APPLE’S TIME CAPSULE is one of the most expensive external hard drives you can buy. But then again it isn’t an ordinary external hard drive. The unit I got to test was the 500GB version, which retails at R3 299. Considering I bought an Iomega 500GB external drive on special at Incredible Connection a few months back for R999 (normal retail price about R1 500) it does look madly overpriced.<\/p>\n
That’s until you start looking at what it really is. First, it’s a network-attached storage device. So instead of plugging it directly into your computer using USB, you connect to it over the network. You have a choice of either wired or wireless connection, putting it in another league entirely. You can even use it to extend the range of your wireless network or as a wireless access point for a wired network.<\/p>\n
And then it has a USB port, which lets you connect additional storage to it or even connect a printer you can share over the network. Just the cost saving on not having to buy a network-enabled printer would probably justify the additional cost this of device over competing network-attached storage devices.<\/p>\n
That said, because there’s no option to connect via USB, dumping large amounts of data across the network takes a while: backing up 180GB from my hard drive to the Time Capsule took a few hours. And if you try to do it wirelessly, be prepared for an overnight operation.<\/p>\n
However, the 500GB seems to have value if you’re going to use all of its features. But its big brother – the 1TB Time Capsule (which retails for R5 499) – is just too expensive, considering the price difference between the two drives. If you need to share storage and a printer, the Time Capsule’s a good deal. Otherwise, look elsewhere.<\/p>\n