Time Capsule - 2TB

Reviews for Time Capsule - 2TB

Customer Reviews and Ratings

3.5 out of 5 stars

Based on 249 reviews

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Works like a Charm

    • Written by from Big Island

    Some serious negatives on this site. This device works and works very well.
    Nothing to set up as long as it can see the Mac it works. I use mine for 3 Macs without a Hitch.Been going strong for at least a Year, Mates well with the Wild Blue Excede Sat system

    2 of 3 people found this useful

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  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    Not impressed with Time Capsule

    • Written by from Colorado Springs

    I am a long time Apple fan and user; but I have to say I am very disappointed in the Time Capsule for the following reasons:
    1. The initial backup of my MacBook Pro, with 151GB of data on the HD, took almost 3 days using the wireless. In all fairness, Apple says it will take longer for the initial backup if you choose to do it over wireless; but in comparison, it only took 4 hours to do an initial Time Machine backup with a plugged in portable hard drive.
    2. I wanted to replace my existing Airport Express (which is being used to connect a Vonage box to my existing network) with the built-in router in the Time Capsule (essentially an Airport Extreme). It turns out the Ethernet ports on the back are deactivated when you "join" an existing wireless network (unlike the Airport Express).
    3. In order to activate the Ethernet ports you have to "extend" an existing network with the Time Capsule. But Apple doesn't let you extend from a non-Apple wireless router.

    A big disappointment that Apple put those limitations into the Time Capsule when the Airport Express has no such limitations. Returning it tomorrow :(

    49 of 63 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    As Advertised

    • Written by from camlachie

    This installed like a dream and I had to use a backup fairly quickly when I stupidly interrupted a hardware update to the laptop. Worked perfectly. And it has speeded up our wifi network. Ordering one for the office as we speak!

    13 of 17 people found this useful

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  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    Flaky, unreliable--save yourself the grief

    • Written by from Hamilton

    The wireless router part of the time capsule has been very serviceable and speedy. However, its main purpose--as a backup server--is flaky and unreliable. And if a backup is unreliable, it's not a backup, is it? My drive experienced problems 9 months into the first year, which appeared to resolve themselves. But the drive started failing again 3 months after the warranty expired, so I replaced the drive myself (quite the ordeal--thanks for sealing a hot-running device, designers). It seemed to work for awhile, and now it has utterly failed again. The reset button doesn't work, the light stays amber, even though the warranty was barely over and the thing never did work properly.

    Do not purchase Time Capsule!

    33 of 53 people found this useful

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  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    DO NOT BUY THIS!

    • Written by from Richmond

    My iMac was one that had a Seagate hard drive recall. Bought the Time Capsule albatross. Difficult to set up. Took 3 tries before it worked properly...or so I thought. After the hard drive was replaced in my iMac, some of the applications loaded properly but none of my personal files loaded. No help from Apple. My files are supposedly locked in file vault. The File Vault was turned off when the backup occurred so no one has a clue why they are locked in File Vault. Bottom line is: I lost more than 6,000 pictures, 1800 songs, all of my medical files, tax data and years of personal data. APPLE WAS NOT HELPFUL AT ALL. I had a gut feeling before buying this product but because it was "Apple" I didn't go with my gut. Lesson learned.

    43 of 73 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Best Backup System Available for the Layman.

    • Written by from clemmons

    I have had zero issues with my TC. A little research is needed to fully use all of it's capabilities but it along with Apple's Time Machine software is simply wonderful.

    TWO ISSUES: While I haven't had any issues yet, it really should have more ventilation. It definitely gets hot and I can see this being an issue. Also, I think it's been around long enough that Apple could have a thunderbolt port available now. This would speed up backups considerably as well as keep the unit from working so hard (thereby keeping the temp at a more appropriate level).

    NOTES: While it's a great backup system, I recommend having an external/portable backup system as well. I use time machine on a 2TB external once a month and keep it stored in my firesafe. If someone were to rob you or god forbid your house burns down- the backup system would be pretty useless.

    21 of 22 people found this useful

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  • 3.0 out of 5 stars

    Terrific unless you let it overheat, after which it's garbage

    • Written by from Burnaby

    The pros:
    - Easy to set up
    - Makes backing up your information completely automatic

    The con, and it's a big one:
    - The physical design of the enclosure, for some reason, covers the entire ventilation grid and fan output with a thick impermeable rubber "foot." As a result, the unit overheats very easily, and once it has overheated badly even once, it will act flaky from then on: "Unable to complete backup" with any of about 20 different random errors on every backup attempt (could not mount drive, network issue, permissions issue, could not find time capsule, unknown error, etc, etc, etc). If you buy one of these, once you've turned it on to make sure it works in general, you need to unplug it again and 1) permanently remove the rubber foot from the bottom and 2) set the unit on top of some kind of mesh riser to allow airflow through the bottom of the unit.

    From a software perspective, it's still one of the best Apple backup solutions out there, but the enclosure design is laughably problematic.

    43 of 45 people found this useful

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  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    Temperamental fro me

    • Written by from Davenport

    Every few months I get a message from the time capsule advising "Time Machine completed a verification of your backups on “xxxx”. To improve reliability, Time Machine must create a new backup for you." It destroys all the previous back ups and starts over... again. Why it has 2 TB is beyond me as it never seems to use but 500GB. I'm going back to WD, reliable and without wasting another 7-8 hours every few months to get a simple back up done. I have no idea what I have lost trusting this thing. But the last time it did this was 12/11/2012. By March 2013, it wants to do it again.

    24 of 27 people found this useful

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  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    Too unstable to be a backup solution

    • Written by from Waterloo

    DO NOT BUY!

    I use the Time Capsule as the wireless router and the backup of my MacBook's time machine. For the first month, it gave me constant errors that I had to search internet for solutions. I had to reboot it once every few days. Later on I developed a habit to reboot my Macbook once every few days. That seemed to solve the Time Capsule's problem for a few months. But now, it gave me that trouble again. Rebooting both Time Capsule and my Macbook do not solve the problem.

    Here is the error message:

    The backup disk image “/Volumes/TimeCapsule-1/Bin’s MacBook Pro.sparsebundle” is already in use.

    19 of 29 people found this useful

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  • 4.0 out of 5 stars

    Good Product that can be made better !

    • Written by from santa clara

    I have a 2nd generation Time Capsule and wanted to upgrade it to latest 4th gen so bought it. upgrade was worth it though think that its a bit costly.

    When is apple coming up with Time Capsule with USB 3.0 support and internal drive with either hybrid or SSR drives ? Is it gonna be Gen 5 or Gen 6 ? Would definitely upgrade it especially for USB 3.0

    11 of 14 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Flawless

    • Written by from Palatine

    1. This device is super easy to setup. It's almost plug and forget.
    2. It's signal is powerful and goes through 2 floors easily in my house.
    3. It's backup is reliable.
    4. Very fast!!!
    5. Works with IPv6.
    6. Yet another reason why I only buy Apple products.

    21 of 22 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    A bit pricy but it works great and worth every penny!

    • Written by from Whittier

    So i bought the TIme caspsule about 9 months ago. when i purchased my first macbook air along with it. it works great teh design is sleeek, and it just works. i have my TC hooked up to my router which is then connected to a desktop PC. i can access the contents of teh TC from that hooked PC and it amkes sharing files between a Mac and PC easier.
    Pros:
    good design
    reliable
    automatic back ups
    dualband wifi is great

    Con:
    its a bit tricky setting up the TC on a PC, its not impossible just a few more steps.

    15 of 19 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    A Godsend from the Heavens

    • Written by from Carrollton

    This device has decended from heaven to bask among mere mortals. This thing is the best thing to have if you have a lot of data in and out of your computer. I am a musician and I have this setup to do a daily update (Excluding my downloads folder and my desktop), and I could not be happier. This Time Capsule backs up in the background and also serves as a hotspot using a router. A 10/10 in my opinion. BUY IT!

    15 of 16 people found this useful

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  • 4.0 out of 5 stars

    Owned 3 for 2 years +. Honest and long-term review inside.

    • Written by from Montreal

    These boxes are "pretty good".

    High notes:
    - Very easy to setup
    - Flawless Wifi usage. Fast too.
    - Built in Hard disk is very convenient.
    - Apple Time Machine backup software works perfectly with it.
    - Super Quiet and very small footprint.

    Low notes:
    - Very slow for network storage, even wired via Ethernet.
    - Sealed unit with no vents. Why? These things get HOT!
    - 1 died, but Apple replaced it without needing the old one back (Free 1TB HD!)

    I highly recommend these boxes for Wifi + Backup + Ease + HD Convenience, but if you want a fast external hard disk the G-Technology boxes sold from Apple are better and faster, but of course you pay for that speed.

    20 of 21 people found this useful

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  • 3.0 out of 5 stars

    Great, but not five stars

    • Written by from Gillingham

    Its a great product, but the wireless and the USB connections are very slow. Why on earth would apple make this product USB 2.0 when most people using it are exclusively apple users and would prefer a Thunderbolt or USB 3.0 connection. I get
    that not everyone is using apple, but give the applephiles the option, we as demographic of customers are not by default stupid.
    To be honest with you, instead of the time machine, you are better off paying a bit more for a LaCie 2big hard drive and run it in RAID or JBOD configuration with a Thunderbolt connection, with the option to expand the memory.
    Thats what I have done, you can purchase my Time capsule on eBay if you wish. Having transfer speeds up to 4Gb/s via Thunderbolt is far more attractive.

    22 of 26 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Works flawlessly and just as expected.

    • Written by from Whitewater

    I was very skeptical about this product for the past few years. I was really interested but read so many horrible reviews of the hard drive crashing and it being junk. I recently needed a new wifi router so I bought a 900 dual band series from another brand, and it worked just fine I suppose, but i noted that it slowed down to the slowest piece of equipment in my home, notably either the Wii or the iPhones. I still needed a hard drive. I returned the other unit and got this, works great, no issues, backs up automatically. Worth the money, much faster internet on my computer noted as well.

    12 of 12 people found this useful

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  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    Look elsewhere

    • Written by from Denver

    I was excited to try this out and for the first 6 months it worked fine. But, the hard drive failed on me two weeks ago (which Apple replaced) but it just hasn’t been the same since. It keeps loosing memory of the printer installed and I have to go through the re-install process every time. Plus, something that has bothered me from the start, you CAN’T partition the drive! So frustrating when you are trying to use Mac and PC on the same disk.

    If I were looking I would look at an AirPort Extreme and add your own external hard drive or I would look at a different manufacture. I have not been impressed with the Time Capsule.

    15 of 20 people found this useful

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  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    Worked Flawlessly--For a Month

    • Written by from Dothan

    We have a household full of laptops, many with digital photos that weren't getting backed up in a timely fashion. We really appreciated the smooth way that Time Machine integrated with this unit. The wifi power was also great. After we had it connected for about a month wifi internet started dropping, wifi network remained in place but no internet (internet still worked on the Ethernet connection), and the disk "could not be found." Tried half a dozen resets and other config changes to no avail--the thing is dead now and I've hooked up my old Cisco router. Hope apple will honor the warranty without a lot of hassle.

    21 of 28 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Awesome

    • Written by from Rio de Janeiro

    All I needed was this to backup my 1TB iMac!

    8 of 12 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Unbelievably cool product. 5 minutes to setup network and backups

    • Written by from South Lyon

    This is the product I've been looking for! In typical Apple style, it is beautifully built and packaged and offers the simplest of interfaces to setup a brand new wireless network, and fully automated backups for all recent Apple products, AND it allows access to the internal drive like a wireless NAS device, for WIndows computers to backup as well.

    Love it!

    11 of 11 people found this useful

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