Older Qnap NAS or New Synology

I currently own an iMac, and want to back up to a raid system. So store my home moves, pictures and files.
I would like to work off the server. I mainly do word documents but also work on adobe in design and photoshop.
I was first looking at the Synology ds218+ and then to buy an Nvidia shield to run media station (Kodi) however looking at the different models I was looking at TS-253a as I like the HDMI option to maybe place Kodi directly to the tv. And the bonus of 4 CCTV options for future.

My question is do u think the Qnap will be up to the challenge and is this old tech now compared to the Synology release

Quite often I hear people are worried getting old tech, but that only means manufacturers are doing a good job by promoting new stuff. In reality, quite often you will get a better deal when choosing replaced NAS model. In this case, TS-253A (or 453A) will do a very good job even with some 4K video files. The software is always kept updates so you always get the latest apps and updates. Kodi is not listed on the qnap app store but you can install it manually. This will save you money because you don’t need to buy extra hardware. HDMI port is also beneficial for uninterrupted streams in slower wireless networks.

 

What can I connect to a NAS?

Wireless Speaker Sonos

The great thing about Sonos is that you don't need to pay for music subscription service. With the cheapest NAS at home like DS115j or any other, you can have your backups done for all of your devices and still use your network drive as a Sonos music library. Sonos will connect to your NAS via your network and let access your provided music library. If you have little more of IT knowledge, you can even set up your Alexa or Sonos with Alexa built in to play music on your voice commands ("Alexa! Ask DS Audio to Play Music!").

Casting devices

Nowadays it is so cheap to upgrade your old TV and make it smart. All you need is Google Chrome or EZcast alternative plugged into your HDMI port at the back of your TV. Now you have great functionality added to your TV to send a video file directly from your NAS to a TV. No need for wires and chargers and other mess. You can use your phone as a remote to go to your movies or family videos and cast that content on your TV during family or friend gatherings.

 

Apple TV

Amazon Fire TV

You may not have a smartphone, or you just simply prefer to control your content with a remote in that case Amazon Fire TV will be a great addon to get to your TV. It also plugs into your HDMI port and will play content from your NAS to a TV. No wires no mess.

nVidia Shield TV

It gets even better! If you want some more entertainment and all previously mentioned functions - nVidia TV is a great thing to get. You can use it for playing games and watching movies from your NAS. The greatest thing is - shield TV does video transcoding. So even if you have a cheap NAS with a weak CPU, in a combination of shield TV you can now automatically on the fly change video file size and format for a destination device. It is a great way to reduce network load and let older devices to play video content which normally was not supported on the device.



 
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