Apple Time Capsule

[shmonkus]

Hi Guys - This is my first post, and have recently taken the plunge to "the dark side" (as my PC friends call it) and converted from Windows to a shiny new Late 2011 15" Macbook Pro, and I am 100% happy with my choice. I was torn between waiting for the Ivy Bridge systems to come out or sticking with the Sandy Bridge systems, but I am totally glad I made the choice to take the plunge with SB. Working at Intel, everyone raves on about them so thought why not?

Anyway - onto the subject in question - I have been weighing up the possibility of acquiring an Apple Time Capsule, as the work I do on my MBP is mainly Photo/Video editing, with a small bit of music editing thrown in for good measure. The Laptop handles all of the tasks I throw at it with ease, barely breaking a sweat. However, the downside is the projects I work on take up a lot of space on the drive.

Being an avid fan of the reviews posted on www.anandtech.com, they review the 2Tb Time Capsule pretty highly, however before purchasing, I am also interested to see what other's views are in terms of living with it day-by-day, so to speak. Do any of you on here have the Time Capsule? If so, what are your general thoughts in terms of performance with wireless backups & router performance?

Thanks in advance!

 

[nikhsub1]

I love my time capsule! Timemachine backups and more storage - a no brainer really. The only reason you might want to wait is because the rumored 802.11ac protocol could be coming soon - http://www.tuaw.com/2012/01/23/gigabit-802-11ac-wi-fi-may-be-coming-to-apple-devices-soon/

But who knows how soon that is? Anyway, it is a great device but I know I would be pissed if I bought the N version then shortly after the ac version comes along with 4x the wireless transfer rate.

 

[scott.n]

If you're only looking for networked storage (and not backups), then an Airport Extreme Base Station + USB hard drive is another option. This would be much cheaper, and makes upgrading the HDD much easier.

Note that Time Machine backups using this setup would not be supported by Apple.

 

[robgendreau]

I'm with Scott. Using a backup solution where you can't even replace the hard drive is not my first choice. And with video the files just get bigger and bigger. Perhaps even an external drive would be a better choice; you can get something pretty speedy to use with your machine.

 

[nikhsub1]

...Using a backup solution where you can't even replace the hard drive is not my first choice...

I've replaced the HD in my timecapsule...

 

[that user]

I am very pleased with my Time Capsule. I've tried Time Machine with other USB-connected drives and found it to be extremely annoying. I got a Time Machine about 4 months ago just to try it out because I had some store credit and now I understand the whole thing. Those two are really made for each other. It's perfectly seamless and I've never been so positively surprised with any Apple product. It's just really nice. The back up does not interrupt or slow down anything. It happens in the background invisibly and surprisingly fast.

And yes, it is a very good router. I don't know much about routers really but I had a 6 year-old airport express before that had to be reset a few times a week. Time capsule never had any issues whatsoever and the connection is noticeably faster.

I've been trying to get one for my boyfriend too but they are out of stock for a mysterious and hopefully exciting reason.

 

[mikepro]

Get the time capsule. It's literally set it, and forget it. Works great, fully supported backup solution (as opposed to NAS, or Airport extreme + external HD). Also can add an extrernal drive to it for more space. Sure, other options work, but who wants to mess around with those.

FYI, if you get Applecare on your macbook, it will automatically cover your Time Capsule, (or Airport Express, should you chose to go that route), too.

 

[Maven1975]

I just wish we could use it as an iTunes server for apple TV. Would love the option to store my movies and media on the Time Capsule and or a hard drive connected to the base station. Would ditch my iMac as its basically collecting dust and just running to serve media to the Apple TV. :/

 

[SuperCachetes]

Got my 2TB TC for xmas, and like it fine. It's speedy, and is backing up all the time without me even knowing. "Set it and forget it" as others have said.

I put my palm to it every time I walk by (every couple days) and don't find it all that hot, especially compared to my 1g ATV which is going on two years old now with no hiccups. Hoping the 4g TCs got all the heat dissipation issues figured out.

I have a USB hub on mine, with another 1TB USB drive (my old Time Machine disk) and a printer hooked up. The USB drive delivers video through the TC, over wi-fi, to my MBP just fine.

I'm not thrilled with the latest Airport Utility (though if you are a hands-off kind of person you might be okay with it) but in general I like the network control and information I have, seamlessly from MBP to iPad to iPhone.

"Thumbs up" so far.

 

[shmonkus]

I love my time capsule! Timemachine backups and more storage - a no brainer really. The only reason you might want to wait is because the rumored 802.11ac protocol could be coming soon - http://www.tuaw.com/2012/01/23/gigabit-802-11ac-wi-fi-may-be-coming-to-apple-devices-soon/

But who knows how soon that is? Anyway, it is a great device but I know I would be pissed if I bought the N version then shortly after the ac version comes along with 4x the wireless transfer rate.

I have heard about 802.11ac and it looks really exciting - however, will 802.11ac be compatible with the broadcom cards in the 2011 Macbook pro's? I'd imagine not, as that's quite a jump in performance compared to the existing standards available! I appreciate your comments, and it's good to get some raw feedback with user experience......!

If you're only looking for networked storage (and not backups), then an Airport Extreme Base Station + USB hard drive is another option. This would be much cheaper, and makes upgrading the HDD much easier.

Note that Time Machine backups using this setup would not be supported by Apple.

Hi Scott, this is something else I have considered, however I'm a little concerned that the data might get "bottlenecked" going through the USB Port.

At Intel we routinely use Intel SSD's to backup user's data which runs into the tens of GB's, and I routinely see transfer rates of 25Mb/sec which is pretty slow, given the speed of SSD's is much higher. Given that the amount of data I have can equally run into the tens of GB's in a couple of weeks, I'd like to get the fastest device I can, without having my pants pulled down over the price (Thunderbolt, I'm looking at you!). I think this is the reason I am teetering on the Time Capsule or similar device, because the data is theoretically not bottlenecked by the USB port, instead running through a SATA interface. I also like the sound of Time Machine / Time Capsule working well together, but also understand that Time Machine works with most configs. Thanks for your reply!

I am very pleased with my Time Capsule. I've tried Time Machine with other USB-connected drives and found it to be extremely annoying. I got a Time Machine about 4 months ago just to try it out because I had some store credit and now I understand the whole thing. Those two are really made for each other. It's perfectly seamless and I've never been so positively surprised with any Apple product. It's just really nice. The back up does not interrupt or slow down anything. It happens in the background invisibly and surprisingly fast.

And yes, it is a very good router. I don't know much about routers really but I had a 6 year-old airport express before that had to be reset a few times a week. Time capsule never had any issues whatsoever and the connection is noticeably faster.

I've been trying to get one for my boyfriend too but they are out of stock for a mysterious and hopefully exciting reason.

I like the sound of this, your boyfriend is very lucky!

In the UK, they retail for £249, and seperately they retail at £139 for the Base Station and decent 2Tb HDD for about £120, so having the seperate units contained in one device sounds awesome, and any device that can eliminate cable clutter is a winner in my book!

I think the majority has outweighed the minority on this, and that's exactly what I was looking (and hoping) for. You have all been very helpful!