Customer Reviews

Apple Time Capsule MC343LL/A 1TB Sim DualBand [OLD VERSION]

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(21)

 

 

Going on three months of use. I do wonder about some of the posts about this thing dying after 18 months as this particular model (dual band) has not been in existence that long...

As a router, this thing is tops. Used it to replace a Linksys N router. I get much better range and much faster data now on my macbook. Before, in my bedroom, less than 50 ft away from my router, I couldn't watch standard def Hulu videos at all. Now I can stream high def videos without any delays or pauses. Part of it is because I also have G devices (Wii, iphones, etc) and the old linksys was forced to operate on that slower frequency. This thing effectively gives you a separate G router and N router- so my macbook finally can operate at full N speed but still provide service to older devices. This thing smokes the linksys in range and speed.

As a time capsule it works. I backup my iMac and my Macbook to it. I had a Seagate drive before that died after 9 months. So now I have a time capsule and another external hard drive, I rotate between the two to have redundant data for WHEN one of them fails. All Hard drives fail at some point. I do wonder about heat, there's no fan, but it never gets very hot to the touch.

Very happy with it so far.

Okay, I read the reviews, I read about it "stopping working after 3-18 months", but I also read a bunch of reviews about how great it was. So, I decided to give it a try. It was incredibly easy to install, and worked awesome. I was stoked, but still wondered about the "stopped working" reviews. Well, 3 months later, it just stopped working. No lights, no nothing, just not working. Talked to Apple about it, and honestly, I don't know what happened to Apple, they used to be the anti-Microsoft, but now, they have the same customer service as Microsoft. The customer service was rude, condescending, and not helpful at all. I have been a senior software engineer for 15 years, working at times for Microsoft, Borland, Corral, Macromedia, Adobe, Steinburg, and many more. The tech support treated me like a 5 year old. Long story short, DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT UNLESS YOU ARE IN THE MARKET FOR A REALLY EXPENSIVE PAPER WEIGHT. Funny thing, my brother bought an older version of the TC and about a month after mine stopped working, his stopped working, granted he got an extra 3 month more then me. Same story with him, stopped working and no help. I urge you to remember that the reviews that praise the product, probably just bought the product and installed it. Like I said for the first 3 months I was VERY impressed, but now I sure wish I had realized that the good reviewers only had their TC for hours.

The time capsule is a great idea that doesn't work.

It might work the first time, but then over time you start having problems.

(1) The dreaded infinite spinning wheel that forces you to restart your machine,
(2) Sudden slowing down of ones computer.

The first suggestion Apple will make is, why don't you reinitialize the disk and try again. "Isn't this the disk with all of your backups?"

Apple next solution is to give you a new one, but each one eventually encounters the same problem, and so back you go to the store.

In summary, this is a machine that is suppose to save you work because it saves you time backing up. The reality is that this is a machine that will force you to use to time fix it, and in the end you won't have a backup of your data.

Apple makes some great products. This is not one of them.

I did read the reviews prior to purchasing. All of the reviews I read said it was hot, loud and finicky. I went ahead and bought it anyway. It lasted fourteen months. Power supply went bad. I took it to Apple for repair/replacement and they said they'd replace it but would not let me keep the drive. Their suggestion was to go to one of the $1000 data retrieval places. Why? The power supply is bad - the HD is FINE! Just give me the HD, please. Nope.

IF you buy this, back the 1TB storage up to ANOTHER 1TB storage so WHEN your Time Capsule goes bad, you have a backup of your backup. Evidently, Apple will not be helping you.

I bought the Dual-Band 1TB Time Capsule in November 2009, and it worked wonderfully at the beginning, albeit a little slowly (even for transfers over ethernet or USB). However, after 3 weeks of use, it just stopped working. There was no light, no sound, no work. I had read the many reviews saying that the drive tends to stop working after 18 months and didn't believe it. My dad has an older Time Capsule which is still kicking, now 2 years out. However, the fact that mine stopped working after 3 weeks makes me think that there is a production problem that still needs to be worked out. I would not recommend the time capsule to anyone, except those who enjoy gambling with you data.

everything they are saying online is true. This machine works like a dream and then one day unexpectedly becomes a nightmare. it just commits suicide and stops working, just like that. no warning and nothing you can do, and by then your warranty is up and they wont replace it. proceed with caution!

What can I say, it works.

I recommend Time Capsule for sharing data or for backups, not both. If you need both, get 2 Time Capsules, one for each use. For sharing data, Time Capsule is great. Every computer on the network can access the device easily.

The Time Capsule provides the easiest back ups possible. It is very easy to set-up and use. I suggest one user per Time Capsule. This keeps set-up simple, and provides the maximum storage space possible. If you have a laptop, this is the backup solution for you. If you have a desktop computer, I'd suggest a dedicated Firewire 800 hard drive for backups. Why? Because wireless is SLOW when compared with wired. USB is SLOW compared to Firewire 800, but USB is faster than wireless. So why do I recommend Time Capsule for laptops? To get rid of the wires, that's why you have a laptop. With any backup system your first backup will take a LONG time, but subsequent backups will be much quicker. Just be patient.

With backups, easy is a must. If it's not easy, it's not going to happen. Mac users? Use Time Machine. It works.

Some people complain that Time Capsules sometimes break. Yep, happens. Grow up, it's mechanical, it'll break. Get AppleCare for it. When it breaks, Apple will fix it. But my backups are on it! So? I assume you didn't kill your computer too. Just make a new backup and move on.

If your computer data is important to you, get a Time Capsule, or many. It's the best backup solution out there. I know, I've tried many. I want easy, dependable. This is it.

Anyone using Entourage needs to know how to configure their Microsoft User Data files so Time Machine will only backup the incremental changes. Otherwise, Time Machine will try to back up the entire database file every time it is modified, even though only a few megabytes (e.g., receiving a single new email) out of several gigabytes of the file have been changed. Very, very annoying plus this will quickly fill up your backup storage and can cause each backup to take a relatively long time. You can avoid this problem by creating a sparse bundle disk image for your user data. The most helpful and easy to follow instructions for doing this are contained in an online article in Mac OS Hints, October 29, 2009. Amazon does not allow direct links to the article but a search should turn it up fairly easily.

Purchased the apple time capsule on 8 Jan 2010. The item was easy to setup and has been working flawlessly so far! I have it bridged with a Belkin router, which I keep less secure in order to enable an older Xbox 360 (it does not like security & connects wirelessly 80211g) to connect to the network for gaming purposes. Everything else, wii, PS3, 2 PC's, and 2 Mac's are all routed through the time capsule wirelessly using 80211n. The house is 2 stories with the routers, DSL modem and 1 PC located on the upper floor with everything else spread out on the lower floor. The signal strength for the time capsule is nearly always excellent in all locations; the Belkin router is low to good.
Initial backups on the macs take some time (1 hour or more) but once this is done routine backups don't take as much time (<30 minutes). I have not tried backing up any of the PCs since they are primarily used as backups too. The time capsule which stays on 24/7 is always luke warm to the touch and quiet. It also fits very nicely in a large deposit box at the bank while on an extended business trip or vacation.

Apple products are great while they work. Once they fail, good luck getting service without the $300+ Apple Care. This Time Capsule failed (like many 1,000s--search the internet) after only 21 months of use. Ridiculous lifespan for such a product. I'm now looking for replacement network and NAS solutions.