MacBook Air and Time Capsule

[ks-man]

Let me preface this by saying that I know that Time Capsule isn't out yet so a lot of this is for speculation based on how MBA works with external drives and people's thoughts about how it will work with a wireless external drive....

I've been planning on getting a new MBP when it is update, but was in the Apple store and really was impressed with the MBA. My biggest concern with it is the small hard drive, but I'm wondering if Time Capsule (500GB) will be the perfect solution.

I'd probably want to load up VMFusion on the MBA so do people think that XP could be running on the Time Capsule or is that too much to be done through wireless?

Thanks in advance

 

[tennisplaayer11]

If you were to run XP via time capsule it would probably run pretty slowly, if at all. However, it's hard to know for now since it's not out yet.

 

[shuffles]

I have a question about time capsule and apple tv. Which shud i get?? I was gonna get an external hard drive but then i realised that all im gonna be putting on it are music, movies, pics etc so i thought maybe either time capsule or apple tv wud be better.

Am i right in saying that time capsule will be able to store everything from files to music to movies to pics etc n that apple tv will only be able to store stuff in my itunes library? Which wud be best? Wat i like about apple tv is that i can connect it to my tv!!

Am i on the right track with all of this??

 

[ks-man]

If you were to run XP via time capsule it would probably run pretty slowly, if at all. However, it's hard to know for now since it's not out yet.

So would it be fair to say that most applications (including Win XP and the apps that go with it) should be run specifically on the MBA, but most files could be accessed from Time Capsule?

Do you think that Itunes or Iphoto could have the music or photos stored on Time Capsule or do they need to be stored on the mac hard drive for the applications to access them?

 

[admanimal]

I have a question about time capsule and apple tv. Which shud i get?? I was gonna get an external hard drive but then i realised that all im gonna be putting on it are music, movies, pics etc so i thought maybe either time capsule or apple tv wud be better.

The main purpose of Time Capsule is as a wireless networked backup disk for use with Time Machine, and it also has the ability to store files like a regular hard disk (plus it's a full Airport Extreme Base Station). I'm not sure exactly what the Apple TV stores on it's own HDD versus streams from another Mac, but I'm sure that it is not meant as a back up for anything.

So the question to ask yourself is whether you are looking for a wireless backup/storage disk or a means to stream and watch your multimedia files on a TV. Keep in mind that the smaller Time Capsule (500GB) is much larger than the largest Apple TV (160GB).

 

[ks-man]

The main purpose of Time Capsule is as a wireless networked backup disk for use with Time Machine, and it also has the ability to store files like a regular hard disk (plus it's a full Airport Extreme Base Station). I'm not sure exactly what the Apple TV stores on it's own HDD versus streams from another Mac, but I'm sure that it is not meant as a back up for anything.

So the question to ask yourself is whether you are looking for a wireless backup/storage disk or a means to stream and watch your multimedia files on a TV. Keep in mind that the smaller Time Capsule (500GB) is much larger than the largest Apple TV (160GB).

So should we think of Time Capsule more as storage for files that would ultimately need to be transferred to the MBA rather than accessing files straight from it? I'm thinking it would work a lot like a USB Hard Drive so if I wanted to open a word file or a movie (a downloaded clip, not full HD), I could right off the hard drive. It sounds like I may get into some performance issues trying to do this

 

[ddd269]

I currently have an extreme base station with USB. I attached a 500gb hard drive on the USB port and got it to work with my MBP. After 2 days I disconnected it and used the firewire 800 instead, because it was sooooooo slow. If the time capsule is anything like the extreme base station data transfer speed, I'll be very disappointed. What's the point of "n" if the USB data rate is so slow. I can't tell you the exact throughput, but it was iPhone edge slow.

We'll have to see how fast it is when it comes out.

As for time machine, I think it's better to carry a portable USB drive and backup that way. I use a 160gb WD drive exclusively for my MBA.

 

[nagromme]

I do ALL my work--for the past year--accessing files over WiFi G. Time Capsule and the Air have the much faster WiFi N.

I'm sure if I switched to a local HD I'd notice some difference, but I don't care about .1 seconds here and .2 seconds there. The main OS and memory--and most apps--are still on my local drive anyway. I do sometimes launch an app over WiFi though. It launches.

I will probably do some of what you suggest when I get my own Air and Time Capsule. Speed may vary, but it should WORK--that's the main thing.

Put things you need on the road--and things that need constant disk access (maybe VMWare?)--right on the Air. Put other stuff on the Time Capsule. If that fits your habits, I say go for it. It really depends on YOUR use--and on how much interference you have slowing your WiFi down (but the N spectrum is pretty clean still). If you constantly move HUGE files, speed is critical. I move huge files only sometimes--which take several seconds longer than wired I'm sure--and have no complaints about working off a wireless drive.

I recommend storing your actual created files on the Air--that way the TC will automatically make a second copy and you have some date safety. Having the files ONLY on the TC would mean no backup.

What's the point of "n" if the USB data rate is so slow. I can't tell you the exact throughput, but it was iPhone edge slow.

Depends on your usage--and USB shines only for small transfers. But USB should not be slower than WiFi for typical everyday computing.

USB 1.1 would be though--maybe your drive doesn't support USB 2.0?

 

[admanimal]

So should we think of Time Capsule more as storage for files that would ultimately need to be transferred to the MBA rather than accessing files straight from it? I'm thinking it would work a lot like a USB Hard Drive so if I wanted to open a word file or a movie (a downloaded clip, not full HD), I could right off the hard drive. It sounds like I may get into some performance issues trying to do this

For files like Word or other office documents, storing and accessing them on a Time Capsule would be fine, because they tend to be smaller files that, once opened, only require infrequent disk access to work with (i.e. only when you save them). Playing a single movie off of a Time Capsule could work fine too, as long as you don't try to FF or RW much. For things like iTunes and iPhoto libraries, I would store those locally because working in either of those programs tends to involve lots of random disk access (i.e. loading and going back and forth in many songs and/or photo albums).

 

[ks-man]

It seems to be an interesting dilemma for me.

I was originally planning on getting an Airport Extreme (now $179) to take advantage of 802.11n. Apple now has announced and soon will have released Time Capsule (I would gain a 500GB HD for only $120) which I thought would solve a lot of problems due to the small HD in the MBA (which I've started recently considering).

It sounds though that the Time Capsule drive should more be considered for back up (which I'm not as concerned with) rather than a second HD (USB would work better but not as portable and only one USB slot).

Decisions, decisions.

 

[ddd269]

Depends on your usage--and USB shines only for small transfers. But USB should not be slower than WiFi for typical everyday computing.

USB 1.1 would be though--maybe your drive doesn't support USB 2.0?

nope.. it's a maxtor 1TB/500GB RAID drive with usb 2.0. It even has Firewire 800.

The airport extreme n has an issue with usb hard drive speed. There have been numerous reviews criticizing this issue. To backup 60gb on my MBP, it was saying 15 hours... Crazy! Anyways, I would think Apple would correct this for time capsule, since it's meant primarily for backup.

 

[shuffles]

Wat i will be doing is downloading music, and movies onto my Macbook Air and because the hard drive is so small i will be putting them onto time capsule so when i want to watch a certain film or throw certain music onto my Air i can just transfer it across and when im finished watching or listening to it i will transfer it back to time capsule.

My question is...will this work?? Or shud i get apple tv? Does the content have to be on both my laptop and storage device at the same time or can i download stuff n save it to my storage device so it wont take up space on my laptop?

 

[dahcheet]

Wat i will be doing is downloading music, and movies onto my Macbook Air and because the hard drive is so small i will be putting them onto time capsule so when i want to watch a certain film or throw certain music onto my Air i can just transfer it across and when im finished watching or listening to it i will transfer it back to time capsule.

My question is...will this work?? Or shud i get apple tv? Does the content have to be on both my laptop and storage device at the same time or can i download stuff n save it to my storage device so it wont take up space on my laptop?

From what I understand they would work the exact same way. The benefit of having the Apple TV is that you can watch your movies/pictures and listen to music on your TV. Take away that feature and the Apple TV is just a wireless HD just like the Time Capsule.

Whether you store your files on an Apple TV or a Time Capsule when you need them you can transfer them to your MBA. Depending on the method you can have a copy on both or just move them between the drives. Personally, I would keep a copy on both so there's no chance of losing anything. You can also stream it across the wireless, as others have said, but your results will vary.