Thinking about getting a 1TB Time Capsule Used... any thoughts?


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Hi - I'm thinking of trying to get a Time Capsule 1TB off of eBay for <$150 if I can. The 2TB one is just overkill for my needs. This will be used as a backup for my MacBook Pro (80GB SSD + 250GB HDD) and my fiance's MacBook Air (64GB SSD).

Thoughts about buying this used? Is there a more recent 1TB model number that I should consider better than an older 1TB model number?

These support 802.11n, but I was curious as to what the ethernet ports in the back are used for. Do these also work like a basic 10/100 hub? I would like to have mine connected via ethernet.

Time Machine works over the network with one of these, correct?

Thanks!

-Shad

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Be wary about getting a used one. These things are NON-REPAIRABLE, so if it dies on you, all your backups are gone. If it dies and is not under warranty, then you are out of $150 or whatever you spend on it. Save your money and get a Synology NAS. Even the 2-disk models will offer you a million times more data protection than a Time Capsule, especially if you set it up with either SHR or Raid 1. Time Machine server and tons of other goodies are built right into it.

I have a DS212+, and am backing up 2 iMacs and a MBP through the Time Machine server. Also backing up 2 Windows laptops on it through Acronis True Image. Also running the Download Station for .torrents/.nzb, Audio Station and Video Station for all my music and movies, using the built-in DDNS and no-ip.org for remote access, built-in FTP server for fast remote file transfers too. These things blow Time Capsules out of the water by a long shot, and if one of your hard disks dies and you have set it up as SHR (Synology Hybrid Raid), you just replace the bad disk with a new one, and it rebuilds itself.

Tim

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From what I've read the Time Capsules are quite unreliable. Personally I'd advise you to get a normal NAS like MacD@ddy suggested but if you are determined to get a Time Capsule definitely just buy a brand new one from Apple and get the 1 year warranty. Hard Disks go bad so quickly especially when encased without ventilation like in the Time Capsule so don't risk buying one used is my opinion.

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Be wary about getting a used one. These things are NON-REPAIRABLE, so if it dies on you, all your backups are gone. If it dies and is not under warranty, then you are out of $150 or whatever you spend on it. Save your money and get a Synology NAS. Even the 2-disk models will offer you a million times more data protection than a Time Capsule, especially if you set it up with either SHR or Raid 1. Time Machine server and tons of other goodies are built right into it.

I have a DS212+, and am backing up 2 iMacs and a MBP through the Time Machine server. Also backing up 2 Windows laptops on it through Acronis True Image. Also running the Download Station for .torrents/.nzb, Audio Station and Video Station for all my music and movies, using the built-in DDNS and no-ip.org for remote access, built-in FTP server for fast remote file transfers too. These things blow Time Capsules out of the water by a long shot, and if one of your hard disks dies and you have set it up as SHR (Synology Hybrid Raid), you just replace the bad disk with a new one, and it rebuilds itself.

Tim

That sounds interesting. These work with Time Machine over a network w/o any hacks on the Mac OS end? I've seen hacks to get Time Machine working with non-Apple NAS in the past and reliability seemed sketchy to me...especially when it came time to recover your data in the event of a complete disk failure.

I have just been using external hard drives with my MBP for years now. And for me, it isn't that big of a deal to connect the external HDD ever week or so for a backup. I would like to get something that she wouldn't have to think about...if she's connected to the network her MacBook Air will do all the backing up for her in the background. That's why I was looking at using a Time Capsule.

But I like the idea of the NAS solution. For once, I can rotate HDDs of backup in our safe deposit box for fire/theft protection of our data. Most if not all of our really important data/photos are stored on Dropbox anyway... but I do like how easy it is to go back to previous versions of a document using Time Machine.

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Dang...I don't know. That DS212 stuff looks pretty expensive to me. I like the feature set though, and I think I will probably eventually get it because I would like to have a good backup solution for all my Windows machines too.

For now, I just found an older 500 GB WD Passport and am having her use it to run Time Machine on. Damn I love Time Machine. Why isn't there anything on Windows to match that yet? Does Synology come with Windows software?

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I would like to get something that she wouldn't have to think about...if she's connected to the network her MacBook Air will do all the backing up for her in the background. That's why I was looking at using a Time Capsule.

Get an AirPort Extreme and connect your external hard drive to it for Time Machine. Basically the same thing as the Time Capsule.

And when your external hard drive fails you can just go and buy a new one without replacing your AirPort Extreme.

I've been using this setup now for years and couldn't be happier.

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Get an AirPort Extreme and connect your external hard drive to it for Time Machine. Basically the same thing as the Time Capsule.

And when your external hard drive fails you can just go and buy a new one without replacing your AirPort Extreme.

I've been using this setup now for years and couldn't be happier.

Does the same work with an Airport Express?

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If you get a Time capsule - don't get a first gen model (A1254). It's not simultaneous dual band wifi (so 2.4GHz OR 5GHz - but not both at once) and the PSU is known to cook itself after around 18 months.

If the TC does die and it's out of warranty - there's nothing stopping you cracking it open and removing the HDD yourself to get your data back.

An Airport extreme with USB HDD plugged into the back will also do the same job as the Time Capsule - just not in as nice a package.

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Does the same work with an Airport Express?

No. You can't connect hard drives to AirPort Express. Only one printer.

But you can connect multiple hard drives and printers to AirPort Extreme if you use an USB hub.

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Thanks for the suggestions guys! I think if I'm going to spend any money at this problem, it will probably be for a solution that will backup all 5 computers in my house and not just the two Macs. So I think I'm drawn more to the Synology stuff, even though it is a little pricy.

The Airport Express does look nice, but I already have a decent WiFi router.

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Thanks for the suggestions guys! I think if I'm going to spend any money at this problem, it will probably be for a solution that will backup all 5 computers in my house and not just the two Macs. So I think I'm drawn more to the Synology stuff, even though it is a little pricy.

The Airport Express does look nice, but I already have a decent WiFi router.

Personally I'd go for the dedicated NAS such as QNAP which has great support for Mac and Windows - at least in the case of a dedicated NAS they tend to have redundancy and the hard disk is easy to replace.

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