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Buffalo Technology Linkstation 250GB Network Storage Center

77

Good
  • Pros
  • Inexpensive pick for home user
  • Cons
  • Poor performance
  • Pricing: Very Inexpensive: $230 (6/5/2007)
  • Performance: Poor: 58
  • Features: Poor: 53
  • Design: Superior: 95
Find out how these four scores, and their relative weights, combine to produce the PC World Rating.

Pricing

Very Inexpensive: $230
Cost per Gigabyte - $0.92

Performance

Poor: 58
PC World Tests (seconds)
McAfee Virus Scan Test 394.66 
Windows File Search Test 104.62 
Windows Files and Folders Test (Write) 597.03 
Large File Test (Write) 558.58 
Windows Files and Folders Test (Read) 481.76 
Large File Test (Read) 436.07 

Features

Poor: 53
Basics
Drive size (GB) 250GB 
Supported Interface(s) 10/100 ethernet 
Speed (RPM) 5400 
Buffer Size (MB) 2 
Other
Installation Kit Hardware Ethernet cable 
Bundled Software Setup Wizard, Memeo AutoBackup 
Key Software Setup Wizard, Memeo AutoBackup 
Support & Reliability
Labor Warranty (years) One 
Parts Warranty (years) One 
Weekday Support Hours 24 
Saturday Support Hours 24 
Sunday Support Hours 24 
Toll-Free Support Yes 

Design

Superior: 95
About the Test Center

Buffalo LinkStation Network Storage Center Review

by Becky Waring

- The Buffalo LinkStation does it all, does it well, and does it at a great price. This versatile 250GB network storage device has two USB 2.0 ports for an external hard drive and a USB printer. You can use the second drive for either backing up the internal drive or adding storage. The Buffalo was the only NAS we tested to include a USB print server, a handy feature that lets home and small offices share inexpensive printers. While the competing Linksys EtherFast Network Attached Storage EFG250 includes a parallel-port print server, a significant number of inexpensive printers are now equipped only with USB ports.

Read Complete Review ยป

User Reviews for Buffalo Technology Linkstation 250GB Network Storage Center

  • Reviewed by: VReggie

    Duration of ownership: 1 Year

    Strengths: Network Accessibility, ease of setup. Storage capability. Small footprint.

    Weaknesses: Slow to respond to write requests over network link. NOS on device limits file size to 4GB, which limits or excludes the use of NTBackup or other file compression backups. The hard drives are run of the mill, just as likely to suffer the same hardware failure you're trying to protect yourself from.

    Overall Evaluation: Although decently priced, and easy to use (for PCs) they're somewhat unreliable for totally automated backups. The units I've used seem to respond slowly to write requests, especially after long idle periods, which sometimes results in my backup software timing out. I've used NTBackup, Veritas Backup Exec and other compression based applications but have had the most luck using a simple XCOPY batch file.

See all user reviews

News, Reviews, How-To's about LinkStation Network Storage Center

  • Network Storage for Home and Business The Buffalo LinkStation Network Storage Center was our home choice for its ease of use (it also makes a good option for small businesses). The Snap Appliance Snap Server 1100 was our business pick for its rich and sophisticated file-sharing features.

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