Walter Lieberman

Q: How new a machine do I need?

Dear Friends,

I am thinking about getting a new/old computer. I dropped mine a couple of days ago and it survived( with a crack in the case), That made me think that it might be best to retire this computer in working condition so I have a back-up and I have a working machine suited to running  old programs. My current machine is 8 years old and has an Intel chip. How new a machine would I need to get to be relatively current.? By that I mean so that the hardware would not be incompatible with current software too soon. Do you have any suggestions?

My main activities are Word , Powerpoint ,Photoshop, browsing the internet,  no video editing or gaming.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8), connected to a 250G external firewire drive

Posted on Feb 4, 2016 10:52 AM

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Q: How new a machine do I need?

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  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Feb 4, 2016 10:55 AM in response to Walter Lieberman
    Level 9 (53,643 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 4, 2016 10:55 AM in response to Walter Lieberman

    I have a Late 2008 MacBook, upgraded to 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, running Mavericks. It seems pretty zippy to me.  According to Apple it could also run El Cpitan but I don't want to try it yet (just transitioned last week from Tiger OS).

  • by KimUserName,Helpful

    KimUserName KimUserName Feb 4, 2016 12:05 PM in response to Walter Lieberman
    Level 4 (1,400 points)
    Notebooks
    Feb 4, 2016 12:05 PM in response to Walter Lieberman

    I have a MacBook Pro Early 2011.

    I upgraded to 8GB and changed the Hard Drive to a 500 GB SSD.

    I is really fast now and runs everything.

     

    However, I must add that I am eagerly awaiting the new MacBook Pros which will hopefully be released sometime this year with the new Skylake chip.

  • by steve359,

    steve359 steve359 Feb 4, 2016 11:51 AM in response to KimUserName
    Level 6 (14,032 points)
    Feb 4, 2016 11:51 AM in response to KimUserName

    Be careful about speculating on Apple products that have not been publicly announced if not fully released.

     

    That is one point moderators take seriously.

  • by KimUserName,

    KimUserName KimUserName Feb 4, 2016 11:57 AM in response to steve359
    Level 4 (1,400 points)
    Notebooks
    Feb 4, 2016 11:57 AM in response to steve359

    Yes, I see your point.

    I tried to edit the comment, but I guess it was too late.

    Thanks very much for the advice.

  • by steve359,

    steve359 steve359 Feb 4, 2016 12:12 PM in response to KimUserName
    Level 6 (14,032 points)
    Feb 4, 2016 12:12 PM in response to KimUserName

    You are safe with "I am waiting and hoping a new and faster system comes out this year" because it is generic and unspecific.

  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Feb 4, 2016 12:20 PM in response to Walter Lieberman
    Level 9 (53,643 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 4, 2016 12:20 PM in response to Walter Lieberman
    By that I mean so that the hardware would not be incompatible with current software too soon.

    This is nebulous, there's no set rule and even general patterns are changing.  It used to be a computer might be able to run most software for about 10 years after manufacture.  Take my G4 produced in 2002 for OS9/OSX 10.0. The last OS upgrade it could take was 10.5 in 2007. Software continued to support 10.5 for a while.  iTunes 10.6.3 in 2012 was the final release and was finally supplanted buy iTunes 11 in 2014.  So that's 12 years of effective iTunes use.  That is actually a pretty good run for a computer. Look at the latest iTunes release which basically dropped all pre mid-2008 computers.  That's now 8 years. For my G4 it also required being able to update hardware and newer Macs can't do that. If you buy a newer used one and the person didn't buy it configured with more RAM than they needed at the time (expensive compared to old days of third party RAM) then you're likely to be squeezed for RAM in an OSX release or two.  Apple's official take on hardware support is 5 years, so already at that time they are slowly dropping software support for older models. Some software releases may continue for a while and iTunes tends to be one of the longest.

     

    So you decide on what you mean by "too soon" and how much you need "current software".  Frankly although I just upgraded this 2008 MacBook to run Mavericks I still only use iTunes 7.5 because I don't see the need to automatically upgrade to the latest and "best" just because somebody tells me to.

  • by Walter Lieberman,

    Walter Lieberman Walter Lieberman Feb 4, 2016 12:32 PM in response to Limnos
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Feb 4, 2016 12:32 PM in response to Limnos

    Thanks Limnos,  your answer is very helpful. My thinking is indeed nebulous. I am just trying to get my mind around the issues.  I know just enough about computers to be dangerous, I am by no means an expert. I am on a budget so I have to think carefully about my decisions.

  • by steve359,

    steve359 steve359 Feb 4, 2016 12:37 PM in response to Walter Lieberman
    Level 6 (14,032 points)
    Feb 4, 2016 12:37 PM in response to Walter Lieberman

    My 2011 system still runs strong, with RAM maxed and I can replace the HD/SSD without issue.  But I have owned it from the beginning and know its history.

     

    2012 models can change RAM and HD/SSD (non Retina units).  Should still be safe enough to run, provided you trust it is in good shape still.

  • by my ginger,

    my ginger my ginger Feb 4, 2016 12:48 PM in response to Walter Lieberman
    Level 4 (2,472 points)
    Feb 4, 2016 12:48 PM in response to Walter Lieberman

    I happen to be in agreement  with Limnos. I have a 2010 Macbook which can run 16 GB of memory and a SSD drive. I can run any operating system from Snow Leopard to El Capitan if i want to. And it is plenty fast enough. it has some small cracks and blemishes on it. So it's not as pretty as new. But I can run the operating system I need for the apps I run.

  • by TonyLid,

    TonyLid TonyLid Feb 4, 2016 12:52 PM in response to Walter Lieberman
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 4, 2016 12:52 PM in response to Walter Lieberman

    Hi everyone, I think this is concerning my wifes problem.  Me being a kindly soul gave her my old MacBook Pro a couple of years ago as I bought myself a new one (selfish Ha).

     

    Problem is being an older Mac 2006, when we went to update from Snow Leopard 10.6.8 to Mountain Lion it wouldn't let us, so we just soldiered on with it as is.  Today our printer went belly-up, got a new HP printer but won't load onto anything less than 10.8 e.g. Mountian Lion or younger.

     

    Is there anything we can do like upgrading some hardware or is it time to bin it?

  • by my ginger,

    my ginger my ginger Feb 4, 2016 1:00 PM in response to TonyLid
    Level 4 (2,472 points)
    Feb 4, 2016 1:00 PM in response to TonyLid

    Your computer is only able to be upgraded to Lion. That would not help if the new printer needs Mountain Lion or newer.

  • by TonyLid,

    TonyLid TonyLid Feb 4, 2016 2:13 PM in response to my ginger
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 4, 2016 2:13 PM in response to my ginger

    Thanks for that Ginger.  It actually said 10.8.  I assumed it was Mountain Lion, in fact I didn't know that there was a Lion.  Not too computer savvy.  So if 10.8 = Lion where can I get that from?

     

    Fingers crossed!

  • by steve359,

    steve359 steve359 Feb 4, 2016 2:25 PM in response to TonyLid
    Level 6 (14,032 points)
    Feb 4, 2016 2:25 PM in response to TonyLid

    10.6 Snow Leoaprd

    10.7 Lion

    10.8 Mountain Lion

    10.9 Mavericks

    10.10 Yosemite

    10.11 El Capitan

     

    Apple will give you a download code for $19.99 for the App Store: http://www.apple.com/shop/product/D6106Z/A/os-x-lion?fnode=aecfe3e692deed3591a6a 26ea11f9ece1e92a0a0556a151e96b721702d8ed…

  • by TonyLid,

    TonyLid TonyLid Feb 4, 2016 2:26 PM in response to TonyLid
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 4, 2016 2:26 PM in response to TonyLid

    From the search I have done it appears that Lion = 10.7 & that 10.8 = Mountain Lion.  Sad!

     

    So we have just purchased this HP Envy 4524 All-in-One, is there a work-around so the older system can use it?

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