9 hours ago
Thanks for getting in touch! Between the Synology DS423+ and the QNAP TS-464, both are solid choices, but they do serve slightly different strengths — especially for your intended use case of Plex, surveillance, and backups.
If ease of use and a more user-friendly ecosystem is your priority, Synology is the safer bet. The DS423+ runs DSM, which is polished and intuitive, with strong apps for backups and excellent stability. However, as you rightly pointed out, it doesn’t support hardware transcoding — which could be a limitation if you’re streaming Plex to devices that can’t handle direct playback (e.g. older TVs or mobile devices without native codec support).
On the other hand, the QNAP TS-464 offers hardware transcoding, HDMI out, and generally more multimedia features. It’s well-suited for Plex — especially if you’re streaming to different devices with varying codec support. The trade-off is that QNAP’s software, while powerful, can feel more technical and less intuitive out of the box. That said, once set up, it’s extremely capable and flexible — especially for surveillance with Reolink and local streaming.
Recommendation:
• If you want the easiest experience with good performance, go with the Synology DS423+ and stream in native formats only via Plex.
• If you want transcoding, HDMI output, and better multimedia flexibility, go for the QNAP TS-464.
Hard Drive Advice:
For either setup, I’d recommend:
• WD Red Plus or Seagate IronWolf NAS HDDs – 4TB–10TB range depending on your capacity needs.
• For surveillance, ensure your drives are rated for 24/7 use, and avoid SMR-based drives.
• Stick to 5400 RPM drives for quieter operation and better longevity unless you need high-speed write performance.
If ease of use and a more user-friendly ecosystem is your priority, Synology is the safer bet. The DS423+ runs DSM, which is polished and intuitive, with strong apps for backups and excellent stability. However, as you rightly pointed out, it doesn’t support hardware transcoding — which could be a limitation if you’re streaming Plex to devices that can’t handle direct playback (e.g. older TVs or mobile devices without native codec support).
On the other hand, the QNAP TS-464 offers hardware transcoding, HDMI out, and generally more multimedia features. It’s well-suited for Plex — especially if you’re streaming to different devices with varying codec support. The trade-off is that QNAP’s software, while powerful, can feel more technical and less intuitive out of the box. That said, once set up, it’s extremely capable and flexible — especially for surveillance with Reolink and local streaming.
Recommendation:
• If you want the easiest experience with good performance, go with the Synology DS423+ and stream in native formats only via Plex.
• If you want transcoding, HDMI output, and better multimedia flexibility, go for the QNAP TS-464.
Hard Drive Advice:
For either setup, I’d recommend:
• WD Red Plus or Seagate IronWolf NAS HDDs – 4TB–10TB range depending on your capacity needs.
• For surveillance, ensure your drives are rated for 24/7 use, and avoid SMR-based drives.
• Stick to 5400 RPM drives for quieter operation and better longevity unless you need high-speed write performance.