VERY OLD Macbook

[rabbit mom]

My family gifted me with Amazon gift cards so I could replace my crashed laptop. I haven't owned a mac in over 15 years even though it is my preference, though I had access to iMovie and Final Cut Pro and used extensively between 2003-2007. (used the first version of Adobe premiere in college) I paid $155 for a used macbook and bought also a three year plan. I bought under the impression that Ilife was already installed and it is not. While looking for a compatible version of Ilife (older) I noticed that my macbook is from late 2008 !?!?!?!?!!??!?! I feel like I payed way too much; it works fine, though i am getting error message here and there "safari can't load page" My needs are (simple, low budget, personal best) wifi (check) writing and editing (check) mac specific photo manipulation, video editing, and music. Did I pay too much????? Or is this a good price for my needs??? S

 

[roto1231]

A late 2008 MacBook is a decent machine for the tasks you said you would like to do. Depending upon the condition of the machine you did not pay "too much". Is it a white MacBook or an Aluminum MacBook Pro? If it is the white MacBook the maximum OS is 10.7.5 Lion. If it is the Unibody Aluminum MacBook Pro the maximum OS is MacOS 10.10.4 Yosemite. Running 10.10.4 should allow you to use "most" of the current applications or the last prior version. I would install either OS (depending on the machine) as a clean install to get rid of any artifacts from the previous owner. Google Chrome and Firefox have dropped support for Lion but their browsers are still compatible with Yosemite as an alternative to Safari To get the most out of the machine an SSD and a RAM upgrade would be highly suggested. It will feel like a new machine with those upgrades and are fairly simple to do regardless of the machine you have.

Hopefully this is helpful and puts you in the right direction.

 

[AnonMac50]

A late 2008 MacBook is a decent machine for the tasks you said you would like to do. Depending upon the condition of the machine you did not pay "too much". Is it a white MacBook or an Aluminum MacBook Pro? If it is the white MacBook the maximum OS is 10.7.5 Lion. If it is the Unibody Aluminum MacBook Pro the maximum OS is MacOS 10.10.4 Yosemite. Running 10.10.4 should allow you to use "most" of the current applications or the last prior version. I would install either OS (depending on the machine) as a clean install to get rid of any artifacts from the previous owner. Google Chrome and Firefox have dropped support for Lion but their browsers are still compatible with Yosemite as an alternative to Safari To get the most out of the machine an SSD and a RAM upgrade would be highly suggested. It will feel like a new machine with those upgrades and are fairly simple to do regardless of the machine you have.

Hopefully this is helpful and puts you in the right direction.

The maximum officially supported OS on aluminium ones is actually El Capitan 10.11.6. This would be an even better option for this computer.