Advice needed

sphardy wrote:

Jjnsgy wrote: 1. Which device? I've already decided on a readynas - too many things seem to be missing from the competitors, too many negative posts and the forum and support here is awesome. I'm leaning toward the ultra 4+ vs ultra 6+ vs pro 6, but don't think I need the business features of the pro model but may need the faster chip speed. Thoughts? If you can afford it - Pro6 for the processor speed and future proofing. Else Ultra 6+. Was my thought as well. Not to tarnish the readynas forum, but I was told to check out the sinology 1511+, but other than the UI, I don't see benefits in the functionality. 2. Do I need to be able to transcode? It is difficult to find an answer. Given that I have hd sets, I'd like to rip the DVD or blurray at highest resolution, but will need to play back on iPad, iPhone and droid devices. Some recommendations have been to rip 2 copies (at 2 resolutions). This seems overkill. Will orb handle this? If so, how hard is it to get orb up and running on the pro6? See next point - but forget Orb as it is a dead product as far as ReadyNAS is concerned 3 I experimented with xbmc on my iMac and liked the UI. The interface is the characteristic of the media extender (popcorn hour, xbox ps3, wdtv, etc), but xbmc does a nice job accessing movie metadata. How does one copy the video, create metadata, (from the disc or download from the web)? Is there a way to access the data and store it on the nas such that it is accessible by different extenders? Check out Plex. http://www.plexapp.com There is a version for ReadyNAS that, with a suitably powerful NAS, will enable you to manage a single library of videos, music & photos directly on you NAS, feed windows, Mac, mobile and other clients via automatic transcoding as needed depending on if you are on the local network or remote. Metadata is automatically downloaded from intenet resources. Read the blog there also as there is a new release due next week with enhancements which will do pretty much everything you ask. Have read about plex as well. Will read up further. Any suggestions on a media extender? 4. Is it simple to set up the file system to store the videos? Yes - especially with the help from this forum :wink: Don't think I won't be availing myself of the help. It is one of the best reasons to purchase a readynas nas. 5. How does readynas photos compare to iPhoto? 2 different products and so not directly comparable - ReadyNAS photos is designed to enable the easy creation of web accessible photo galleries - nothing more As I understood. But if all photos are stored in an iPhoto catalog, can readynas photos access the library and create web accessible galleries? 6. How does one capture cable tv to the readynas? Do I need a Happaugue device? A question for someone else