Apple Time Capsule user reviews (500GB, Winter 2009)

4.5 stars

"Great for the Mac home" on May 25, 2009 by bbkillen

Pros: Super simple to set up
Time Machine on the Mac makes this device amazing compared to any other backup solution
Server grade hard drive is an often overlooked advantage to this device. Using anything else for backup is crazy.

Cons: Apple needs to integrate this with iTunes and Apple TV. Doing this today is possible but not entirely seamless.
PC support is minimal
Lack of RAID

Summary: I think Dong's review, as always, is very detailed and accurate. However, giving this device 3.5 stars is misleading for a Macintosh household that needs the simplicity offered by this device. He also fails to mention that Apple uses server grade hard drives in the Time Capsule. This is a major over site when considering cost. While these drives add to the cost, they add greatly to the mean time to failure of the device. Something that most users don't understand, but should since this is their last line of defense. Server grade drives are build to withstand continuous use. Consumer drives on the other hand will die in a matter of days under similar loads.

My biggest complaint is the lack of media server features related to interaction with Apple TV and iTunes. In my opinion you should, with a simple click, be able to backup all watched videos to the device, freeing up valuable space on your computer, iPhone/iPod and AppleTV. While you can finagle it to work, Apple needs to fix this shortcoming.

Apple needs to make Time Machine available on the PC. Like it or not, even those of us that are primarily Mac households have a PC or two around. I for one require one for the CAD software i use.

I think RAID 10 is the perfect setup for the home media/backup. While I don't see Apple building such a device, licensing to a third party would make perfect sense.

Overall I'm very happy with my purchase; i consider it $299 well spent!

Brian out.