I say that because HTPCs have never been smaller, cheaper or more powerful. A little over two years ago, we were talking about how purchasing an HD-capable PC would leave you with an empty bank account. Take this Sony Vaio TP1 for example. The wheel of cheese design was considered compact and "living room friendly" at the time, but it is still probably twice as big as current nettop models. The specs are lacking even by 2007 standards and it started at $1600. Today I can easily go out and find a more powerful, feature rich nettop for less than $400. And it would be small enough to tuck behind your HDTV due, in part, to cheap, compact, graphics-friendly chipsets like Nvidia Ion.

Today's Most Affordable HTPCs

Seriously...HTPCs for less than $400. Sure, you could spend a lot of cash on something more elaborate, and will have to if you want to access your own digital cable stream, or if you want to go with Blu-ray as your high-def source of choice, but if you simply want a compact 1080p device that competently opens up the entire internet to your HDTV, here is a good place to start:

• Dell Zino HD: The cheapest of the bunch at a base price of $230, the Dell Zino HD offers a range of AMD Athlon processor options, up to a 1TB HDD, up to 8GB of RAM and a choice between integrated graphics and an ATI Radeon HD 4330 512MB card. Plus you get HDMI, four USB ports, and two eSATA for easy expansion. Even with a few bells and whistles like a dual-core processor, a bump in RAM to 4GB or a boost in the HDD capacity, you can keep the Zino under $400. Adding a Blu-ray drive bumps the price up an additional $100. [Dell]

• Acer AspireRevo R6310: Features include a dual-core 1.6GHz Atom 330 processor, Nvidia Ion graphics, 2GB RAM, 160GB HDD, HDMI, eSATA, VGA, 6 USB ports, card reader and wireless-N in a $330 package. They even throw in a wireless keyboard and mouse for good measure. I have spent some time with the AspireRevo, and I can say that it is a very capable HTPC for the money. Power web surfing can be sluggish at times, as is Flash playback—but Adobe has promised support for NVIDIA graphics acceleration in Flash 10.1 that should remedy that situation. All-in-all though, it handles video quite well. It does not include optical drive option, meaning you will have to purchase a Blu-ray player seperately. [Acer]

• Asus EeeBox EB1012: A release date and price have not officially been confirmed, but the EeeBox EB1012 offers basically the exact same feature set as the AspireRevo—minus a USB port or two. Hopefully, when it is released, the price point will be even more aggressive than Acer's. It does not include optical drive option, meaning you will have to purchase a Blu-ray player separately. [Asus]

As a side note, if you are interested in using a CableCard tuner to turn your PC into a cable DVR, that has become a lot easier for the average Joe. However, programs like Comcast's upcoming Xfinity (formerly known as TV Everywhere) might easily bridge this gap by putting your current cable subscription online. Check out my article on living without cable or satellite to learn more about what programming and software is available to you online.

Remotes

None of the HTPCs mentioned above come with a remote control out of the box, but this can be easily and cheaply remedied. Most infrared remotes require only that you have a free USB port for the included adapter, so just about any PC with Windows Media Center can be converted to work with a remote.

If you are just looking for something basic, a remote like the MCE PC will do the job just fine—and it costs under $20. If you have an iPhone, you can also download apps like AirMouse (iTunes link) and MediaMote (iTunes link) to handle these tasks. Gmote is also available for those of you with Android phones.

Networking

Keep in mind that if your modem is far from your computer, and you'll be relying on Wi-Fi to connect to the internet and move files between computers, you are probably going to want something capable of handling wireless-N (802.11n). Fortunately, all of the PCs mentioned above can do that right out of the box—although the Dell Zino requires a $45 upgrade for that option.

If you want to upgrade an older PC to handle wireless-N, all you need is a compatible router and a USB adapter. Decent wireless-N routers will run you about $60 on the lower end, and compatible USB adapters can be had for an additional $30 or $40 bucks. If you just plan on connecting to the internet and you live in a smaller home or apartment, you should be fine with 802.11g.

Networked Storage

Although not an essential component to owning an HTPC, at some point you are probably going to want a networked storage solution so you can dump all of your files in one place. Traditionally, setting up a home server to centrally store files from multiple computers (and multiple platforms, potentially) required another major investment, but things have definitely improved in this area. For example, HP's LX195 Windows Home Server with a 640GB drive can be had for $250, and it performs quite well for the price. The same can be said for the Iomega Ix2-200 NAS. It runs on Iomega's proprietary software as opposed to Windows Home Server, but for the money, it has a killer feature set that makes it a pretty awesome deal. Capacity runs up to 4TB, but the base delivers 1TB at $270 and it is user-expandable.

Even if you want to bake your own NAS server there is open-source software like FreeNAS that can help to keep the costs down. Maximum PC has provided a great guide to building a NAS server using these free open source tools. If you have the hardware lying around, it's not going to cost a penny. Either way, building from scratch can be fairly inexpensive depending on how much storage space you need.

Avoid Expensive Set-Top Boxes

Amusingly enough, as I was writing this article, my father called to ask me about the Roku player his IT guy was raving about. Yes, Roku's three models are priced between $80 and $130, a figure even the cheapest HTPCs can't match, but the fact that they are still limited to Netflix and Amazon On Demand makes them less valuable. Would you say that Netflix and Amazon VOD are worth $130 of the AspireRevo's $330 price tag? I should hope not.

There are certainly good reasons to pick up a $100 HD media streamer, like the Asus O!Play, if you're aware of the limitations, but what's the excuse for Apple TV and others like it? Apple's set-top box costs $229. I have iTunes on my HTPC...so where is the value? Throw an HDMI port on a Mac Mini and then we'll talk. The $300 Popcorn Hour player may play a ton of file formats and have an integrated BitTorrent client, but you have to pay extra to add a hard drive, and by the time you do, you're squarely in HTPC territory.

To me, spending a little more actually saves money, because I don't need to buy so many competing boxes. It's like going to the grocery store and choosing between the regular-sized bag of coffee and the jumbo bag of coffee. The smaller bag costs lest money, but buying in bulk is cheaper pound for pound—and you know I will be drinking all of that coffee.

HTPCs Are Resilient

Forget about netbooks and elaborate set-top media boxes this holiday season. If your budget is anywhere over $300, go with an HTPC. Set-top boxes will always hold you to whatever content deals their makers can set in place (or whatever you can go through the trouble of hacking or modding in, yourself). And I'm not interested in netbooks until they handle HD well enough to be used as a portable HTPC.

It's only a matter of time before everyone watches TV through the internet, so you had better get on the bandwagon while cable companies are still scrambling to figure out how best to screw you. No matter how weird it gets, at least with a PC you know you'll be able to roll with it.

While the Mini NAS truly is small, it's got plenty of features in that one pound package. It supports both SMB (Server Message Block) and open source Samba network protocols, provides FTP access for up to 8 simultaneous users, and can be "configured Bit-Torrent downloading appliance or as an iTunes media server." Not bad for $70. [Addonics]

The miniNAS, as you would expect, uses a pair of 2.5-inch laptop drives (up to 500GB each), which are wrong for an NAS for a number of reasons, primarily their lack of speed when compared to 3.5-inchers. At least your data will be backed up, with both RAID 0 and RAID 1 as an option.

Also packed in is a DLNA server for iTunes and multimedia streaming, a USB port for backing up USB volumes, and, in the only benefit of the laptop drives I can see, a claim of 25-30% of the power usage of a full-size dual-disk NAS.

But again, don't buy this unless you live, literally, in a closet. [Thecus via Engadget]

Inside the SheevaPlug you will find a 1.2GHz, ARM-based Sheeva embedded processor, 512Mbytes of FLASH, 512Mbytes of DRAM, gigabit ethernet and a USB 2.0 port. Plug it into a wall socket and bam—a fully-functional Linux server that can store digital media accessible remotely via the internet or function as a remote print or web server. Plus, it supports "multiple standard Linux 2.6 kernel distributions" and it operates on only 5-watts of power. So running and developing software for the platform should be easy (and there should be substantial savings on your power bill).

Currently, open source tinkerers can get the $99 SheevaPlug development kit on the Marvell website. Several products based on the design (like the Pogoplug) are expected to arrive in the near future with price tags ranging from $79-$99. Eventually, Marvell expects the price for these devices to dip below $50. [Marvell and WSJ via Tech Report via Slashgear]

The Good: A quick and easy way to turn your barnacle-ridden USB drive into a young and fresh network-attached storage device—something no good home should be without.

The Bad: Why not just put that money toward one of the many, many routers that already have a USB input to begin with? Many of them aren't much more than $79, and definitely not much more than $99, which is the PogoPlug's price without the introductory discount. You'll see talk of an open API below, but since when do USB dongles need to rely on developers to make them worth the price?

Still, if cost-benefit works out in your setup's favor, turning any USB disk into a network share for $80 isn't bad.

Pogoplug Debuts at CES 2009, Uniting External Hard Drives
With The Internet to Enable a Truly Connected Lifestyle

Consumer Electronics Show, Las Vegas, Nev. and San Francisco, Calif. – January 8, 2009 – Cloud Engines today unveiled the Pogoplug, a small device that connects external hard drives to the Internet, making personal files instantly shareable and accessible. Pogoplug enhances the mobile lifestyle by providing seamless access to digital content from any computer or mobile device around the globe.

“Consumers are buying millions of external drives to store their personal content, yet extending this content outside the home is overly difficult.,” said Daniel Putterman, chief executive officer of Cloud Engines, Inc. “Pogoplug makes this possible for anyone, with no network setup or configuration.”

Pogoplug is designed for simplicity. .Setup takes seconds and requires no networking configuration or installation. Users simply plug the Pogoplug into an electrical outlet, connect the supplied Ethernet cable to their home network router, and attach their external hard drive. Lastly, the product's registration code is entered at my.pogoplug.com, after which the Pogoplug is online and ready for use. The device is compatible with any external USB 2.0 hard drive or memory stick. Content is accessible with any Web browser, Microsoft Windows® Explorer, Mac Finder, and through the Pogoplug iPhone application.

According to the NPD Group, consumers have purchased over seven million external hard drives in the past year alone. The Pogoplug is the perfect accessory to any external hard drive or USB thumb drive, adding desirable functionality at an affordable price, with no monthly service fees.

Key Features and Accessories
- Easy Installation – The Pogoplug connects directly to any home network and requires no special technical knowledge to setup firewalls or other configurations.
- Full Web Access – All the files from an external drive can be viewed or downloaded through any Web browser, with no need to download or install extra software.
- Access Your Data Anywhere – As long as you have an Internet connection, access your files with Windows Explorer or Mac Finder while the drive stays safely at your home.
- iPhone Application – Access all your media from an iPhone, and even send new pictures from your iPhone straight to your home with a single click.
- Safe and Simple Sharing – Easily share personal content, including video and photos, with friends and family with no uploading. No software download or registration is required by recipients.
- Open API – Pogoplug is expandable over the Web. Developers can use our open Web services interface to build new features. Soon, Pogoplug will connect directly to popular sites that offer backup, file synchronization, photo printing and more.

Pricing and Availability
The Pogoplug has a suggested retail price of $99, with no additional service fees. For a limited time, the company is offering an introductory price of $79. In the United States, the product can be ordered directly at www.pogoplug.com.

If you recall our guide to choosing a network-attached disk (something no Gizmodo household should be without), you'll remember that low-end drives often skimp on features like AFP for Apple networks, etc. Not so here. Good to keep in mind that drives that look good on paper could always have an unseen performance setback (like the Synology drive in our tests), and that these are single-disk models with no RAID redundancy for auto backups. But still, a good value for some quick network storage, as those prices aren't too much of a premium over a non-networked USB disk at those sizes.

[Iomega]

With the new economical Iomega® Home Media Network Hard Drive, consumers can easily share and access photos, videos and music between home computers and other networked devices.

· This new network hard drive provides easy-to-use, yet powerful, network storage for the home user and the three step setup is very simple, even if you've never used a network drive before.

· Home users can save all their digital files to one central location and share them between computers and other networked consumer devices on the home network, including playing back pictures, videos and music from digital media adapters such as game consoles, digital picture frames or high-end TVs.

· The Home Media Network Hard Drive also has a built-in iTunes server which automatically feeds music into iTunes® for easy playback, allowing users to share one printer over the network, even control which family members have access to certain folders. Plus, home users can secure their digital memories and backup automatically to this device with award winning EMC® Retrospect® software (PC/Mac) and for extra protection backup online with MozyHome™ Online Backup service with 2GB free.

· The Iomega Home Media Network Hard Drive is available in 500GB and 1TB capacities and starts at just $159.99.
Iomega Home Media Network Hard Drive Features:

· Capacity: 500GB or 1TB (both are single drive units)

· Simple to use: Three step set-up – simply plug into your router, power on, and install the software CD. Friendly web screens for easy management.

· Sharing: Access files from any networked Apple computer for easy file sharing

· High Performance: Gigabit Ethernet connectivity combined with a high performance processor

· UPnP™ AV Media Server: Compatible with DLNA® certified media players, able to stream photos, audio content and videos to a variety of media devices like game consoles, audio bridges, DMAs (digital media adapters), picture frames and more

· iTunes™ Server: Store your audio content in one central location and share it across your iTunes players

· Network File Protocols Supported:

CIFS/SMB (Microsoft), AFP (Apple), HTTP 1.1

· Expandability: Add storage capacity by connecting external USB Hard Disk Drives. Supports FAT32 and NTFS formatted hard drives

· Network Discovery: Automatic network discovery by Apple Bonjour and Microsoft Windows Rally devices

· Data Protection: Touch-free professional-level backup for all your critical data with EMC® Retrospect HD backup software. Effortlessly back up files on a pre-set schedule

· Print Server: Intelligent network print sharing capability for one USB printer directly attached to the Home Media drive

We're note sure if it's officially sanctioned by Apple, but its press material suggests it has the same capabilities for Time Machine backups as a Time Capsule or an Airport Extreme with a USB disk attached.

The NAS features 6TB in a 1U 19-inch rack-mounted case and can work with all OSes out on the market. It can support a total of 100 users with customizable access rights and up to 25 users accessing it at the same time.

It's not exactly cheap. The 6TB edition costs $1,500. If that's a little too much space for you, there's a 4TB option for $1,100 or 2TB for $749. As for the Time Machine capabilities, here's what LaCie said:

LaCie Ethernet Disk: Up to 6TB in a Rack-Mounted Backup Appliance

* 1U 19" rack-mounted backup solution for small and medium business

* Most comprehensive data backup and protection software suite in its class

* Can be used together with Apple® Time Machine™

* Powered by trusted Windows® XP Embedded

* Instantly store and share files with Mac®, PC, Linux or Unix users

LaCie today introduced a new version of its award-winning Ethernet Disk, a network-attached storage (NAS) device featuring a capacity increase of up to 6TB in a 1U 19" rack form factor. Designed by Neil Poulton, it is the most compact all-in-one rack-mounted backup appliance operating in heterogeneous ecosystems.

Designed for small and medium business needs, the Ethernet Disk is powered by the field-proven Windows XP embedded operating system that provides all the necessary features for data backup, storage and file-sharing through its Gigabit Ethernet connection. Thanks to Active Directory compatibility, the LaCie Ethernet Disk supports a total of 100 users with customizable access rights to different shares, with up to 25 concurrent users.

"Microsoft is pleased to work with LaCie to provide the core embedded foundation for its new Ethernet Disk," said John Doyle, Senior Product Manager for the Windows Embedded Business. "We are excited to provide customers with an innovative platform that allows them to develop a, smart, connected device that offers increased security and storage capabilities."

Developed to provide data protection for Windows, MAC, Linux and Unix-based workstations, the LaCie Ethernet Disk ships with three licenses of both Genie Backup Manager ProTM for Windows and Intego Backup Manager ProTM for Mac, which can perform scheduled file backups for workstations. The LaCie Ethernet Disk's ability to work together with Apple Time Machine allows Mac users to take advantage of the continuous data protection the software provides.

The included backup software protects against major disasters and natural catastrophes by offering a computer recovery function for selected workstations. Optional extra licenses are available through the LaCie online store.

The LaCie Ethernet Disk can integrate into any global disaster recovery plan, as its built-in engine can back up its volumes either onto a USB-connected DAS (direct-attached storage) to be taken off-site, or remotely onto another NAS.

"Backing up data – even mission-critical data – always boils down to making and storing copies of data, located on your primary storage device, onto a secondary device," said Erwan Girard, LaCie Product Manager. "For this reason, the perfect backup companion for your information system should be kept simple and cost-effective. The LaCie Ethernet Disk offers computer backup and recovery, and backs itself up onto a NAS or DAS, all at the best price-per-terabyte ratio in the market. It is therefore an excellent complement to the complex and expensive technology used in front end storage servers."

Availability
The LaCie Ethernet Disk is available immediately in capacities of 2TB, 4TB and 6TB through the LaCie Online Store or LaCie resellers at the suggested retail price starting at $749.99 (excluding VAT), which includes a three-year limited warranty. Silicon feet and bracket covers are included for standalone use, as well as power and Ethernet cables. The optional Rack Rail Kit is available for $59.99 while the Advance Replacement Option is available for European customers for €124. For more information visit www.lacie.com

About Neil Poulton
Neil Poulton was born in Thurso, Scotland. A graduate in Industrial Design from Edinburgh University and Milan's Domus Academy, Poulton first came into public view in 1989 as the creator of "the ageing pens," pens made from a "living," wearing plastic that changes color and form with use. Today, Neil Poulton designs and develops best-selling, award-winning products for a variety of international clients including LaCie & Artemide. Since 1991, Poulton has lived and worked in Paris, France. www.neilpoulton.com

About LaCie
Located in the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia, Europe, Singapore and Hong Kong, LaCie is the leading manufacturer of computer peripherals for Windows, Apple and Linux users. LaCie creates external storage solutions and color monitors that help professionals and everyday people easily manage their digital lives. LaCie has differentiated its products through original designs and leading-edge technology. Established in France in 1989, LaCie is listed on Euronext under FR0000054314 (LAC). For more information, visit www.lacie.com

All you have to do is pop it into your USB storage drive (also works as a print server), attach an Ethernet line to your router and you are ready to start serving up media over the network. It even features Bit-Torrent compatibility, so you can send downloaded media files directly to your storage unit no matter where you are.

Features:

* Convert any USB 2.0 / 1.1 mass storage device into a Network Attached Storage device
* Great for adding Addonics Storage Tower, Storage Rack or any Addonics USB storage device onto the network
* Great for creating a custom Network Attached Storage appliance.
* USB port can be used to power most 2.5" USB hard drives or any low powered USB storage device.
* Support Fast Ethernet 10/100Mbps.
* Simple to install
* Small and light weight. Size slightly longer than a C size battery. Can be installed practically anywhere
* Can be set as DHCP server or client.
* Support Samba server for up to 64 concurrent clients.
* Support FTP server for up to 8 concurrent users.
* Can be set as a print server to attach any USB printer to the network
* Built-in Bit Torrent client for direct download to the attached USB storage device
* Can be set as a UPnP AV server to share photo/music files stored on the file server with XBOX 360 video game consoles connected to the LAN
* User management to allow read only or read/write access to folders
* Administrative management access via web browser with password security.
* Compatible with all Windows OS, Mac OS, Linux 2.6.x and above

[Addonics via eHomeUpgrade via Crunchgear]

Network-attached storage options are more abundant than ever, but jumping into the copious bush of NAS can be quite a task, especially if you want a system that plays nice with both PC and Mac. Macs have historically been an unreasonably complex challenge for many networking products, and NAS was no exception. Here I've assessed the usefulness of three different cash-conscious strategies for setting up a Mac-and-PC-friendly NAS: Building a NAS out of an old PC, using a router with an external USB drive and buying a dedicated product.

Maybe you're wondering why you need a NAS at all. The answer is that you have too much stuff to not have one. How do I know? Because even my parents have a billion photos on their hard drive, and they know nothing of BitTorrent and Handbrake. An NAS sits there in a corner, a blinking, quietly purring guardian of all those song, video and photo files. It holds it all, streams it to just about anything else on the network, and even keeps a redundant copy safe on a separate mirrored RAID drive in case the shit really hits the fan. So yeah, you need one.

Here are the three systems I pieced together:
• My DIY system was concocted using FreeNAS software and an older ThinkPad I had lying around. This was technically the cheapest of the bunch.
• My router-based system was an AirPort Extreme with attached WD and LaCie USB drives, which was also "recycling" but cost a bit more.
• The dedicated NAS appliance I tested was a two-drive Synology DS207+, $330 for the box but the drives themselves are sold separately.

To evaluate the usefulness of each financial step up, I used three main criteria: Overall performance, availability of redundant data via RAID 1, and whether it's possible to add in features like media streaming, remote access or integrated BitTorrent.

In a mixed Mac/Windows environment, the main performance factor for Macs is support for Apple File Protocol for connecting network shares. AFP support is becoming more and more common in nicer NAS rigs, but it is still not a given in the cheaper range—every NAS alive supports SMB/CIFS, the more Windows-friendly protocol, so PCs generally don't have a problem. While Macs can connect to NAS using SMB—and also NFS Unix, which you may also run across—performance wise, OS X's SMB implementation is still shoddy compared to the apparently seamless AFP. (SMB also includes foibles such as filename length restrictions that can throw a Mac into fits.) If you're using an NAS to its highest potential, moving a lot of data around, SMB will cause more spinning death wheels and system hangs in OS X than AFP will.

It's up to you whether you want to go RAID 1 or not—you can also merge or stripe the drives for more storage but less protection. For me, redundancy is a must. I want to be able to give a NAS's drives a workout and still breathe easy in the not entirely unlikely event of a drive blow-out. NAS add-ons like BitTorrent, remote access and integrated UPnP are nice higher-end features, but they may not be as important to you.

DIY NAS With FreeNAS
I took an old IBM ThinkPad X31 I had lying around and installed FreeNAS—an open-source operating system based on FreeBSD that is similar to the OS you'll find in most NAS boxes. It offers similar features like RAID if the machine it's installed on has multiple drives, and can do UPnP, FTP access and the like via a web-based admin panel just like most dedicated rigs.

Initial installation is actually not too tough—just burn the FreeNAS live CD and boot it, then follow the install instructions. FreeNAS will re-format your drives to the somewhat obscure UFS file system it prefers (don’t try to run it on already-formatted drives, it’s not worth the immense hassle). I was up and running with AFP and SMB sharing without too much sweat. Like Linux, FreeNAS runs on a ton of hardware, so unless you’ve got something obscure you’ll likely be in business.Verdict: If you're heavy on outdated PCs and you derive pleasure from thrift and tinkering, you should give FreeNAS a try. That said, don't expect your pig in lipstick to be a screamer. Most aging desktops would be an improvement over my 5-year-old laptop with its slow 2.5” disk, obviously, but even considering that, my real-world tests were pretty rough. Browsing large folders of files hung the system on numerous occasions, and streaming of video files (especially seeking) was choppy. As far as extras go, my PS3 recognized FreeNAS's UPnP server but could not read any media, which would probably take some serious hackery to diagnose. Extras like an integrated BitTorrent client are available as well as open-source add-ons, but again, expect some heavy tinkering. Still, if you have unused hardware, try this option first.

Total Cost: Free, ideally; factor in $150 bucks for a few new drives.

Router with Shared External USB Drive
I've had bad luck in my previous, brief attempts at attaching USB storage to routers—rough performance and dropped connections abounded. This was with a few older non-Apple 802.11g routers, but naturally, I assumed the AirPort Extreme base station's AirPort Disk feature for connecting external drives was going to suck as bad. I was wrong.

Verdict: In day-to-day use for media storing, sharing and streaming, the AirPort Disk works pretty much without a hitch. I connected both a WD MyBook Mirror with RAID 1 and an older LaCie 300GB single-disk drive. In both cases, setup took literally 15 seconds after plugging in the drive—there are only a few config options to deal with in the AirPort Utility app to set access controls—and after that, it appeared as a shared volume source on Windows machines and Macs automatically. Browsing files and loading music in iTunes loaded without any noticeable difference from when my library was connected via USB, and streaming large video files to a PS3 with UPnP was skip-free.

Total Cost: $200 WD MyBook Mirror 1TB + $165 for AirPort Extreme on Amazon, so you're looking at $365. Chances are, you already have a USB drive and maybe even the AirPort, so the cost goes down considerably. (I do recommend acquiring a RAID 1 dual-drive, though.) Keep in mind, part of this sunk cost includes a solid 802.11n router, which you need anyway. There are, of course, several other 802.11n routers from the networking biggies that offer a USB connection for sharing. If you've had a good experience with any of these when connecting via both PCs and Macs, let us know in the comments.

Dedicated NAS
A ready-to-go NAS is the most obvious choice for adding network storage, but it can also be the most perilous. Go too cheap, and your box probably won’t support the Mac-tastic AFP. And even if it does, its performance may still be under par and its add-on features may not be good enough to warrant the added expense.

One of the most affordable AFP-equipped, well-reviewed NAS devices is the Synology DS207+ which, at $330 before you even buy the drives, isn't cheap at all. (If you don't have some drives lying around, the total cost will approach $500.) I picked it because, according to NAS aficionados like the folks at Small Network Builder with their handy NAS Charts, it yielded the best value in what I was looking for. Above the improved compatibility, it throws in tasty perks like a BitTorrent manager for downloading directly to the NAS, UPnP for streaming to a compatible TV or PS3, and a nice web-based control interface you can access from anywhere.
Verdict: Performance was the sour note here, surprisingly. While a large file transfer took roughly same amount of time as it did on the other configurations, doing things that required many quick reads, like opening my iTunes music folder with thousands of artist subfolders in Finder, took days on either a MacBook Pro via AFP, or a PS3 via UPnP. Using iTunes to locate the source MP3 file of a song playing hung up the Finder for so long it crashed. Loading a photo library in Aperture or Lightroom was equally painful, with frequent stalls.

I shouldn’t fully write-off an unseen quirk with my particular network setup. The folks at Synology thought everything sounded kosher, but did point out that the AirPort Extreme router I used for testing does not support jumbo frames (a way of optimizing gigabit ethernet traffic) so some gains could be reaped there with a different router. Also, much of my testing was done over 802.11g—browsing on a wireless N connection may fare better, although slowness was apparent on both the PS3 and my laptop when both were connected via gigabit ethernet, which should be blazing.

Dedicated NAS systems do provide extras such as UPnP, remote access via FTP or SSH, a built-in web server, and more. Still, your computer can already handle those just as well. With the drive attached as a network volume, your computer can act as the conduit even if it’s got nothing stored locally, serving media via a local UPnP server (like Tversity for Windows or MediaLink for OS X) and giving remote access to a local drive. A built-in Torrent client is the one I could see being useful, so if you’re a heavy Torrenter, consider that.

Total Cost: $330 for the NAS + approximately $160 (2 x 500GB drive) = $490. Yes, you can go cheaper (especially if you only need a single drive), but you will likely lose the Mac's AFP speed advantage.

Final Verdict
The quickest and simplest route out of the three is definitely an AirPort Disk, and it’s also, somewhat surprisingly, a performance winner in my real-world testing. Still, on a different network setup—if your primary machines are wired, for instance—the results could swing heavily back toward a dedicated box like the DS207+, so this isn't to say dedicated rigs should be written off completely. It’s important to pick the best performing NAS for your setup, but do it while sticking to our strategy: Start by spending as little as possible; if you’re unsatisfied, move up in baby steps.

And yes, Windows-only networks don’t have to jump through quite so many hoops when it comes to network storage, since SMB/CIFS support is the default in low-cost boxes, which works just fine in a Windows-only environment. If you don’t have a network with both Macs and PCs, there are a number of different routes you can take here that may be cheaper or more suited to what you need. Our three options offer a good balance of performance while keeping both platforms (and Linux, too) relatively happy.

NAS-land can get pretty crazy, and subject to the particular interactions of each person's own gear, so by all means throw in your own experiences and recommendations in the comments, and further help folks who are jumping into the NAS game for the first time.

• x-Pict Story HD automatically builds "professional quality" slideshows
• Face detection technology locates faces and frames slideshow transitions around faces
• x-ScrapBook sets photos in templates, using face detection and event-clustering for sharp layouts

Here's what the back of the sucker looks like:
And here's what it looks like when people far prettier than you get together and use it in their Sonylicious home:
Press release:

SONY'S NEW DIGITAL PHOTO ALBUM TURNS PHOTO COLLECTIONS INTO HIGH-DEFINITION ENTERTAINMENT

Store, Organize and Share Photos with Slideshow and Scrapbook-style displays

NEW YORK, Oct. 17, 2007 -Sony today announced the HDMS-S1D Digital Photo Album for shutterbugs who want to archive, organize and enjoy slideshows of their digital photos. This compact device features an 80GB hard drive, connects to a high definition television via HDMI and showcases up to 50,000 high resolution photos.

The new digital photo album offers several methods for importing photos, including multiple flash memory card formats, CD, DVD, USB or Ethernet. Once imported, photo collections can be managed with the supplied remote control and the device's intuitive interface.

Photos can be organized by date, special occasions such as birthdays and travel (using pre-selected icons), or into as many as 3,000 different photo albums- enough for every major family milestone. The digital photo album also provides the ability to review, edit, rotate, delete and arrange photos for a slideshow or digital scrapbooking with Sony's x-Application® features.

The photo managing x-Pict Story HD™ software creates professional quality slideshows, eliminating the need for PC-based photo editing. Slideshows can be created by selecting from 30 pre-loaded music tracks and transition styles. For personalization, you can add up to five songs from your own CDs. The software also allows for connection to a compatible printer for making prints of your photos or scrapbook pages directly from the device.

The HDMS-S1D Digital Photo Album uses Sony's face detection technology to locate faces in photographs and adjusts the slideshow transitions around the location of faces.

When creating digital scrapbooks, the x-ScrapBook™ application sets photos within scrapbook templates, and uses face detection and event-clustering technology to make scrapbook-style layouts of photos with a common trait like photos of children, or pictures grouped by events such as a party or vacation.

When family or friends request copies of the photos they've seen on your HDTV, you can select and save those photos to CD, DVD, or flash memory card.

The HDMS-S1D Digital Photo Album will be available in October for about $400 online at sonystyle.com, across the country at Sony Style® retail stores (www.sonystyle.com/retail) and at authorized dealers nationwide.

They're not slouches, performance wise, housing 7200 RPM SATA-II hard drives with 8MB cache. You may be sad to hear that the built-in Ethernet is 10/100, not gigabit, but almost like a tradeoff, each drive also has a USB 2.0 port for local connections.

My biggest concern is how well they perform in the home of a total network neophyte. With all the talk of sending network drives home, Iomega hopefully prepared with some nice getting-started software, or at least a well-caffeinated tech-support staff.

Iomega Announces a Breakthrough on the Cost and Complexity Of Effective Network Storage in the Home
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New Iomega Home Network Hard Drive Brings Simple, Affordable Networking to Home Users

SAN DIEGO, August 27, 2007 - Iomega Corporation (NYSE: IOM), a global leader in data protection and an established leader in network storage, today announced a new line of network hard drives that resets the benchmark for price-performance and easy-to-use network storage for the home.

The new line of Iomega® Home Network Hard Drives, available in 320GB, 360GB and 500GB models, makes it possible for the first time to share network storage at home for little more than the cost of a standard desktop external hard drive.

"Today, the most common use for home networks is to enable shared Internet access," said Tom Kampfer, president and COO, Iomega Corporation. "Families are struggling with how to organize data across multiple PCs. Shared network storage made easy and affordable with Iomega's new Home Network Hard Drive adds the benefit of securely sharing and consolidating photos, music and video over a home family network, as well as increasing storage and backup capacity. At less than $150.00, the Iomega Home Network Hard Drive is a new price-performance milestone for networking today's digital home."

Product features and benefits
The network capabilities of the new Iomega® Home Network Hard Drive are based on 10/100 Ethernet technology, the connectivity standard in today's home networks. With the included Ethernet cable, setting up an Iomega Home Network Hard Drive is as easy as connecting it to an available network port on the home router and running the included, easy-to-use Discovery Tool Home utility for Windows on each PC (for Mac and Linux users on the network, configuration is a simple manual process).

All three models of the new Iomega Home Network Hard Drive feature 7200 RPM SATA-II hard drives with 8MB cache. Once a Home Network Hard Drive is set-up and the network is operating, the device can save files from up to four networked PC or Mac computers for easy file sharing and enjoyment.

"There are an estimated 30 million homes in the United States with multiple computers. Iomega's new Home Network Hard Drives are designed for these families, providing a simple, reliable source of network storage that makes it easy to organize and share files," said Kampfer. "Many computer users want the basics at a fair price; they don't need complicated features and they don't want to pay for capabilities they may not use. The Iomega Home Network Hard Drive is the answer to their home networking needs and can potentially create a consumer mass market in this exciting product category."

All three models of the new Iomega Home Network Hard Drive include a USB 2.0 port for use with a single computer, making the Home Network Hard Drive an external hard drive for incremental storage.

Iomega includes award-winning backup software with its new Home Network Hard Drive, giving users a total solution that includes automated backup of critical files. Two client licenses of EMC Retrospect HD backup software allow users to set up automated backup schedules or perform immediate backups; create progressive backups that capture only the changes from the previous backup; restore a file to any previous backed-up point in time; compress backups; and much more. (Additional client licenses are available from Iomega.)

Compatibility
Iomega Home Network Hard Drives are compatible with Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Professional; XP Home/XP Professional/XP Professional x64; Windows Vista™ Home Basic/Home Premium/Business/Ultimate; Mac OS X 10.2.7 or higher; and Linux distributions including Redhat 9, Mandrake 10, Debian 3.0, Gentoo, and FedoraCore 3.

Network drive operation requires an available 10/100 Ethernet port; a network hub, switch or router is recommended. A DHCP configured network is recommended.

Price and Availability
The 320GB Iomega Home Network Hard Drive is available now worldwide for $149.00; the 500GB Iomega Home Network Hard Drive is also available now for $199.00. The 360GB Iomega Home Network Hard Drive is expected to be available in late September for $149.00. The 500GB model (as well as the 360GB model in September) is available from VARs, resellers, distributors and select retailers. The 320GB Iomega Home Network Hard Drive is available only at Iomega's online store, www.iomega.com. (All pricing listed here is U.S. suggested retail.)

The capacity diff here lies in those swappable drives, and instead of the four 500GB hard disks of its 2TB predecessor, now there are four 750GB hard disks ($695 each for spares) nestled inside. Techno-strap them altogether with RAID 1-5 for your choice of speed or data security, and they also support DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance), that nascent industry attempt to make sense of drives and multimedia networking in the home.

Take a look at one more beauty shot of the drive, plus one of the removable 750GB drives:

Damn, 3TB is a lot of movies even when you're talking HD, and then swapping out those drives makes this config even more versatile. We'll take two. – Charlie White

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