Thinking of buying Time Capsule but have an Extreme already...?

[MrDexx]

Hey Gang,

So my iMac seems to have corrupted itself on the Mac partition following the Lion update (reboots to a grey screen). Tried to do a disk repair and it says it can't be repaired and that I'll need to wipe the drive and reinstall new...great.

(Interestingly the windows partition can still load...go figure)

Anyways, I realize now I should have been backing up my files. So I'm looking at purchasing the 3TB Time Capsule that was just released.

Problem is, I already have an Airport Extreme Base Station...so should I just by the TC and sell the AEBS? Or is there a useful purpose for keeping both?

Also, with Lion's new automatic saving of revisions, is Time Capsule still as relevant?

Or is there a more affordable solution since I already have a Wireless router and Lion saves revisions?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[QuarterSwede]

Doesn't the Extreme have a USB port for external drives? Is so, save yourself a load of cash and buy a 1-3TB external drive instead.

 

[MrDexx]

Doesn't the Extreme have a USB port for external drives? Is so, save yourself a load of cash and buy a 1-3TB external drive instead.

I was thinking that, but I thought I read somewhere that the automatic backup feature of Time Machine only works with Time Capsule, other hard drives would require manual backups?

Is this not true?

Is there an external drive that has a reputation of quality results with Apple products?

I just came across these two:

Western Digital My Book for Mac 2 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0031WU8XS

Iomega eGo 2 TB USB 2.0 FireWire 800 Desktop External Hard Drive Mac Edition - 34796
http://www.amazon.com/Iomega-FireWire-Desktop-External-Drive/dp/B003HIXOOQ/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

 

[fat jez]

No, plugging in a USB hard disk will give you automatic time capsule backups. It's what I used to do, although I upgraded to a 2TB TC about a month ago to get the benefit of the improved wifi.

 

[CWallace]

I intended to go to a new 2GB Time Capsule to replace my older Airport Extreme, but nobody could confirm the better wireless performance of the new Airport Extreme carried over to the new Time Capsule.

So I bought the Airport Extreme and connected a spare 2TB USB Western Digital MyBook and it's happily working as a Time Machine backup disk for both my 13" and 15" MacBook Pros. Time Machine automatically mounts the drive, performs the backup, and then unmounts the drive.

 

[Brian33]

I was thinking that, but I thought I read somewhere that the automatic backup feature of Time Machine only works with Time Capsule, other hard drives would require manual backups?

Is this not true?

Apple claims that "Time Machine can’t back up to an external disk connected to an AirPort Extreme" (See http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/15139.html.) No one knows why Apple doesn't recommend or support using an AEBS disk for TM backup. However, it seems to work for most people.

Is it a good idea? I'm not so sure... I personally feel more secure using a TC (even a 1st-gen one), so if I were you I'd buy a TC, and then either sell the AEBS or use it to extend the wireless network range.

 

[applefan289]

Hey Gang,

So my iMac seems to have corrupted itself on the Mac partition following the Lion update (reboots to a grey screen). Tried to do a disk repair and it says it can't be repaired and that I'll need to wipe the drive and reinstall new...great.

(Interestingly the windows partition can still load...go figure)

Anyways, I realize now I should have been backing up my files. So I'm looking at purchasing the 3TB Time Capsule that was just released.

Problem is, I already have an Airport Extreme Base Station...so should I just by the TC and sell the AEBS? Or is there a useful purpose for keeping both?

Also, with Lion's new automatic saving of revisions, is Time Capsule still as relevant?

Or is there a more affordable solution since I already have a Wireless router and Lion saves revisions?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

I was in the same boat as you. I bought a 2TB Time Capsule (the current gen one) and had an Airport Extreme, but ended up selling it for a pretty good price on eBay. You can't beat Time Capsule for backing up. It is seamless.

As far as Lion saving revisions - it does, but it doesn't back it up. Even if you have revisions, if your computer crashes, it crashes, and you won't have those revisions anymore.

As far as more affordable solutions, you can buy an external hard drive, but I had a horrible experience after installing the WD smart ware that came with my hard drive. I did it to have password protection on it, and the software ended up ruining the experience so I returned it.

Time Capsule is the easiest way to back up.