Chosen Solution

I’ve been looking at fixing this old Macbook, because I’m tired of having a machine I can’t use. It needs a new battery, the case is cracked, and the optical drive doesn’t work. At first I made a list:

  • Replace the optical drive with a SSD, but it’s only got SATA 1, so I won’t get the real benefits.
  • Replace the case, but I can only get a plastic one that’s going to crack again next week.
  • Upgrade to bluetooth 4.0
  • Install Chromium or Ubuntu, because Apple isn’t offering security updates on Mountain Lion
  • Replace the battery, but at this point, why? I thought about selling it, but the best offer I’ve seen online is $10. So how can I get something out of this machine? I really want to salvage something, and I want to learn how to build and maintain my computer, so working on a consequence-free Macbook is like free lessons for taking care of my 2010 MBA. Should I build a home server? Should I turn it into a desktop? Are there some parts I can salvage and use to build something else? If it helps, I also have my wife’s old iPad 2 I can salvage from.

Why I commend your tenacity on trying to mod your system. There is just only so much you can do with the parts. Sadly, you can’t resurrect your parts into something else here. The problem is the parts where designed as a laptop system not anything else. As much as you might want to alter it it just won’t fly as a desktop or home server. So what to do here? Fixing the system up is one direction but since so much needs repair is it cost effective? If you could locate a second system (junker) which to steal the parts from maybe you could fix your system up. I wouldn’t spend to much here given the systems age its lifespan is limited (OS & apps). Or … I would try selling your MacBook to someone else as a junker and look for a newer (used) system to invest in that has a longer lifespan.

I sell thousands of these a year, and they are still perfectly functional laptops for people who do not need to run power-user-level applications (video editing, multitrack audio editing). Here are some upgrades: 4GB DDR2 SODIMM kit on eBay for $15 shipped. New battery on eBay for $17 shipped. Replacement A1181 Superdrive for $18. 120GB SSD on eBay for $45 shipped. Sort on eBay from low to high, and you’ll find the cheapest possible part. So basically, for $95 you can give this computer a complete overhaul, if you want to, or any increment of the above for even less. An SSD will give you a massive improvement even if you’re not benefiting from ATA3. This laptop takes Lion, which is still a stable OS and can handle modern browsers…if you happen to have the 2009 2.13GHZ, you can go all the way to Yosemite. I wouldn’t bother with the topcase since it’s just aesthetics, and you’d probably pay more than the SSD for a good one. So anyway, moral of the story is that parts are cheap, and the computer can still be perfectly functional if you want to go in that direction. There is no reason to toss the laptop just because it’s old, as many would suggest.