Personal computing discussed

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satchmobob
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Help with Macbok Pro upgrade

Wed Dec 09, 2009 2:06 pm

Right, I know nothin' about macbooks and OS/X but...

A friend of mine (really) just bought his missus a second hand macbook pro. He wants me to upgrade the hdd to a 500GB jobbie and RAM to 4GB.
He says its 18 months old and here's the spec list he sent me:

• 2.16GHz Core Duo processor
• 2MB shared level 2 cache
• 1GB of 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (PC2-5300) supports up to 2GB
• 120GB Superdrive 5400 rpm hard drive DVD+R DL/DVD+RW/CD-RW
• 17 inch (diagonal) TFT viewable widescreen 1680 X 1050 pixels
• ATI Mobility Radeon x1600 with 256MB of GDDR3 SDRAM
• Built in isight camera
• Express card/34 slot, Firewire 400 port, Firewire 800 port, three usb 2.0 ports
• DVI port, DVI to VGA adaptor included
• built in 10/100/1000BASE-T Ethernet
• Built in Airport Extreme card (802.11g)
• Built in Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
• Backlit illuminate keyboard and ambient light sensor

Now, my question is is the upgrade he wants even possible? Not sure exactly what model it is but the list above does state 'supports up to 2gb'
I can't see why a lappy only 18 months old would be limited to 2 Gig which is why I'm askin' you guys.
Secondly i guess it'll use sata hdds and will support a 500GB drive. Correct me if i'm wrong.
And lastly if i do replace the drive is it just a case of ghosting it from the old one or do i have to completely reinstall the thing?
Ooh, one more... What about licensing? Do i need an activation key ala Windows or does the installer just pick up that it's a macbook so obviously legal?
Ok, one more. Will the latest OS version go on this thing with no probs or will i have to use an older version?

Many thanksies
Rob.
If we cannot be free, at least we can be cheap! FZ.
 
derFunkenstein
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Re: Help with Macbok Pro upgrade

Wed Dec 09, 2009 2:10 pm

That hard drive's going to be a bitch. To see how much of a bitch, go here:

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Browse/MacBook_Pro

The good news: 10.6 should run quite well. Standard SATA laptop drives should fit just fine as long as they're no more than 9.5mm thick.

The bad news: You won't get the full benefit of 4GB of memory because the PM945 chipset can only address 4GB total including VRAM and other component memory addresses. It's well over 18 month old if it has an X1600 video chipset - nVidia 8600M GT was included in that model's successor, and that came over more than 24 months ago.

How to clone: Put the old drive in an enclosure and boot from it holding the Option key when you turn on the laptop, use Disk Utility to format with a GPT partition scheme, then download Carbon Copy Cloner and clone it to the new drive.

http://www.bombich.com/
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
Twittering away the day at @TVsBen
 
satchmobob
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Re: Help with Macbok Pro upgrade

Wed Dec 09, 2009 2:34 pm

Brilliant! Nice one! I've seen a guide on changin' the drive an' i strip lappys an' printers for work all the time so i'm not really worried about that side of it.
But thanks very much for the other advice. Really appreciated.

Cheers! :D
If we cannot be free, at least we can be cheap! FZ.
 
derFunkenstein
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Re: Help with Macbok Pro upgrade

Wed Dec 09, 2009 2:51 pm

OK, if you've been around hte insides of alot of laptops then you should be fine. I did a 15" Powerbook once and it took a while but I eventually got there. I also did the palmrest replacement on my wife's laptop and again, while it took a while it gets there - but I'd classify both of those as being "a bitch". Some people are scared once they see the walkthrough, but if you're not, happy teardown! :)

Also, are you sure that's a Core Duo, those were updated in October of 2006. You have a laptop that's not just more than 18 months old - you have one that's a minimum of twice that. :p
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
Twittering away the day at @TVsBen
 
satchmobob
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Location: Worcester, UK

Re: Help with Macbok Pro upgrade

Wed Dec 09, 2009 2:59 pm

I'm not sure at all, Sir!

He just emailed me that spec list an' as i know sweet effay about macs i just assumed it was correct.
Hopefully i'll get my hands on it this weekend and actually see what it is!
Thanks for the heads up though.

I may be back soon with more questions...
If we cannot be free, at least we can be cheap! FZ.
 
thecoldanddarkone
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Re: Help with Macbok Pro upgrade

Wed Dec 09, 2009 3:07 pm

derFunkenstein wrote:
OK, if you've been around hte insides of alot of laptops then you should be fine. I did a 15" Powerbook once and it took a while but I eventually got there. I also did the palmrest replacement on my wife's laptop and again, while it took a while it gets there - but I'd classify both of those as being "a bitch". Some people are scared once they see the walkthrough, but if you're not, happy teardown! :)

Also, are you sure that's a Core Duo, those were updated in October of 2006. You have a laptop that's not just more than 18 months old - you have one that's a minimum of twice that. :p



Maybe it's a refurb :-? The x1600 17 inch mbps sold for along time on the refurb site.
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adisor19
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Re: Help with Macbok Pro upgrade

Fri Dec 11, 2009 3:15 pm

This is the first gen MBP. Be VERY careful with the damn Bluetooth module that's stuck next to the HD. Make sure before you assemble it back that the BT module is well connected to its cable or you'll have plenty of problems including : laptop not going to sleep; BT suddenly dying.. etc etc

It happened to me and i dread reopening it just to attach that stupid BT module again :s

Adi
 
lovenlife
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Re: Help with Macbok Pro upgrade

Fri Jan 08, 2010 9:09 am

You may want to check but 1st Gen MacBook Pro's are limited to 2Gb of ram:
http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/m ... acity.html
I just ran across this limit with a VP at work....
Intel Core i7 920 | Asus P6T Deluxe X58 | 12Gb OCZ Gold PC3 12800| 1 ATI 4870 X2 | CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W | 2 Raptor WD740GD 74.0GB (RAID 1) |1 WD2500KS 250GB | 2 SAS 146Gb (Raid 0) | Asus VW224U | Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit
 
adisor19
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Re: Help with Macbok Pro upgrade

Sat Jan 16, 2010 4:04 pm

lovenlife wrote:
You may want to check but 1st Gen MacBook Pro's are limited to 2Gb of ram:
http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/m ... acity.html
I just ran across this limit with a VP at work....


You are correct. This is indeed the high end config of a first gen Core Duo based MBP (not the subsequent Core 2 Duo model) and it will indeed max out at 2GB of RAM :s

Adi

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