Make your Current Mac feel like it's a New Mac again

By: Larry O'Connor

I have to admit I've played this tune almost to the point of possibly wearing it out. None the less, and in that conservational mindset, it's amazing what hidden potential exists with Macs (and.. PCs too) that you may already own (and, ideally, are fully paid for). Eventually, the time comes when the old faithful needs to be replaced or shuffled from a primary to secondary role. Unfortunately, with the exception of regular OWC newsletter readers/upgrade educated customers, more often than not a brand new computer is purchased that might not even offer the performance an existing system could have.

There are Macs with only 512MB of memory that an upgrade to 1GB or 2GB would double or triple performance… 2GB to 4GB for another doubling or more, and onward too depending on OS and application use. Only have the ability to burn CDs - upgrade to an internal or external optical drive with DVD/DVD-DL and even Blu-Ray burning capabilities. Not enough room on your hard drive - easy to plug n' play external if not a larger (or additional) internal drive + newer hard drives make your computer faster as drives keep getting faster and faster. Computers, so far, aren't restricted as other typical appliances are.

With a few exceptions, when you want to improve performance or expand capabilities -there are typically multiple areas of upgrade potential and at a cost that is a fraction of purchasing a whole new Mac. Furthermore, and this depends on one what you're starting with, it's not uncommon for a simple upgrade to provide better real-world performance than that new Mac might offer in its base/standard factory config. Sure you can upgrade that new Mac too (and really should when ROI is considered), but regardless of the current system - you may add months or even years of acceptable usability with the performance gain a much lower upgrade option can provide.

Our free installation videos (viewable via our website, no-obligation, etc) show how easy various upgrades are to do. Our newsletter ‘Speed bump that current Mac’ article goes into real detail laying out just what options might be of consideration for the different Macs. Note - the only part of this article that’s really dated are the prices… today’s costs for memory and hard drives happen to be a lot lower than it was when this was ‘penned’ back in October 2008. The upgrades were a deal then - even at twice or thrice the price. A definite must-read if you’ve got that need for more speed, etc. :)