Macbook Upgrades

[JC86]

So my late 2008 unibody 13 Macbook has served me well over the past few years but since my daily workload consists of multiple large pdf and ppt files, it has started to lag quite a bit when dealing with these memory hogging large files. I finally decided to take the plunge and settled on putting in an Intel 320 Series 120 GB SATA 3.0 Gb-s 2.5-Inch SSD and Crucial CT2KIT51264BC1067 8GB 204-PIN PC3-8500 SODIMM DDR3 (4GBx2).

So after backing up to my Time Capsule, I put in the new hardware last night and let the machine restore overnight. Man the difference is night and day. No more spinning color wheels. Everything is incredibly fast and snappy. I opened all my bookmarks at once in my Safari tabs, opened two large ppt files and pdf files simultaneously. Other than the load times for the webpages, I was up and running in about ten seconds. The difference is amazing. Since my work is memory intensive and not graphics/processor intensive, I just squeezed another 3 years out of this machine for $300. Not bad at all.

On a side note, Apple used the pentalobal screws for the four hdd mounts that took awhile get out. I had to use plyers to loosen them up since I didn't have the special screwdriver for it.

 

[Reliant]

So my late 2008 unibody 13 Macbook has served me well over the past few years but since my daily workload consists of multiple large pdf and ppt files, it has started to lag quite a bit when dealing with these memory hogging large files. I finally decided to take the plunge and settled on putting in an Intel 320 Series 120 GB SATA 3.0 Gb-s 2.5-Inch SSD and Crucial CT2KIT51264BC1067 8GB 204-PIN PC3-8500 SODIMM DDR3 (4GBx2).

So after backing up to my Time Capsule, I put in the new hardware last night and let the machine restore overnight. Man the difference is night and day. No more spinning color wheels. Everything is incredibly fast and snappy. I opened all my bookmarks at once in my Safari tabs, opened two large ppt files and pdf files simultaneously. Other than the load times for the webpages, I was up and running in about ten seconds. The difference is amazing. Since my work is memory intensive and not graphics/processor intensive, I just squeezed another 3 years out of this machine for $300. Not bad at all.

On a side note, Apple used the pentalobal screws for the four hdd mounts that took awhile get out. I had to use plyers to loosen them up since I didn't have the special screwdriver for it.

I can relate to getting the screws out. I had such a bitch of a time removing my superdrive!

 

[PCTC2]

I did the same thing, except mine was more forced upon me. I dropped my MBP and the hard drive died. I decided it was time for an upgrade, so I bought a Seagate Barracuda XT 500GB, a Microcenter G2 SandForce 64GB SSD, an Optibay, and an 8GB kit, and my boot was about 5 sec and login to desktop was about 3 sec. It was great.

(I put Applications and Users on the Seagate and symlinked them to the boot drive)

For future reference, you can get most Apple-specific tools from ifixit. They're pretty quality and make repairing much easier.

 

[xanis]

I did the same thing, except mine was more forced upon me. I dropped my MBP and the hard drive died. I decided it was time for an upgrade, so I bought a Seagate Barracuda XT 500GB, a Microcenter G2 SandForce 64GB SSD, an Optibay, and an 8GB kit, and my boot was about 5 sec and login to desktop was about 3 sec. It was great.

(I put Applications and Users on the Seagate and symlinked them to the boot drive)

For future reference, you can get most Apple-specific tools from ifixit. They're pretty quality and make repairing much easier.

How do you like the OptiBay? I was thinking about getting one plus a small SSD for boot and my main applications.

 

[Reliant]

How do you like the OptiBay? I was thinking about getting one plus a small SSD for boot and my main applications.

It's what I have going on right now, I got the optibay from ifixit and put it in with my 500gb that came with, and put a SSD in the original drive spot. It's pretty easy as an install if you're so inclined.

 

[TheStu]

It's what I have going on right now, I got the optibay from ifixit and put it in with my 500gb that came with, and put a SSD in the original drive spot. It's pretty easy as an install if you're so inclined.

I have seen people recommend that you put the SSD into the optical bay and leave the platter drive where it is. The SATA connection for the HDD bay is the only one with teh Sudden Motion Sensor on it.

 

[Reliant]

I have seen people recommend that you put the SSD into the optical bay and leave the platter drive where it is. The SATA connection for the HDD bay is the only one with teh Sudden Motion Sensor on it.

Yeah, I was going to just run SSD only but my Intel 80gb just couldnt hack it after a month, at which point I re-added my 500gb. At that point, I just went path of least resistance. I can say there is a lot less going on in the optibay than the standard spot, hardness/cable wise.

 

[PCTC2]

I have the iFixit solution and a knock-off. I put the iFixit solution in my 13" MBP with the SSD in the optical bay and it works great. It was pretty simple, but it does help having the correct screw drivers.

I put the knock off into my 17" MBP and realized why it was so cheap. It was a generic shape, but it was about 1mm too large for the MBP and it didn't have the correct screw mounts, despite claiming to be unibody MBP compatible. Lesson learned. Get the iFixit solution for a much better fit. It's kinda just floating in the 17" with only a single screw and the wire tray keeping it in, so I put the SSD in it too. Both MBPs have a 500GB in the original spot.