A 6 series or 3 series.. my head spins

[DutchFIX]

Hi Asustor,

I'm already a few weeks trying to figure out what to get for playing media on my tv, download some stuff and have a more centralized backup location.
A mediaplayer with harddisk past my mind, but has limited performance for a NAS function or running APPS for downloading. Building a HTPC of any other minicomputer was a possibility, but you have to have plenty of time to tailor it to the NAS/mediaplayer needs and the userinterface and experience would probably be hold together with strings e.g not very nice to see.
So a NAS it would be and not wanna spend extra cash to have a NAS and small mediaplayer my choices let me to ASUSTOR.

Now the trouble of choosing between the models.
The 2xx version was quickly dismissed although the platform is almost the same i prefer to have some headroom with the processor power .

Now the question is 6 or 3 series.
The 6 series has older hardware but expandable RAM. The 3 Series has newer hardware but with fixed RAM.
So how do i have to look at this... is the hardware of the 6 series sufficient for the future or is there a chance that APPS would not run on it, cause of the older hardware. Same goes for for the 3 series with its fixed RAM. Is there any concern of APPS running at their limit with the amount of RAM ?

What impact does the 3 Gb ram of the 6 series has on general use ? Is it really worth it,or is it only nice to have if you really stress the NAS in extreme conditions?

EDIT :
Is there much difference in noise between the 6 and 3 series ? Cause the NAS will be in my livingroom.

Do you have any suggestions or considerations that i can take into the choice for a 2 or 4 bay NAS, besides the larger storage possibility. Is there any real performance difference between a 2 or 4 bay version.

Maybe sound a bit stupid to ask it this way, but my head is really spinning with all the considerations i make. I can start easy (cause it's my first NAS) and buy a 302T and if it's not getting used after a while for whatever reason i didn't spend that much money on it. But if i'm using it and starting to use it more i might run into the limitations of the 2 bays or the proc and then having to upgrade .. i want to get the max lifespan out of it by making the right choice.

Some direction into a choice would make my life easier... and would be gratefully appriciated.

Marc.

[Allen@AST]

Hi Marc,

The hardware in the 6 series and 3 series is essentially the same except for the CPU.
If you are really concerned about having the NAS for the future, then we would have to recommend the 6 series as it is the more powerful device.
RAM would be a concern if you plan on running many Apps at the same time. However, all individual Apps are able to run on either series.

As for noise, there is basically no difference between the two. They are both very very quiet during operation.

As for choosing between the 2 and 4 bay models, the performance should be the same but will depend on the type of storage volumes you configure (RAID level). So if you are trying to decide between a 2 bay or 4 bay you basically only need to think about the storage possibilities of each.

Please let me know if you have any additional questions.

Thanks,

Allen

[DutchFIX]

Hello Allen,

Thanks alot for the answers.. my head spins a bit less.
I think i can make a good choice now.. It's still a difficult choice, it's not a product problem but i'm thinking to much about it.

Thanks again..

Marc

[rickdubra]

I'm looking for to buy a asustor 604t from Canada, but I'm in Australia, could someone tell me if Asustor offers international warranty? Thanks.

[Allen@AST]

Hi rickdubra,

We offer international warranty, but would recommend that you purchase your NAS in Australia.
If you bought your NAS in Canada and should need repairs in the future, you would have to ship it back to Canada for service.

Please let me know if you have any additional questions,

Allen

[DutchFIX]

Just to follow up on my own post..

Now proud owner of a AS 604T
It still was either a 304 or 604 also because i prefer the powersupply to be internal.
But the price difference made me take the 604. One retailer had the 604T for €469 oppose to the 304T for close to €400,-

So price difference made me go for the more powerfull one.

D