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Part of the marketing blurb on the box states that the Asustor AS3102T is ‘more than just storage'. Certainly the days of a NAS device being in the house solely as a networked place to ‘dump files' is long gone. With its HDMI 1.4b port, 4K playback support and a multitude of multimedia and streaming apps in App Central, the AS3102T makes an ideal home entertainment hub, especially as the Asustor Portal app allows it to be used without the need of a PC being powered up.
As a NAS aimed at the home user, the Asustor AS3102T has an impressive amount of memory installed and although it can't be upgraded it should be enough for most purposes in the home or even smaller offices. The Celeron processor has a TDP of just 6W, making it a pretty power efficient platform as well.
The tool-free design is a great idea and it certainly speeds up getting to the drives, but because of the AS3102T's design the drives are not hot-swappable. We really can't see this being an issue within a home environment. More of a problem however is the head scratching placement of the power button on the rear panel. Most of the time a NAS is either stuck on a shelf or placed in a cupboard, so having a power button on the back of the unit is inconvenient. There is plenty of space on the front of the chassis for placement.
Asustor’s ADM OS has always been one of the better NAS OS around and the company are continually improving it while adding even more apps to an already impressively long list. The software is quick to install and easy to use although a drop down menu on the opening page would make navigation a little more intuitive.
You can buy from Red373 for £227.65 inc VAT HERE
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Pros.
- Tool free design.
- Good amount of memory as standard.
- Low power consumption.
- 4K playback support
- 3 year warranty
Cons.
- Rear mounted power button.
- Drives are not hot swappable.
Kitguru says: A very capable two-bay NAS with a definite slant towards use as the central hub in a home entertainment environment.
