Can anyone suggest a simple system for backing up my MacBook?

Question

I have a MacBook 120G which runs Tiger. I also have an Aiport Extreme, which is connected to a printer via USB. I want to buy an external hard drive to create a safety back up of my whole system. I have been trawling the suppliers' websites, getting more and more confused. Can anyone suggest the simplest solution for a simple-minded user like me? These are my main confusions:
a) Can anyone suggest what type / make of hard drive I should buy in order to be able to store my computer's contents and re-boot it in the event of disaster? Will a non-powered hard drive do the job or is it somehow better to get a powered one? It would sit near my desk so I am keen to avoid fan noise if at all possible! I believe I'll need to 'partition' the drive in order to make it bootable, or something - if this is correct, what kind of hard drive is easiest and idiotproof for this?
b) I think I've concluded it's not worth binning my Airport Extreme and replacing it with a Time Capsule. But is it worth buying Leopard in order to get Time Machine? I believe I can still use the Airport Extreme to connect to the hard drive so that Time Machine would make backups regularly and wirelessly? If so, do I need to use a USB hub from the Airport Extreme so that I can still keep the printer connected? I can only find one HD which has a built in hub - the Iomega Minimax - but I have read reviews saying the fan is noisy. Any other suggestions?
Any help and suggestions about this would be very gratefully received. Many thanks
Steve

Answer 1

Leopard is a nice upgrade (if your computer has 2GB of memory) and TimeMachine is convenient but it isn't the only way to create a reliable and simple backup system. If you decide TM is your solution buy a drive that has 2 to 3 times as much space as you are using on your computer now. If you are using 80GB of your drive now, buy a 160GB to 240GB drive for TimeMachine. It keeps multiple backups and eats up drive space pretty quickly.
Lots of good backup programs exist but the one I really like is called SuperDuper! It will create an exact duplicate of your hard drive and you can set up a schedule so that automatically backs up new and modified files at specific times/days. With my MacBook I connect it to my external drive on Friday evening and let SuperDuper! do its work overnight. If you chose this router or another that doesn't use TimeMachine, get a drive at least as large as your computer's hard drive.
The Western Digital MyBook series is a good choice and so is the Seagate FreeAgent series. I'd avoid self powered external drives like Western Digital's Passport series unless you intend to travel with the drive. They require special proprietary cables to power the drive which are easy to lose and expensive to replace, among other things. If you can afford a firewire drive that's generally preferable because firewire is faster than USB but the speed difference isn't blazing. If you do you backing up over night speed won't be an issue.
Whether you use TimeMachine or another program, this is just once phase of a backup plan. If you experience a break-in, fire, or flood the backup drive is probably going to experience the same fate as your computer. You also need to think about taking a backup of your most important files off-site. This can be as simple as once a month burning a DVD of your documents, digital photos, and email to a DVD and taking it to work.