Should I purchase time machine 500gb? 2.8.09

[jamesschmidtke]

Ok, first things first. I need a wireless router. 2nd, I wouldnt mind an external hard drive though, I find them to be noisy and mostly failing. Plus, the real reason I would back up would be a disaster, and if that were the case them being in the same room would hardly protect me. however i like apple's products and have found them to be quality and I have found time machine helpful a few times and this being a two in one. Does anyone think that it's going to get any cheaper or tyhat a new wifi technology is around the corner or anything? Or that time machine is a POS? thoughts?

 

[craig1410]

Ok, first things first. I need a wireless router. 2nd, I wouldnt mind an external hard drive though, I find them to be noisy and mostly failing. Plus, the real reason I would back up would be a disaster, and if that were the case them being in the same room would hardly protect me. however i like apple's products and have found them to be quality and I have found time machine helpful a few times and this being a two in one. Does anyone think that it's going to get any cheaper or tyhat a new wifi technology is around the corner or anything? Or that time machine is a POS? thoughts?

Not being picky as I often use the term interchangeably too but I assume you mean a Time Capsule 500GB not a Time Machine 500GB?

I bought one back in April last year and I would say it's a great bit of kit. It is a very straightforward WiFi router and easy to configure and also gets good range around my house. I have had trouble getting good range with my old KCorp router so that was a nice surprise. It works with my iPhone 3G, iPod Touch, a couple of iBooks, a couple of windows laptops and even our Nintendo Wii.

The storage side of things is good too. The drive is pretty quiet although you can hear it powering up when it is accessed. Once powered up you very quickly forget about it even though in my case it is about 2.5 feet from my head on a shelf.

I wouldn't recommend it as a file server if response time is important because the drive does spin down when not in use and this will cause a brief delay of a few seconds when you access it again. Having said that, if you just want to use it as a central repository of files which don't need fast response then it's fine. File transfer rates are decent enough once it has spun up.

There is a good chance that Apple will either drop the price or up the capacity of the two Time Capsule models but I wouldn't let that hold you back. You can always extend the TC with external USB2 drives connected to it's USB port. I think it could be well into 2009 before any changes are made to the TC product because 2TB drives are only just starting to become available. Once they are more commonplace I think they will up the TC specs to 1TB and 2TB instead of 500GB and 1TB. Price points will most likely stay the same.

I hope this helps,
Craig.

 

[jamesschmidtke]

Not being picky as I often use the term interchangeably too but I assume you mean a Time Capsule 500GB not a Time Machine 500GB?

I bought one back in April last year and I would say it's a great bit of kit. It is a very straightforward WiFi router and easy to configure and also gets good range around my house. I have had trouble getting good range with my old KCorp router so that was a nice surprise. It works with my iPhone 3G, iPod Touch, a couple of iBooks, a couple of windows laptops and even our Nintendo Wii.

The storage side of things is good too. The drive is pretty quiet although you can hear it powering up when it is accessed. Once powered up you very quickly forget about it even though in my case it is about 2.5 feet from my head on a shelf.

I wouldn't recommend it as a file server if response time is important because the drive does spin down when not in use and this will cause a brief delay of a few seconds when you access it again. Having said that, if you just want to use it as a central repository of files which don't need fast response then it's fine. File transfer rates are decent enough once it has spun up.

There is a good chance that Apple will either drop the price or up the capacity of the two Time Capsule models but I wouldn't let that hold you back. You can always extend the TC with external USB2 drives connected to it's USB port. I think it could be well into 2009 before any changes are made to the TC product because 2TB drives are only just starting to become available. Once they are more commonplace I think they will up the TC specs to 1TB and 2TB instead of 500GB and 1TB. Price points will most likely stay the same.

I hope this helps,
Craig.

ha!, thanks yeah I meant time capsule. Good that its not too loud, I forgot to mention, that's a deal breaker!

 

[craig1410]

ha!, thanks yeah I meant time capsule. Good that its not too loud, I forgot to mention, that's a deal breaker!

Obviously noise is a subjective thing but to put it in perspective, I am sitting in front of an iMac which as you may know is pretty quiet. The Time Capsule sits on a shelf above and to the right of the iMac and is literally within touching distance.

I would say the TC is slightly noisier than the iMac but not as noisy as my Lacie 250GB external drive. The main difference is that the Lacie tends to make the shelf vibrate (vrum - vrum - vrum - you know what I mean?) whereas the TC doesn't. It just sounds like a small fan with a steady whirr noise. It is more noticeable when starting up because you can hear the RPM increase and some RPM points will resonate a bit but once up to speed I forget all about it. You can hear the drive being accessed by Time Machine but again the noise is quite soft and in some ways it is reassuring as you know it's taking care of your data when you hear that noise...

If noise is a deal breaker then ideally you should have a listen to a running unit before buying. Problem is, in a typical Apple store the background noise would probably drown out the TC...

Regards,
Craig.

 

[jamesschmidtke]

perfect, I know exactly the noise you're talking about both with the lacie and the (lack of noise)imac. I think I'm gonna give it a go.

 

[gwihannom]

I've been using Time Capsule as NAS, but wasn't too impressed for my purpose. I put files on it and allowed multiple computers to share files through it. The transfer rate wasn't fast enough, and for Windows PCs, you can do much better.

However, I recently received an extra 640GB hard drive and I attached it through a USB port to the Time Capsule. This freed up Time Capsule hard drive and I tried using Time Machine (the program) for the first time. Now it's working as it should. Nothing to complain about, actually being very impressed by it.

"Wireless External Hard Drive" is a great idea, although not so practical as for the moment. I get a top speed of about 5~6 mbps from a close range. I don't think the technology is there yet. Use Time Machine and allow the backups to happen on its own. Then it's a great purchase.

Try searching at Apple.com for refurbished items. They're about $50 or so cheaper.

If any updates are to happen, probably 1GB and 2GB models or something. But Time Capsule itself (technology) shouldn't change soon.

 

[deboni]

I've been using Time Capsule as NAS, but wasn't too impressed for my purpose. I put files on it and allowed multiple computers to share files through it. The transfer rate wasn't fast enough, and for Windows PCs, you can do much better.

I've been using a TC 500 for most of a year, now, and its Time Machine, router, and wireless base station functions work fine. I've watched it work fine, autonomously for months without attention. I've restored items from its contents through the Time Machine GUI, with painless ease.

However...

I would use it as a 1000 mbps Ethernet-based drive but not a wireless-based one, as 802.11 is still just a tad too slow.

I found it difficult to set up, when what I wanted to do was use it to replace an old Airport Extreme, maintaining an existing wireless network with only one other device on it. This should have been easy, but was not, and required a call to Tech Support to get right.

I have, on occasion, had to power cycle it, to correct incomprehensible network stoppages; I have no idea what happened, or why power cycling fixed them.

I have had the backup file system suddenly and for no apparent reason get bollixed up and require repair by Disk Utility.

I have tried to do a restore of its entire contents onto a new machine via the Migration Assistant, and had it fail miserably, with no explanation. Apple was no help in this instance.

I have had space suddenly and for no apparent reason seem to disappear. No repair I can perform will bring it back.

I have gone through the proper Time Machine interface to delete large files I accidentally let get backed up, and had the space they occupied stay missing.

I've had it come close to filling up, at which point TM deleted old backups without notifiying me it was doing so or giving me any options, as it is advertised to do.

I've considered moving its contents to a larger version (i.e. a new a TC 1000), so a set of backups could dcontinue expanding, but have been unable to find a concise, succinct method for doing so.

I have asked Apple about these matters multiple times, both at Genius Bars, and on the phone to Tech Support, but I've never gotten an answer, in spite of repeated promises that I would be contacted by engineers about them.

So, yes, it's a pretty good product. And as long as you use it in utterly mainstream, middle-of-the-road ways, it should work ok. I'd recommend it, with cautions. It may not be the best SINGLE backup mechanism, but it certainly works in a carefully considered backup STRATEGY.

Good luck!
Tom