04-17-2025, 11:00 AM
I was in a similar spot a few months back, looking for a NAS mainly for storing and streaming 4K home videos and backing up photos from phones and PCs. I’d suggest going for something with a Celeron CPU — it gives you hardware transcoding, which is super helpful if your TV or streaming device doesn’t support all formats.
Two models I’d recommend looking at:
Synology DS423+ – really user-friendly, great for beginners, and runs Plex pretty well. DSM (their operating system) is clean and easy to use. Also does a solid job with backups and photo management.
QNAP TS-464 – a bit more flexible on the hardware side, still beginner-friendly, and really strong Plex performance with 4K stuff. QTS (their OS) has more bells and whistles if you want to tinker down the line.
Both are 4-bay units (so a little more future-proof), and you don’t have to fill all bays right away — you can start with 2 drives and expand later.
Hope that helps a bit. Good luck with your setup!
Two models I’d recommend looking at:
Synology DS423+ – really user-friendly, great for beginners, and runs Plex pretty well. DSM (their operating system) is clean and easy to use. Also does a solid job with backups and photo management.
QNAP TS-464 – a bit more flexible on the hardware side, still beginner-friendly, and really strong Plex performance with 4K stuff. QTS (their OS) has more bells and whistles if you want to tinker down the line.
Both are 4-bay units (so a little more future-proof), and you don’t have to fill all bays right away — you can start with 2 drives and expand later.
Hope that helps a bit. Good luck with your setup!