Reviews for Buffalo Technology BUFFALO HSDH500GL LinkStation Live Multimedia Storage Server

Multimedia NAS device

Strengths: Lots of storage; nice form-factor; not too loud

Weakness: Shaky install process; non-intuitive GUI

I was looking for a network storage appliance to host up my MP3s on my home network, and make them available for my Sonos media player. I was trying to decide between the Maxtor Shared Storage II, and this Buffalo LinkStation Live. They had identical storage capacities (500GB), and both hosted Gigabit Ethernet for fast connections. I ended up keeping the Maxtor, as I found it easier to use, and nicer to look at! They had comparable noise levels, as each had a tiny fan. Setup on the maxtor was easier, and the web-based and user GUIs looks much more professional. I had a buffalo NAS before (the first Linkstation), and while their GUIs have improved, they still have a ways to go. I found the performance for serving MP3s comparable. I didn't try any testing to see which was faster for writing or reading, as I don't need that performance. Overall, I would say the other drive is a better value. It can be found cheaper, primarly as it has more mainline resellers.

Oh, and I had an issue with trying to get my Windows XP machine to recognize the name that I gave it. Its something called names resolution. I waited on hold for 45-minutes with Buffalo tech support to get help (which they were not able to do!).

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Simple, easy to use, yet powerful

Strengths: "Find me" beep, DLNA server capability, large capacity, easy set-up, web capable

Weakness: Slow, noisy

I originally purchased this drive to function as a network media server, mostly for music and video. The built-in DLNA server has the added function of quick and easy connection with the PS3 in the living room, allowing me to quickly access music, photos and video wirelessly-- which works great. And now that the PS3 will support DivX (as of Dec 18), I can remotely access those videos too. I haven't used the web server capability yet, but I think that would be a nice feature too. The only two complaints I have is that the drive is a little noisy (for a recent hard drive) and that it is a bit slow (although much faster than any other network hard drive I have seen). There are many things I will be upgrading to increase speed, but I am reasonably satisfied with the wireless network speed.

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Have the 250 gig, getting the 500 gig

Strengths: Streams multiple streams of video concurrently - no problems wirelessly. Photo's and music have worked flawelessly. This unit has an integrated net-gigaport.

Weakness: none I can find.

The main difference between the 250 Live LinkStation and this one is that Buffalo has added the giga-port. Coupled with their router this is a great infrastructure for streaming ripped DVDs to my LCD panels and computers throughout the house. Although the Wi-Fi has worked great so far on the 250 gig, I welcome the hard cord giga-port. Well done Buffalo.

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Excellent Product. Highly recommended!

Strengths: * Easy Setup * Very Quiet * Elegant looking * Very fast. Seamless to use, just like using a local drive * Value added features USB Printer, additional USB port for another USB external drive

Weakness: * None found

This is a quality product. Was up and running within a few minutes. Easy intuitive interface. Provides a client utility for each PC/Laptop to connect easily. Security features are built in.

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LinkStation Live

Strengths: Media Server, Internet Sharing, Streaming Audio/Video, Quiet and good looks

Weakness: None yet

This peice of equipment is perfect for anyone who wants to stream digital media locally or over the internet. The file transfer is slow if you have a cheaply made giga router, so the speed is "Bottle neck" dependant. It also uses 64bit technology. The drive also self defrags itself so you never have to worry about disk fragmentation. If your computer has a giga connection and supports "Jumbo Frames" then you can adjust "Jumbo Frames" in the linkstation to match the exact settings on your computer (This greatly inprooves file transfer).

File sharing over the internet is what I feel is the best feature this usnit has. There is no software to install, just goto the Buffalo web access site and log in.

Great Product Buffalo :-)

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HSDH500GL Review

Strengths: very nice looking, quite, 2USB ports, fast

Weakness: price could be lower

This is very good NAS. It has 2 USB ports that can be used as print servers or add more USB drives to make the storage even bigger. It has 1GIGA Ethernet connection which makes it very fast to share files on the network. Worth money.

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Buffalo LinkStation Live NAS drive (500GB)

THE GOOD: Easy to set up and configure; good price; includes print server and DLNA media server, USB ports for connecting printers or USB hard drives, Gigabit Ethernet, and backup software; comes with 24-7 support. THE BAD: On the slow side, especially with reading files; no RAID capability. THE BOTTOM LINE: The Buffalo LinkStation Live has a lot of features and the right price to make it a...

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Buffalo LinkStation Live HS-DH

Testseek.com has collected 21 expert reviews for Buffalo LinkStation Live HS-DH and the average expert rating is 75 of 100. The average score reflects the expert community’s view on this product. Click below and use Testseek.com to see all ratings, product awards and conclusions.

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Buffalo LinkStation Live Review: Slower than Pro, but media it does show

Summary: Single SATA drive NAS with built-in DLNA UPnP multimedia server. <p> <p>Pros: <p>• FTP, DLNA and UPnP AV servers <p>• Built-in backup to other LinkStations, TeraStations or attached USB storage <p>• Gigabit Ethernet with 4K and 8K Jumbo frames supported <p> <p>Cons: <p>• Poorer performance than LinkStation Pro which is built on the same hardware platform <p>• No FTP server...

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