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Mac mini – lowest-priced Macintosh

If you already have a monitor, a Mac-compatible USB keyboard, and a USB mouse, the Mac mini is your most affordable path to a modern Macintosh.

iMac – affordable all-in-one Macintosh

The latest iMac has an LCD monitor, an Intel Core 2 Duo or Core i5 Quad-core processor, 4 GB RAM, a SuperDrive (read/write CDs & DVDs), and an iSight camera in one tidy package, plus a wireless Apple Keyboard and Magic Mouse. Software includes Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) and iLife '09.

MacBook – Mac laptops

Apple's MacBook laptops are the basic MacBook, the super-thin MacBook Air, and the powerful MacBook Pro. Since MacBooks are more fragile than desktop Macs and MacBooks are subjected to a more hostile environment, extending the warrantee to three years with AppleCare is a wise choice.

Mac Pro towers

Apple's top-of-the line MacPro towers are high-performance Macs with a 640 GB HD (and three open internal HD plug-in bays), an 18x Dual-layer SuperDrive (and another optical bay), and 3 PCI Express expansion slots.

Mac accessories

Mac Laptop Power Adapters

When your iBook, PowerBook or MacBook is traveling, it's important to have a power adapter for times when the battery runs out. A second power adapter means you can have one in your office and one in your laptop bag – no more packing and unpacking for each trip, which saves a lot of wear and tear on the adapters.

AppleCare Protection Plan

An AppleCare Protection Plan extends the warrantee for a new Mac from one to three years. AppleCare is recommended for MacBooks because they're more fragile than desktop Macs and are subjected to a more hostile environment.

• AppleCare – MacBook 13.3
• AppleCare – MacBooks 15 Inches and above

Although Mac desktops are less likely to have problems beyond the one year warrantee, a screen repair can be expensive. AppleCare for a Mac mini or a Mac Pro covers any Apple monitor purchased at the same time as the Mac. AppleCare for desktop Macs covers onsite repair.

• AppleCare – Mac Mini
• AppleCare – iMac
• AppleCare – Mac Pro

AppleCare extends Apple telephone support from 90 days to 3 years.

AppleCare can be purchased with a new Mac or at any time during the one year warrantee period.

Monitors

Modern iMacs and MacBooks have a display port for an external monitor. A Mac mini can drive two monitors, and a Mac Pro can drive numerous monitors.

Laser Printers

Are you tired of the hassle and expense of ink jet printers? If you don't need color, a personal laser printer is a wonderful alternative.

External Hard Drives (for Leopard's Time Machine)

Automatic backup by Time Machine is a key new feature in Leopard (Mac OS X 10.5). Simply connect an external hard drive to your Leopard-ized Mac, and Time Machine starts hourly backup of your entire internal hard drive.

How large a drive does Time Machine need?

The rule of thumb is a Time Machine hard drive should be 1.5 times the amount of data you'll be backing up. Typically, that's 1.5 times the size of your Mac's internal hard drive.

Having more space means a longer backup history. That's because when the backup drive fills up, Time Machine begins discarding the oldest backup files.

USB 2.0, FireWire 400 or FireWire 800?

An external hard drive (HD) can connect to your Mac via USB 2.0 (faster than older USB 1.1), FireWire 400 or FireWire 800. Modern Macs typically support all three connect techniques; older Macs are limited to FireWire 400. USB 2.0 and FireWire 400 are, in theory, roughly the same speed. In practice, FileWire 400 is considerably faster on Macs.

FireWire 800 is twice as fast as FireWire 400 ... and more expensive. This extra speed is important for some applications like video editing. Since Time Machine's backup happens in the background, the additional speed is not important.

N.B. Check the ports on your Mac before ordering a drive.

• Some recent Macs (e.g., MacBook Air) have only USB 2.0 ports (no FireWire).
• Older Macs may have only FireWire 400 (no 800).
• Newer Mac may have only FireWire 800 and USB 2.0.

Pre-configured External HD

Other World Computing offers external hard drives that are ready-to-go right out of the box:

Desktop (larger, powered from a Back-UPS)

• Mercury Elite-AL Pro FireWire 400/800 + USB 2.0 from 160 GB ($90) to 2 TB ($360)

Portable (smaller, powered from your laptop)

• Mercury On-The-Go USB 2.0 from 120 GB ($68) to 500 GB ($200)
• Mercury On-The-Go FireWire from 120 GB ($85) to 500 GB ($230)

Assemble Your Own External HD

Assembling an external drive (i.e., installing a raw drive in an enclosure), has several advantages:

1. Better hard drive: pre-configured external drives typically use consumer-grade components. Assembling a drive allows you to select a higher quality "enterprise" hard drive.
2. Longer warrantee: pre-configured drives typically have a 1-year warrantee. An assembled drive has a 1-year warrantee on the enclosure and a 3-to-5-year warrantee on the raw drive.
3. Higher capacity: most pre-configured drives have a maximum capacity of 500-750 GB. An assembled drive can be up to 2 TB (2 terabytes = 2000 gigabytes).

Desktop IDE Enclosures & Hard Drives:

• OWC IDE/ATA $38 - $80
• Hitachi, Seagate & Western Digital 160+ GB 3.5" IDE/ATA $55 - $180

Desktop SATA Enclosures & Hard Drives:

• SATA 3.5" enclosures (1 or 2 drives) $58 and up
• Western Digital 1.0 TB SATA "Green Power" $110
• Hitachi, Seagate, Western Digital & Samsung 500+ GB SATA $69 and up

Portable SATA Enclosures & Hard Drives:

• SATA 2.5" enclosures $28 and up
• SATA 2.5" laptop drives $48 and up

APC Back-UPS - Uninterruptible Power Supply

When your Mac loses power, you lose any work in progress. And if a file is being written/copied/saved at that moment, the hard drive is very likely to get corrupted.

An UPS (rhymes with "cups") powers your Mac and selected peripherals (monitor, modem, router) during a momentary power interruption. When the lights blink, your Mac doesn't. In the event of an extended power outage, an UPS gives you time to save your files and do a graceful shutdown.

Use the APC UPS Selector ("PC or Workstation") to find the right model for other Macs + associated peripherals.

Amazon offers a full range of APC products, with Super Saver free shipping (a big saving for these heavy products). Enter an APC model number in the search box, or simply click the "GO!" button for a complete list of APC Back-UPS products.

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USB Webcam

Video conferencing over the Internet requires four ingredients:

• video camera
• microphone
• conferencing software (free)
  • iChat – Mac-to-Mac
  • Skype – between Mac OS X, Windows or Linux computers
• DSL or Cable broadband connection

Modern iMac and MacBooks have a built-in iSight camera and micophone. Older iMacs and iBooks have only a build-in microphone. If you have a Mac Mini, a Mac Pro, or an older Mac, you can add an external FireWire or USB "Webcam" (many with a built-in microphone).

FireWire cameras provide the best video quality. Apple's original external FireWire iSight camera/microphone has been a popular choice, but it was discontinued in December 2006; new and used iSights are still available on eBay at a premium price, often $100 (or more) than the original $150 price. There are a few third-party FireWire cameras in the $125 to $200 range, plus $50 or so for an external microphone.

Affordable USB Webcams are a more popular alternative. From the vast array of vendors and models, I've found two Mac-friendly Webcams with good video chat quality and a built-in voice mike.

USB Webcams may claim USB 1.1 compatibility. However, USB 2.0 is required for iChat-compatibility on Mac OS X. White iBooks, later model flat-screen iMacs, and all Mac minis have USB 2.0. A USB 2.0 PCI card can be easily installed in a PowerMac G3/G4 tower.

iChatUSBCam is a $10 add-on for iChat that adjusts camera settings (e.g., brightness, contrast) and provides support for a USB 2.0 PCI card.

Cable Modem & Routers

When you subscribe to a cable broadband service, you're given the choice of renting a cable modem (for an addition $3 or so a month) or purchasing a modem. (DSL providers typically provide a modem at no additional charge.)

If you have more than one computer, you'll need a router to connect the computers to the modem.

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