QNAP TS-230 vs DS218play

TS-230 vs DS218play

I can’t decide between QNAP TS-230 and Synology DS218play. Synology is about $50 more ($200 vs $250), but from the specs it looks like the HW encoder is better. I’m not planing to use Plex, but Video station on both devices. I found some conflicting information on TS-230 – it should have HW encoder but only up to 1080p 30fps output, is that true? DS218play should handle HW transcoded 4k output, but I’m not sure if 1GB of memory will be enough and base DS218 is out of my budget.

1. So basically my dilemma is between 2GB of memory on Qnap giving me more headroom but sacrificing better video encoder. I also found a lot of negative user reviews on QNAP for their reliability. $50 more is also a factor.

2. Is it even realistic to store enough 4k movies on a 2-bay NAS anyway?

3. I also have not ideal network configuration which I can’t modify – I’m behind 2 NAT routers. I know for sure that Synology’s Quickconnect works over the internet for everything (1st party apps) – does QNAP have something (I found something about myQNAPcloud) that works in the same way without required router configuration?

Also other brands are not an option here, only Asustor and I can’t force myself to buy another Asus network device after last 3 routers which failed after few months.

The only difference between these two is extra RAM. If running one thing at the time , both NAS would perform the same. The difference you would notice when you try to do several things at the same time. For example stream a movie and run a backup for your computer or also try to transcode one of the streams.

Synology is working harder to create their own software. Qnap more relies on third parties to create software. This is why computers need better hardware compared to Paystation because software is not built around the hardware. The symbiotic relationship is not as good and therefore output with the same hardware is quite different.
But Qnap does try hard to catch up and do offer much more innovative solutions that Synology do not dare to add on their hardware.
But with fewer risks, Synology is more likely to be around in next 10 years.

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