Another Mac Question
 

Rather than keep the other thread going, I have a new question.

Any opinions on the Airport Express vs. Airport Extreme?

To give some background, I live in a small apartment, have only the one Macbook Air and my iPhone, and maybe an Apple TV or some similar device coming in the future.

So the Airport Extreme having the ability to have more concurrent users is not something I care about. I also don't need extra ethernet ports either -- only a single ethernet to plug in my cable modem.

So is there any reason for me to spend the extra money on the Extreme, or will the Express do just fine?

Of course the decision is subjective based on your needs. However;
The Extreme will performed twice as fast as the Express before you enabled 802.11n.
After you enabled 802.11n, the Extreme will run almost 5X as fast (4.6X to be a little more precise).

The Express will allow you to connect up to 10 computers, however has a shorter range than the Extreme (this may or may not be an issue for you). Other than that the only difference between the Express and Extreme is that you can connect speakers to the Express and stream iTunes music to them.

What do you mean by "enabled 802.11n"??

According to Apple's website, both the Extreme and Express use 802.11n.

Extreme also has 10/100/1000 Gigabit ethernet and the ability to connect an external hard drive so that you can have a "networked" hard drive. Both are "n" btw.

I use the extreme now, but used an express for a long time and it kicked ass.

Sounds like I should just get the Express. I don't plan on using any ethernet ports except the one to connect my Cable Modem. And since I only have a single computer, if I decide to get an external hard drive, there would be no need to have it networked.

Thanks for the info!

I have had 5 Airport Extreme's and 2 Express's and I would say go for the Express. The new ones comes with N enabled and you could hook up a hard drive using the USB in the future. For an apartment, the express is more than enough to cover it unless you have VERY thick walls.

Also, with the express you have the ability to play music to external speakers in your house controlling it from your Macbook or iPhone which is useful.

While I agree with you, just to be clear, you CANNOT network and external HD with the Express' USB port.

My bad, the Express DOES NOT have hard drive capability. I think it all comes down to whether you want to spend the extra $80 for an Extreme. Both are excellent routers, and the express will do more than enough for you.

As for the Airport's in general, they are the BEST router you will find. Before I bought my first Airport, I spent almost a year and a half buying different wireless routers. I bought EVERY SINGLE wireless Linksys router (No Joke) both business and personal editions for a year as well as many other Belkin, Netgear, and Hawking routers and accessories. None of them ever came close to the Airport extreme or express.

Just a quick question...

Do I need an ethernet port on my computer to configure the Airport Express? Or can that too be done wirelessly?

My old Motorola wireless router required that all configuration be done through a wired connection. My problem is that I didn't get the ethernet USB dongle with my Macbook Air. I suppose I can always ask my friend to come over with his Macbook Pro and help me configure it if need be.

Everything is done wirelessly.

It looks pretty straight forward. When I was reading this and I saw that it installs from a CD, my first thought was that it would be a pain since my Macbook Air does not have a CD, but then I checked Apple's website, and of course they have the Airport Utility as a free download.

I believe Airport Utility comes installed on all Mac's and the CD is for windows. Go to Applications/Utilities/Airport Utility and check if its there.

Hold off just a little bit longer Eric. You may have something new to look at later this morning :D

LINK TO POSSIBLE REVISED AIRPORT EXTREME AND TIME CAPSULE

Apple just released a whole bunch of new stuff this morning. New iMac, Mac Pro, Mac Mini, Airport Extreme, and Time Capsule.

I have a brand new iMac 24" fully loaded still in the box because the day after I ordered I heard a new one was coming out. I might upgrade the Time Capsule, and maybe get a Mac Mini for the car. I have to figure out a way to get the new iMac. Any one wanna buy a loaded BRAND NEW 24" iMac?

For the New iMac, is it just the updated video card and 8GB ram capability? Everything else looks the same to me.

Larger hard drives, upgradable to 8GB Ram, DDR3 (This is BIG)

Plus a $20 price drop on the extreme!

I have a brand new still in the box 24" iMac, so is it worth it getting this new one, or sticking with the one I have. Also, can I put 8GB ram in my current iMac?

No, its the same price as it was before, $179.

Ohh ok, the old Extreme went down $20 dollars, but the new one is still $179.

AirPort Extreme Base Station - Apple Store (U.S.)

No you can't put 8GB in the old one. It's worth it just to get the 1066 MHz FSB and DDR3 Ram IMO + you also get 8GB upgradability etc...

I'll either sell the current one, or keep it at home, and get a new one for the office.

If you bought it in the last 14 days, return it!

I bought it within the last 30. But if you order a Mac online, and it has high options it is Non Returnable regardless of when it was purchased. Pretty Lame rule. I would have returned it the day I got it.

I believe the return period is 21 days, but I may be mistaken.

@SuperGreg - How are you doing buddy?

My Express is fine. Too bad my facist university's firewall won't let it work. I use it at home now, and its loads better than our old "extreme"

Well, I decided to save some money and go with the less expensive option. The new Time Capsule sure sounds interesting, especially how you can share out the drive for remote use, but in the end it is not something I really need and would just be a cool toy to play with.

I'm pretty sure that the 20 GB of online space available from MobileMe will be plenty to back up all of my files. I backed up everything from my old PC to move over to the Mac and all of my files come to about 2 GB. Of course, I expect significantly expand my music collection once I start using the mac and iTunes, but I doubt I will even go over 10 GB.

So I purchased the Airport Express and the Wirless Mighty Mouse from Macmall yesterday. Free shipping and no sales tax, plus a few dollars off MSRP.

Now I just need to find a nice leather case for the Macbook Air. I really want to get one from Vaja, but it's kind of pricey. I'll see what else I can find online.

It's 14 days.
Doing GREAT, thanks for asking! :D

A Mac endorsement.....

http://www.news.com.au/common/imaged...6495276,00.jpg
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/g...4321-4,00.html