Show off your Early Intel Macs!

[zachiedoo]

Honestly, if you already have it and it’s in use, continue to use it, but also make sure your backup drive and/or Time Machine is current.

I don’t know if later 2022-made drives are susceptible, as I lack hands-on experience with the 870 EVO. I will say after reading reviews of some 870 EVOs having issues, I went ahead and bought a WD Red SA500 SSD (which cost a few dollars more, but also has a longer sales history and fewer negative user reviews than the 870 EVO, having been released, I think, back in late 2017).

Virtually all of the major-brand SSDs I buy and use — SATA or NVMe — come from WD which, like Samsung, are usually and consistently good quality for SSDs (and with WD, HDDs as well). Even so, WD also have their stinkers, such as the DRAM cache-less WD Green line of SSDs and an emerging number of buyers running into trouble with the new-gen WD Blue SA510 SSD).

I have it, but haven't opened it yet. It's not for my primary MBP, so I'll probably go ahead and install it. I did go look at WD SSD's, though, and saw something that I'm confused about. In the description it says "Western Digital 1TB WD Blue SA510 SATA Internal Solid State Drive SSD - SATA III 6 Gb/s, 2.5"/7mm, Up to 560 MB/s - WDS100T3B0A"

What does the 6 Gb/s mean, and the "up to 560 MB/s"? How can it have two speeds?

 

[Amethyst1]

What does the 6 Gb/s mean, and the "up to 560 MB/s"? How can it have two speeds?

6 Gb/s (Gigabits per second; 6 Gb/s = 600 MB/s) is the interface speed and is the theoretically attainable speed. "Up to 560 MB/s" is the actual speed the SSD achieves when doing sequential transfers, at least according to the manufacturer.

 

[Grumpus]

Just as a data point, I've had a 500 GB 870 Evo running for about a year now with no problems and nothing to worry about shown in the SMART data.

 

[zachiedoo]

6 Gb/s (Gigabits per second; 6 Gb/s = 600 MB/s) is the interface speed and is the theoretically attainable speed. "Up to 560 MB/s" is the actual speed the SSD achieves when doing sequential transfers, at least according to the manufacturer.

Thanks much.

 

[zachiedoo]

Just as a data point, I've had a 500 GB 870 Evo running for about a year now with no problems and nothing to worry about shown in the SMART data.

👍 good to know

 

[czs]

My 870 EVO works great as a data drive. The only drawback I have personally is that it cannot be used as a boot drive in my cMP5,1 so I currently have WD Red and Crucial BX500 in that role. I will also add that another of my Crucial BX500s is having some performance issues at present that I am in the midst of troubleshooting; likely the drive but it could be OC or something else more obscure. And then, even if the drive, it could just be a warranty issue...

 

[zachiedoo]

My 870 EVO works great as a data drive. The only drawback I have personally is that it cannot be used as a boot drive in my cMP5,1 so I currently have WD Red and Crucial BX500 in that role. I will also add that another of my Crucial BX500s is having some performance issues at present that I am in the midst of troubleshooting; likely the drive but it could be OC or something else more obscure. And then, even if the drive, it could just be a warranty issue...

Thanks for another perspective.

 

[B S Magnet]

My 870 EVO works great as a data drive. The only drawback I have personally is that it cannot be used as a boot drive in my cMP5,1 so I currently have WD Red and Crucial BX500 in that role. I will also add that another of my Crucial BX500s is having some performance issues at present that I am in the midst of troubleshooting; likely the drive but it could be OC or something else more obscure. And then, even if the drive, it could just be a warranty issue...

As with many entry-level SSDs, the Crucial BX500 lacks a DRAM cache. So with random writes and reads over time or under load (as a system volume or hosting large databases), performance will take a hit, as will durability and how blocks are managed in real time. That’s probably where your bottlenecks are coming from.

The WD Red SA500 features a 512MB DRAM cache, so such bottlenecks won’t be as common.

 

[VirtuallyInsane]

I got my two new Early Intel Macs delivered today (Macbook Pro 1,1 and 3,1, both 15-inch):

The 3,1 is in better condition than the 1,1, which is a bit janky (it also has a funny keyboard) but you can use it easily when you connect it to an Apple Display.



This one is a unicorn running Tiger and I am planning to keep it that way (1,1)

The same with the one running Snow Leopard (3,1)

I did a photoshoot with the Macbook 4,1 that was sitting out, and I upgraded the RAM to 4GB.

And for reference, here's 'the beast' 17 Inch MBP 2009 from when I first got it. It was running El Capitan, but I downgraded it to Snow Leopard, and it dual boots with Yosemite (and yes, @Wowfunhappy I am going to try Mavericks on it soon. I will hopefully make another partition and put it on there).

My 3rd MBP (1,1 15 inch from 2006) is being used for parts. Already took the 2GB RAM and put it in the new 1,1 and the battery in the 3,1. Might have to take the Airport Card from it too because the 1,1 is a bit weird when connecting. Think the Airport Card is a bit broken too, but we'll see.

 

[GMShadow]

Maybe try NVRAM and SMC resets on the 1,1 before you end up tearing into it. The pre-unibodies aren't *bad* but I never loved getting into them either, and 'acting funny' could just be that.

I will say Mojave runs quite well on my '09 17", if you wanted to hack it sometime in the future. I have mine dual-booting that with 10.6.

 

[coolrock1]

Core 2 Duo iMac with some eMacs

Nice!

 

[rampancy]

They say you never forget your first.

I decided to revist the Mac that started my obsession with the A1181 and my inexplainable craving for collecting Early Intel Macs: A MacBook 2,1 that was my very first, "I built this out of a random bag of parts and eBay spares I paid way too much for" MacBook. At the time I was heavy into my Doctor Who fandom phase, so I named it after...well, who else?

The warning signs were from my first initial build of this Mac; I was missing the metal brackets that are usually mounted on top of the display hinges, leaving the hinge mountings on the bottom case chassis prone to breakage if the display was opened too fast. I eventually did install the missing parts from other dead MacBooks I've scrounged for parts, but decided to leave the signs on anyway.

When I first booted up this Mac after years in my closet, it felt like a time capsule of Early/Mid-2010's Mac software. Remember Robin Browser (neé Raven Browser)? Or Sparrow? And who could forget CircusPonies Notebook...

The first thing I did was replace the 2 GB of RAM and the aging 160 GB hard drive with 2 x 2 GB of DDR2-800 RAM (yeah, yeah, I know the MacBook 2,1 only can only address 3.3 GB, but I wanted the extra little boost from dual channeling) and a 1 TB hard drive from Computers with Pride, one of my new favorite local dealers of retro computer parts. I partitioned the drive into 2 x 500 GB partitions, one for Lion and one for Snow Leopard. With rEFInd, dual booting couldn't be easier.

Since I originally got this Mac in the midst of my love for Doctor Who, I thought I'd make it into a proper personal shrine to the show by filling it with all of my Doctor Who comic and audiobook bundles from Humble Bundle, plus a really interesting unofficial Doctor Who ebook bundle from StoryBundle.

That Torchwood audiobook (well, more of an audio drama, actually) was really, really good, incidentally. It makes me all the more sad for what happens to him in Children of Earth.

I had to take a picture with my cute little Eleventh Doctor sonic LED flashlight. I have the actual full-sized toy (a first-gen, which is sadly prone to soundboard failure), too, but I didn't have it on hand that day...

 

[TheShortTimer]

Who's your fave doctor? @rampancy

Btw, your A1181 looks superb and if you decide to fix the bezel, it will be perfect!

 

[eyoungren]

As things stand now, 04/02/2023.

 

[rampancy]

Who's your fave doctor? @rampancy

Btw, your A1181 looks superb and if you decide to fix the bezel, it will be perfect!

Not bad for a $20 ziploc bag of abandoned parts found in someone's emptied out mini home, eh? I think the only things I needed to buy was a replacement screen and battery.

I don't want to open the incredibly flammable can of worms that is my current thoughts on the state of the DW fandom as I've experienced it, but my first doctor was Eleven, and he'll always be "my Doctor". But Peter Capaldi's Twelve was utterly fantastic as a follow up, and Jodie Whittaker was a great thematic and stylistic successor to Capaldi. And of course I can't forget Christopher Eccleston's Nine.

Next to Smith's inagural season, Eccleston was utterly brilliant, and I still mourn what Could Have Been had his relationship to the BBC not soured so irreperably. (I have just read that he's done some new stuff for Big Finish as the Ninth Doctor, so I'm really excited to get my hands on those recordings one day.)

In truth, I just pretty much adore all of the NuWho Doctors, even though I just love Matt Smith's Doctor. I gotta say, seeing him on House of the Dragon was a bit of a head trip, much like seeing Iwan Rheon (who I knew as the..."loveable" Simon on Misfits) on Game of Thrones.

 

[TheShortTimer]

In truth, I just pretty much adore all of the NuWho Doctors, even though I just love Matt Smith's Doctor. I gotta say, seeing him on House of the Dragon was a bit of a head trip, much like seeing Iwan Rheon (who I knew as the..."loveable" Simon on Misfits) on Game of Thrones.

Thanks for sharing your insights, they're really appreciated!

My favourites were #5 played by the stellar Peter Davison and the then controversial #6 played by Colin Baker - mostly because of his entrance and how it shook things up...

 

[misterminibus]

See my problem is I see my 2009 MBP with Monterey more as a thing of beauty, its nearly mint. When I look on ebay to buy a slightly newer 2012 version which I am sure will be much faster, they all seem to have been around the world and full of scratches and dents. So here it stands at 14 years old being used daily.

 

[rampancy]

Thanks for sharing your insights, they're really appreciated!

My favourites were #5 played by the stellar Peter Davison and the then controversial #6 played by Colin Baker - mostly because of his entrance and how it shook things up...

I actually love all of the classic Doctors too! As someone who was introduced to DW through the new series, Pertwee was actually my favorite for a while as he just seemed to remind me the most of Eccleston's Ninth Doctor.

But I gotta say, my favorite classic Doctor is "I'm half-human on my mother's side" Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor. The movie, as odd and goofy as it is, is still sorely underrated in my opinion. I just wish they didn't have to do Sylvester McCoy so dirty like that. That has to be the most inglorious Doctor death I've ever seen (But didn't Tom Baker's Doctor like, fall a couple of feet from some scaffolding or something?)

Anyway, I always found it so ironic that McGann only had about two hours of screen time as the Doctor, yet is one of the most prolific in his appearances in audio dramas and books.

 

[TheShortTimer]

I actually love all of the classic Doctors too! As someone who was introduced to DW through the new series, Pertwee was actually my favorite for a while as he just seemed to remind me the most of Eccleston's Ninth Doctor.

Five and Six are largely faves because they were the ones that I watched as a child.

But I gotta say, my favorite classic Doctor is "I'm half-human on my mother's side" Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor. The movie, as odd and goofy as it is, is still sorely underrated in my opinion.

I've not seen that since the 90s. I'll have to revisit it. I remember being struck by how much it was clearly pitched from the ground up at a U.S./North American audience - from the scenario through to the technical side with it bearing the unmistakable converted-from-NTSC-to-PAL visual characteristics.

I just wish they didn't have to do Sylvester McCoy so dirty like that. That has to be the most inglorious Doctor death I've ever seen (But didn't Tom Baker's Doctor like, fall a couple of feet from some scaffolding or something?)

The very fact that McCoy actually received a regeneration sequence was against all odds, considering that the BBC bosses didn't even want him to appear at all. Disgraceful behaviour.

Anyway, I always found it so ironic that McGann only had about two hours of screen time as the Doctor, yet is one of the most prolific in his appearances in audio dramas and books.

Just goes to show you that TV is not always the be all and end all of entertainment mediums.

 

[B S Magnet]

See my problem is I see my 2009 MBP with Monterey more as a thing of beauty, its nearly mint. When I look on ebay to buy a slightly newer 2012 version which I am sure will be much faster, they all seem to have been around the world and full of scratches and dents. So here it stands at 14 years old being used daily.
View attachment 2184156 View attachment 2184157 View attachment 2184158 View attachment 2184159 View attachment 2184160 View attachment 2184160 View attachment 2184161

That looks like a teal Speck cover you have on it.

I used to have a red one for my 13-inch model — at least until I wore out the bottom segment.

 

[misterminibus]

I’m amazed the case has lasted, it was about £15 from eBay 10 years ago, have you still got yours?

 

[B S Magnet]

I’m amazed the case has lasted, it was about £15 from eBay 10 years ago, have you still got yours?

Oh, mine is long gone. I think I kept around the otherwise-ok lid piece for a time, but it’s probably been five or more years since I let that go.

Once in a while, I’ll see a Speck case turn up in original packaging, but the prices for them now seem to be aimed at collectors rather than for their intended purpose.

 

[originaldotexe]

i bought a early 2013 15" retina mbp, it will be here soon...

 

[dandeco]

Something else I recently got from my workplace...

A late 2006 15" MacBook Pro, with the 2.33 GHz Core 2 Duo processor! I even transplanted my 500 GB Lion SSD from my 2008 BlackBook into this, along with maxing out the RAM to 4 GB.

As we know, Mac OS X Lion was the last version many of the Intel Macs made in 2006-07 could run.

Final Cut Express 4 in action on the MacBook Pro, just like it would've been around 2007-09.

 

[originaldotexe]

i have lucked out so hard! the mbp that i bought was listed as 8gb ram, 256gb ssd & good battery. i was expecting it to have those specs with an old battery. well, the one they sent me has 16gb ram, 500gb ssd & a brand new battery w/ only 1 cycle currently from me charging it yesterday. hooray!!!