Emergency Hardware Replacement Plan
Apr 04 2023
Went down a rabbit hole thinking about new hardware in case old hardware dies.
Airport Time Capsule --> Linksys Velop AX4200 WiFi 6 Mesh System
My Time Capsule is old but working fine. Still, if it dies it's a have-to-replace-today priority. Apple Store has two WiFi routers and they're both mesh. I was reading Tom's Guide reviews of routers and the AX4200 is mid-range speed though good within 15' + wall. Probably would get the two-pack at $400.
One for my bedroom where the Sonic connection resides. One for the next room where I would also move my server and plug my Drobo to it (don't do that now because WiFi 5 is not fast enough and don't want the Drobo in my bedroom). That would put the server, Drobo and my MBP on the same node for fastest local speed. The second node could also be moved towards the HOA rec room in case we want to do in-person meetings once a month.
Drobo 5c --> PROMISE Pegasus32 R6 24TB RAID System
Drobo the company is out of business as of Jan 27 2023. So once my Drobo dies I will replace with a different solution. Apple Store has Promise 6-bay RAID system for $2300. It comes with six 4 TB HDs which I would take out and replace with the five 14 TB HDs from the Drobo plus a spare 8 TB HD.
iPhone SE --> replace
It's under warranty but in a couple of years if I happen to break it I'll replace with current SE model.
Apple Watch s7 --> Apple Watch SE
I like the s7. It has alway-one display but I disable it so going to an SE which doesn't have always-on wouldn't matter. Series 7 has ECG and SpO2 detectors but haven't really found them useful. Current SE has a better processor and same RAM.
iPad Pro 10.5" --> iPad mini
I looked at a mini in the Apple Store. Small yet screen big enough to be useful. Very cute. Current iPad mini 256 GB is $650 (my iPad Pro 256 GB was $750 though I also bought a Smart Keyboard, which turned out to be junk after a year, and an Apple Pencil, which is still nice to have). It's also two years old so I expected a new model in September 2023 or 2024. Meanwhile my 6 year old iPad battery keeps getting discharged overnight so maybe it's getting close to the end.
MacBook Pro --> MBP 13" (M2, 24 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, $1867 with tax)
I want to keep it $2k or less. I want more RAM (and 24 GB is max) so I can run a VM or 3 instances of DDO using CrossOver (Wine). That means HD space gets the short stick and 256 GB is very little. I would have to offload everything to the Drobo and not have too many big games, which I usually don't. If we go to 512 GB SSD it comes to $2086 with tax which I guess is not too bad ($250 3 years AppleCare is too much for this budget).
Mac mini --> Mac mini (M2, 16 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, $876 with tax)
I want to keep it $1k or less. Server I don't use for big things so small SSD is probably fine and 16 GB RAM just in case. If the mini dies first the other option is getting the MBP 13" and making my current MBP as the server. Overall that's probably a better plan.
Airport Time Capsule --> Linksys Velop AX4200 WiFi 6 Mesh System
My Time Capsule is old but working fine. Still, if it dies it's a have-to-replace-today priority. Apple Store has two WiFi routers and they're both mesh. I was reading Tom's Guide reviews of routers and the AX4200 is mid-range speed though good within 15' + wall. Probably would get the two-pack at $400.
One for my bedroom where the Sonic connection resides. One for the next room where I would also move my server and plug my Drobo to it (don't do that now because WiFi 5 is not fast enough and don't want the Drobo in my bedroom). That would put the server, Drobo and my MBP on the same node for fastest local speed. The second node could also be moved towards the HOA rec room in case we want to do in-person meetings once a month.
Drobo 5c --> PROMISE Pegasus32 R6 24TB RAID System
Drobo the company is out of business as of Jan 27 2023. So once my Drobo dies I will replace with a different solution. Apple Store has Promise 6-bay RAID system for $2300. It comes with six 4 TB HDs which I would take out and replace with the five 14 TB HDs from the Drobo plus a spare 8 TB HD.
iPhone SE --> replace
It's under warranty but in a couple of years if I happen to break it I'll replace with current SE model.
Apple Watch s7 --> Apple Watch SE
I like the s7. It has alway-one display but I disable it so going to an SE which doesn't have always-on wouldn't matter. Series 7 has ECG and SpO2 detectors but haven't really found them useful. Current SE has a better processor and same RAM.
iPad Pro 10.5" --> iPad mini
I looked at a mini in the Apple Store. Small yet screen big enough to be useful. Very cute. Current iPad mini 256 GB is $650 (my iPad Pro 256 GB was $750 though I also bought a Smart Keyboard, which turned out to be junk after a year, and an Apple Pencil, which is still nice to have). It's also two years old so I expected a new model in September 2023 or 2024. Meanwhile my 6 year old iPad battery keeps getting discharged overnight so maybe it's getting close to the end.
MacBook Pro --> MBP 13" (M2, 24 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, $1867 with tax)
I want to keep it $2k or less. I want more RAM (and 24 GB is max) so I can run a VM or 3 instances of DDO using CrossOver (Wine). That means HD space gets the short stick and 256 GB is very little. I would have to offload everything to the Drobo and not have too many big games, which I usually don't. If we go to 512 GB SSD it comes to $2086 with tax which I guess is not too bad ($250 3 years AppleCare is too much for this budget).
Mac mini --> Mac mini (M2, 16 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, $876 with tax)
I want to keep it $1k or less. Server I don't use for big things so small SSD is probably fine and 16 GB RAM just in case. If the mini dies first the other option is getting the MBP 13" and making my current MBP as the server. Overall that's probably a better plan.