| Apple Time Capsule MB277LL/A 802.11n 1 TB Network Backup Hard Drive | 
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| List Price: $499.99
Buy New: $397.00
You Save: $102.99 (21%)
Buy New/Used
Avg. Customer Rating:   (based on 24 reviews)
Sales Rank: 454
Category: CE
Publisher: Apple Computer
Studio: Apple Computer
Brand: Apple
Label: Apple Computer
Format: Cd
Platforms: Macintosh, Windows
ESRB: Everyone
Media: Electronics
Autographed: 0
Memorabilia: 0
System Memory: 8
Hard Drive Size: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3.5
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 7.7 x 1.4
MPN: MB277LL/A
Model: MB277LL/A
UPC: 885909192601
EAN: 0885909192601
ASIN: B0012JHY7K
Release Date: February 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | A revolutionary backup device that works wirelessly with Time Machine in Mac OS X Leopard | | • | Time Capsule can back up and store files for each Leopard-based Mac on your wireless network | | • | 1TB hard drive designed to work with Time Machine in Mac OS X Leopard. | | • | More than just a wireless hard drive, Time Capsule is also a full-featured AirPort Extreme Base Station with 802.11n technology | | • | Works with Mac and PC |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Introducing Time Capsule. Automatic wireless backup for your Mac. Time Capsule is a revolutionary backup device that works wirelessly with Time Machine in Mac OS X Leopard. It automatically backs up everything, so you no longer have to worry about losing your digital life. Time Capsule is also a full-featured 802.11n Wi-Fi base station. Every computer in your house can work off a wireless network at blazing speeds. And they can back up wirelessly to the same Time Capsule.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 19 more reviews...
 BEWARE - Timecapsule is worse than no backup at all! August 27, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
The problem with using a Timecapsule is that it provides you a great--but FALSE--sense of security. I had one for months and it always seemed to be working great, backing up my data every hour. Then it began to fail, unable to connect with my computer. The problem is that Apple techs really have no understanding of this product themselves--it's the ultimate black box--no one knows really what its doing or how long it should take. Tech support will tell you to wait for hours and try backing up again, but if Time Machine doesn't "fix itself", they only have one solution: reset the time machine, which means ERASE all your data. Apparently this happens quite frequently. So all along you have been operating with a false sense of security, which may have kept you from making smaller, reliable backups onto hard disks. This product is therefore really a menace, worse in many ways than not backing up at all!!
A Frustration Exercise August 17, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Can never get the laptops to backup to TC...yes it will work as a g compatible router, but if the laptops decide to sleep they can no longer find or back up to the time capsule. It is a total waste of money and time...
 Lifesaver August 15, 2008
After five years of working exclusively on Mac laptops and never once backing up, this product arrived to silently inform me that I was out of excuses for this irresponsible lifestyle!
I bought the 1TB version and did have some issues getting it going (absurdly long "preparing backup" times) and returned it for a much more compliant unit. Finally got a full backup (took 20 hours wirelessly) and several incrementals done----and a week later, my Macbook crashed completely! Received a replacement computer, and was able to restore everything from my TC backups, effortlessly and perfectly (took 3 hours via ethernet). In fact Time Machine recreated my previous work environment so precisely it was almost creepy! If it wasn't for TC my career---and to some degree my life---would be a shambles right now.
Sad truth: Laptops fail, even Apple ones. Happy truth: Time Capsule can save your bacon. As the other reviewers have said, just do it. You're out of excuses not to.
Overpromised, Underdelivered August 12, 2008
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
I had very high hopes for this product when it was announced earlier this year. I'm quite a fan of Apple in general, and so I'm surprised at my utter lack of satisfaction with the Time Capsule.
After all, it promised so much!
- 1TB (or 500 MB) of network-attached storage
- 802.11n base station for blazing fast wireless connectivity (with compatible computers)
- Gigabit ethernet ports to help you establish or expand a blazing-fast wired network
- Seamless setup process, not with a clumsy web interface, but using the Apple AirPort setup tool
- USB port for sharing additional drives or printers
After a week of working with this beautiful looking device, I have decided not to keep it. How did the promises stack up?
CAPACITY (1 TB of storage): yes, it has nearly this much storage space available. Nice big drive.
WIRELESS (802.11n base station for blazing fast wireless connectivity): I was not able to make this work after a reasonable amount of futzing. I expect a few phone calls with Apple support might have solved this, but it wasn't a priority given the other problems I had with the unit.
PERFORMANCE (Gigabit ethernet ports): yes, I was able to connect it to my gigabit network. But the fastest I could get data from it was 25 megabytes per second. This is respectable, but the three-year old home-built Linux server in my garage is 40% faster. Much worse, my write speed test maxed out at 9 megabytes per second (merely a quarter as fast as my garage server), which should give you pause if you're hoping to use this device as a backup tool.
EASE OF USE: The setup and updating process was not entirely seamless, but I have to admit that the Apple configuration tool is decent. Unless you are running Windows or Linux, that is: Windows users have to install the Apple AirPort Utility, and I don't think Linux users have any option (forget them, they're probably building FreeNAS servers anyway!).
EXPANDABILITY (USB port for sharing additional drives or printers): This turned into a major disappointment: USB drives have to be formatted for Mac only, with a single partition, on a Mac, before connecting to the Time Capsule. There's no way to set up any kind of access control on USB-connected drives; it's all-or-nothing. Multiple drives can theoretically be connected to one Time Capsule using a USB hub, but if it's not a powered hub, expect trouble. Taken together, these difficulties killed my enthusiasm for this product.
RELIABILITY: I didn't mention this as an initial promise, because it's natural to expect that a product will be reliable. The device runs quite hot (unavoidable given Apple's preference for ultra-quiet equipment), and I expect this to dramatically shorten the life of the drive. Additionally, during the past week I have had to reset my Time Capsule many times, and I experienced several very weird behaviors from my computer while working with the Time Capsule, which I am--fairly or not--blaming on Apple. No doubt some of the reliability problems I experienced were caused by my trying to get the very most out of the unit, but a broken promise is a broken promise.
For this price, if you need all (or most) of the features I listed above, this product seems like a slam dunk. My experience was that the promises didn't come true.
There are surprisingly few alternatives at this price point. You can opt for a USB/Firewire external drive like this fine specimen from Western Digital, but it's not network attached. You can try the entry-level Storage Link for USB 2.0 Disk Drives from Linksys, but it lacks gigabit speed and appears to have speed and reliability issues. Ditto the higher-end Linksys product. Netgear makes a promising product, but it's more expensive and doesn't include wireless. Drobo looks neat, but it's also priced higher (drives sold separately, and you need an extra module for networked storage).
So when you look at what Apple's Time Capsule is competing with, it's not hard to be tempted by the shiny logo and all those promises. But if you are counting on using this product to its fullest, you may find it was too good to be true after all.
Amazing August 8, 2008
I was reading a lot of reviews online before buying this Time Capsule. On the Apple site they have quite a few negative reviews, but I decided to give a try and buy here on Amazon, since you can return with no problem (not like Apple, sometimes gives u a hard time for returning items). Now about the product. I love it, I love it I love it. My Time Machine makes automatic backups couple times a day to the time capsule. It's fast and I do not need to worry about it. Also, I just recently changed the PowerBook to MacBookPro. The Migration Assistant on new Mac helped to move all applications and user account to new MacBookPro (overnight, direct ethernet connection with ethernet cable) from my Time Capsule. It works with no problem. I truly recommend to buy one, especially for those who can not afford loosing data and down time.
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