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While convenient, laptop computers with wireless network connections have always had one major problem: back up. It is more complicated to back up a wireless computer than a desktop computer; most existing methods require cumbersome components that impede the mobility of your wireless machine (and really, isn’t that the point of a wireless laptop in the first place?). Apple has come up with a solution for this problem, the Apple Time Capsule. This device was designed to work with Time Machine, an automatic back up that was built into the Mac OS X Leopard. According to Apple, Time Capsule can boast the following features:

• A wireless hard drive (available in two sizes: 500GB or 1TB)
• Multi-machine back up capabilities, allowing multiple computers to back up to one single device
• Uses the 802.11n draft 2.0 specification, and is compatible with Macs and PCs that use 802.11a, b, or g technologies
• Is compatible with other Apple technologies, such as the iPhone

The Wall Street Journal recently published an article about the Apple Time Capsule. Writer Walter S. Mossberg put the product through its paces to test how effective it was. In addition to working with the Mac OS X Leopard, he tested the claims that Time Capsule can also be used as a wireless Internet connection and/or a remote hard drive for storing/retrieving files not only for Macs, but also for PCs running Windows platforms. As he reports, “In my tests over the past week, Time Capsule worked well in all of these scenarios…[It] was easily recognized by several of my Windows machines running Vista and Windows XP.” The article goes on to say that Time Capsule also allows for easy storing/retrieval of files between Macs and PCs running Windows applications, which is an additional advantage of the product.

There are, however, several drawbacks that consumers should bear in mind. Unlike similar products, Time Capsule does not support any form of media streaming. Also, Apple cannot guarantee that Time Capsule will work with all back up systems (subsequent testing revealed this was especially true of customers currently using the Vista platform). Also, as one blogger discovered, you are unable to upgrade the hard disk. While this may not pose a problem for most end users, it may dissuade the more technologically savvy customers from purchasing this product.

Still, the list of drawbacks is minimal, and early customer reviews of this product all seem positive. Consumers are also happy with the competitive price tag ($299 for the 500GB, $499 for the 1TB). Overall, it seems as though this product will be a great success for Apple. And who knows, maybe there will even be a second release that will address some of the aforementioned concerns. With Apple’s customer feedback history, this wouldn’t be surprising.

Wednesday, March 19th, 2008 You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

By Michael Gorvin