QNAP Systems is well-liked around these ThinkComputers parts. We loved its TS-109 Pro, TS-209 Pro II, TS-409U, TS-439U, and TS-809 Pro. This year at CES, QNAP showed off two major new series of products: the NMP-1000 network media player and the TS-x59 series of consumer-oriented home NAS devices.
NMP-1000 Network Media Player
ThinkComputers reviews quite a few media player units. It wasn’t until our recent review of the Masscool Media Player that we found one we liked. However, pending a full review, I think we may have found a quick successor to that title.
The NMP-1000 is a full featured media player with an incredibly beautiful interface. It has smooth navigation and support for a laundry list of media formats. It can mount SMB and NFS shares, and also use UPNP in addition to playing from a user-added hard drive. The NMP-1000 is available now for $399.
TS-x59 series
The TS-259, TS-459, TS-659, and TS-859 are QNAP’s latest revision of its NASes. They are aimed at the home and prosumer level, including small businesses. Each has a number of hard drive bays indicated by first numeral in the model number, as it has been with all QNAP NASes. The x59 series uses the latest Intel Atom processor for better power efficiency while still providing competitive transfer speeds.
The two, four, and six bay devices are available now for $599, $899, and $1199, respectively. The eight bay model will be available later this year for $1499. The previous Core 2 Duo-powered TS-809 is technically more powerful than the TS-859 with its Atom processor, but they’re aimed at different markets: the TS-809 is meant for medium and large businesses and enterprises, while the TS-859 is meant for small and medium business or home users with a need for serious storage.
I inquired about the new form factor for the eight bay version. QNAP’s product manager Ivan Hsu explained that the change was an engineering decision. By flattening the unit, the engineers can use the same exterior and interior design, just extending it by the 2-3 inches necessary to accomodate the added drives. This means effectively that the two bay is internally the same as the eight bay, but the latter is simply widened to fit more drives.
