Sadly, downgraded product

StephenB wrote:
I think what is different here is that the ARM and Sparc products have exactly the same names.

For me marketing wise it's a nightmare. I started looking a couple of months ago and the various model numbers did nothing but confuse me. After a relatively long period of research I was left with the impression the ARM units were replacing the SPARC units and expected them to offer the same or additional features. I simply guessed the INTEL units would be replaced once the low end ARM units were completely rolled out with high end ARM models. So I felt if I purchased an INTEL unit it would be outdated even though it was faster and offered more features.

The lower pricing on the ARM units would tend to make you think they are entry level units which they are to a large degree. However nowadays prices often fall as fast as features are added. Throw in the 2TB drive limit on some models and it gets even worse. They need to clearly separate the units with better defined target markets. Even the software (firmware) feature set is confusing as the ARM units were/are missing a lot of the features of the SPARC and INTEL units. You don't want to buy ARM since you are losing features... you don't want to buy outdated hardware...

I ended up ARM based even though I wanted some of the higher model features like TiVo archiving... well guess what it was added along with a lot of other features. So now it's even confusing on what features various models will have going forward. My suggestion for consumer sales which is worth less than two cents... get all models under ARM with the only difference being the number of bays. All units come with the same basic feature set and sell the advanced features on an individual basis. Want TiVo arching... fine that's $49... want rsync... that's $29... etc. The consumer doesn't have to commit to what features they want up front... which stopped me from purchasing a unit for a long time. You gain the opportunity for additional sales over the life of the unit. One could even sell updates to the same feature as they are rolled out. End result is the consumer has less choices for their initial purchase (less confusing) and at the same time more choices if and when they want to take advantage of them.