Time Capsule review

Verdict:

Review Date: 27 Mar 2008

Price when reviewed: (£169 ex VAT) for 500GB; £329 (£280 ex VAT) for 1TB

Reviewed By: Alan Stonebridge

Our Rating 4 stars out of 5

Both internal and external disks can be protected, using Time Capsule's own password, a separate disk encryption (to keep administration and shared storage separate in a multi-user environment) or with user accounts.

With the latter option, you can't see other users' folders on the internal disk. That's not the case for external disks, though they can simply be connected to a Mac via USB to read the contents anyway - user accounts on external disks don't need a comprehensive permissions system as in your Mac's user folders.

Files already on the external disk could not be seen when added to the network. To become visible they had to be moved to a user folder.

We can't recall how many times we've arrived home from the office, fired up our notebooks and failed to connect our backup drive. Time Capsule eradicates all uncertainty and irregularity for notebook users. A family or small office environment will also benefit because there's no need to have individual disks attached to every Mac.

However, desktop users working on their own should consider a cheap external disk, especially if the networking features are surplus to requirements.

To sum up, the 500GB Time Capsule is well priced for the combination of hard disk and router functions.

The extra storage of the 1TB version is harder to swallow for single users though, but this version would prove necessary to avoid clogging up the disk when accessed by multiple users.

Prev Next

Get more reviews, tutorials and in-depth advice, every month with Computer Shopper.
Click here to try 3 issues for £1

< Previous Reviews : General Next >

Sponsored Links

Be the first to comment on this article

You need to Login or Register to comment.