re: Upgrading old MacBook Pro

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I own a 1 year old refurb CB

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Link the model

Edit: and a new chromebook today will be better (vastly superior long term) than a 10 year old upgraded macbook

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I own a 1 year old refurb CB. It's fine for what it is, but if you are seriously tryin to compare it to Mac OS you must have never used a Mac before.

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... I literally work almost exclusively from Macs myself... I'm typing this from a Mac... It's a fine system, "for what it is"... We're also not talking about what they are "capable of" in an ideal world at the extreme end, we're talking about a very explicit use case that was provided... "browsing the internet and pictures"... Nothing about my Mac would be a significant improvement over a chromebook in that area...

You're also not comparing a mac from today, you're talking about a nearly 10 year old mac. I have a 2010 MBP sitting around... it has a Core2 Duo processor... it's about 20-30% slower than the Core M3 that would be found in some of the better Chromebook options (Samsung CB Pro, Asus Flip, etc)... 4gb of RAM (also equivalent with a modern Chromebook).

And at the end of the day, you can spend $150+ and the time investment to upgrade that machine, and then inherit all of the problems that come with trying to "supe up" a 10 year old machine that can't effectively keep up with OS upgrades. You can say "oh but for that use case you don't need to upgrade OS", but then you introduce potential security concerns by not being able to keep all software up to date either... Nursing a 10 year old laptop for someone else's use is generally a mistake unless you really like playing the role of IT at home.

And if OP is opposed to a Chromebook, there are dozens of cheap windows laptops that would still outperform and outlast the upgrades performed on the 10 year old Mac.

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. I literally work almost exclusively from Macs myself... I'm typing this from a Mac... It's a fine system, "for what it is"... We're also not talking about what they are "capable of" in an ideal world at the extreme end, we're talking about a very explicit use case that was provided... "browsing the internet and pictures"... Nothing about my Mac would be a significant improvement over a chromebook in that area...

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You trying to say if she's already in the Mac ecosystem--iPhone etc. there's no advantage to having a Mac over a Chromebook even for what limited use she has for it?

Maybe she's not interested in Google 's invade every aspect of your life's programs and more interested in iPhoto and iCloud syncing iMessaging etc.

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That's ironic coming from an apple fanboy

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I 'm not getting into an Apple Google post war. But you honestly think Apple is as invasive as Google? All those free programs Google gives away come with a cost you know.

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Balanced? I come up with very good reasons to stay on even a 10 year old Mac, all you did was shite all over them and refuse to acknowledge a single benefit.

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Balanced... as in "opinions from both sides". You spoke your peace, I described an alternate scenario which was rooted in what he described as his use case... you continue to make assumptions to try and justify yours... No need to get upset about it.

If OP changes the use case, you may have a point, but for simple "email and photo" uses, no... spending $150 or more on a 10 year old laptop is not a particularly wise utilization of funds... If you can pick them up via ebay or something at a discounted rate, with the ability to sell them back at a similar price if the project doesn't work, I suppose he's only out the time investment... but personally, I would value my time at more than the differential of purchasing a new machine and alleviating the headache of needing to continue to help support my wife using it.

My wife is also *exceptionally* non-technical, so I certainly have a bias in the favor of whatever means I need to do the least to keep her operational. Which I more or less admitted in my very first comment IIRC.

This is wildly dependent on specific units... Some are worse than others.

If you are listening to the speakers on a laptop and concerned about quality, I question your ability to think cogently... You're talking about degrees of shitty at that point. If you care about sound, you're using headphones or you are interfacing with better speakers... if you just need it for casual listening, then no, the 2010 MBP speakers aren't significantly better than a 2019 Chromebook...

Step 1) Define the use case and what you are prioritizing
Step 2) Select a machine that best accomplishes that use case

It really shouldn't be that difficult. For some people, a chromebook doesn't work... for the use case presented, it would be a more than sufficient option for most people.

MacBook keyboards from 2010-2016ish were unmatched by anyone else

Nowadays people are puting fricking mechanical keyboards in laptops

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We have small kids and I just can’t justify a new laptop in case they break it

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This is the perfect scenario for a chromebook... Some of those things are nearly indestructible

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We have small kids and I just can’t justify a new laptop in case they break it.

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Fully understand. I've got a little one who is damn near 1/4 hurricane when it comes to electronics. As bb mentioned above, there's a reason chromebooks are frequently used in education space... some models are tanks...

But sure, you can throw the money at the old laptop and see if you can nurse it along. I'd try and buy the parts via ebay/similar personally unless you can't get a significant enough price differential. At least that way, if it doesn't work well enough for you, you can strip the parts back out and list them back for minimal loss.

Good luck either way!