Asustor AS 3 Series ?

[Taxman]

So Intel announced a new Atom chip for NAS that includes video transcoding, mentioned in the PR text was an Asustor AS 3 series which is not mentioned on the website as far I can see.

"The new Asustor AS 3 Series NAS devices with the Intel Atom CE5300 series provide the performance needed for home media file server functionality," said Asustor president, Shawn Shu.

Will these new NAS be affordably priced is my big concern ?

The problem to date with Atom based NAS is they are way more expensive than the cheaper but underpowered Arm based NAS most of the industry uses for home users, most of the Atom NAS are targeted at small businesses but I like many others have no need of any of these features and just need a basic media server nothing more. Will the AS 3 series cut features making it be more affordable, that's my hope.

[audiophile]

I am just returning from German CeBIT. As to what I've seen only Thecus showed two brand new NAS boxes with the Intel CE5300 platform: the N2520 and the N4520 with two resp. four disks.

Hopefully Asustor will not take too long to show the world a similar line of products. Their present boxes are rarely able to stream a single HDTV video without judder and jerks to the HDMI port - let alone simultaneously streaming to more than one destination with downscaling included...

Regards,
--audiophile

[Taxman]

Personally I'd rather do without the media player functions on an AS 3 if it means it costs less, buying a transcoding media server means you have existing media players that do the job so it's a bit redundant.

[Allen@AST]

Hi Taxman,

The AS 3 Series should be ready to launch in the next 1-2 months. Our AS 6 Series was targeted towards the Business and Prosumer segments while the new AS 3 Series will be primarily aimed at the Home and SOHO segments. The pricing for the AS 3 Series will definitely reflect this difference. Although we can't release any pricing information at the moment, please rest assured that we won't let you down.


Hi audiophile,

The HDMI streaming problem was found in a small number of our machines and is due to an issue with Intel's graphics drivers. We have been working closely with Intel to fine tune this.


Thanks,

Allen

[Taxman]

Hi Taxman,

The AS 3 Series should be ready to launch in the next 1-2 months. Our AS 6 Series was targeted towards the Business and Prosumer segments while the new AS 3 Series will be primarily aimed at the Home and SOHO segments. The pricing for the AS 3 Series will definitely reflect this difference. Although we can't release any pricing information at the moment, please rest assured that we won't let you down.

Allen

Thanks for the reply, looking forward to seeing whats coming.

[meteora]

Just read the news about the 3 series, even tho i just ordered one 604 since i prefer raid5 and it will be used as my main file server
it seems the 3 series is more suitable for media playback, so perhaps it can be a backup server of my 604 as well as the media player if the price is good enough (hint hint)

[audiophile]

Hi audiophile,

The HDMI streaming problem was found in a small number of our machines and is due to an issue with Intel's graphics drivers. We have been working closely with Intel to fine tune this.


Thanks,

Allen

Thank you very much, Allen! Anyway, I wish you good luck getting this done.

Regards,
--audiophile

[pchakris]

I received my 602 yesterday but didn't open the box yet, as I am now thinking to wait for the 3 series. Could some of you give your valuable opinion on which NAS is better. I would like to use the NAS for media storage (videos, photos). I would Ike to stream these (mkv files) to my home theater via ps3 over LAN home network and also connect the NAS to my TV via HDMI. I also would like to access these in my ipad etc.

[Allen@AST]

Hi pchakris,

The AS-6XX series features a powerful processor (dual-core, 2.13GHz) while AS-3XX series will use a 1.2GHz dual-core processor. Also, the memory of AS-6XX is expandable by installing an additional memory module which will be especially useful for memory-demanding applications such as media and downloading. As for the AS-3XX, the memory is non-expandable since it uses on-die memory. Both Intel processors are capable of HD video output so it's hard to say which NAS is better. But there's no doubt that the AS-6XX will be more capable of handling multiple applications at the same time.

In addition, even though both series are equipped with GbE network, the AS-6XX will definitely be better able to utilize this for file transfer.

I personally would recommend that you keep your AS-602T as it sounds like it is a great fit for your needs. But it is up to you!

Thanks,

Allen

[pchakris]

Thank you Allen. Do you think the SoC (system on chip) in the new intel 5315 processor will be an advantage for video encoding compared to Intel 2700 processor. Some video files like mkv are not supported by ps3 or iPad. I don't know the capability of encoding video in asustor 602.