I'm thinking of getting either one so just wanted to know what option would be better..also I'm not thinking of using Time Capsule as a back up to time machine , I want to use 500 Gig HD as a network drive.
1) If I go for the Airport Base Station-and hook a 500 Gig HD is will cost me $200 + $100 (500 Gig HD) so around $300.
2) Time Capsule 500 Gig - $320
So around the same..
But which would be better the external Harddrive with Airport or Time Capusule?
You can always plug a USB drive into the TM if you find you need more space later on. I've had both and I like the integration of the TM and the fact there's no more power brick.
You can always plug a USB drive into the TM if you find you need more space later on. I've had both and I like the integration of the TM and the fact there's no more power brick.
So you use your TM as a network drive? and have you pluged in an extra HD into its USB? and tried it?
No I use my TM solely as a time machine drive and have a local USB shell that I use for storage etc. For me I need fast access to the data I have on the USB shell drive where as the TM data can be slower as its only incremental updates and I'm not bothered if it takes some time to push those across the network...though at gigabyte speeds it doesn't take long.
If you want I can try plugging in my USB drive and see how it works but I don't see how it would be any different then plugging in an external to a AirPort Extreme
No I use my TM solely as a time machine drive and have a local USB shell that I use for storage etc. For me I need fast access to the data I have on the USB shell drive where as the TM data can be slower as its only incremental updates and I'm not bothered if it takes some time to push those across the network...though at gigabyte speeds it doesn't take long.
If you want I can try plugging in my USB drive and see how it works but I don't see how it would be any different then plugging in an external to a AirPort Extreme
If you could that would be great, cause some people said that it may not recognize the new HD, plus can you tell me if you can access the data at Gigabyte speed, so how long would a 700 MB movie file take to access from over the Ethernet, like try to download this file to another computer that wirelessly connected.
I'll try and do this tonight but it may be in the next couple of days. You won't get gigabit speed to an external as there's the USB2 bottleneck to the external drive. I'll see if there's a difference between the built in drive and the external which has a 7200 RPM 200 gig drive in it.
Here's the results of the request to test the speed differences of copying a 700 meg file across the network to the internal hard drive in the Time Capsule router vs a USB drive plugged into the back of the router. I also decided to test the transfer speed of copying the file to the same external USB drive when it was plugged directly into my MacBook Pro. Here's the results...
Transfer from MBP to Time Capsule drive: 60 seconds
Transfer from MBP to External Drive plugged into Time Capsule: 215 seconds
Transfer from MBP to External Drive plugged into MBP: 30 seconds
This was a 700 meg AVI file that I was copying from my macbook pro across the network over gigabit ethernet to the 500 meg version of the new Time Capsule. The External Drive is a Vantec shell with a 200 gig 7200RPM Seagate drive installed in it that was connected to the Time Capsule and then my MBP via USB2.0. The TM also was updated to the latest firmware this evening.
As you can see the internal drive in the Time Capsule is MUCH faster then plugging in an external drive to the Time Capsule router. I'd expect the same results accessing an external drive plugged into an Airport Extreme as well. Going to a local drive plugged directly into your Mac though is almost twice as fast as going over the network. So... if speed is the most important aspect go local, if you need to share a drive the Time Capsule drive is pretty quick and is significantly faster then a USB drive hanging off the router so IMO the Time Capsule though slightly more expensive then buying an AirPort Extreme and a 500 gig USB drive is a better buy.
Transfer from MBP to Time Machine drive: 60 seconds
Transfer from MBP to External Drive plugged into Time Machine: 215 seconds
Transfer from MBP to External Drive plugged into MBP: 30 seconds
This was a 700 meg AVI file that I was copying from my macbook pro across the network over gigabit ethernet to the 500 meg version of the new Time Machine. The External Drive is a Vantec shell with a 200 gig 7200RPM Seagate drive installed in it that was connected to the Time Machine and then my MBP via USB2.0. The TM also was updated to the latest firmware this evening.
As you can see the internal drive in the TM is MUCH faster then plugging in an external drive to the TM router. I'd expect the same results accessing an external drive plugged into an Airport Extreme as well. Going to a local drive plugged directly into your Mac though is almost twice as fast as going over the network. So... if speed is the most important aspect go local, if you need to share a drive the Time Machine drive is pretty quick and is significantly faster then a USB drive hanging off the router so IMO the Time Machine though slightly more expensive then buying an AirPort Extreme and a 500 gig USB drive is a better buy.
Wow...thanks alot Andrew,,I can live with 215 seconds/3.5 minutes..for transfering a movie file..still pretty fast than current rate it would take me..maybe an hour to transfer from one machine to another.
The thing is I'm getting a brand in the box Airport Extreme base Station with Gigabit Ehernet for $150 instead of $200 plus Tax ($230)..so that's why I may go with the Airport Base station although it may be a some what slower.
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