Originally posted by: chipko
Cards are no go. The limitation is not in the OS but in the hardware. iMacs have no PCI slots; do not take PC Cards; & therefore are upgradeable chiefly through their ports. Mac ports sometimes send a different amount of current through a port than PC's do. D-Link used to make a USB to ethernet adapter which was advertised as Mac compatible. They later withdrew the description. Sometimes Linksys products "just work" on Macs although Linksys generally does not promise Mac compatibility or support. Perhaps you could pick up such an adapter at a local brick & mortar with a liberal return policy. The wireless connection to an ethernet/wireless router may not be that expensive if the Mac already has an 811 g card installed or 811b if it's an earlier model. Some Mac users report success with Buffalo networking equipment on Macs--cheap at Fry's.
For a better understanding of this particular Mac's capabilities go to
http://www.lowendmac.com
Click on "iMac" under COMPUTER PROFILES in the right-hand bar & you can get most of the spec's for each model. Use this info along with whatever you dredge up from clicking on 'About This Mac' on the individual computer & then clicking on through to generate a text based report in the Apple System Profiler. You will get more details in the printable report than if you just view the info displayed on screen.
Also helpful is to go to Apple & see the User-Serviceable Parts list for this particular computer in case it is still under warranty with Apple.
http://www.info.apple.com/usen/cip/
Very likely only the Airport card & RAM are replaceable for this family of iMacs without voiding the warranty. I'll bet pretty much everything is soldered to the motherboard.
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