Is it worth to use Macbook mid-2007?

Of course you can use a 2007 MacBook. Definitely to surf the net.

It would help to know which OS X is installed?

Click the Apple () menu top left in your screen. From the drop down menu click About This Mac.

The version is noted there.

Whether you can use Facetime or Messages depends on that information.

Facetime requires a Mac running v10.6.6 or later > Apple - Support - Mac Apps - FaceTime for Mac

Mac Basics: Messages

Hi CanKazmaci,

I just upgraded and repurposed a late 2006 Macbook 2,1 for a friend. She only needs it to do homework and browse the web as well, so it's perfect for her needs.

A suggestion I would give is if you have access to the original install CD's, or a retail OS X installer, is to give your HD a clean install of the OS. It will run a lot faster and you can also register yourself as the administrator and the new owner of the computer. (The minimum OS X requirements I would recommend is 10.6.8 Snow Leopard, which is $20 from the Apple Store. You need that to upgrade to 10.7 or higher either way.)

If you have some funds you're willing to invest in making your new Macbook run faster and to give it some more utility for the forseeable future, consider upgrading to a Solid State Drive or maxing out your RAM.

You can check the amount of RAM you have by going to the 'About This Mac' window that Carolyn advised. I upgraded my friend's laptop from 1GB to 2GB of RAM, which I would suggest as a minimum, though my Macbook was running decently with 1GB of RAM as well. DDR2 RAM for your model Macbook can be picked up fairly cheaply today on ebay or other sites selling used tech. I bought 2GB of DDR2 RAM from Amazon for a little under $20.

The other, slightly more expensive, but more effective option is to upgrade your new Macbook to a Solid State Drive. Chances are your Macbook has its original Hard Drive Disk installed, which is tech that has proven to be very reliable over the years. It's become popular as of late for users to switch these Disks for SSD's which have read/write speeds up to 10x faster than traditional HDD's. You can do a quick search of HDD vs. SSD to familiarize yourself. The great thing about that model Macbook you're using is that they're very easy to open up and upgrade (especially with guides from ifixit) and I would say that even the least tech-savy person would be able to give their Macbook a very powerful upgrade. New and Used SSD's frequently run under $100 now, depending on the capacity you're looking for. I picked up a used 80GB Intel SSD for around $50.

In all, I found it was a worthwhile investment to speed up and breathe life into a laptop that hard originally cost me over $1000 when bought new.

I still use my Macbook Pro late 2007, from anything from browsing the internet to heavy video editing! It's still a powerhouse! You just have to know to walk away for half a day when you start to render a video project. But, I do not consider this notebook useless in any sense. If you do not currently own a Mac, I would snag that thing!

It originaaly came with 2GB or RAM, but I upgraded to 4GB (which is the maximum in that model), and upgraded the hard drive to a 1TB. Not much upgradeablility otherwise, unless you know your way around tearing down notebooks. It is also running Moutain Lion. Also, be aware, that you can official Boot Camp Windows 7!

Facetime and Skype work like a charm, though not HD. Browsing the Internet, including watching YouTube videos, is a snap.

I think what you could choose to upgrade is the memory size. I always have some heavy duties of rendering my design works every day. I own a macbook 2009 with 2G memory orginally. I upgraded it to 5G by replacing a 4G memory with one of the 1G. The fact is that I could do everything I want. What you want is really under the capacity of your macbook 2007, so if you like it, do not hesitate any longer.

A mid-2007 MacBook is still very usable but suffers from three performance limitations: limited RAM capacity, limited video performance, and a 1.5Gbit/second SATA hard drive speed.

The maximum RAM addressed by the mid-2007 MacBook is 3.3GB with 4GB installed (two 2GB sticks). Mid 2007 MacBooks came with just 1GB installed. That limits the number of application programs you can run simultaneously: Web browsing with just a couple of windows opened, and another app or two, or performance will slow as the OS begins paging the contents of RAM out to the hard disk. As available free RAM diminishes, you see frequent 'Beachballs' the colorful spinning icon and the system slows dramatically.

The video performance is quite modest ("slow") because of the GMA 950 video chipset with a total of 64MB VRAM, not upgradable. It means that viewing streaming YouTube video or using Skype is certainly possible, but it will cause the internal fan to run at high speed most of the time. If you don't have at least a 10MBit/sec internet connection, video will often 'stutter' or halt and buffer before continuing. Even then, it's far from optimum on a wireless connection. I used my mid-2007 2.16Ghz MacBook to FaceTime or Skype with my son during his four years of college, and it worked very reliably, but the fan ran at max speed the whole time.

The 1.5Gbit/second SATA hard drive interface means that even though a SSD (solid state drive) will fit, you won't get the full benefit of the performance it offers, though still MUCH faster than installing a traditional hard drive with rotating platters.

OS X 10.6.8 "Snow Leopard" runs nicely in 3.3GB RAM, and is still available from Apple on CD media for $20.

Be sure to ask the original owner to include the two Apple discs that shipped with the system.

I recommend visiting OtherWorldComputing to see what is available and then decide whether you want to accept the 'gift' and how much you might want to invest in upgrades.

http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/

Message was edited by: kostby

One more vote in favour... 2007, just a youngster! Will serve you well for what you want to do.