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The Thecus N4200ECO ships in a large, heavy box with an image of the product on the front. The company also point out some hardware specifications, including the Intel ATOM processor and 1GB of memory.
Inside the N4200ECO is protected between thick foam and an accessory box rests on top of the unit itself.
The bundle includes an internet cable, external power adapter, mounting screws, quick start guide and 3 discs, which include Acronis backup software.
As our review sample came from the factory in the Far East they didn't include a UK power cable. This external power brick is made by Seasonic, a highly respected power supply manufacturer.
The Thecus N4200ECO is very well made and is built around a metal chassis. You can feel the weight immediately after removing it from the box. The front of the unit has a power switch and several USB ports, underneath a colour LED readout. There are various buttons above the four drive bays which allow for direct operation of the unit. There is another readout display above these buttons.
The rear has the power connector port, four more USB ports and two eSATA ports. There are also two GIGABIT LAN connectors and a security port. A large fan takes up around half of the available space.
All panels are metal, and underneath the chassis are four heavy duty feet to maintain stability on a variety of surfaces. Before we install the hard drives, lets take a quick look inside.
When we remove the outer chassis, the motherboard is mounted vertically and protected behind a sheet of black protective material. This is to ensure it won't make contact with the metal outer chassis, causing a short.
The power supply on this device is external and there is an internal extension cable running from the rear of the chassis, next to the exhaust fan, across the top of the chassis, then into the motherboard and front panels.
The power supply also directly feeds the installed drives.
The front door isn't locked with a key, you simply press the panel and it pops open. Each drive bay inside however can be locked in place with the supplied keys.
If each drive bay is unlocked then the lever can be pulled outwards along with the drive. These are sturdy, made from a mixture of tough plastics and metal.
Each drive is mounted into place from underneath. There are markings for 2.5 inch and 3.5 inch drives.
The four drives can then be inserted and locked into place. It is worth pointing out that the engineering standards are really high grade. Each drive slides perfectly into place without any undue pressure required on the tray.
The power supply cable can only connect in one direction as shown above. The cable will be passed horizontally across the fan area. Its not an ideal way to connect the power cable to be honest as extreme pressure on this cable, with additional gravity force could actually bend the pins downwards.
The image above shows the N4200ECO hooked into our network. You will notice the left panel has a readout for the four drives inside. The third light is dull because we actually had a failure on this drive at the start of the review. Underneath these four icons are two LAN lights, one of which is lit.
The top panel details up to the minute information if the N4200ECO is active outside normal duties.
Nice looking nice system. im in the market for one and a four bay unit seems the best value for money. this looks fast and I like the front panels. still swaying towards the synology 211 though.
Jeffrey thats a 2 bay nas? you got the models mixed up?
Never understand why companies don’t spend a little more time and money on the software and user guide. I remember the first time I saw a Synology product and was blown away because the software made sense. Thecus has been around a long time, they should make better interfaces. Also, faster reformatting.