Page 8 - Conclusion
If food, electricity, and internet really became our basic needs of the twenty first century, then the QNAP TVS-463 continues to prove its relevance in our review today. Back in the days, it was easy to cover every software feature available on a NAS. Now, even with several years of accumulated knowledge of QTS, as well as exercising the wonderful art of copy-pasta, it still took me hours of additional work to cover only the highlights on QNAP's renowned operating system. Loaded with features for home and business users alike, the TVS-463 powered by QTS 4.1 remains to be one of the top guns in the market today, featuring unparalleled personal cloud integration and features, hardware management performance, and system versatility. Stuff like HybridDesk Station will transform your NAS into a PC; integrated virtualization features allow you to run entire operating systems straight from your browser, anytime, anywhere. This, in conjunction with its speedy network throughput, great hardware interface, quiet operation, 10GbE expandability, and a rock solid reliability record over the years, there is quite a bit to like about the company's latest mid-range system. There are some minor quirks about this otherwise brilliant setup, however, Firstly, while the QNAP TVS-463's load power is pretty good, its idle power is no match for some competing and much more powerful Intel-based boxes we have tested here at APH Networks. It is not really QNAP's fault; blame the AMD SoC. Secondly, while the TVS-463 can drive 4K monitors, it cannot handle any 4K videos, which makes it a bit of a moot point. Lastly, the look. While I am not here to argue about the merits of a NAS that appears like King Midas himself have touched, as I have mentioned this for years, putting this in a living room next to traditional equipment like a receiver looks out of place -- unless you are planning to keep it out of sight. For about $800 at press time for the 4GB memory model we are reviewing today, the TVS-463 is about 20% to 30% cheaper than QNAP's higher end models. There is less number crunching power under the hood, but here is the deal: It runs the same operating system for the same software features, and the TVS-463 still delivers in network throughput.
QNAP provided this product to APH Networks for the purpose of evaluation.
APH Review Focus Summary:
8/10 means Definitely a very good product with drawbacks that are not likely going to matter to the end user.
7/10 means Great product with many advantages and certain insignificant drawbacks; but should be considered before purchasing.
-- Final APH Numeric Rating is 7.5/10
Please note that the APH Numeric Rating system is based off our proprietary guidelines in the Review Focus, and should not be compared to other sites.
The QNAP TVS-463 is a powerful midrange 4-bay network attached storage system that continues to demonstrate the company's software feature prowess for about $800 at press time.
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Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. A Closer Look - Hardware (External)
3. A Closer Look - Hardware (Internal)
4. Configuration and User Interface, Part I
5. Configuration and User Interface, Part II
6. Configuration and User Interface, Part III
7. Performance and Power Consumption
8. Conclusion
