HP EX490 1TB Mediasmart Home Server
Posted by admin | Posted in Computer | Posted on 09-04-2010
5
- 1.0 TB SATA 7200 RPM hard drive; No tools required to add 3 additional hard drives with the 3 open expansion bays
- Intel Celeron Processor 2.2 GHZ 64-bit; 2GB of DDR2 DRAM
- Connects easily to the home network through a built-in Ethernet port. 10/100/1000 (Gigabit) RJ45 Ethernet
- Powered by Microsoft Windows Home Server software
- 4 USB 2.0 ports (1 front, 3 back); 1 eSATA port (back)
- Supports both wired and wireless PCs via a wireless router
Product Description
The HP EX490 Media Smart Server is the all-in-one solution to manage your media: a home server that can automatically backup and protect your digital memories, centralize your media and content for sharing with family and friends, and enable you to enjoy your digital media while at home or away. Network-based backup of PCs using Windows Home Server as well as Macs using Apple’s Time Machine. Media streaming of photos, music and videos to PCs, the entertainment c… More >>
Ok, so nowhere on the description does it tell you this, but when you get the package the first instructions are to install the client software on a Windows computer. Being that my household is Mac and Linux based, this posed a problem. Second issue, is once I had a Windows 7 machine so I could try installing the software, it couldn’t find the server to perform the install. So here I am, unable to install software for the machine which should already have it installed upon arrival. Maybe if I can get this working I’ll change my rating to more than just one star, but at the moment I’m expecting to have to return it as a faulty product.
Rating: 1 / 5
I have been striving to get all my media in one location and be able to play it in different location like family den, bedroom and basement. so far not found a meaningful product. bought this for the same purpose .i have used ex475 and after it churned few drives, decided to upgrade to ex495 in a hope that their interface might have improved. I agree that its plug and play and it works on both (my pc and mac). but the basic idea of having “media server” still goes unfulfilled. It appears to be a good NAS and i am using it to mirror my files from drobo on my mac (syncToy works great to backup my pics, songs and home videos).
if you are looking to use media files on computers only than it may be the right product for you. I want to have decent interface on my TVs using dlna clients. LG blu ray player bd390, PS3 – none of them are of much help. there is lot of conversions involved since my home videos are in .mov or .m4v formats and this server repeatedly throws error. CopyRight laws dont allow to keep digital copies of dvds i bought anywhere so the server is not built to serve those files anyway.
Rating: 3 / 5
Was really excited about this product so I could centralize all my media. Used with a Dual-Core MAC Pro tower and wired ethernet through a router. Supplied user interface was extremely sluggish and locked up 50% of the time. PC interface wasn’t much better. Wasn’t able to stream video files to Apple Tv either. I’m not a tech head but do know enough to work through most problems. This proved beyond my abilities.
Rating: 2 / 5
I just knew I found the greatest product ever… NOT. this server is great until you save data to it. Once you load it up it slows down, way down. The more you add the slower it gets. It took about 30 minutes for the control screen to open after I stored 2 TB of data. Before that it opened in seconds. I talked to HP many times and they say the streaming softwear is causing a problem and that there is a fix in the works. Until then, enjoy you $600 paperweight. It really is a great idea however someone in that BIG company should have worked a little over time and tested the unit before release. Amazon was great. They sent me a replacement at no charge and is willing to take the unit back and give me a full refund. I like that. Good try HP but no go. Let’s see if HP can pull this plane out of this stiff nose dive before the CRASH.
Rating: 1 / 5
So far, so good with our home server. It is not, however, as easy to set up as claimed. HP tech support is very good.
Rating: 4 / 5