B
uffalo’s original LinkStation network-storage device (reviewed September
2004) gave consumers an easy way to hang 120GB on their network without
having to break the bank—if they were willing to live with the slow performance.
Buffalo’s sequel, the LinkStation Pro, is designed to address the per-
formance issues that nag most consumer-level NAS devices. Indeed, Buffalo
claims that its new unit’s faster processor, Gigabit support, and speedier SATA
drive make the LinkStation Pro as fast as a USB 2.0 hard drive.
To test the drive’s speed, we compared it to a 400GB Western Digital
SATA drive connected to a Wiebetech SATADock V4 USB converter. Both
drives were tested using our Athlon 64 FX-60 test bed with a 150GB,
10,000rpm Raptor drive installed as a source drive. Our PC and the
LinkStation Pro were plugged into our corporate network which uses enter-
prise-grade Gigabit switches. We enabled jumbo frames and set the frame
size to 9,000 bytes for both our Nvidia NIC and the LinkStation Pro.
Copying the same files we use for our USB thumb drive tests, we found
Buffalo’s claims to be a little exaggerated. Buffalo’s NAS box was best at
reading large files stored on it, as opposed to writing large files, and took just
24 percent longer than the USB drive at that task. When writing the same
files, the unit was about 50 percent slower than the USB drive. In read and
write tests of smaller files, Buff’s unit was about 50 percent slower as well.
So perhaps Buffalo overstates its performance claims—then again, a USB 2.0
hard drive can be anything from a 10,000rpm desktop drive to a 4,200rpm
notebook PC drive—but we’re still duly impressed by the LinkStation Pro’sperformance. It plain smokes all of the other consumer-level NAS units we’ve
tested, which take 20 minutes to write 2GB, not two minutes.
The device is available in capacities from 250GB to 750GB; we tested
the 320GB version. Like the original LinkStation, a pair of USB ports on the
unit let you schedule timed backups to an attached USB drive. Oddly, there’s
no print server support. That’s OK, we’ll take performance over a print
server any day.
—Gordon Mah UnGBuffalo LinkStation Pro
The LS-320GL blows away other consumer NAS units
MAXIMUMPC january 2007
reviews Tes Ted. Reviewed. veRdic Tized
The LinkStation Pro can write 2GB of files in less than two minutes.9
linkstation pro
$300, http://www.buffalotech.comI
t’s hard to imagine a middle-class American’s bedroom that’s not
equipped with a clock radio. Millions of us rely on these inexpensive
devices to wake us from our slumber. Roku’s SoundBridge Radio takes this
low-fi concept into the Wi-Fi age.
There’s just one big problem: Integrating this audio-streaming device
into your wireless network will severely compromise your ability to keep
intruders out of it. The only wireless security the SoundBridge Radio sup-
ports is the easily cracked WEP. (If you think cracking WEP is difficult, just
Google “How to crack WEP.”) And you can’t get around the security hole by
hard-wiring the radio into your network; unlike Roku’s other boxes, this one
doesn’t have an Ethernet jack.
But before we go into full Bam Bam mode, let’s examine this product’s
positive attributes, which include a terrific 280x32 vacuum fluorescent display,
an equally good browser, and an above-average remote control. Unlike other
streaming boxes we’ve seen, you can operate nearly all of the SoundBridge
Radio’s functions using buttons on the device itself.
A 20-watt digital amplifier drives two full-range speakers, while a sec-
ond 30-watt digital amp enables a small subwoofer to deliver generous bass.
The multipurpose 400MHz Blackfin embedded processor Roku chose for the
SoundBridge Radio doesn’t sound as luscious as the 24-bit Burr-Brown DAC
that Slim Devices uses for the Squeezebox; and it’s nowhere near the quality
of a Sonos system. You can’t use an outboard converter because Roku doesn’t
provide a digital-audio output.
Despite these shortcomings, we were pleasantly surprised by the broad
dynamic range with which the Roku delivered the Lossless WMA-encoded ver-sion of Afro Celt Sound System’s “Seed.” But we’re talking about a strictly near-
field listening experience—the only way to connect external powered speakers
is via the headphone jack.
Roku doesn’t provide server software to run on your host PC, but the
SoundBridge Radio is compatible with Windows Media Connect, Rhapsody, and
iTunes. It can stream Internet radio and DRM-encrusted PlaysForSure music,
but not similarly-encumbered songs purchased from iTunes. And like
any good clock radio, it has a
snooze bar.
—MichaeL BrownRoku SoundBridge Radio
Wanna wake up to Wi-Fi?
roku’s inclusion of an aM/FM tuner is a puzzling feature in an
otherwise middle-of-the-road audio-streaming box.6
soundbridge radio
$400, http://www.rokulabs.com