iMac G5 Airport Installation

Hello Collective Wisdom,

After having owned three intel based Macs, I'm now going back to my roots with a G5 iMac. (M9249LL/A) This is the original iMac, with an upgraded processor of 1.8GHz. (Pretty sweet for a nice little media server and document creation machine.)

It is bare bones. The only updated option is the 1.8GHz processor. The thing still has 256MB of RAM!

I'm going to buy this RAM tomorrow.

Leopard will also be installed. =)

Now - it needs some form of wireless connectivity. I need help picking out an Airport Card. I'm thinking about this one.

According to this Apple document, it should work. However, I wanted to ask the PPC experts.

Also - do those Airport card carry bluetooth as well as wireless b/g?

I believe that's it for questions. If anyone wants, I'll be sure to post pictures once I have everything up and running.

Thanks for the quick reply.

I can live without bluetooth, but wifi is another story.

What should I look for in the airport card? I've been trying to find one for <$40 with no luck.

Am I just better off buying a USB wireless dongle?

Intell said:

According to iFixit.com: You need the Airport Extreme. Source: http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Repair/Installing-iMac-G5-17-Inch-Model-A1058-AirPort-Extreme/966/1

And here's the Bluetooth: http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Repair/Installing-iMac-G5-17-Inch-Model-A1058-Bluetooth-Board/967/1

You can even buy the Bluetooth board from them: http://www.ifixit.com/Mac-Parts/iMac-G5-17"-1.8-GHz-(EMC-No.-1989)#Wireless+Cards

Click to expand...

Ever have an "ah duh!" moment?

iFitit was simply amazing. I didn't realize that they went back that far and considered them off my information hunting list.

Using their information, I bought an Airport Extreme Card model number A1026. I spent ~$20 on ebay.

Since I still have a BestBuy giftcard from the holidays, I'm going to get a bluetooth USB dongle.

So I have the following upgrades to make:
2GB RAM.
AirPort Card.
Bluetooth Dongle.

Since it is so easy to take the computer apart, I'm going to hold off on the hard drive. I have an old 320GB external that will serve as a great backup.

The specs will look like this:

iMac G5 @ 1.8GHz, 2GB, 80GB - Leopard

That seems pretty respectable. Is there anything else I should know?

I appreciate everyone's help!