7 hours ago
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.
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.