In my Christmas list my top item was the new 13” MacBook. I’ve decided to wait on buying a new computer, and instead I’ve been upgrading my current CoreDuo MacBook to get some extra mileage out of it.

First of all, I’ve been having problems with my Airport card ever since upgrading to Leopard. Subsequent updates to Leopard have not fixed the problem so when I found this tutorial I decided it would be worth opening up the MacBook to replace the Airport card and upgrade to 802.11n while I was at it. The replacement card was purchased on Ebay for $25 and arrived about a week later all the way from Hong Kong (with free shipping). It was a little bit difficult and nerve-racking to install, but when I put it all back together it ran perfectly, as if I hadn’t changed a thing. Except that I can use the internet while away from my desk, and stream high-quality video over our home network.

The second upgrade was to switch out the 80GB hard drive with a new 320GB drive from Mwave for $75 with shipping. Remove the battery, 3 screws, slide the old drive out, the new drive in, and your done.

The third upgrade wasn’t to the laptop itself. One of the most common problems I run into is running out of screen space for projects like book design. To remedy this, I went Dell to purchase the 24” LCD monitor from my Christmas list for $530 with shipping. The screen boasts a resolution of 1920x1200 which is 225% larger than my laptops 1280x800. This monitor costs a bit more than other 24 inchers, but for good reason. It has pretty much every input you can imagine: VGA, 2 DVIs, Composite, Component, HDMI, and Display Port. Tack on to that a 4 port usb hub, and 9in1 card reader.

All in all, I ended up spending about $650 instead of $1400 or potentially $2100 for the MacBook or MacBook Pro, respectively. I could still use a bit more power, but I’m hoping that with Snow Leopard the second core in my CPU might get utilized a bit more.

1. 1. Clint Dec 3, 2008 5:40 PM

   I just bought that monitor last week. its sex. The insane amount of ports and easy access card reader makes it a total winner.

2. 2. stefanie p. warmouth Dec 3, 2008 5:41 PM

   the new and improved karl.

   your blog makes me feel like a middle schooler. i just post silly videos and talk about what i did during the day.

   i don’t wanna grow up, karl. is it scary?

3. 3. stefanie p. warmouth Dec 3, 2008 5:42 PM

   also, i’m way behind on all things comedic that stream on the internet. may we laugh together in the glow of your new monitor when i come to town?

4. 4. David Dec 3, 2008 8:23 PM

   P6 chip. Triple the speed of the Pentium. And it’s not just the chip, it has a PCI bus, but you knew that. Karl, are you sure this sweet machine’s not going to waste?

5. 5. Karl Peterson Dec 3, 2008 11:23 PM

   @Clint - Agreed. I love this monitor so far.

   @Stefanie - I can’t wait to watch Garth Marenghi!

   @David - Crash Override. What was it. “Mess with the Best, Die Like the Rest?”