Page 8 - Conclusion
With everything we hear on a daily basis, understanding statements are one thing and context is everything else is critical in perceiving reality correctly. In the beginning of this review, I proposed the question, does QNAP's state-of-the-art private LAN and cloud storage solution with top-notch multimedia features justify its power consumption by its features and performance? In order to answer this question, let us take a look at what this device offers first. The TVS-473 is a small business class NAS that comes with an AMD RX-421BD quad core CPU and embedded Radeon R7 graphics processor running a 64-bit version of QTS 4.3. QTS is one of the best, if not the best, network attached storage operating system in the market today; doing everything from basic storage management to virtualization to wireless access point management with the right hardware installed. With 4K video output via its dual HDMI ports and accelerated 4K H.264 video decoding and encoding, this NAS represents the state-of-the-art in private LAN and cloud storage with top-notch multimedia features. Combine four Gigabit LAN ports with advanced networking features for enthusiasts and business users alike, QNAP really hit it home in this section with the TVS-473. That said, I am still not entirely convinced by its high power consumption. The hardware is no doubt powerful, but not only is its idle power consumption up there, its load power is practically off the charts compared to the competition. Besides costing you in the long run, the 60mm CPU fan also has to constantly spin up to keep the system cool, and that increases noise emissions even when there is no processor load. There are a few other things I would like to point out as well. Firstly, HDMI 2.0 ports would be preferred over HDMI 1.4, especially for 4K content. Secondly, locking drive trays would be nice. Thirdly, the base model only comes with 8GB of RAM. Stepping up to the 16GB model will cost you an additional $200; thankfully, upgrading RAM yourself is easy to do and will not void your warranty. For about $980 at press time for the base model, the QNAP TVS-473 is a seriously loaded NAS that you can depend on, thanks to the company's long history of highly reliable systems -- if you do not mind paying a little more for electricity.
QNAP provided this product to APH Networks for the purpose of evaluation.
APH:Renewal Award | 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 7.6/10
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-473 is a state-of-the-art network attached storage system that combines powerful hardware with incredible software.
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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
