New User Recommendations

[Enquiries]

Hi there,

Watched a few videos on the channel which have been great so have a rough idea of what I want. I'm completely new to NASs but I have experience with building PCs. The main purpose of this NAS (in this order) would be for movies and TV shows to be viewed on my LG TVs in my home, backup photos from me and my wife's phones and back up files from my computers around my home.

The ones I've been debating over are:
- UGREEN NASync DXP4800 Plus
- QNAP TS-464-8G

A Synology NAS was also in the mix but the recent news about having to use their drives has put me off. If there are other brands/models you think I should take a look at, I would be open to listening.

I would also be open to building my own but unsure which parts to get.

Thanks!

[ed]

Thanks for reaching out, and great to hear you've been enjoying the videos!

Based on your needs — media streaming to LG TVs, phone photo backups, and general PC file backup — you're on the right track with the models you've shortlisted.

Here’s a quick breakdown:
1. UGREEN NASync DXP4800 Plus

Offers a clean, beginner-friendly UI.

AI-powered photo management is excellent, especially if you’re backing up mobile galleries.

Good hardware (Intel N-series, NVMe cache slots, 2.5GbE).

Still relatively new in the NAS scene, so community support is growing but not as mature as QNAP/Synology.

2. QNAP TS-464-8G

More established ecosystem and community.

QuTS Hero/ZFS support adds flexibility and better data integrity.

Great for Plex or local media streaming.

Slightly more advanced, but still beginner-friendly with a bit of a learning curve.

Synology
You're absolutely right about the drive compatibility concerns. Their push for proprietary drives does limit flexibility. If that’s a deal-breaker for you, it's fair to skip it.

Other Options to Consider:
Asustor Lockerstor 4 Gen2 (AS6704T)
Strong contender with good specs, 2.5GbE, and a growing app ecosystem. It strikes a nice balance between QNAP's power and Synology's ease-of-use.

Terramaster F4-424
More affordable, and their newer TOS 5 software is improving. Worth it if you're budget-conscious and don’t mind a bit of tweaking.

DIY Option
Since you’ve built PCs before, DIY is absolutely doable. For 16TB+ storage with Plex and backups in mind, here’s a rough spec guide:

CPU: Intel i3 12100 or AMD Ryzen 5 5600G (for efficiency + QuickSync or iGPU transcoding).

ECC RAM support if you’re thinking of running ZFS/TrueNAS later.

Case: Fractal Node 304, Jonsbo N3, or Silverstone CS381.

OS: TrueNAS Scale or Unraid if you want flexibility and app containers.