Conclusion:

The Synology Diskstation DS415play 4-bay NAS server was reviewed on the heels of our review of the DS414j, and I wasn't sure there was much more to be expected. At just over $400 (without drives) the DS414j is considered a budget conscious offering from Synology, and the DS415play sells for a bit over $100 more. It offers more powerful specifications and a handful of features that may definitely appeal to some users, and in the end I would say that $100 does buy a good deal of an upgrade.



The transfer rates on the Diskstation DS415play were great, with benchmarks and real world file transfers easily exceeding 100MB/s, and in some cases approaching 120MB/s. These speeds, plus the dual core Atom processor and 1GB of DDR3 memory indicate it is more than well suited for serving up files in a home or small office. Multiple simultaneous streams from this device to the local network will be no problem. Additionally, the device features three USB 2.0 ports and two USB 3.0 ports for added storage, quick copying of flash drives, or for the connection of a USB printer to be turned in to a networked printer by the capabitilies of DSM. When connecting USB 3.0 drives, you can not only quickly copy the contents to the NAS's internal storage, but you can also share it to the network and have the full speed of the USB 3.0 drive available to the network.

The hardware video transcoding could be a big selling point to people with large movie collections that might not all be recorded in common formats. Couple the hardware transcoding, DLNA certification, and the media serving plugins / apps, and the DS415play is all set to be the hub of your home entertainment, no matter what your other hardware includes... smart TVs, Media Center PCs, mobile devices, media players, etc.

And for those of you who appreciate well designed ergonomic features and easy installations, the DS415play offers both. No tools are required to access the device or install drives, and I would say the whole process of installing four hard drives in to a new DS415play should take well less than 5 minutes for anyone. Once installed and setup, the DS415play is simple but attractive, makes just about zero noise, and is rather energy efficient.

If you head over to Amazon.com and shop for the Synology Diskstation DS415play, you might see a price tag is close to $600. This is currently showing up as available from a third party seller (Beach Audio), and this is their price. Amazon's price is listed on the right column of the page under "Other Sellers on Amazon", where the price is much closer to $500 (with free shipping). Amazon's price makes the drive-less DS415play almost exactly $100 more than the driveless DS414j. While many might be perfectly satisfied with the DS414j's performance and features, in my opinion the extra speed, video transcoding capabilities, and ergonomic design features might easily be justified at that price.



Pros:

» Impressive data transfer rates for internal drives
» Full speed data transfers for USB 3.0 connected drives
» Hardware video transcoding can improve video streaming to your device
» DSM 5.0 makes administrating the NAS server simple
» Low power consumption
» Minimal noise
» Completely tool-less installation
» Quick RAID array building / migration times

Cons:

» Hardware video transcoding comes at a premium price
» Would prefer a USB 3.0 port up front

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