White 20" intel iMac w/ dead NIC - suggestions?

[chappel]

My mom's iMac appears to have suffered a blown ethernet interface during a recent thunderstorm - she apparently also lost her DSL modem and wifi router (I haven't been over to check it out in person yet; I'm relying on what the ISP tech reported when he replaced the DSL box). I'm assuming the NIC is integrated onto the motherboard, and if it's really dead the entire MB will have to be replaced. Can anyone confirm that? I suspect I could have her claim it a loss and file for insurance, but I don't want to write off an otherwise great computer. I've taken apart and upgraded my Ti PowerBook and Intel Mini (and countless WinTel PCs and laptops) - how tough is it to replace an iMac MB? Any recommendations for parts shops? I'm in rural America - it's a three hour drive one-way to the nearest Apple store, and I'd prefer not to ship the entire unit. It isn't time critical, and I could pull the MB and ship it for component level repair if anyone does that sort of thing. Should I be concerned that other components may have been damaged (or at least had their 'time to failure' drastically reduced?)

 

I don't recall the exact specs on the iMac - can I do some kind of upgrade as long as I'm replacing components? Better video / processor?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

ch

[~pcwiz]

Instead of completely replacing the MB why not just buy a cheap USB NIC and use that? Sure, its not as elegant, but it'll save you a lot of time and money.

[chappel]

I considered trying a USB ethernet dongle, but had assumed that it would be tough to find one that was Mac compatible, and worried that it'd be less robust that a wired one. I was a little surprised that Apple actually makes a USB ethernet adapter (for the Air) -

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebO...442Z/A#overview

I'll have to upgrade her to 10.5.2 for it to work on any old mac, apparently - I guess that's as good an excuse as any.

 

It also hit me that I could just as easily replace her router and connect the iMac with wifi (as I recall that was a built-in option on the iMac) - again probably not quite as robust as a hard-wired solution (mom is pretty technically challenged, and I'm rarely around to hold her hand, so the more bomb-proof the better) but it is probably the easiest and quickest way to get back up and running.

 

I'd still like to 'make it better' and get the wired interface running, but these options will certainly buy me the time to do more homework.

 

Thanks!

 

ch

[SStreet]

I recommend you go with getting a WiFi router, but you may want to give your DSL provider a call, they may offer a DSL-modem and WiFi combo unit, to simplify even more. I know, supporting Mom needs/breeds simplicity -- less to go wrong. WiFi will benefit in two ways, no wires; she can move the machine to wherever, no future 'storm' issues, if the DSL modem/router fry again, then it is only those pieces to replace.

 

Funny you mention dead ports on an early intel 20" iMac, mine had port death starting with the IR port, then to the first USB, FW, then ethernet. Crazy thing was, nothing was ever plugged into those ports until I started testing each one after a reinstall that Front Row didn't work (Cmd-Esc nor remote) - within two weeks of noticing the ports didn't work, it wasn't long that all 3 USB ports didn't work - course, no keyboard, no mouse, not a real useful computer. $850USD for a system board vs. $1200 for a new machine -- yeah, you guessed new machine.

 

Moral of this story, don't buy anything now that you can't use with a new system, because in my experience, a new system is on the near future.

 

And don't do what I did earlier this year, I was pissed off at Apple for not helping replace my only 6 months out of warranty iMac, I was willing to pay a reasonable fee, but not what Apple quoted to fix it - so I jumped off the deep end and lost myself to Windows Vista - and thanks to the great information here, I have fixed that too at least now I can hold out for a Mac Pro in 2009.