Old MD101

[dh_za]

Ok, so finally ready to pull the trigger on a Mac , been running a hackentosh for some time.
I was considering one of the new retina Mac book pro.... But to get one with 16gig ram is going to set me back R27500 (13")
I was wondering if I should not perhaps go for the MD101... Old 13"
I have a 256 SSD I'm not using I can put in it and also can up the ram to 16g cheaply.

Will it be that much slower vs the new ones with this setup... Will be running multiple windows virtual machines on it... Only downside I can see is the screen resolution ?




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[Electric]

Why go for a mac if you're running a hackintosh?

 

[Hemps]

I have the MD101, wish I had bought the Retina models that where on special last December, the hdd MD101 came with slowed it down tremendously , after adding 120gb ssd it's now lightning fast but running out of space all the time is frustrating.

The screen is not the best.
I also used to run multiple Hackintoshs from desktops to laptops, glad I switched over to a true Mac as the trackpad alone is well worth the cash.

 

[dh_za]

My hackentosh is a desktop .... Need a laptop now...
Well as for space, 256SSD and a 512 spinning platter in the optical bay...


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[Cassady]

I'm probably one of the few that will feel this way - but it's good to be exposed to some contrarian viewpoints!

I'm happy with the screen on mine - but only because I steadfastly refuse to stare at a rMBP screen for anything longer than the time it takes me to realise I'm staring at a rMBP screen!
Having said that - I have an iPad Air, which doesn't have a terrible screen, apparently - and I wasn't exactly blown away following my upgrade from my iPad 2 - so clearly I'm blind!

My take on theses things - if you don't know any better, how are you going to regret it?

I have a 240GB SSD and the original 500GB HDD installed, together with 16GB RAM. Stock standard i5. SSD made the world of difference so my MBP always feels significantly faster than anything else I get to work/play on....

If you came from a top-of-the-line laptop/desktop with amazeballs screen, and lightning fast processor/mega-ram/SSD etc., then yes - M101 will probably be a let down. If not - well then surely you would be none the wiser?

My eyes start watering at the thought of the day coming when I eventually will need to upgrade. To get the equivalent RAM and storage on my next MBP, will cost me the earth. Which probably means I will take the RAM over the storage, and then finally make the move to external. Not what I would prefer, but I'm old-school like that, and I will get over it.

But until that time comes, I'm happy I went the way I did. The classic MBP is probably the last in the line of truly-upgradeable machines, and you can really max it out according to your budget. Whether it will be suited to your needs though, is another question entirely.

I run a VM Win 7 machine through Parallels with plenty of windows/apps open on the Mac side, without any issue. The only time I get my fans spinning, is when I'm doing a big video conversion through Camtasia.

At the time I was making the call between the i5 and i7, far too many threads suggested I would only notice a difference between the two in very specific circumstances. They may have been right. I will never know that, however, since I bought the i5, and don't own an i7 - so I've never been able to compare the two. All I know is that I spend plenty of time waiting on my Windows desktop, for all manner of things, every day. I never wait for my MBP.

Hope this helps in some manner. My 2 cents! Good luck - let us know what you do!