Linksys announces Media Hub NAS

We knew Cisco would be throwing down in the home media space, and it's coming out in force, supplementing that sexy Wireless Home Audio system with the web-enabled Media Hub NAS. Both the $400 500GB NMH405 and $430 NMH410 (1TB) feature a front-panel LCD and card reader, while the $350 NMH305 (500GB) does away with such frills. All three models come with a single drive, but can be expanded with a second unit later. The web interface actually looks super-slick, with file system and media playback functionality available to any web browser. Of course, you can also stream to any UPnP AV / DLNA device, and there's also iTunes streaming if you roll like that. Not a bad little package, if you're in the market -- we'll see how that interface runs in person later this week.

[Pedobear @ Jan 7th 2009 2:11AM]

If I play Barney and Spongebob, will kids come running to my house?

That, sir, is the deciding factor in my purchase.

[SITEiNK @ Jan 7th 2009 4:20AM]

this product actually looks like a win. i am currently using the readynas and i love it, but this is pretty nice.

[Jason @ Jan 7th 2009 2:28AM]

I release you from all bonds to this life. You may kill yourself with impunity.

[TRB @ Jan 7th 2009 3:12AM]

Why are these kinds of devices till ~$400 when 1TB drives are less than $100? I think you could build your own computer with more HDD space for less than they're asking.

[J.D. @ Jan 7th 2009 3:16AM]

...but look how pretty!

[Ineed911 @ Jan 7th 2009 7:07AM]

I am happy to see that I am not the only person thinking this. $400 for 1TB? Cisco should come out of the gate with two 1TB drives, then maybe I would consider it.

[tpp @ Jan 7th 2009 8:26AM]

1TB hard drive: $100

Parts for a homebulit NAS: $100 (?)

2 hours of labor to assemble that custom NAS: ???

When your bottleneck in life is time, the proposition of a $400 1TB NAS drive becomes very attractive.

Just wait till you have kids.

[Joseph @ Jan 7th 2009 5:03PM]

atom based PC $150 - 1TB HDD

[Brian @ Jan 7th 2009 3:14AM]

$30 for an extra 500GB sounds like a better deal.

[Jago @ Jan 7th 2009 7:12AM]

I think they should make their older ones work as advertised before they go making new ones
I still have a 1tb linkstation live with no dlna on it a year later. And to think I spent £350 on the peice of junk

[Eric @ Jan 7th 2009 7:23AM]

Agreed. The NAS 200 was a big disappointment. I wasn't expecting it to max out a GigE connection, but 3.1 MBPS? I might as well be using a Cloud disk storage system.

I'm thinking I need to junk it and get a Buffalo Technology NAS. At least they post their throughput in the specs.

[Evan @ Jan 7th 2009 8:56AM]

But will it bittorrent?

[Rick @ Jan 7th 2009 9:37AM]

I likie.

[Ryan Lagola @ Jan 7th 2009 9:44AM]

I've been waiting for a product like this but I agree that the $400 price tag is a bit too high (around $200 would be more attractive). I think I'll either wait for the price to go down or just build my own from an older PC. It can't be that hard to build one, can it?

[Joseph @ Jan 7th 2009 5:05PM]

freenas.

[Engrudget @ Jan 7th 2009 9:54AM]

Does a NAS have an application for someone who uses XBMC to play movies? My current set up is a 1TB hdd connected to my laptop via USB, sharing media via SMB. Does this make my life easier in any way?

[codboymt @ Jan 7th 2009 9:50PM]

HP called.. they want their cases back...
http://www.smartcomputing.com/images/smartcomputing/fullsize/00529741.jpg

[Joseph @ Jan 7th 2009 5:04PM]

The 90's called, they want their joke back.

yeah, that's right. I created a loop.

[FILA @ Jan 7th 2009 2:44PM]

yea but only 2 slots for HDD, thats where it gets killed right there, for me atleast, then i have no way to back up everything

[Joseph @ Jan 7th 2009 5:04PM]

USB

[Mr. B @ Jan 7th 2009 8:20PM]

This looks awesome as I'm in the market for a NAS box, but I'd prefer a version with both HD slots empty for me to add my own drives.

[movieboy @ Jan 8th 2009 5:32PM]

Cool device, but way to expensive!!! You can get the same functionality and more from a LaCie NAS with 500 GB on the home edition of their Ethernet Disk, for $150: http://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?pid=10994. They've even got a 1 TB version for $199. I've got a 1 TB version and its awesome... has the UPnP media server, has the iTunes server, has remote access, has backup, the works!

[john @ Jan 14th 2009 8:15PM]

Yeah, it is pricey and out of range for my budget. I've been using Naslite-2 for over two years and just upgraded to Naslite-M2. Native UPnP and iTunes support out of the box. Does great with my PS3. I already have the hardware, so the $30 sure beats dumping forking $450 for a 2 drive enclosure.

[john @ Jan 14th 2009 8:27PM]

Yeah, it is pricey and out of range for my budget. I've been using Naslite-2 for over two years and just upgraded to Naslite-M2. Native UPnP and iTunes support out of the box. Does great with my PS3. I already have the hardware, so the $30 sure beats forking $450 for a 2 drive enclosure.