Apple Time Capsule MB276LL/A (AirPort Extreme Plus 500 GB Storage)
by Apple Computer
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List Price: Our Price: $169.99 You Save: $129.01 (43%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Apple Time Capsule MB276LL/A (AirPort Extreme Plus 500 GB Storage)
Customer Review: a little pricy, but worth it
Summary: 5 Stars
I upgraded my home network from a 802.11g Linksys wifi router / 4 port hub to this 802.11n Time Capsule. Not only did my internet connection get noticeably faster and more reliable, but my computer-to-computer networking speed increased DRAMATICALLY. They aren't lying about how much faster the 802.11n is!
Another great selling point is the Time Capsule's always-on network drive. I don't use it as a wireless backup the way it is intended as all of my computers already have their own dedicated local backup drives. But I do use the network drive a lot. You see, I also have an Apple TV, which I do not use the way it's really intended either. I store all the content that I download off the internets on the Time Capsule network drive, then the Apple TV connects to the Time Capsule and thus has access to everything all the time. This way even with my computers asleep my Apple TV can read data from the networked drive which is always there.
I have checked and haven't found any sort of increase in my utility bill, so I don't think it uses dramatically more power than my old wifi router did, despite including a server-grade hard drive. Also, it's lovely to look at, totally silent, and easy to setup. Win!
Customer Review: Works as Promised!
Summary: 5 Stars
Im a new apple convert. I just purchased a macbook for my wife about a month ago. I finally got fed up with windows. My Linksys router which is a wireless B router is tired, and failing. So I decided since I bought my wife a new laptop, and I will be buying an imac soon, I would splurge and get the Time Capsule. I dreaded the networking nightmare on getting the macbook, my current xp box, 2 usb printers, an external hard drive, and ipod.
To my surprise it didnt take long at all to set this up. I started with just plugging up the time capsule directly to the macbook. Setup was a breeze. I then plugged up the windows box. It also was a breeze as it was simply going to ethernet. I did have problems with the two usb printers though. They worked fine printing through a usb hub connected to the windows box, but I couldnt get it to work on the macbook. I simply reinstalled the drivers in the macbook and it worked. I also have an external hard drive as well as an ipod hooked into my usb hub which is also plugged into the time capsule. Everything works great!
It took longer to backup the macbook using time machine then setting Time Capsule up. I highly recommend this. Its a breeze!!!!
Customer Review: Excellent Product - Worked Instantly and Very Configurable
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm a big Apple fan, but was a little weary about buying Time Capsule because some of the negative reviews I read here. I did, however, end up purchasing the 500 gb version and am extremely happy with it. The wireless network worked instantly, and it was very easy to add MAC address filtering and encryption. Using a USB printer was also simple and works reliably.
I limited the space available for Time Machine backups to 250 gb by using a sparse image (the technique is discussed in many forums) and used the rest to store files I don't necessarily want to keep on my computer. It's too bad that this is not a configurable option, but only a little technical knowledge is necessary to accomplish this task.
My first backup over ethernet went very smoothly. I disallowed my computer from going to sleep or turning off the display and was able to easily finish my first 80 gb backup overnight. Since, subsequent hourly wireless backups have been very smooth and worked well. They don't seem to consume much computer memory either.
I definitely recommend this product to everyone running Leopard who wants to wireless backup. You won't be disappointed!
Customer Review: Works great to extend wireless networks, easy to setup
Summary: 5 Stars
I needed to extend a wireless network between two buildings, about 150 feet apart and down about 15 degrees. There was a small network in one, and a few laptops in the other building. Several solutions had been tried before, including an Airport Extreme to Airport Express and a Linksys extender/Router combo, but only a pair of Airport Extremes (both Type N wireless) did the trick. One end is a Time capsule with backup, the other is a simple Airport Extreme without the hard drive. It was very easy to configure to extend the wireless.
I researched extending wireless networks and directional antennas, and it's not so straightforward, except Apple's solution. Note that this unit does not support external directional antennas, so at greater distances you will likely need gear with directional antennas dedicated to maintaining the inter building link and other WAPs/Routers to serve the local clients.
As a bonus the client had MACs that could use the Time Capsule wireless backup, which was again super simple to setup and just works. You pay a little more for Apple gear, but this is worth the investment in saving time.
Customer Review: gets a tad hot ...
Summary: 4 Stars
got this to (sorta) replace a lacie 2big nas that is a bit too noisy & has a few other issues:
pros: really quiet. the 11n radio is very powerful. typical attractive (imho) apple design.
cons: gets really really hot, then kills its server, which forces a disconnect; kinda inconvenient when attempting a backup (i'm not using time machine to this device). a power reset is then required.
caveat: i swapped its 500gb drive for a wd green 1tb drive. but that supposedly runs cooler ...
UPDATE: now that all my content is on the gadget, it tends to get less of a workout & thus has been really reliable. still gets hot, though.
ANOTHER UPDATE: had this about a year now. so far the dead power supply problem hasn't struck. it's on 24/7 (protected by a ups). it's really quiet even with the disk spinning. still runs hot.