Need Airport card

[budaapple]

I have a Pmac G-4 that I want to add wirelessly to my new express network. I went to find one at a few reliable sources and they have almost tripled in price. I quess Apple has discontinued selling them (why) and now everyone is overcharging for them. Does anyone have one they would sell for a reasonable price, if so email me at. p1vue@yahoo.com
Thank You

[Darwin]

Discontinued Why?

It seems 802.11b is out and 802.11g is in, all of the new macs use G now so I guess there is no point in them producing any more

for some it sucks but thats the way it is

[budaapple]

Still in need of a place to buy the Airport card (standard) Any suggestions? Don't know why Apple stopped making them especially with all the older computers and those wanting to connect huge music libraries to Airtunes makes no sense.
need Help here!

[budaapple]

Why would they discontinue something that is so important to the new express. Bonehead move in my opinion. I hate to pay $139 when they were $49 a month ago. It's the principle of the whole thing not the $$$$. If anyone wants to sell one let me know.
Thanks

[RGunner]

Why not buy a Linksys / Buffalo PCI card with the Broadcom chipset for $39 and be done with it? Its natively supported and shows up as a Airport card (I know, I have 3).

I guess if you had a clamshell iBook this would not work, but I cannot think of any other Mac (oops, iMac I guess) which HAS to have the Apple Airport card.

The Apple card is $139+ and does not appear to be getting any cheaper by the day.

you will then have an 802.11g device (Airport extreme), instead of the now obsolete and slow (slow as molasses) 802.11b Apple card....

I am scratching my head here :)

[ibookin']

Why not buy a Linksys / Buffalo PCI card with the Broadcom chipset for $39 and be done with it? Its natively supported and shows up as a Airport card (I know, I have 3).

I guess if you had a clamshell iBook this would not work, but I cannot think of any other Mac (oops, iMac I guess) which HAS to have the Apple Airport card.

The Apple card is $139+ and does not appear to be getting any cheaper by the day.

Apple models that use the original Airport Card and have no PCI slots:

-CRT iMacs 350MHz-700MHz
-Older LCD iMacs 700MHz-800MHz
-Clamshell iBooks 300MHz-466MHz
-Square iBook G3s 500MHz-900MHz
-PowerBook G3 Pismos 400MHz-500MHz (had PC Card, though)
-PowerBook G4 Titanium 400MHz-1GHz (also had PC Card)

[Lancetx]

Apple models that use the original Airport Card and have no PCI slots:

-CRT iMacs 350MHz-700MHz
-Older LCD iMacs 700MHz-800MHz
-Clamshell iBooks 300MHz-466MHz
-Square iBook G3s 500MHz-900MHz
-PowerBook G3 Pismos 400MHz-500MHz (had PC Card, though)
-PowerBook G4 Titanium 400MHz-1GHz (also had PC Card)

And virtually all of these can use a 3rd party external USB Wi-Fi adapter. Most (such as from D-Link for example) have OS X drivers available. It may not be as elegant, but $20-30 for an 802.11b USB dongle is far less than paying $140 for an AirPort card.

[Finiksa]

Why would they discontinue something that is so important to the new express.
The 802.11b chipset used in the Airport cards is no longer being manufactured.

[diehlr]

Why not buy a Linksys / Buffalo PCI card with the Broadcom chipset for $39 and be done with it? Its natively supported and shows up as a Airport card (I know, I have 3).

Because practicality and common sense eludes many buyers.

[debroglie]

Why not buy a Linksys / Buffalo PCI card with the Broadcom chipset for $39 and be done with it? Its natively supported and shows up as a Airport card (I know, I have 3).

I guess if you had a clamshell iBook this would not work, but I cannot think of any other Mac (oops, iMac I guess) which HAS to have the Apple Airport card.

The Apple card is $139+ and does not appear to be getting any cheaper by the day.

Where can I purchase this card? I can't seem to find it anywhere!?!?!

[Finiksa]

Where can I purchase this card? I can't seem to find it anywhere!?!?!
Look for one of these models, they all works as Airport Extreme cards. The Belkin and Linksys should be very easy to find.

Linksys WMP54G
Belkin F5D7000
Minitar MN54GPL

[budaapple]

Where can you find these cards that are compatible with a mac most of the ones I see only work with PC's or so they say they do. Any suggestions since there is not a Crummy Usa any where near

[Finiksa]

Where can you find these cards that are compatible with a mac most of the ones I see only work with PC's or so they say they do. Any suggestions since there is not a Crummy Usa any where near
Linksys WMP54G
Belkin F5D7000
Minitar MN54GPL

These ones I listed before work, they probably don't list "mac compatibility" because the manufacturers don't make drivers for them. Which doesn't matter since the built-in Airport Extreme drivers work perfectly.

Just check your local PC stores they should stock some of them, or search Froogle (htp://froogle.google.com/) for online retailers.

[jimsowden]

My store has a bunch (20-30) for 115, if your in the PA area.

[budaapple]

I will check it out Thanks

[42gb]

This whole airport card business is really making me very dissatisfied with Apple. If I had known they would be discontinuing the line so suddenly I would have bought the two I needed a week earlier when they were still being sold.

What relly makes me mad is that I think Apple is cooperating with the price gougers. I went to two CompUSA locations and was told that they had cards in stock but could not sell them to me because Apple was repurchasing them. I presume that is because they can be sold to other vendors at a higher rate.

I've never heard of pulling working product off the shelves! :mad:

I wrote Apple a letter to make them aware of my dissatisfaction. I suggest to all of you who need one that you do the same. Encourage Apple to resell directly all of the cards it is repurchasing.

[bluebeetle]

You can buy a Sony Viao laptop card and use it in your Mac, they are the same as the original airport
http://www.oninocomputing.co.uk/network_adapter/sony_vaio_pcwa_c150s.html

You have to take the block (antenna) off with a screwdriver, otherwise it IS an exact replacement

[mkaake]

this has been brought up in another thread, but worth a re-mention. w/in the past month or so, my sister was in new york, and needed an airport card for her ibook. sooo, she went to the apple store and asked for it. that was it. no hassle. they had them in stock, and sold it to her for 79 bucks or something of the sort.

might want to try that option first. and any local comp usa. i went to one to buy a printer cord for my beiege a while back, and was astounded at the 20 dollar cost for an 8 foot cable. the local mac guy, feeling my pain, took it up to the front and instantly knocked over half of the cost off...

so give that a try first...