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Difference between Time capsule and Airport extreme.

A

aquadisiac

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 25, 2009
421
1
US
Im sorry but Im really confused. Im not even trying to get the 1 or 2 TB ones because I dont have that much music and photos.

I have 1 MBP, 1 netbook and a windows desktop. I will also be getting a wireless printer in the nearest future.

From what i read on the apple website, it looks like the Airport extreme is also an external hard drive? If not, will I have to buy an external hd + the airport extreme? Im trying to avoid that. Thanks
 
TC is a HDD as well as the router and the Airport Extreme is just a router capable of having an external networked HDD.
 
You have it switched around. Airport Extreme = router, Time Capsule = router + built-in hard drive.

You can hook up an external hard drive to an Airport Extreme and share it, but Time Capsule has the hard drive built in.
 
1ofthedavids said:
You have it switched around. Airport Extreme = router, Time Capsule = router + built-in hard drive.

You can hook up an external hard drive to an Airport Extreme and share it, but Time Capsule has the hard drive built in.
Click to expand...

hmm..i might have to go with a 500GB time capsule......
 
I've found they don't die... unless you use it as your sole always-on 'net router (i.e. provided it's turned off every so often it doesn't die - I think it's the constant heat which kills them).

Which may be OK if you're just after backup (I mainly got mine for the convenience of it being wireless rather than hourly etc. so I turn it on and off occasionally and it seems fine)
 
But why should you have to turn it off if it's meant to always be on? If this I'd an issue then Apple just needs to fix it.
 
Since they switched to the WD Caviar Green drives, the temperature is lower, and hence there is speculation that they will last longer. I was willing to take that risk, but the TC is only 1/2 of my backup strategy. The other half is cloud based backup.

/Jim
 
I love the integration and simplicity of the Time Capsule, but at the same time, it concerns me that the drives are not easily replaceable should anything happen.

I've stuck with the Extreme and an external drive. Not as elegant as the time capsule, but so far, it works well...
 
jessica. said:
But why should you have to turn it off if it's meant to always be on? If this I'd an issue then Apple just needs to fix it.
Click to expand...

They claim they have.

Mine died (~20 months). They have a program that replaced it free, so I have a "new" one that supposedly has solved the power supply problem.

It makes no sense to prevent dying by turning it off--it's a router, which means it should be able to operate 24/7. It's also a backup device and network storage (of sorts), which also should be on 24/7.

Anyway, the difference in above posts is correct. Given the problems it has had, I personally would opt for the airport extreme and then buy a hard drive to attach for use as a backup drive. I'm sticking with the TC because I've already paid for it and they replaced it free. Had it not been replaced I would have bought an AE and used one of my extra hard drives.
 
Le Big Mac said:
Given the problems it has had, I personally would opt for the airport extreme and then buy a hard drive to attach for use as a backup drive. I'm sticking with the TC because I've already paid for it and they replaced it free. Had it not been replaced I would have bought an AE and used one of my extra hard drives.
Click to expand...

I agree with you here. I have the TC because I paid for it and they replaced it for free (mine just died this past weekend) but even though I've loved the TC I would recommend an Airport Extreme with external hard drive because:

1) You can easily upgrade the hard drive whenever you want
2) You can take it with you and or plug via USB or FireWire for quicker transfers when necessary
3) If the Time Capsule dies you lose both your backups and your internet whereas with AE and external hard drive you'd only lose one or the other
 
Le Big Mac said:
It makes no sense to prevent dying by turning it off--it's a router, which means it should be able to operate 24/7. It's also a backup device and network storage (of sorts), which also should be on 24/7.
Click to expand...

Agreed, but since I don't use it as a router and I don't need hourly backups (4-5 hour is fine) TC on a timer plug is sufficient for me (and may well be for others. Even if the new TCs are supposedly 'fixed' I think they are fundamentally flawed: Because the power supply is next to the drive. If it were external I reckon there wouldn't be a huge heat problem in the first place)
 
so does the problem affect all the capacities or only the 500 gb?

also, is the time capsule compatible with windows?
 
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