Nobody wants to use those old-fashioned disks to watch movies at home when you’re able to simply stream them online. But replicating that seamless experience with your own collection of 4K videos isn’t possible without a Plex server to store, organize, and stream your media on the living room TV. Settingup your own Plex servershouldn’t be expensive, and theSynology DiskStation DS224+makes it possible at an affordable price. However, for thisBlack Friday, you can save even more cash on this already value-for-money Synology NAS, which is perfect for home use.
Synology DiskStation DS224+
Synology has slashed a sweet $45 off its best-selling NAS — the DS224+ — for this Black Friday. Considering how rare discounts on Synology NAS units are, you just cannot miss this tempting deal. And for this price, you’re getting performance that is comparable to the fantastic DiskStation DS920+, which was for long the undisputed king of Plex NAS.
Synology updated this model only a few months ago, and while there isn’t a whole lot new on the outside, the internal upgrades have made all the difference. While our previousfavorite budget network-attached storage(NAS) unit, the Synology DS220+, could stream 4K videos, it had some limitations. Its follow-up, the DS224+, addresses those downsides with an upgraded quad-core processor — the same solid chip the Plex champ Synology DS920+ has rocked all these years.
And this internal upgrade did prove to be beneficial when I tested the DS224+. Operations that rely on the processor feel noticeably faster, but more importantly, the NAS can now stream 4K videos from Plex like a breeze. It impressed me particularly when I playedthree4K streams of movies simultaneously, and the NAS didn’t break a sweat while doing that — I was continuously monitoring its CPU usage, which never went over 5%! And the fact that you’re getting that kind of raw power in a budget package is all the more stellar.
Why you should consider the Synology DiskStation DS224+
That alone makes itthe best budget NAS for home shoppers; I don’t have a better recommendation than the Synology DS224+ for anyone who wants to buy an inexpensive NAS. What further helps its media performance is using an Intel processor with a built-in GPU. This additional hardware helps the NAS transcode your media on the fly even if your TV doesn’t support the file format natively; many more expensive NAS models with an AMD chip can’t do that.
Being a Synology product, it comes preloaded with Synology’s excellent DSM 7, which is by far the most user-friendly NAS OS across brands. Even if you’re new to network storage devices, DSM won’t overwhelm you with a lot of technical stuff, and you’ll easily find your way around it. As a bonus, Synology’s first-party Photos and Drive have proven to be my favorite Google Photos andGoogle Drive alternatives. I have a setup in place toback up my photos and videos in full quality to my Synology NAS.
All these capabilities allow it to work not just as your media hub but also for some work on the side. I store all my work files on my NAS, which makes it easy to access them across my devices locally and even anywhere in the world withQuickConnectset up. If you plan on using the NAS for serious work, I’d recommend upgrading the RAM to 6GB using its user-accessible slot for better multitasking.
Being a two-bay system, it doesn’t take up a lot of space, and you can choose to keep it on your desk or even tuck it away so that it isn’t visible all the time. Those two bays can hold up to 24TB of data, which is years’ worth of movies, TV shows, family videos, and whatnot. There is little chance that you will ever run out of space with typical home use.
However, its biggest selling point by far is its price and all the features it brings to the table. The Synology DS224+ costs $300, but during the ongoing Black Friday sale, you can grab one for $255, saving you a handsome $45. This is a fantastic deal, considering Synology doesn’t usually discount its NAS.
You can use these savings towards a pair ofgreat NAS-specific hard drives; after all, better drives will bring along a better media playback experience on Plex. With the right HDD, you can put together a complete package for around $500, which is a big saving right now, as evena lot of HDDs and SSDs specifically made for NAS enclosures are on sale for Black Friday. And if you have a bigger budget, you can instead go for even better NAS models from brands like Synology, TerraMaster, Western Digital, and more.
