A question for all the Mac Fanboys... Time Capsule? - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

nickerjones · 01-05-2010, 07:25 AM

OK I have a macbook and I have apple tv. I love both of them. The problem is I am using up a ton of HD space for tv shows and movies on my macbook. I dont have any of them saved to my apple tv. I just run the shows and such wirelessly when I want to watch them.

I was looking into buying a time capsule. My understanding is I can transfer all my itunes over to time capsule and access is via wireless network on my apple tv as long as I use my laptop as a go between , is this correct? Also is there any other wireless external HD I could use. I only ask because it seems that there are a ton of problems with time capsule based on apple.com reviews, namely the longevity of just 18mos or so. Anyway Thanks for the help in advance!

HotHotHeat · 01-05-2010, 07:42 AM

Apple Airport Extreme + USB External HD is the same thing but cheaper. Don't even bother unless your Macbook has 'n' wireless.

Apple routers are the best on the market, I'm not sure you'll find anyone that says otherwise unless they have a hate on for Apple. Mine hasn't dropped a connection once in 2 years.

anyonebutedmonton · 01-05-2010, 09:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HotHotHeat

Apple Airport Extreme + USB External HD is the same thing but cheaper. Don't even bother unless your Macbook has 'n' wireless.

Apple routers are the best on the market, I'm not sure you'll find anyone that says otherwise unless they have a hate on for Apple. Mine hasn't dropped a connection once in 2 years.

Not sure how much cheaper that would work out to be...

$199 for airport extreme + ~$110 for 1 terabyte HD = ~$310

you can get the 1 terabyte time capsule for 329 and then it is packaged in one device.

I got one for Christmas and honestly have loved it. Being able to access my hard drive wirelessly is a dream. I have it set up to download my torrents directly into a folder on the time capsule.

FanIn80 · 01-05-2010, 09:19 AM

1TB Time Capsule us the way to go. It's the same price as an Airport Express with a 1TB external, but has the added benefit of keeping the USB port free for wireless printing.

I have one in my house. I have 500GB of TV shows and movies I've purchased through iTunes, and the rest is empty space for my Time Machine back ups. It's all on one disk btw. I suppose I could have partitioned it, but I didn't bother.

nickerjones · 01-05-2010, 09:26 AM

Fanin80 how long have had it ? Any issues at all with it?

Table 5 · 01-05-2010, 09:29 AM

I've had a Time Capsule/Machine for about a year now. It's done exactly what it's supposed to without any fail so far...which is exactly what I want such a devide to do. It's the stay at home defenseman of technology, the less you hear from it the better.

HotHotHeat · 01-05-2010, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anyonebutedmonton

Not sure how much cheaper that would work out to be...

$199 for airport extreme + ~$110 for 1 terabyte HD = ~$310

you can get the 1 terabyte time capsule for 329 and then it is packaged in one device.

I got one for Christmas and honestly have loved it. Being able to access my hard drive wirelessly is a dream. I have it set up to download my torrents directly into a folder on the time capsule.

I haven't looked at the price of it in awhile. Much cheaper than it used to be.

As far as leaving the USB input free, I've got 2 things hooked up to my Airport router right now (printer and EHD) using a splitter and haven't had any problems.

Bill Bumface · 01-06-2010, 09:54 AM

I try avoid Apple stuff except for the cases in which I feel it actually does something better. For my router/NAS I definitely didn't go the Apple route as that stuff is super overpriced.

That said using timemachine with a NAS that isn't a Timecapsule requires a bit of tweaking. It's worth it though, as my router has never dropped a connection and a lot of other NAS units you can buy have tonnes of cool functionality (like the UPnP server I installed on mine and stream to my Xbox and WDTV Live from).

In summary, if you're cool with having your house be all Apple stuff and spending twice the price on everything, do it, it will work well for you. If you're alright with a bit more configuration, you can buy cheaper things that do more.

Phaneuf3 · 01-06-2010, 10:02 AM

I'm not sure if things have changed recently and such but I had heard that the time capsules were having a pretty bad failure rate.

Take that for what its worth but if there's an alternative that gives you more functionality, more flexibility and more reliability for a cheaper price tag...

FanIn80 · 01-06-2010, 10:17 AM

Since a $330 time capsule is just a $199 router with a $130 1TB HD...

What's more expensive? Replacing a $120 d-link every 1-2 years, or a $199 apple router that will last for 5 years? I've thrown out countless d-link and linksys routers over the years. Even back in my PC days, I sure wish I knew about apple routers. I could have saved myself a few hundred dollars along the way.

Phaneuf3 · 01-06-2010, 10:23 AM

To each their own I guess... My linksys is coming up on 3 years and has been solid as a rock. My previous d-link router lasted for 4 years before it was taken out of service because it was lost in a move.

Maybe I'm just luckier than you when it comes to routers but I've never had a single router fail on me. That's just my (completely meaningless) anecdotal and unverifiable evidence.

nickerjones · 01-06-2010, 11:25 AM

Yeah the failure rate of the Time capsules are what are worrying me... I guess I might just go apple router and 1TB hd

FanIn80 · 01-06-2010, 03:46 PM

I'm starting to get curious about this "Time Capsule" failure rate too. I've only had mine for a few months (I had an Airport Extreme for almost 2 years before it), so it's so far so good. I didn't hear any complaints about it when I researched it before buying it.

sclitheroe · 01-06-2010, 03:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FanIn80

I'm starting to get curious about this "Time Capsule" failure rate too. I've only had mine for a few months (I had an Airport Extreme for almost 2 years before it), so it's so far so good. I didn't hear any complaints about it when I researched it before buying it.

I guess you missed this, eh:
http://timecapsuledead.org/

silentsim · 01-07-2010, 11:01 AM

I have a launch TC as well as a newer one and both are going on solid as ever

redforever · 01-07-2010, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FanIn80

Since a $330 time capsule is just a $199 router with a $130 1TB HD...

What's more expensive? Replacing a $120 d-link every 1-2 years, or a $199 apple router that will last for 5 years? I've thrown out countless d-link and linksys routers over the years. Even back in my PC days, I sure wish I knew about apple routers. I could have saved myself a few hundred dollars along the way.

My linksys router is about 5 years old, not one problem to date.

fredr123 · 01-07-2010, 12:43 PM

hulkrogan, redforever, phaneuf3: What make/model/version/firmware router are you guys running? I have had nothing but problems with my Linksys WRT-54G v.6 dropping connections.

Barnes · 01-07-2010, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fredr123

hulkrogan, redforever, phaneuf3: What make/model/version/firmware router are you guys running? I have had nothing but problems with my Linksys WRT-54G v.6 dropping connections.

That's what I have. It has had periods of dropped connections but I have to reset my shaw modem way more than the router.

redforever · 01-07-2010, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fredr123

hulkrogan, redforever, phaneuf3: What make/model/version/firmware router are you guys running? I have had nothing but problems with my Linksys WRT-54G v.6 dropping connections.

Mine is wireless-G (802.11g), Model No: WRT54G v 4.20.6

fredr123 · 01-11-2010, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fredr123

hulkrogan, redforever, phaneuf3: What make/model/version/firmware router are you guys running? I have had nothing but problems with my Linksys WRT-54G v.6 dropping connections.

hulkroagn? phaneuf3? Bueller?