<p>I have a MacBook Pro, 4yrs. old. The battery just about died and I replaced it. Of course, then it started to really slow down (lots of spinning beach ball action), especially with more than one program running at a time. I cleaned out what files I could, dumped lots of photos etc, but it didn’t really help too much. Decided to have a new, bigger hard drive installed. Here’s hoping it has solved the issue, because otherwise I have been very happy and the $$ for a new one is currently earmarked for other projects. The repair shop just called to say it’s ready to be picked up!</p>
<p>D had a mac–powerbook g4 (15") purchased in 2004 with one O/S upgrade that lasted until the end of 2010. It started to have multiple issues, mostly slowing down, dropped wifi connections–the aggravating things that you tend to live with and limp along.
We did purchase the Applecare warranty on it and I think replaced the battery once, maybe twice. Generally though it seemed way more reliable than my PC desktop and she never had the problems with viruses, etc that so many of her peers at college did.</p>
<p>Fast forward to end of 2010. She got a new macbook pro (13") for grad school graduation and is astonished how fast it is! </p>
<p>I felt that the number of years she got out of the mac laptop was outstanding. we’ve had a similar experience with S who got a powerbook g4 in 2005 and while it’s had a few issues, it’s still very functional. Have not upgraded it with any o/s or improvements to hard drive/memory though. Yet.</p>
<p>I felt the mac laptops have been excellent investments and look forward to someday owning my own macbook too.</p>
<p>D and I both have MacBook Pros bought in 2006 - mine in August and hers in December. They’re both still running okay. (Maybe walking briskly would be more accurate.) She replaced her battery a couple of years ago and I replaced mine last January. </p>
<p>I’ve been dithering about replacing mine vs. installing more memory for a while, though, so I’m happy to see this thread and interesting in reading about how others are coping with older macs. musmom2, let us know how the patient is doing, please?</p>
<p>Macs cost about twice as much as a PC. It is a myth that they are better built or last longer. Compared with a PC, Macs have average failure and repair frequency. Whether Mac or PC, it seems that after about 5 years either is obsolete, even if it is still running ok.</p>
<p>We’re a family that switched to Macs 3-4 years ago from PCs and are now converting back to PCs. We had 2 Macs (desktops) that failed within a few months of each other. </p>
<p>The Apple store gave us a huge discount to replace them with MacBooks (one is a Pro), which we did. The track pad on the Pro is troublesome, and 2 visits to the Apple Store haven’t helped it. While D1 has invoked squatters rights on the Pro, she has informed us she wants a PC laptop for college next year. </p>
<p>I got a laptop for Christmas to replace a 10+yr old PC (I was the only family holdout!) that is generally fine for internet access, but in the past year has been quirky with Word and takes 15 minutes to start up.</p>
<p>NJ2011mom, sounds like your PC needs tuning. It may be cluttered with unused files and such. Try running a clean sweep or a registry cleaner program.</p>
<p>Also, let me echo BunserBurner. It’s my opinion that too many people replace or upgrade their computers unecessarily. The best advice I ever got from a techie was in the form of a question: “does what you have now work for you?” My IBM is about 7 years old and works great. Sure, I’ve added a few modest enhancements. Thus, the thing can handle just about anything the latest and greatest from Intel can whip up.</p>
<p>Processor performance has outrun the power required to run most software over the last ten years so older machines are often fine unless you have a specific need for something new. I have two early 2008 MacBook Pros and a 2005 Dell PC on my desk today. I set up a cart at Newegg with parts to build a new desktop for home - I just need to place the order. These MacBook Pros feel like they can easily last several more years. I’d like the new stuff but have no need.</p>
<p>If systems get slow, they might need to be cleaned up. Hardware can often be a bigger problem.</p>
<p>The thing that I like most about Macs is the operating system. I bought a three-pack Snow Leopard upgrade to upgrade the systems at home. Do you have a friend with one of these with a spare license?</p>
<p>I’m not cool enough for a mac…hate mine. I should have stood outside the Apple store a week after I got it and sold it for a loss. Two years later I still hate it. It will probably last another 5 years with my luck, just to spite me, knowing I won’t replace it until it dies. I see you smirking at me Steve Jobs!!</p>
<p>3 to 4 years</p>
<p>I really have no reason at the moment to replace my Macbook, I just want a new one 
I have no problem with speed and have plenty of space on my hard drive; the only issue, but not a problem is the brightness of the screen, no battery life and a need to upgrade to Snow Leopard. I have one of the glitchy 3G iPhones, but can not update it to 4.2 due to my version of itunes. For whatever reason, itunes 10 I believe, does not work with Tiger; you need version 10.5 or greater and I only have 10.4.11. I am living with my iPhone the way it is, but it sure would be nice to install the newer update.</p>
<p>Apple isn’t stupid; they knew what they were doing and would like to see me either buy a new phone or new computer! I am doing neither at the moment, but fear the day one or both fail me; hopefully not on the same day!</p>
<p>You could try selling yours and buying a newer one. The only reason that I could justify a newer one would be longer battery life - not that I need longer battery life but it would be a convenience.</p>
<p>On your iTune issue, do you have another computer in your home that you could sync to your iPhone?</p>
<p>The only other computer is my husband’s laptop and I do not want to clutter it up with itunes. His laptop is a dinosaur and should have dies ages ago; my kids threaten to trash it if he doesn’t get a new one soon! I think he is holding out to see if his new job will buy the next one.</p>
<p>Would a relative give you one for free?</p>
<p>My family and those of my sisters probably have 10 to 20 computers per household and would be happy to give a system to a relative if one asked. This is pretty common where I work - other employees ask me how to take an old system, clean it up and make it usable again - on the cheap of course. Sometimes you take parts from a few system to make something decent. We have lots of folks that tinker where I work. I’ll give parts, cables, etc. to others if they need something to get a system working.</p>
<p>blue-I have my son’s old Macpro. Since my desktop is run on Windows, S partioned the Apple to also run on Windows. This way I didn’t have to learn anything new, and I can transfer files easily.</p>
<p>Bookworm - Oh, I have mine partitioned for a few programs that aren’t available in mac. While the prospect seemed oh-so-cool on the outset, it’s now just a royal-pain-in-the-rear. You also have to run anti-virus on the windows side which kind of defeats one of the major bonus points on the mac… it’s not slogged down by spywear. I run something really lightweight on my mac, but nothing like what I put on the windows side (or what we have on the pc’s in the house).</p>
<p>In general, don’t get a Mac is you’re just going to be running Windows on it unless you really, really don’t mind spending money on the styling. Windows is a second-class citizen on Macs. Windows isn’t fully tuned for the hardware and you’ll get lower battery life, devices that don’t have the full functionality that they do on Mac OS X, and subpar graphics drivers.</p>
<p>BC- Most of us are not as computer savvy as you!! Actually the entire family on both my husband’s side as well as mine come to use for computer problems. I know enough to get by and I am capable of looking online for the answer, but as far as rebuilding a computer, not something I would every attempt! Once I got a Mac I was able to use the excuse that I don’t remember how to do that on a PC to avoid being the go to person all the time. I still help the beginners with simple stuff, but if it gets to involved I give them my computer guys name and number.</p>
<p>As I mentioned earlier, my son collects all the “old” laptops to use for varies tasks. He is not a Mac person, so has no interest in working with my computer.</p>
<p>I was fully aware that windows if far less than optimal on a mac. It was’t a matter of ‘Hey, I can have both!’, it was a matter than I wanted a mac (for a number of reasons), but had a couple of programs that wouldn’t ‘play nice’. Partitioning was the best answer at the time. Do I regret it, yes. Is it because of the partition, no. It’s because of the darn mac.</p>
<p>snowball, I have the exact same OS as you and my laptop is still going strong enough for me. It’s probably slower than when brand new but I don’t really notice it (I’m slower too). I don’t have an iphone, so no issue there. I haven’t been able to update itunes either, so just stick with the old one, whichever one it is. Ditto with iphoto. My battery lasts for all of 5minutes before I have to plug in, so I just keep it plugged in. I guess I’ll go buy an new battery, but otherwise, I’ll just keep this old machine the way it is, because it’s working for me. From what I hear, I’ll probably get another year out of it.</p>
<p>For Hariet (post #23):
Since you asked, I have had my Macbook back from the shop a couple days now and it is running great. Battery life is long, speed is wonderful and I have lots of empty hard drive space. It had been limping along for a couple months then almost ground to a stop- I feel like I have a new computer!</p>