On Mar 27, 2011, at 4:37 PM, Vaj wrote: > A good way to go is with a wireless Apple "Time Capsule", but you could use > many different wireless hard drives out there. > > You DO pay a premium price for this type of Apple accessory, 299 bucks for a > small 1 TB drive -- but it works seamlessly with Time Machine, the elegant > Apple backup software. Simply the best, most intuitive back up software out > there. The real advantage of a Time Capsule, is if your existing Mac has the > "N" level of wireless networking, it's extremely fast. Other Macs in the > house can use it for BU as well. PC's might be able to. > > But IMO, it's overpriced. I'd look for a less expensive wireless drive that > also uses the N standard (if in fact your Mac has a wireless card that can > use N). But even an N level drive will be backwards compatible. > On any Mac simply go under the Apple, go to "About This Mac", and then "more > info" and it will launch the System Profiler. Look under the Airport tab for > the levels of 802.11 wireless it uses. If you're on an older Mac, it will > probably say "G" as your highest.
Thanks, Vaj. We've been using an N router for years now, even with our iBooks (both of which I think came out in 2003 or 4) with no problems. The Time Machine is a cool idea, but since we wouldn't need the Wifi capability I think I'm going to try out one of WDs new HDs configured specially for Macs. (Or so they say. My one experience with WD was not terrific, but they seem to have come a long way-let's hope!) I really do like this computer, even though it's ancient by now (actually came out in early 2006 and I got it in late 2008). But upgrading's usually a pain, and I'm of the if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it camp. So thanks to you and everyone else for all the great suggestions! Here is what I'm thinking of getting: http://bit.ly/hFTmFd Sal
