QTS 4.2 FINAL PART 2

Since the TS-453Mini has an HDMI video output if you wish to use it with your TV set you will need to enable the HybridDesk Station. Unlike previous QTS versions this time over this station downloads many applications like Kodi, Google Chrome, Facebook and many more.

Just like most high-end NAS models the TS-453Mini can be set to automatically transcode media for easier streaming between the various network devices.

As usual by default the QTS has but a few applications/stations installed but you can install a lot more from within the App Center.

Just the QTS essential apps however should easily cover the majority of users.

The design of the photo station has also improved and it’s now easier to see and share all your pictures with other PC and mobile devices.

With the Music Station you can stream and playback your entire music collection without switching to an external application (design-wise there are several changes as well).

Via the File Station you can transfer files to and from the NAS and although also revamped (QNAP added support for direct connection to Cloud storage and other NAS models) it still looks quite a bit like the Windows explorer.

You can use the Download Station for torrents or direct HTTP/FTP download (QNAP has improved its functionality but to date I still prefer rutorrent myself).

Qsirch is a brand new application which allows the end user to search for specific files inside the NAS at incredible speeds. It may not come in handy much for home use but for office use it could prove to be a valuable addition.

Much like with previous QTS versions you can use the backup station to backup data from your local computer and onto the NAS (or from another NAS to this NAS) or to backup data directly online using Amazon S3 Cloud Service.

Last week we had a couple of visitors in our lab who asked whether or not the TS-453Mini was powerful enough to take advantage of the virtualization station. Because of that I did spend a few hours setting up a Windows 7 Ultimate installation (you can check some of the details from the above screenshots) and although I have to admit that the TS-453Mini can’t compete with a regular desktop system in terms of speed using the station was very easy so I expect many to benefit from this feature.

The Surveillance Station is pretty much the same as the one we encountered with the TVS-871U-RP so once again it asks the end user to point to the place it should store recordings. Unfortunately however the TS-453Mini only comes with a dual camera license.

Just like with previous versions you will need to switch from UDP/UPnP to ONViF detection if your cameras support it (2 out of the 3 IP cameras placed around the lab were detected with ONVIF).

The rest of the tabs remain pretty much the same so once again you get various settings to choose from and of course the ability to add more camera licenses.