AEBS or TC?

[vdoc]

I am a bit confused. I am looking at the specs for the AEBS and TC. Is the only difference being that the TC adds a built in hard drive?

I have a Macpro desktop and Macbook pro laptop and want to be able to back up to both. I already have a Netgear wireless router and am only backing up to a portable drive on my desktop. No backup yet for my laptop but it is not critical.

Here are my 2 scenarios. Buy a Time capsule and be done. Or buy an AEBS and choose any number of other external hard drives available.

My concern with the TC is failure. I keep reading at the Apple support page and reviews for the TC and some say the quality and longevity is very poor and others have no problems whatsoever.

So what are the advantages of the AEBS over the TC? Would it make more sense to go with the AEBS and purchase a drive or just Time Capsule?

 

[RayK]

I have both an AEBS and a TC and I say just buy a AEBS and get a good external drive. They both do exactly the same thing.

Edit: Except the TC looks nicer as the HDD is hidden. You can use a USB hub to daisy chain multiple hdds and or printers.

 

[vdoc]

I can see advantages to the all in one, good point. Fewer wires, fewer power bricks.

Gives me something to think about.

Anyone have other thoughts?

 

[eternlgladiator]

I can see advantages to the all in one, good point. Fewer wires, fewer power bricks.

Gives me something to think about.

Anyone have other thoughts?

The time capsule isn't worth it. You can by a refurbed aebs for 125 when they show up, then pick up 3TB of storage aftermarket and put them in enclosures. Sure its not quite as tidy but there's literally no difference. Slightly more set up but anybody can do it and once you're up and running you'll never know the difference.

The only exception might be this new software update caching thing we're reading about. Odds are that setting up an external drive with an aebs will not allow for that but it really shouldn't be a big deal anyways. Not enough for me to ever get a time machine unless apple realizes how overpriced they are.

 

[DeG2]

I got an AEBS & separate hard drive. I didn't want to buy a whole new TC if (when) either the disk or router fails. Also, I can upgrade either part separately if I feel the need.

 

[vdoc]

Can anyone confirm whether or not you can use the ethernet ports on either to hook up to an xbox 360. It is working fine with my Netgear but I would like to replace if I go either route. I have seen conflicting responses about whether or not the xbox works with either

 

[eternlgladiator]

Can anyone confirm whether or not you can use the ethernet ports on either to hook up to an xbox 360. It is working fine with my Netgear but I would like to replace if I go either route. I have seen conflicting responses about whether or not the xbox works with either

Yes you can. I have my xbox and samsung blu ray player both plugged into it. No problems at all.

 

[r0k]

I can see advantages to the all in one, good point. Fewer wires, fewer power bricks.

Gives me something to think about.

Anyone have other thoughts?

I have both an AEBS and a 500 GB TC. I don't rely on my TC as a router. I use it only for backups and I use it with an external 2TB WD USB drive because I have had my TC replaced once when its power supply died and I lost all my stuff. Yes, I know more bricks. But I'm not willing to risk losing my data again for the sake of fewer bricks.

And yes our XBOX, wii, etc all work fine using the AEBS. I picked up the AEBS so I could get the guest network feature and I really don't want to go back to using the TC as my router. I'm hoping the update caching feature of the TC doesn't depend on using the TC as a router. Time will tell.

If I had to choose, I'd get the AEBS and an external USB drive. Be sure to connect it to a Mac and format it HFS Journaled or the AEBS or TC might not recongnize it.

 

[vdoc]

I have both an AEBS and a 500 GB TC. I don't rely on my TC as a router. I use it only for backups and I use it with an external 2TB WD USB drive because I have had my TC replaced once when its power supply died and I lost all my stuff. Yes, I know more bricks. But I'm not willing to risk losing my data again for the sake of fewer bricks.

And yes our XBOX, wii, etc all work fine using the AEBS. I picked up the AEBS so I could get the guest network feature and I really don't want to go back to using the TC as my router. I'm hoping the update caching feature of the TC doesn't depend on using the TC as a router. Time will tell.

If I had to choose, I'd get the AEBS and an external USB drive. Be sure to connect it to a Mac and format it HFS Journaled or the AEBS or TC might not recongnize it.

The AEBS/External might be the route I go. Now I need to find a reliable external HD. That can be a crapshoot too. They all seem to fail at some point when I read comparisons

 

[r0k]

The AEBS/External might be the route I go. Now I need to find a reliable external HD. That can be a crapshoot too. They all seem to fail at some point when I read comparisons

I would recommend LaCie or WD. They are consumer grade but remember you are relying on luck. You are relying on not having your computer drive crap out at the same time as your backup drive. You are spreading the risk across two devices that "probably won't" fail at the same time. When one goes, you copy the files across from the one that didn't go. Poor man's RAID.

 

[vdoc]

I would recommend LaCie or WD. They are consumer grade but remember you are relying on luck. You are relying on not having your computer drive crap out at the same time as your backup drive. You are spreading the risk across two devices that "probably won't" fail at the same time. When one goes, you copy the files across from the one that didn't go. Poor man's RAID.

Yeah I had a Lacie Porsche HD that failed shortly after 1 year. I am a bit reluctant. Isn't it amazing how when you have one brand of drive fail you naturally assume all of them suck? Same holds true for WD, Seagate, etc.. They all say the same thing about a particular drive. As a backup I wonder if I should just pick one and be happy. I would rather replace a $75-100 backup HD than a $200+ HD every few years

 

[r0k]

Yeah I had a Lacie Porsche HD that failed shortly after 1 year. I am a bit reluctant. Isn't it amazing how when you have one brand of drive fail you naturally assume all of them suck? Same holds true for WD, Seagate, etc.. They all say the same thing about a particular drive. As a backup I wonder if I should just pick one and be happy. I would rather replace a $75-100 backup HD than a $200+ HD every few years

Ouch.

I have 2 LaCies, 1 is firewire and 1 is NAS. I also have Buffalo (2 NAS), Iomega (1 NAS), WD (3 USB), Apple Time Capsule (NAS), and Seagate (2 USB). They all range in size from 250 MB to 2 TB. None but the Time Capsule have failed but the Buffalo and Iomega units all have serious problems. I have all my drives set to sleep when idle. That does wonders for preserving life. When I sit at my Mac and start working, I hear 3 or 4 NAS drive start spinning up.

I have redundant copies of all my stuff so that if one drive does fail, I'm not out of luck. I feel the same way you do. I won't buy another Iomega or Buffalo and I probably won't buy another Time Capsule either.