Recommend me a single drive NAS!

[MoogLe]

Hey guys

I'm looking for a 2 or 3tb single drive NAS for my network between $150-$200

I would mainly be using it to stream movies to a Boxee Box which i will also be buying along with it.

I was looking at the Western Digital Mybook Live.... but I've been reading some very mixed reviews and I'm getting some doubts.

I currently have an Asus Rt-N66U router which supposedly turns any external drives into a NAS but I've been having terrible luck with that and am currently in contact with Asus to try and get those bugs fixed.

So please, someone show me a decent NAS drive that will fit my needs!!

 

[thiggins]

You can use most anything. Boxee Box can stream from a networked share and doesn't need a DLNA server. What is "mixed" about the WD My Book Live reviews you have been reading?

 

[MoogLe]

well it seems to be about 50/50 between GREAT and TERRIBLE lol

the ones with good reviews seem to have absolutely no problems

and the ones with bad reviews vary from very slow transfer speeds over gigabit network, corrupted data transfers, trouble accessing the drive over the network, firmware issue... etc

oh and one guy mentioned specifically that his WDTV Live cant play the media on the drive... which seemed wierd. Im thinking that guy specifically doesnt really know what he's doing... but still...

just so you know what i'm talking about... here are the review scores from amazon:

368 Reviews
5 star: (98)
4 star: (84)
3 star: (26)
2 star: (40)
1 star: (120)

 

[thiggins]

You need to consider the audience at Amazon. Not all necessarily tech-savvy
WD My Books are consistently Top Sellers at Amazon and Pricegrabber.

I just reviewed the Live Duo. Only thing I found wonky was the drive pull test. It ran ok, just the reporting was a bit odd. You don't have the issue with a single drive My Book.

In all, it's a decent, value-priced NAS with a good feature set. Just not the speediest, but plenty fast for what you want. And much better than trying to mess with router built-in drive sharing.

 

[MoogLe]

You need to consider the audience at Amazon. Not all necessarily tech-savvy
WD My Books are consistently Top Sellers at Amazon and Pricegrabber.

I just reviewed the Live Duo. Only thing I found wonky was the drive pull test. It ran ok, just the reporting was a bit odd. You don't have the issue with a single drive My Book.

In all, it's a decent, value-priced NAS with a good feature set. Just not the speediest, but plenty fast for what you want. And much better than trying to mess with router built-in drive sharing.

Yea I did take that into consideration.

Do you know of anything else comparable?

If not I guess I'll just take my chances

 

[stevech]

That WD seems pricey considering slow 800MHz CPU and lame feature set.

 

[MoogLe]

That WD seems pricey considering slow 800MHz CPU and lame feature set.

recommend me something else!

so far i havent really found anything else comparable that seems better

 

[thiggins]

That WD seems pricey considering slow 800MHz CPU and lame feature set.

OP's needs are very basic for speed and performance. WD or single drive Buffalos are appropriate vs. QNAP/Synology. What would you recommend?

 

[stevech]

My suggestion is to rethink buying a Boxee Box. End of life? rather costly? I've not owned one, but user reviews are like 3 of 5 stars.

And the OP's idea of a single drive NAS for 2TB of videos. What's the backup strategy? Hate to lose all those videos at once due to a glitch or drive failure.

Especially if there's a new TV on the horizon... most newer TVs can stream from a DLNA server.

 

[MoogLe]

My suggestion is to rethink buying a Boxee Box. End of life? rather costly? I've not owned one, but user reviews are like 3 of 5 stars.

And the OP's idea of a single drive NAS for 2TB of videos. What's the backup strategy? Hate to lose all those videos at once due to a glitch or drive failure.

Especially if there's a new TV on the horizon... most newer TVs can stream from a DLNA server.

All reviews Ive seen of the boxee have been good.

Already bought a 50" LCD last year. Will probably buy another one next year.

If im not mistaken, the WD offers DLNA doesnt it?

As far as backup.... Videos are probably the least important part of my data... I have a 15mb connection... i can redownload the whole library in a week or two if i really lost everything. So if the drive failed, I'd be more concerned about getting a new drive rather than losing the data in this case.


So yea, I own high performance pc's and have enough parts to build a multimedia center if i want to. But I really want a low power easy to use solution for streaming videos.... From what I see, this setup would use maybe 30-40W and generate low heat... compared to a 200-300W multimedia center pc that will heat up the entire room in a couple of minutes.

Not to mention the form factor!

But yea, basically this is just a beginning, I'm always upgrading my network and computers.

 

[MoogLe]

just noticed that there's a specific forum for NAS buying advice

any mods mind moving this thread?

 

[stevech]

Already bought a 50" LCD last year. Will probably buy another one next year.

So I was wondering, given the above, wouldn't these fancy TVs, like my inexpensive 42" Vizio- have ethernet and built-in streaming from the Internet and from DLNA server(s) on your LAN?

 

[MoogLe]

Whats your point?

Im gonna wait atleast one more year before buying another tv. And even then, im sure the built in software on the tvs wont be as extensive as the boxee.

 

[stevech]

Sorry.. just wondering if your fairly new 50" LCD has ethernet and if it did, it likely supports DLNA and Netflix et al.

I use Boxee software on WIndows PCs - it's kind of neat. That software was migrated to the box that D-Link sold. Just a little concerned about end of life for it, given the TV's have that functionality built in now, so the market demand fell off.

Just some suggestions.

 

[MoogLe]

Sorry.. just wondering if your fairly new 50" LCD has ethernet and if it did, it likely supports DLNA and Netflix et al.

I use Boxee software on WIndows PCs - it's kind of neat. That software was migrated to the box that D-Link sold. Just a little concerned about end of life for it, given the TV's have that functionality built in now, so the market demand fell off.

Just some suggestions.

nope, none of my tv's have ethernet. Even now, only the really high end ones really have it from what i see.

I predict the boxee getting atleast 3 years of usage before i actually phase it out

 

[stevech]

My 42" Vizio from Costco has ethernet/Netviz and others, and was about $500 as I recall. Even my DVD player has ethernet and essentially the same features as the TV.

I don't at all intend to argue/debate, and I know that a 50" is a lot more expensive.

Yes, the BoxeeBox would be fun, and not that expensive.

 

[matthelm]

I really like my WD TV Live. I know it's not the NAS version, but one thing I have to say, is thru my DLNA server (serviio) it has played every file, even the ones with "burps" in them.

 

[MoogLe]

My 42" Vizio from Costco has ethernet/Netviz and others, and was about $500 as I recall. Even my DVD player has ethernet and essentially the same features as the TV.

I don't at all intend to argue/debate, and I know that a 50" is a lot more expensive.

Yes, the BoxeeBox would be fun, and not that expensive.

I have 50" and 32" samsung

Neither have ethernet

But yeah i just bought evertything today

Ill post back with results in a week

 

[MoogLe]

First impressions:

Boxee Box: I'm loving this thing so far! I love how it manages the libraries and havent had a hiccup so far. Just need to familiarize myself with the menus and remote a bit more.

WD My book Live: So far so good! Transfer rates are around 8mb/sec over wifi so far which is i guess decent. Still have to test it over gigabit. Still have not moved my libraries onto this drive.

So far I am pleased but have not used either device much so far... Unfortunately they will have to wait untill I'm back from a business trip in a week