Iomega Home Media Network Hard Drive

The slim, well-ventilated Iomega Home Media Network Hard Drive isn't fancy: It's a single-drive unit, housed in an elegant chassis with a curved stand. But this 1TB drive serves up media with the best of them.

As with most network-attached storage devices, you can configure the unit via a Web browser. In this case, though, the interface is a sterling rendering that strikes the right combination of being easy on the eye and being easy to use. Two simple steps get you through the media server setup; exposing folders with media content to the DLNA (UPnP) and/or iTunes server (this is done on the Folders page via two buttons next to each folder), and choosing who has rights to access specific folders.

This model disappointed us with its performance, though: In the PC World Test Center, it posted one of the weakest file copy times, requiring 408 seconds to copy 3GB of files and folders. It was more competitive on its file search performance; here, the Home Media Network Hard Drive required 321 seconds to search 12GB of data.

The embedded EMC LifeLine Home software incorporates the TwonkyMedia server; the media server performed flawlessly with both the D-Link DMS-520 digital media adapter and our iTunes, delivering music, photo, and video streams smoothly and without interruption. The unit also includes EMC Retrospect Express Backup and Disaster Recovery software, for handling less glamorous data chores. One complaint: We found this NAS had a bad habit of taking its time before showing up on our Windows Vista system.

--Jon L. Jacobi and Melissa J. Perenson