Windows 7 and WHS previously didn’t communicate very well, but that will soon change. The Power Pack will enable your WHS to backup amd control power settings on a Windows 7 machine, along with integrating Windows 7 Libraries. Plus, the Power Pack improves Windows Media Center relations with a feature that automatically archives recorded TV in whatever format you want.

Read all about at the Windows Team Blog.

But I can’t hate on everything. Asus has built-in a couple custom WHS plug-ins that allow for more detailed back-up and restore options, along with an interface for an online storage locker that’s free for the first year.

Hardware wise, the TS Mini Server is on par with other offerings. A N280 1.66GHz Atom is at the core, paired with 2GB of RAM and up to a 2TB hard drive. It 6x USB ports, 2 eSATA ports, and, of course, Gigabit Ethernet. The server isn’t shipping yet, but Amazon has the 2TB version priced at $529 and available for pre-order.

You better act quick. This deal ends today. But if you really need a smaller WHS for, lets say, backup purchases only, the HP MediaSmart LX195 is perfect and Newegg has it on sale just for you.

For only $199, you can get a 640GB HP MediaSmart LX195 server. Sure, the hard drive is little on the small side, but it’s easy enough to upgrade. You can either swap out the hard drive later or plug in an external hard drive for more storage. Windows Home Server makes it easy to add even an external drive to the cluster.

For $199, it even could make a great gift to some technology-fluent parents. The backup and restore feature would be worth it alone. But act fast, the sale ends today.

Dell just went official with the Inspiron Zino HD price and spces. There have been a few unboxing and previews popping up around the blogs the last few days and I’ve fallen in love with the little computer. It’s slightly larger than the Mac Mini, but I believe infinitely more versatile.

HTPC - It’s a given. The $229 Dell Zino HD would feel right at home on a A/V rack. The Athlon CPUs and optional ATI Radeon HD 4330 512MB GPU has more than enough juice to output 1080p to your HDTV. Check the box for the optional Blu-ray drive and TV tuner to create a bonafide HTPCIB – Home Theater PC In a Box, that is.

WHS - There are about a dozen and a half already built Windows Home Server options available. HP makes the media-centric MediaSmart line, Acer has the Atom-packing easyStore, Lenovo has options and the list goes on. They are competent boxes, but none of them have the processing power that the AMD options offer in the Zino HD, which is somewhat important if you want to turn the server into a torrent downloading monster. Choose the integrated graphics but select at least 2GB of RAM along with the option 1TB hard drive. The 2 eSATA ports ensure that you’ll never run out of storage capacity too.

Trendy office computer – It doesn’t take much to run Microsoft Office apps anymore. Why live with a boring gray tower these days when the playful Zino HD can get the job done too? Even the base model should be fine for most office tasks.

In-car computer – The Mac Mini might score you nerd points with the geeks posing in the car tuning crowd, but there are a lot of PC-only in-car apps, which makes the Zino HD a perfect solution. It has a small footprint and more than enough power to run GPS and music software. But most importantly is that the computer comes in enough color options that you should be able to find one to match your ride.

Old folks computer – What do old people do on a computer these days? Play on Facebook? That’s about it and the Zino HD, along with countless other options, has more than enough power to be a reliable computer for them. The Athlon cores should be able to handle at least five Internet Explorer toolbars and several spyware programs posing as card games. Try that with an Atom CPU.

The Zino HD product page is currently up, but you can’t customize or order one yet. That will probably change sometime today.

Press release,

ROUND ROCK, Texas, Nov. 12, 2009 – Dell today introduced the mini-sized Inspiron Zino HD, which is versatile enough to handle tasks from basic computing chores to driving a big-screen, High-Definition TV media center. With a choice of colors, the Inspiron Zino HD can be easily personalized to add flare to any room in the home.

The News:

Starting at $229, the Inspiron Zino HD includes standard HD-capable integrated graphics, HDMI output and built-in networking that make it smart for typical home and student computing activities such as word processing, e-mail, organizing photos and music, and surfing the Internet.

The economical Inspiron Zino HD with optional additional memory, hard drive storage, combo Blu-ray disc player, HDTV tuner, wireless remote control and Windows 7 Media Player and turns into a powerful home media center computer. In that capacity the Inspiron Zino HD can record and play your favorite TV shows, display high-definition content from the Internet, and store and deliver music, video and photos very well.

The Inspiron Zino HD is also ideal as an additional household PC that can fit in tight spaces and make home networking a cinch. It measures about 7.75 inches square and 3.5 inches tall. While small in size, the Inspiron Zino HD is a big performer with:

• Ultra-small form factor designed to fit almost anywhere.
• Easy personalization with nine color choices for Inspiron Zino HD.
• Choice of AMD processors or dual core Athlon Neo X2 6850e.
• Up to 8GB dual channel DDR 2 memory.
• Up to 1TB internal hard disk storage.
• Combo DVD/CD RW drive with optional Blu-ray Disc combo.
• Integrated 10/100/1000 networking with wireless option.
• Optional TV tuner, wireless keyboard and mouse.
• Built in 2.1 high-definition audio and 4-in-one media card reader.
• Integrated ATI graphics adapter with standard HDMI and VGA video connections, and optional 512MB discrete graphics adapter.
• Four USB ports (2 front/2 rear); two eSATA ports (rear).
• Energy-Star 5.0 compliant.

A basic Inspiron Zino without High-Definition capability or upgrade options will be offered in some regions.

With the add-on you’ll soon be able to quickly and easily host a blog on your own server. I wouldn’t recommend doing this permanently unless your site only gets a few hits a month from Mom, but it could be a nice little sandbox for development purpose. Just pray you don’t get dugg otherwise you might get a nasty letter from your ISP. More to come soon. [Windows Home Server via mswhs]

Unfortunately the prices seem a bit off. These servers are housed in the same case use the same Windows Home Server software and seem to have the same hardware as the new MediaSmart line, but cost more for less storage. For instance, right now the MSRP of the new MediaSmart EX495 is $699 and comes with 1.5TB of storage along with a bunch of software that consolidates media and can share it on the Internet. But the HP StorageWorks X500 Data Vault comes with 1TB of storage for the same $699 price and all the extra software isn’t listed on the product page.

Marketing Windows Home Server to businesses makes a lot of sense, but overcharging them is just wrong. Maybe HP expects the models to be discounted sometime soon and a higher MSRP makes sales look even better.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) today introduced solutions to help small and midsize businesses (SMBs) improve data security, maximize productivity and minimize business risk while significantly reducing costs and energy use.

The new offerings expand the HP Total Care portfolio, which helps SMBs manage, protect and grow their businesses.

“By investing in new IT solutions now, SMBs will be in a stronger position to seize growth opportunities and thrive as the economy rebounds,” said Kathy Chou, vice president, Worldwide Small and Midsize Business Strategy, HP. “With today’s announcement, HP continues to enrich its Total Care offerings to meet the evolving needs of our SMB customers.”

“AMI has surveyed thousands of SMBs in over a dozen countries over the last four quarters, and noted that the current economy has greatly changed the way they purchase technology products and services,” said Anil Miglani, senior vice president, AMI-Partners. “As we exit the global recession, SMBs will try to protect their existing technology investments while making new investments to grow their business and strengthen customer relationships. HP is well-prepared to help SMB customers achieve this balanced growth through its comprehensive Total Care portfolio.”

Improve security and risk management

For SMBs needing increased levels of security to protect their data and keep mission-critical systems running smoothly, HP introduced these new solutions:

To significantly improve system availability while reducing the risk associated with security breaches and data, the

HP Total Care Business Risk Mitigation

solution offers customizable configurations of servers, storage, networking and security products. By leveraging this solution and best practices for data management, SMBs can reduce outages by as much as 85 percent.(1)

For affordable data management, the HP StorageWorks X500 Data Vault Series (starting at $699)(2) allows small businesses to remain competitive by improving the protection of critical business data and automating backups. It enables small businesses with up to 10 PC and Mac clients to store information in a central place and easily share files regardless of employee location. Also, business owners can save money through a low purchase price, which is up to 22 percent less than comparable solutions.(3)

For maximum uptime, the HP StorageWorks X3000 Network Storage Systems High Availability Bundles combine hardware and software into an efficient shared storage solution for file and application data. Based on the HP StorageWorks X3000 Network Storage Gateways and HP StorageWorks MSA2000 G2 storage arrays, the bundles increase efficiency by automatically eliminating duplicate files, protecting against drive failures and reducing setup time by up to 50 percent.(4) Helping to keep costs in check, the solution does not require extra license fees for networking protocols, file replication or snapshot capabilities.

Enhance productivity, reduce costs

To help customers save money, be more productive and manage security threats, HP announced:

Improved administrative productivity with the HP ProCurve 1810G Switch Series. This series provides affordable gigabit connectivity that can be configured and maintained without a large or specialized staff. It offer customers flexible deployment options such as a fan-less design for silent operation, mounting options for easy deployment in any location and network security capabilities for protection against denial-of-service attacks. The eight-port model also features a Power-over-Ethernet option for connectivity in locations without readily available power sources. The series also is supported by the ProCurve Lifetime Warranty(5) to help customers better manage their overall networking expenses by providing value and choice for their business applications.

For an affordable, lightweight notebook that does not compromise performance, the HP ProBook 5310m Notebook PC, starting at $699,(2) is the world’s thinnest full-performance notebook at 0.9-inches thin and 3.7 pounds. Ideal for mobile SMBs, it delivers seven hours of battery life,(6) sports a 13.3-inch diagonal LED high-definition display and a standard voltage processor. HP QuickWeb allows users to access the web in seconds when the notebook is shut down.(7)

Maximize impact, decrease energy use

For SMBs that want to affordably grow while minimizing their environmental impact, HP introduced new printing and online marketing solutions:

The HP Color LaserJet Professional CP5220 printer series, which is available for purchase in Asia and Europe, offers exceptional print quality and network performance, making it easy for small businesses to affordably market themselves. It is the first printer to offer HP Auto-Off Technology, an industry-leading technology that intelligently senses when there is no print activity and automatically adjusts the power settings. This latest addition to the HP LaserJet family builds on 25 years of leadership in innovation, quality, performance and dependability, and sets the gold standard in business printing.

To help SMBs easily select the best HP LaserJet printing system for their business, HP announced new sub-branding. Customers can choose from a comprehensive line of HP LaserJet “Professional” printers that provide professional and cost-effective results, while larger organizations can select from the HP LaserJet “Enterprise” portfolio.

To help small businesses better connect with their customers, HP released a new version of its MarketSplash by HP web service. HP printer and PC customers in the United States can now download and edit hundreds of professional-quality brochure, flyer and business card templates at no charge and print them in-house. Beginning next month, MarketSplash will offer a print fulfillment option that enables customers to select a local print service provider.

HP and Yahoo! have teamed to help small businesses in the United States easily and affordably create a cohesive brand identity across different online and offline marketing functions. Through the HP Creative Studio, the HP Total Care site and the Yahoo! Small Business portal, customers can receive special offers including web hosting prices for as low as $7.46 a month(2) and access custom design services from Logoworks by HP to create a professional-looking website.

New services and financing offers

To complement its new solutions, HP introduced services and financing offers to help SMBs in the United States purchase, use and manage their IT resources:

To help SMBs manage costs and make purchasing easy, HP offers flexible financing solutions to deploy next-generation HP technology and services through HP Financial Services, the company’s leasing and lifecycle asset management services subsidiary. From now through Oct. 31, 2009, SMBs can take advantage of the Economic Recovery Lease program, which offers a 36-month plan with fixed price purchase options.

From now until Dec. 31, 2009, SMBs can receive up to $1,000 cash back when purchasing a new HP LaserJet, Officejet Pro or Scanjet and recycling an old printer through the HP Trade-in and Save Program. Within the last six months, HP has generated nearly $16 million in revenue and sold more than 17,000 units through the program.

New channel offerings

Lastly, HP announced enhanced SMB offerings available through its channel partners, including channel-only products, channel-led Managed Print Services programs and HP certified solutions, that enable SMBs to better compete in today’s marketplace. The offerings include:

Products available through the channel will initially focus on the workflow, imaging and printing security and job accounting, and device management arenas;

Greater investment in tools and programs that enable reseller partners to offer Managed Print Services to their customers. In the United States, HP has established new relationships with industry leaders that offer managed print infrastructure and services for resale by value-added reseller partners. In Europe, HP is creating an integrated platform and brokering a network of service partners that will enable resellers to sell contractual print offerings as well as higher valued services not previously available to SMB customers; and

Certified solutions for the channel that include partner training, product sourcing and technical support for select independent software vendor solutions from HP’s Solutions Business Partner Program.

Additional information about HP’s expanded Total Care offering for SMBs is available at

www.hp.com/go/CompetitiveEdge

The only problem is that Windows Home Server and the current version of iTunes 9 do not get along. It takes a little hacking to get the program installed right now, but hopefully the next release will install fine. Until then though, I got iTunes 9 to install on my WHS following some of the tips mentioned in this forum thread.

Warning: You will not be able to sync your iPod or iPhone directly to your WHS if you install iTunes 9 with this method because you have to remove the services needed for device control in order for it to install. But with Home Sharing, you can easily manage the content you want on another computer anyway. It will also cause a few pop-up error messages when your WHS starts up but it’s not like you restart your server everyday and, in my eyes, the benefits of Home Sharing outweighs the annoyance of the pop-ups.

Step one: Download iTunes

Head over here and download iTunes 9 to your WHS.

Step two: Download and install Orca

We’re going to use this program to edit the iTunes installer.

Step three: Download and install WinRAR

You probably already have WinRAR installed, but if not, it’s available here. Install it.

Step four: Extract the iTunes installer

• Right click on iTunesSetup.exe (the first file you download)

• Click “Extract To iTunesSetup\” to make a folder with all the contents of the installer

Step five: Edit iTunes.msi

• Open up Orca
• Open up the newly-created iTunes.msi file within Orca
• Select ServiceControl in the left column

• Select each one of the files within the ServiceControl table and hit the Delete key on the keyboard
• Save and close the file

Step six: Edit AppleMobileDeviceSupport.msi

• Open AppleMobileDeviceSupport.msi in Orca
• Select LaunchCondition from the left column
• Change the number 501 to 502 in the appropriate condition on the right.
• Save and close that file

Step seven: Install iTunes 9

• Double click on the modified iTunes.msi file. NOT on the original installer
• Click through the prompts to install as normal
• It might give you a Quicktime error, in which case you’ll have to go back and install Quicktime.msi afterwards

That’s it. It’s really not that bad of a hack. But once again, you will get errors relating to the iPod when your Windows Home Server restarts and you will not be able to sync your iDevice with the WHS. Uninstalling iTunes 9 does get rid of these messages so hopefully iTunes 9.0.1 will fix these issues. But until then, enjoy the Home Sharing function. It’s great.

If anyone has a better method, drop it in the comments below.

What you need to do us install another eSATA port, which doesn’t seem that hard. The easyStore is easy enough to open up and right on the edge is a PCI Express slot where you’ll need to install the card. Once that’s done, just install the driver and you’re done. Just plug in a multi-drive eSATA and add the hard drives to the WHS cluster. That’s it. Oh, and according to the guide, you can even swap your drives between the server and the new enclosure once they are installed.

[kamlau via MS Windows Home Server]

Here are the first 10.

11. Torrent friendly

It’s easy to turn your WHS into a torrent monster. Just install utorrent – or any other program I guess – and setup a network share on the server that the program watches for new torrents. This way you can initiate a download from any network-based computer by just dropping a torrent into the share. Remote Desktop Connection makes it easy to manage everything from any computer including OS X machines.

12. Stream even more media

WHS has streaming software built in but you can turn it off and install more powerful options like PlayOn and TVersity. It’s the perfect solution since your WHS is probably turned on all the time already.

13. DIY

My first WHS was a random collection of old PATA hard drives ran by an AMD Athlon 1900+. I think the largest was a 250GB out of seven drives, but WHS easily combines all the drives into one RAID cluster on any hardware.

[via MS Windows Home Server]

This deal requires that you actually install the drive yourself, but the easyStore is simple to work on. Just plop the hdd into one of the hard drive trays, and slide it in. After that, navigate to the WHS console to add the drive to the storage cluster. It’s that easy.

Question: Anyone else excited that 1TB drives are suddenly being thrown around as freebies? I am.

There are some small drawbacks of the current version. You have to manually delete old backups and such, but it’s a small price to pay to back-up your Mac to your WHS. You really should check out Brent’s site for all the instructions which I can confirm do work. Thank goodness.

CompuGeek via MSWHS

Specs:

• Intel Atom 230
• 1 TB hard drive
• 2 GB DDR2 memory
• 5 USB 2.0 ports
• 1 eSATA port
• Gigabit Ethernet

Hardware:

This isn’t a tiny box. It’s a good size larger than the HP MediaSmart. Up-front there are four removable hard drive trays, along with status lights, USB port, and power button. I can’t tell you how much I love the front facing power button. HP continues to place its power buttons on the back of its WHS which is a pain in the ass. Around back there are 4 USB ports, eSATA port, 10/100/1000 Ethernet jack, and power jack. There isn’t anything missing. This server is fully equipped.

Performance:

I was slightly concerned that the Atom CPU would disappoint me, but just like with the HP LX195, this guy works just fine. The low power-consumption CPU handled running uTorrent 24/7, unRARing, and backing-up just fine. I didn’t notice any hiccups or performance issues at all when using this server.

Software:

HP has dedicated a lot to building-up an extensive suite of applications to enhance its line of MediaSmart WHS. The EX line can do everything from stream content to iPhones, back-up Macs, transcode video on the fly, host a photo sharing site, and all this is done through a refined user interface.

Acer hasn’t done any of this with the easyStore. Instead, the company installed a couple of WHS add-ons and shipped the product. That’s fine with me. I could care less about all the extra crap loaded on HP’s boxes – except the OS X compatablilty. Windows Home Server is a solid piece of software by itself and there are a ton of additional add-ons that users can easy install themselves. As long as the server provides a reliable file storage and back-up solution, I don’t think you can ask for more.

There is one thing: OS X backups. The easyStore H340 doesn’t support Time Machine and so it cannot back-up OS X natively like all the new HP LX and EX MediaSmart WHS can.

Price:

This thing is a a great deal at its $399 MSRP. That’s almost the same price of the HP LX195, but comes with a 1TB hard drive instead of 640GB. Plus, it’s $200 less than the 750GB EX485 and $350 less than the 1.5TB EX487. Those HP servers do feature all of the benefits above, but you could add three 1TB drives for a total of 4TB and still come under the cost of the top HP MediaSmart. Storage capacity tops software in my book.

Conclusion:

Besides the small downside of not being Time Machine compatable, I cannot think of a reason to buy any other NAS/WHS over the Acer easyStore H340. The hardware is solid, the performance is acceptable, and the price is stellar at $399. It’s even better at Amazon: this model is $349 right now.

Product Page

The only beef I have with the HP LX195 is the price for the amount of storage. Newegg must have heard my cries as the retailer is now throwing in an Western Digital My Book Essential 1TB USB external hard drive. That means, you can get 1.67 TB of storage in a Windows Home Server for only $375. Now that’s a deal, but you better hurry as it ends on 6/25/09.

Don’t forget that we are giving away one of these servers in our recent review. Just leave a comment in this post to be entered.

WHS can automatically add the USB drive to the storage capacity of the server but you will not be able to use it for anything else unless you format the drive. Who’s to say that you have to use the external drive for this server though? Maybe the 670 GB drive that comes with the LX195 is good enough for your needs. The 1TB drive is just a pleasant bonus.

Newegg via dealnews

Short Version: The LX195 is great back-up solution for both PCs and Macs. It’s a tad overpriced and lacks expandability, but is still a solid Windows Home Server.

Oh, and there’s a contest.

Specs

• 1.6GHz Intel Atom 230
• 1GB of DDR2 RAM
• 640GB 7200 RPM SATA HDD
• 4 USB ports
• 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet
• MSRP of $399

Hardware

HP knows how to make quality PC cases and this one is no different. It looks great – very monolithic. It’s not as small as I expected as this server only holds one hard drive, but it’s still smaller than most other WHSs. An external power supply and low-power Atom CPU helps with this.

HP didn’t design the the LX195 to be expandable, but just four screws prevent users from accessing the insides. In fact, the hard drive and exhaust fan swings out on one of the side panels, revealing the motherboard. (more pics below) I don’t see why you couldn’t add a larger hard drive as long as you can reinstall the OS.

The back panel has four USB ports, a Gigabit Ethernet jack, a locking port, and the power supply input along with the power button. Why HP insists on putting the power buttons for their WHS on the backside continues to annoy me. How hard would it be to put the button on the front panel?

Speaking of the front, there isn’t anything on it besides indicator light. That’s it. No I/O ports of any kind.

Performance

Even though an Atom CPU is running the server, it functions fine. I didn’t have any trouble at all running multiple apps at one time or unRARing files. Under normal operation, I had uTorrent running along with a TiVo media streamer called prTIVO in the background. I didn’t notice any difference between running WHS on this Atom CPU than on my custom Core 2 Duo Windows Home Server. This OS continues to impress me with the wide range of hardware it can efficiently run on.

Software suite

HP has been in the Windows Home Server game for a couple of years now and has shown considerable support for the platform. This model received the same Apple love as HPs EX line and is fully compatible with OS X’s Time Machine. This means that Mac users can utilize backup utility that’s built right into OS X. This is a huge plus in my book.

Windows systems are backed up through the Connector software package. The backup systems isn’t as robust as other programs, but it gets the job done just fine.

The LX server however wasn’t blessed with some of the recent updates to the EX line including iPhone video streaming. But the system does have the rest of HPs software, which includes an iTunes server, TwonkyMedia streamer, online backup support, HP Media Collector, and the HP Photo Publisher.

The two big features are the HP Media Collector and Photo Publisher. The Media Collector continuously scans the network for new media. It then sorts and stores them on this server. When you download the latest music off of a site, it’ll copy it onto the server. You better be careful what directories it’s allowed to scan if some of your content isn’t kid (or wife) friendly…

The Photo Publisher makes it easy for users to upload pictures. Or, it also allows you to host your own photo sharing site through your Internet connection and personal URL that Windows Home Server sets up. These features are surprisingly easy to use and work well.

But…

This is a great server, but besides the the Time Machine support, I don’t see any reason to buy it. Acer just came out its own WHS that features a 1TB drive, is expandable to four total drives, and is only $399. (expect our review shortly, but it’s a great machine) The HP LX195 can be had for $374 on Amazon down from its $399 MSRP. Until HP drops the price of this unit or includes a larger hard drive, I highly doubt anyone besides homes with Macs will opt for the LX195 over the Acer easyStore.

But let me reiterate that there isn’t anything wrong with this server. It’s solid, but simply way overpriced.

UPDATE: HP sent over a promo code that will drop the price of the server by $75 to $325, which improves its chance in the market for sure. Nice, HP.

$100 off the EX485 or EX487: code AC8942
$75 off the LX195: code AC8371
Act fast, coupon codes are valid until July 14, 2009!

Product Page

Giveaway!

Alright, geeks and freaks, we’re giving this server away to a lucky commenter. Who cares about the high MSRP if it’s free? All that we ask you do is leave a comment below on why you need this server and we’ll pick the winner at random. It’s that easy.

Who doesn’t want a working cigar humidor that also has a Windows Home Server with 2TB of storage? No one. Mainly because everyone’s smoking room also doubles as their server room. After all, cigar smoke and computers are meant to hang in the same crowd.

This custom built Home Servidor – their name, not ours – is available for purchase. It runs an Atom at the core while protecting 10-12 “of your finest cigars.” Choose from either a 2TB option for $949 or the 1TB model for $799. Which ever way you go, you’ll have a device to protect some of your most valuable assets.

Home Servidor via MSWHS

If it does, HP has a problem as this 1TB WHS is only $399 verses the $647 post rebate price for its EX487 1.5TB model. That’s a big difference and it doesn’t matter how much extra software HP is loading on it. Price and storage is the most important selling points on these servers.

Anyway, click through for a gallery of unboxing pics.

HP had the Windows Home Server market all to itself until recently. First it was CyberPower, now Acer has entered the market with a small footprint WHS. The Acer Aspire easyStore AH340-UA230N might be the best deal out of all of them though.

The server will retail for $399 and comes with a 1TB drive. Not only that, the server is powered by an Atom 230 CPU with 2GB of RAM. It of course has hot swappable drive bays and a full range of I/O ports including Gigabit Ethernet. At the end of the day though, this server is a heck of a deal and here’s why.

The HP EX servers beat down the Acer in raw computing power thanks to a 2GHz Celeron CPU. And they do have amazing software packs including the ability to stream server-stored content onto an iPhone and are compatible with Apple’s Time Machine, but what if you don’t need all that extra stuff? What if all you need is a back-up and network storage solution? This Acer rings in at the same price as HP’s non-expandable 640GB LX195 and $200 less than the full-featured 750GB EX485 server.

It’s a no brainer in my book. I’d get the Acer.

New Acer® Aspire easyStore Home Server
Provides Access to Family’s Digital Data From Anywhere in the World

Networks PCs, centralizes data and provides daily data back-ups for just $399

SAN JOSE, CALIF., May 21, 2009 – Acer, the third largest vendor in the PC market, today announced the new Acer® Aspire easyStore Home Server for customers in the United States. Designed for households and home-based businesses with multiple PCs, Aspire easyStore offers a simple way to network home computers, centralize, share and protect digital data as well as access it remotely from anywhere in the world.

Outfitted with Microsoft® Windows® Home Server, the Aspire easyStore offers many benefits. For example, parents can access their children’s homework while traveling for business. They can also upload videos and photos from sports events or summer vacations to the server, even while away from home. At any time, from anywhere, every family member with a PC in the home network can access photos, videos, music and other documents from the home server. This centralization of digital data saves significant time by eliminating the need to transfer data from one PC to another, every time someone wants a photo, video or other document that’s stored on another PC. It’s also a safeguard. If a netbook or notebook is damaged, lost or stolen, users don’t lose their data along with it, since it’s backed up at home. In addition, when a new system is added to the network, it’s quick and easy to upload data from the computer to the server.

“The trend of multiple computer devices per household continues to grow, particularly with regard to mobility. A significant pain point for consumers is how to consolidate and protect their digital data that’s spread among multiple devices,” said Sumit Agnihotry, Vice President of Product Marketing for Acer America. “Aspire easyStore is the ideal solution for networking home PCs and providing round the clock data protection. Offering remote access to digital data at home from anywhere in the world and automatic daily back-ups, it’s the perfect companion to netbooks and notebooks. It’s an extremely practical and affordable way to simplify and manage one’s personal digital life.”

“It’s great to have Acer as a valued partner for Microsoft’s Windows Home Server in North America. Acer’s solution gives consumers new options for purchasing Microsoft Windows Home Server. And Acer’s reputation as a key contributor in the PC and consumer electronics field further demonstrates the industry’s commitment to this growing product category,” said Kevin Kean, General Manager, Windows Home and Small Business Server Group at Microsoft.

Small and Stylish Design, Significant Storage Capacity
Smaller than standard servers, the handsome black tower measures just 8.3-inches (H) x 7.8-inches (W) x 7.08-inches (L). HDD status LEDs emanate a soft blue light and complement the handsome black bezel. The power button is located on top for easy access and reach. One-touch USB copy enables quick file uploading. Users just plug in the USB device and push the button. The data is automatically sorted and stored by file type into designated folders.

Outfitted with an Intel® Atom™ processor 230 and 2GB DDR2 memory, the Aspire easyStore AH340-UA230N Home Server has the guts to organize and back-up files quickly. The 1TB hard drive and three hot-swappable hard drive bays available for storage expansion provide enough room for filing, storing and backing-up a vast library of songs, videos, photos, games and documents.

The hot swappable HDD cage enables users to increase their data storage, by adding up to three 3.5-inch internal hard drives, which means it offers up to about 7 TB of total data storage. The cage is outfitted with release levers for each drive to keep them secure. In addition, a recovery/reset pinhole provides additional data protection by enabling system restores and data recoveries with just one-touch.

The server works with DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) 1.5 Certified Home Server (DMS) and digital media player (DMP) to enable music playback as well as photo and video viewing on a TV. For internet security, Aspire easyStore comes with a six-month free trial of McAfee Total Protection Service.

Windows® Home Server Simplifies Home Computing, Enables Remote Access

Microsoft® Windows® Home Server centralizes digital media in one location, making it easy to access files, photos, videos and music from any PC on the network. It also protects critical data by creating an image-based backup of every home computer every day, so users can restore a single file or an entire PC. With Windows Home Server, users can access the home network from the office or the road, for full access to their files and applications, just as if they were sitting in front of their home PC.

Specifications, Pricing and Availability
The Acer® Aspire easyStore AH340-UA230N Home Server is available in the U.S. via leading online technology retailers and authorized resellers.

Acer® Aspire easyStore AH340-UA230N Home Server: Available now for a MSRP of $399.99

* Intel® Atom™ Processor 230 (1.6GHz)
* Microsoft® Windows® Home Server
* 2GB DDR2 Memory
* 1TB Hard Drive
* Three Empty Hot Swappable Hard Drive Bays
* Five USB 2.0 Ports
* One eSATA Port
* 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet
* 200 Watt Power Supply
* RJ-45 LAN Port

PlayOn is good piece of software but it also requires Windows Media Player 11 to install. This is a problem on Windows Home Server as I just discovered while reviewing a Moxi HD DVR review. However, it can be installed as one intrepid commenter pointed out.

Side note: See, this is what I’m ranting about. I get a Moxi HD DVR, but to use it properly, I need to follow a wiki entry step-by-step. I hate it.

I just wrapped up my installation of WMP11 and PlayOn on my Windows Home Server so I can confirm that this does indeed work. The installation isn’t hard either, but it’s also something that I wouldn’t have tried. Basically, you need to install the WMP11 components indivually and then restart the Windows service manually to get it going. Once WMP11 installed though, PlayOn loads like its suppose too.

Basically, you are going to install WHS on the box. Easier said than done ’cause you need to have the NAS boot to the installer first, which also involves installing a VGA port on the headless box so you can see what you’re doing. Plus, there is the little thing about getting the right drivers for the controllers within the NAS. I know, it’s not easy but WHS is a solid piece of software and worth the trouble.

What is easy however, is installing Windows Home Server on an old computer. I threw mine together in an afternoon with random parts of old systems complete with 6 parallel hard drives. WHS makes RAID’n easy. Give it a go.

Microsoft via MSWHS