Plan on getting 11" air, have questions.

[Fernandez21]

Well, I've decided to get my first Mac computer, the new 11" air ultimate. I'll be using it as my main and only pc, replacing my 3 year old Dell sxps 13", 2.8ghz core 2 duo, 4gb ram, 320gb hard drive.

The new air seems like it should be faster than my current comp and more portable with better battery life (I get like 2-3hrs right now) the one thing that I will have to compromise is the storage, the 320gb I have now is full, so I'm planning on getting an external hard drive to store all my videos of tv shows and movies I have bought through iTunes and for back up purposes.

I would like to get one that is either wireless or has thunderbolt connectors but that I could still use with my current computer to transfer the files and use while I save up for the air (I just bought a new laptop and iPhone for the wife and a 3G 64gb iPad so for the moment I'm tapped out)

What hard drive would you guys recommend that would fit my needs? Also how would I go about storing the files with my windows laptop to make things easier when I get my Mac? Thanks for all your help!

 

[KPOM]

Unfortunately, as of now there are only 2 Thunderbolt devices. The first is a $2,000 RAID server, and the second is Apple's $50 cable. We don't know for sure what other types of devices will be coming out, but Apple insists that devices are coming soon.

Until then, the only options for external storage are USB 2.0 drives. There is speculation about Thunderbolt to USB 3.0 or Firewire hubs, but it's just speculation.

Since you plan to get the 11" Ultimate (the version I have, BTW), my suggestion would be to go through what you already have, put what you use most on the Air's 256GB SSD, and then purchase either an external USB 2.0 drive for what you don't use very often, or a USB 2.0 enclosure for the 320GB drive that's already in your Dell (depending on what you decide to do with it).

Are you going to continue to use Windows (such as in a Boot Camp partition)? If so, be sure to factor in the size of that, as well, since that would be a second OS wanting space on your SSD.

 

[balamw]

As to storage, you might want to consider a NAS like Apple's own Time Capsule or wait until some of them catch up with Lion.

NOTE: There is one other Thunderbolt device. The new display that offers FW800 ports on it. http://www.apple.com/displays/ It's a tad expensive as a TB->FW adapter though...

B

 

[Fernandez21]

Thanks, I guess I'm going to have to wait then, I don't want to get USB 2.0 when I'll have a thunderbolt port at my disposal. I was just looking in my iTunes folder and my t.v. Shows and movies folder add up to around 100gb! By putting all those on the external hard drive the 256 should be fine for the rest (which is mainly home movies and pictures).

I was looking at maybe a time capsule since it's wireless, but would this work with my Dell while I wait to get the air? Is there anything out there that is comparable that also may work? Sorry for all the questions, just getting a little nervous about making the switch, I've used windows since 95' when my family got our first computer.

As for my Dell, I'll probably give it to my mother, right now she is using the first Dell laptop I got for myself from 2003 with a pentium 4! So it'll be a big upgrade for her.

Oh, and how are you liking the air? How's the performance on it? Have you run windows on it? I'm still debating with myself whether to put windows on it when I get it, there are some programs I have that I would like to continue to use (office 10 ultimate, winamp, and game emulators for the snes, nes, n64, and genesis are probably my most used programs other than the web browser), but depending on performance I may just go all in with OSx.

Thanks for all your help.

 

[Fernandez21]

As to storage, you might want to consider a NAS like Apple's own Time Capsule or wait until some of them catch up with Lion.

NOTE: There is one other Thunderbolt device. The new display that offers FW800 ports on it. http://www.apple.com/displays/ It's a tad expensive as a TB->FW adapter though...

B

Does the time capsule also work with windows machines? Would I be able to just store my files there and access them from both windows and OSx, or would I have to separate and make a folder for windows and a folder for OSx?

Thanks.

 

[Obscurelight]

Does the time capsule also work with windows machines? Would I be able to just store my files there and access them from both windows and OSx, or would I have to separate and make a folder for windows and a folder for OSx?

Thanks.

It works with both windows and Mac and no you don't have to separate the files if you don't want to. Just think of it as a huge wireless flash drive. Drag and drop.

I believe the 2TB Time Capsule is well worth it. It basically works as a router and universal wireless storage/backup at the same time. The time capsule is $300 and works just as well as a $160 Airport Extreme Basestation. Basically you are paying $140 for 2TB of storage and the convenience of not having to mess around cables and wires.

 

[Fernandez21]

It works with both windows and Mac and no you don't have to separate the files if you don't want to. Just think of it as a huge wireless flash drive. Drag and drop.

I believe the 2TB Time Capsule is well worth it. It basically works as a router and universal wireless storage/backup at the same time. The time capsule is $300 and works just as well as a $160 Airport Extreme Basestation. Basically you are paying $140 for 2TB of storage and the convenience of not having to mess around cables and wires.

Cool, thanks. I may head down to the apple store tomorrow to check it out.