in the same month and year as your new one. It runs Lion just fine, but won't see more than 3GB of RAM.

If you can replace the HD with a 7200rpm or even better an SSD, it will run like greased lightning (remarkable for a machine its age, really).

One caution: if the battery hasn't been replaced from the original, it will likely need to be at some point in the not-to-distant future. Plan for that. A replacement will cost you about $100 from Newer Technology (recommended).

Thanks for the input everyone. I got 4GB of RAM, 7200rpm 310GB HD, and a new battery. Also, I was under the impression that I would have to have the Snow Leopard prior to getting the Lion anyway...?

Ylwf3vr said:

Thanks for the input everyone. I got 4GB of RAM, 7200rpm 310GB HD, and a new battery. Also, I was under the impression that I would have to have the Snow Leopard prior to getting the Lion anyway...?

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Sort of. If you want to buy a digital copy of Lion from the Mac App Store, you would need to upgrade to Snow Leopard first. However, you can skip directly to Lion if you buy it on a USB stick from Apple.

It would cost $10 more to buy the USB stick than it would to buy the Snow Lopard/Lion combo. The biggest benefit to spending the extra cash on the USB stick would be that you would save yourself a good deal of time and energy. You wouldn't have to install two operating systems and you wouldn't have to spend nearly as much time updating your computer. That, to me, is worth an extra $10.

Gotcha.. Oh an what is the difference between just upgrading the HD and getting the SSD?

The SSD is many times faster than a conventional hard drive. This would result in dramatically faster boot up times, application launching, or basically reading anything task that requires you read something from the hard drive. Plus, there are no moving parts, which means increased reliability, silent operation, and less power consumption (a definite plus for a laptop). The biggest downside at the moment is cost. An SSD will cost significantly more than a hard drive with the same storage capacity.

J.Fo said:

Sort of. If you want to buy a digital copy of Lion from the Mac App Store, you would need to upgrade to Snow Leopard first. However, you can skip directly to Lion if you buy it on a USB stick from Apple.

It would cost $10 more to buy the USB stick than it would to buy the Snow Lopard/Lion combo.

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Apparently you can't just go from Leopard to Lion... so I'll have to get the Snow Leopard first.. (so says the Apple Store)