Pros: Excellent server for the money. Easily installed/setup by novice users. A server domain name is easily obtained for free either for the first year from .tzo or by using Microsoft Passport or Windows Live ID membership, which is free, period; e.g., no charges after an initial trial period. Very flexible in basic setup, share folders and user accounts/privileges; also, no need for a separate print server, just install printers to the server and share with other networked client computers. Storage space is easily increased by adding extra hard drives; mine came with a Seagate Barracuda 7200.10, 500GB 3GB/s SATA II drive - Model ST3500630AS. If a 1.5GB/s limiting jumper is installed on your additional drive, just remember to remove it for allowing 3GB/s transfer rates.

Cons: No significant detractors; some have said the processor and memory are limiting factors, not so, when installed properly and operated as designed, there is simply no reason to argue for a faster processor or additional memory; especially considering the investment!

Overall Review: Bought mine at $539.99, added an additional 500GB drive for $79.99 for a total investment of $619.98 with free shipping; which is roughly $80.00 under the equivalent EX-475's current selling price. What more can be said!

Pros: Plug it in and you're good to go. No messing with obscure config screens Easy to manage via remote-desktop-like interface Super-easy to hot add and remove hard drives. Small size Quiet operation

Cons: None for my situation

Overall Review: My "Pros" are specifically aimed at those who feel that Home Server gives nothing that cannot be accomplished with a PC running XP or Linux. This box is a server fo those who don't want to be IT admins. You just plug it in and it works. I have not had the data corruption issue that has been reported by a few sources with WHS, so either I'm lucky so far, or the HP machine is safe from that flaw.

Pros: Easy to install, easy to back up attached computer, easy to install supplied software and easy to share digital media.

Cons: Needs more detailed instructions when getting through routers and firewalls. However, once that was accomplished everything when great.

Pros: HP/MSFT couldn't have made it any easier to install if they tried. I spent most of my time moving disks around so I could jam more storage into the box. And during which, I hosed my PC, so in went the restore-disk, and presto-chango -- I had it back. I'm really impressed with how well the whole experience went. It's exactly what I've been looking for: cheap, reliable solution for network storage / remote access / backup.

Cons: I had to spend an extra 10 minutes figuring out that port 4125 needs to be open for RDP to the WHS console. Not a big deal.

Pros: Easy to setup. WHS is scaled back Server 2003 R2. 2/3 power consumption than my last server. Upgradable harddrives. Super small footprint and noise level.

Cons: Installed memory and processor are not quite server grade.

Overall Review: Love the box. Like a NAS that runs WHS. Does exactly what I want it to do. Will be upgrading the memory and processor to support my services. HP should offer more options for this line other than 500 GB and 1 TB models.

Pros: Gets the job done. Relatively easy upgrade to 2GB memory. Easy to setup and maintain. Small size.

Cons: A tad noisy.

Overall Review: I got this machine and first thing replaced the stock 500GB hard drive with 1TB and installed 3 additional 1TB drives for total of 4TB storage. I also replaced stock 512MB DIMM with 2GB one. While doing so I didn't have to break any seals so I don't think this affects warranty. This allows you to run much more stuff on this machine.

Pros: I opened the box, plugged my server in, installed the software on my first computer, it found the server and automatically made a complete mirror image of my entire computer. I then installed the software on my other three computers and they were also mirrored. Backups of any files changes are automatically made daily. I installed two more SATA drives while the server was running and it added them to the drive pool automatically. Backup speeds are much faster than I expected. Finally a backup solution that works seamlessly with my Windows Vista passwords.

Cons: None.

Overall Review: I tried many other backup solutions including network attached storage, a second internal hard drive and USB drives for my four home computers, but they all involved a lot of manual intervention. I always had trouble configuring Windows mapped drive passwords and frequently got random error messages. The Windows Home Server software works seamlessly and securely with my four Vista machines and I finally have peace of mind my data is secure and my backups are current.

Pros: I bought this server with the soul purpose of streaming my media from a localized source to my xbox or other computers. After buying this I realized I had many more options and now I access my server from work and I am able to stream all of my music from home. Setup was easy and there is an automatic setup option for your router (if you have Udnp). I am very satisfied with this product and I recommend it for anyone who wants to have a localized location for media. You can have multiple user accounts (I believe the limit is 5) and access restrictions for several folders. I was reaching 60kbps download speeds from a friends house but it all depends on your upload speed.

Cons: You can not make any more share folders except for the music, software, videos, etc that come preinstalled. That frustrated me because I would like to give specific access to certain folders. Luckily, I have not experienced the corruption bug that many people have mentioned. You are

Overall Review: There seems to be a high user base for the mediasmart server. You can find many forums on the internet that answers your many questions and gives you ideals for later.