Buy a new mac or upgrade the OS?

I agree with most of what's in here, but i extensively used this exact macbook pro for a while, and eventually dedicated it as a media center. * It will always run hot, that's just how the CPUs they used in this generation were("Merom" core 2 duo). However, blowing out the heatsinks via the "slot" around the hinge will greatly increase performance by preventing the system from dropping it's speed to avoid overheating when you're doing Serious Stuff, or really much of anything. Use a real compressor too, Like the big tank with wheels kind, not canned air or a little airbrush pump. You want to BLAST the dirt out. Fire in short controlled psst-psst-psst bursts so you don't overspin and damage the(somewhat delicate in these!) cooling fans. Dust should shoot out of the keyboard/vents like mad during this. * Snow Leopard ran awesome on my one of these. It's a huge, huge upgrade from 10.5/leopard that you have right now. I could play 1080p HD video smoothly without it breaking much of a sweat. Big, chunky 4-8gb blu-ray rips too. I also did some serious no-joke work with gigantic files in ableton live, photoshop CS5, Premiere, etc. Stuff that makes lesser computers fall to their knees or overheat and explode. You do not need an upgrade to a new machine. I'm using a 2009 macbook pro and that one wasn't really that much slower than this one. I could still use that one to do everything i do today honestly. * New batteries are like $30 on ebay. Don't be afraid to buy the brandless "replacement battery for macbook pro!" ones. It's an old machine, and they won't cause it to explode. Forget paying $80 for one. Just don't get the fake chargers if you need a new charger...(get those http://www.macsales.com/. No affiliation, they just have good prices on warranted used chargers so you don't have to pay $80) * If you get an SSD, get a cheaper one. Look for SATA II models on clearance as that macbook pro can't take advantage of SATA III speeds anyways. An ssd will make way more of a difference than more ram especially since you already have 2gb. I'd honestly get 4gb though. 6gb results in you not having a matched set for "dual channel", which means that the system can read the matched set as one large group of memory at a faster speed. You want that. So if you do get more ram, get two 2gb sticks(if you're curious, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820313371 is the correct set) The new macs would destroy even my once herculean 2.66ghz macbook pro. speed in GHZ means nothing any more, it's entirely how they perform actual operations. There is no actual meaningful measurement in specs until the machine is tested nowadays, and leaps and bounds are made each generation despite the similar, identical, or even lower clock speeds. However, a weird point was reached in about 2007-8 where the average mid range to high end(and don't get me wrong, the macbook pros were always towards the upper range of mobile system performance especially in CPU speed) where a decent machine could complete even more strenuous tasks perfectly fine. New machines excel more at performing the same tasks not just slightly more quickly, but with much less electrical power allowing less heat and longer battery life. The machine you have will continue to do exactly what you want perfectly fine and smoothly while pumping out a bit more heat with a fresh install of snow leopard and a few minor upgrades. After all, i still know people doing what you describe on much older machines. This thing is fine. My answer would only be different if you were describing actual hardware failure type issues or saying you needed to do serious 3d modeling or lots of HD video editing or something.

1. Snow Leopard 2. Buy an SSD 3. Get a new battery All that should run you about $200-$300 total, so a 1/3 less than the price of a new MacBook Air. The SSD will blow your mind with the speed improvement.

1. Save all your data. 2. Get a copy of the new OS. 3. Install FRESH. Don't upgrade, do a clean install. 4. Add on software that you need. 5. Put your data back on. That should feel a lot better. Optional: 6. Get a new battery from eBay.

I believe the 2007 is upgradeable to 6GB. I think 6 is workable, but considering:you're looking at a RAM upgrade, an SSD, a new battery and a new OS, which will all run a few hundred dollars, the 2007 can be sold for some money, so it won't be wasted,and a new machine has other benefits like being lighter, quieter and having a better screen,a new computer, which will come with 8GB, an SSD, a new battery and Mountain Lion, is not an extravagant purchase.

Hey, we have the same laptop, down to the RAM. I threw a 640gb drive in the thing to free up space, have installed every OS update since buying it, and am currently running 10.8 with no issues (aside from machine envy when looking at colleagues with newer models). I use it daily, and it does what I need it to do, even though some tasks are getting noticeably slow. I did not bump the RAM up at all, still running with the 4 gigs it had when I bought it. I would like to upgrade, but right now it works. I have never done a clean install on it. I have gone through the Library a few times and cleaned out some obvious cruft. My biggest upgrade obstacle is the inability to swap out drives if I buy a newer MBP. Last time priced one out, to get a new model with the same hard drive space I have now, it would cost me $4 grand, which is a whole lot more than I want to spend right now. SSDs are awesome and all but I want internal storage. I work with lots of files (for work and for personal stuff) and don't want to dink around with deciding what should or should not be synced to the device.

It is pretty easy to open a MBP and install a new SSD. There are videos on YouTube that show how to do it. First backup everything you want to save/move to a new drive, or get an adapter/housing that will let you read your old HDD via USB. 1. Get a http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC573Z/A/mac-os-x-106-snow-leopard. 2. Get more RAM, (recommended, not needed). 3. Open it up and upgrade (both the RAM and) the SSD 4. Boot it up and do a new install of the OS on your new SSD. There will be a BIG IMPROVEMENT in performance. 5. Copy your files back in. 6. Get and install a new battery Get a friend or local Mac expert to help if needed. If you were near me I would help.

Good to know, 6550. Saved me a small bundle.

Don't get an external ssd. Neither usb2 nor firewire are fast enough to take full advantage of the ssd.

Thanks for your replies, everyone! The consensus advice seems to be to stick with my current, functioning machine, upgrade to SL, get a new batt, and perhaps get an external SSD. I love the suggestion to vacuum the fans--my mac can get hotter than the sun running only Firefox and iTunes, and I bet this will help a lot. I would probably have sprung for a MBA if I hadn't asked this question, but now I think I'll make a small short-term investment in my MBP, and save up for a tricked-out laptop in a year or two. Thanks so much, everybody!