Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 26
Can't beat it for the price August 30, 2010 EncinoGrande 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I've had 2 of these for about 15 months. They both, work pretty much flawlessly. The only hardware problem I've had is one of them wouldn't switch off one time. But after I pulled the plug on it, it started behaving.
I use the second solely as a backup for the 1st. They have a wake-on-LAN capability so they power up and down automatically. Caveat: only a computer with the NAS software installed will wake it up. Since you can't install the software on devices such as media players, PS3s, AVRs, etc. you will have to either:
a. switch it on manually for them
b. have your computer on at the same time
c. leave it running 24/7, or
d. set an on-off time schedule.
Another caveat, a Linkstation cannot wake up another Linkstation. So if you're backing up Linkstation to Linkstation, the target must be on before the scheduled backup time. This can be done by setting a wake/sleep schedule for the target. But if you do that, it will not wake-on-LAN.
One nice thing is: it will back itself up automatically according to a schedule. However, it will only back itself up to another Buffalo NAS or an attached USB drive.
My uses are:
1. as a DLNA server for my Denon AVR and Sony PS3. No problem streaming music, video or pictures to them. I store all my media on the drive.
2. As a backup drive for my computers. I use the Memeo software that came bundled. The version that shipped with the unit was bugged and didn't work, but you can download a later version that does work. It is not the best software, and is excruciatingly slow for the intitial backup. I recall it took the better part of 5 days.
3. For sharing my itunes library, which I access on several machines. This works very well. To Apple's credit, sharing an itunes library is easy and works far better than Window Media Player or Media Center.
I don't consider the setup to be all that difficult, but it may be troublesome for some. Also, the documentation is not that great. I had to seek help numerous times from the Buffalo Forums, but found what I needed for the most part.
I'm giving it 4 stars because of price-performance, but downgraded because of:
a. its inability to back up to non-Buffalo network shares
b. because its power management needs improvement.
c. because the wake-on-LAN software doesn't install properly for non-admin user accounts in Vista.
first foray into nas August 29, 2010 Dan Gunderud The setup for the Buffalo Technology LinkStation Pro 2.0 TB LS-XH2.0TL was very easy. I copied all the docs, music, and pics off my ancient Celeron desktop that was my file and print server and turned it off.
Wlile it does a fine job as a printer server for my all-in-one printer, I was disapointed that the LinkStation doesn't support full bidirectional functions.
The WebConnect function is cool, though - especially after upgrading the firmware to 1.34.
Definitely pleased with this purchase.
Could be better, could be worse, not for everyone August 15, 2010 Tanja Lessner 0 out of 1 found this review helpful
My needs were pretty simple -- central storage for photos and video that are too big to keep on every laptop in the house. I also wanted to keep backups of non-media files on the NAS, not the only archive copy of them, but duplicate backups that can be accessed conveniently.
Setup went OK, but only after I downloaded the updated version of NAS Navigator (the software you have to run on each computer on the network to let it connect to the NAS). The only way I knew to do that was after getting a reply to a query I posted on the support forums about why I was having installation troubles on one of my computers.
I was excited about the Direct Copy function, which lets you connect a drive to the NAS via USB and (I thought) copy the full contents of the drive to the NAS. Two nasty surprises, though. One is that it will only copy media files (.jpg, mp3, etc.) -- to be fair, Buffalo says this in their documentation, though not loud enough. The other is that the copying will only go one way -- Direct Copy will not copy from the NAS to the attached USB device. Now you can copy between the NAS and any USB device using another computer on the network as a mediator, but it's not as fast.
The thing tends to churn for a few minutes after connecting or disconnecting a USB device, or occasionally for no apparent reason at all.
If what you basically want is a file server for your home network that will let you look at your family photos from any laptop in the house, this will do the job at a relatively low price (not all that much more than a similar-sized external hard drive). You'll need to be technical enough to cope with at least a few minor setup and network issues. I don't want my money back, but I wasn't as impressed as I thought I'd be.
Poor reliability rumors true August 12, 2010 C. Whitby 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Received unit not recognized by my Mac, turns out hard-drive defective. It displays the 7 flash amber led code meaning unit dead. Also set up not intuitive nor simple compared to other external HDs I have set up. Also poor instructions for the novice. Was given the opportunity for a replacement, but no thanks. Good reason to buy from amazon ,with a secure easy replacement policy.
Buffalo NAS Review July 13, 2010 A. D. Sharp (Reno) 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This was easy to setup. I purchased two of these units one as the primary backup and one as the secondary. I unpacked and installed both on my network in about 30 minutes. Next I configured a backup which I struggled with. I called tech support and sat on hold less than a minute. The support walked me through setting up a backup in about 5 minutes. I set one backup to run immediately (backup the primary to the secondary) and another to run daily at 1AM. I give this product 5 stars.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 26
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