I usually do not do reviews of hardware, but in this case, I feel the urge to.
For my apartment, I purchased the Apple Time Capsule, which is an Airport Extreme Base Station (wireless router) with a 500 GB for backing up. So, let’s start with the wireless router. Setting it all up was a cinch. I plugged it in, and all my computers were on. One of the great things about this router is that it broadcasts at 802.11n, so all of you with 802.11n cards in your laptop would love the transfer speed we get. Also, the back of the router has 3 additional Ethernet jacks, so you can run any other computers and what not off Ethernet. And it works like a charm.
The second main feature I love about the Time Capsule is the hard drive. Not only is it a shared hard drive (so anyone I give access to can see it and put files on it), but I can use it as my Time Machine volume (a back up disk that is). I can do wireless backup seamlessly whenever I am in the apartment. That is terrific considering the drive doesn’t have to be hooked up to my machine, etc. And because the router is 802.11n, it’s pretty darn fast too.
And finally, the Time Capsule also has a USB port, so you can plug in a printer or extra hard drive, or both (given you plug in a hub). Setting up the printer to work with my Macbook Pro was literally as easy as plugging in the printer.
I can be sitting in my living room, surfing the net, printing out pictures from a weekend adventure, and backing up my computer, all at the same time, wirelessly. And given the fact the cost is pretty good and the device looks pretty, I would say that is a tremendous deal.
If you’re thinking of getting a wireless router, get the Time Capsule.
I have had an Apple Cinema Display for past year and a half now, but it was a used old-generation one. As I was finishing up this summer at Apple, I still had my 25% off to use on an Apple product, and since my current cinema screen was ADC and didn’t work with my DVI MacBook Pro, I just decided to sell my cinema screen and buy a new 23″ cinema display. The display came in the mail yesterday (a few days early I will add), so I set it up pretty much immediately.Upon first comparing it with my old cinema, the size seemed smaller, but that was only illusion since the 1.5″ border around the old cinema makes it look much larger than it is. The new one is much sleeker, and of course, it’s made out of aluminum like my laptop, so they go well together. The new cinema has much better color and brightness, and I love the FireWire and powered USB ports on the back. It has a power brick, but oh well. The only critique I have for it is that the arm that holds it up is not as stable as the arms for the old cinema screens. So if you bump the desk or tap on it hard, you can see the monitor just shake a little. It’s small enough where it’s not occurring a lot, but when it does, you have to wait a second for it to stop if you don’t want to get a headache.Overall, I am so far very satisfied with the new cinema, and am looking forward to watching a movie on it in Room 1101 at Bromley Hall!