Pros: - Set up was quick and easy. - Installing drives was easy with no tools required. - Using the included docs, accessing the web interface was simple. - Creating users, network shares, and assigning permissions is all a breeze in the DSM. - Multi-drive system allows for various RAID configs (redundancy, speed, etc.). - Plex Media Server has been working like a champ. - So many more features and I am not remotely taking advantage of. - Updates are easy to install through DSM. - Multiple fan modes to keep the system cool. Fan also runs quiet in normal mode.

Cons: - My needs are simple so it can feel a bit overwhelming trying to understand all the different ways to set up and configure the system. - Even with RAID redundancy, I wish there was an easy way to back the drives up to another (non-Synology) NAS device.

Overall Review: I switched to this unit after using a single-drive Western Digital My Book Live for several years. I was looking for a multi-drive system in order to take advantage of RAID configurations for data redundancy and recovery. I was waffling between Synology and QNAP systems and ultimately landed on Synology from user reviews relating to using Plex Media Server. My needs are very simple compared to others so I am only scratching the surface with what this system can do. I paired this unit with 2 WD Red 4TB NAS drives and transferring data from computers to this system is fast and easy. I do not have the system configured to allow access from the Internet so I am not using any the mobile apps at this time.

Pros: Easy setup - just plug in your connections and go Metal housing and feet help keep if from sliding Small, but bright connection indicators Does exactly what it’s supposed to

Cons: None that I’ve found.

Overall Review: Not much to say here other than it does exactly what you’d want it to. No crazy setup procedure, just plug your connections in and power it up. Connection indicators are small, but bright so it’s easy to see the status of each connection. The metal housing gives it some weight and the included feet help keep it from sliding around. I have the 5-port version on my desk at work and it’s been flawless for a couple years now.

Pros: Comes with Windows 7!! I've tried using Windows 8 in a virtual PC and my wife got a new Windows 8 PC for her work and we hate it, so getting Windows 7 with this laptop saved me the hassle of formatting and reloading it. Can't beat the included hardware combined with Asus' reputation. The InstantOn function is literally that - system usually resumes in less than 10 seconds. Actually includes 2 video cards (Intel HD 4000 and nVidia 610) to further conserve battery life. Doesn't include much "bloatware" (only removed a couple apps after setting it up).

Cons: Unable to easily change default partition sizes. Drive appears to be configured in a 40/60% C:/D: configuration. I actually prefer a secondary partition for keeping my data separate from the OS, but the 40% C: drive was a bit large for my needs. Windows was unable to resize the partition and attempting to use a 3rd party partition manager crashed the whole system resulting in a factory restore. The restore options appear to let you choose between a full C: drive or a split C:/D: drive, but you're unable to choose the partition sizes in the restore. The touch pad also proved to be a bit challenging. I appreciate that Asus was attempting to make the touch pad be more than just that -- it appears to have the ability to perform multi-touch functions similar to a smartphone/tablet -- but these functions only added to my headache when trying to use the laptop. The touchpad & mouse buttons are all one device similar to Apple's laptops and although the bottom portion of the pad is supposed to be reserved for the left/right buttons, it still registered these areas as touch points and would cause the cursor to do strange things and/or lose focus on the window you were working in. Thankfully you can disable all the various functions of the touchpad so after turning off all features except for the "buttons" the system is much more usable.

Overall Review: MAKE THE RECOVERY DISCS IMMEDIATELY!! Thankfully I at least made the ISO files for the recovery discs before attempting to resize the partitions and was able to remove the hard drive and connect to another computer to get the ISO's burned to DVD's. Otherwise I'd have been totally hosed as there's no physical recovery media included.

Pros: Excellent price, 48-bit color scanning, fast scans, easy setup.

Cons: On-board buttons and some scanner apps don't work well with Vista and Win7.

Overall Review: I haven't had a scanner for quite a while but was looking for a low-cost, good color scanner to digitize documents so I didn't have to store all kinds of paperwork and this scanner definitely fits the bill. I've used the scanner with WinXP, Vista, and Win7 systems and it works great with all those OS's but I did find that the on-board buttons and some of the included scanner apps don't work correctly in Vista or Win7 but I've worked around that by using 3rd party apps to generate the scans.