HP Media Vault mv2010 Review

Last month, my dad took a browse through the bargain section at the local Best Buy and snagged a HP Media Vault mv2010 (300GB) for $150. When he brought it home, I didn’t realize what this thing was. Once I found out it was a NAS, I didn’t feel like holding onto it as I had my eyes on Apple’s new Time Capsule instead (the thought of wireless Time Machine backup really appealed to me). However, since the original price was $100 more, I figured I’d give it a chance.

The Consequences of Bargain Gadgets

This wasn’t the first bargain tech purchase my dad made. From previous experience, the reason these things are discounted are due to: open box with at least one missing accessory (instruction manual, power cable, remote control, etc.). Fortunately in this case, the only thing missing was the instruction manual, but who reads the instruction manual anyways?

Although there was probably an instruction manual floating out there on the web (I found a very helpful FAQ site), I decided to try messing around with the mv2010 sans instructions.

I found out that it could be interfaced through the web by entering its IP address into my browser. From that point on, I figured out the basics pretty easy. I was able to create new folders, enable streaming for selective folders, and set quotas. The web interface was pretty self-explanatory and being able to interface with it from any of the computers on my network was something I liked.

A screenshot of the mv2010 web interface

Time to Dig Around for Instructions

Although getting the core functionality of the network share was fine and dandy, I got the notion that there was more to this device when I spotted the 3 USB ports on it (one on front, two in the back).

A close-up photo of the front of the mv2010

Upon reading up on that dedicated FAQ site put together by the HP Media Vault’s own Systems Architect, Lee Devlin, I found out that this device could do a lot more as I suspected:

• I was able to hook up my HP laser printer and share it across the network pretty easily. The mv2010 also supports most printers although there are some it doesn’t support.
• I found out that by enabling streaming on folders that contained media, I could begin watching movies instantly off the mv2010 on my computers as well as my PS3! Unfortunately the PS3 doesn’t support the mp4 format made popular by iTunes but streamed DivX media just fine after a system update. Unfortunately, the Xbox360 cannot stream files from the mv2010 as it only supports a proprietary Microsoft streaming technology. Since most of HP’s products are Microsoft based, I kind of expected the mv2010 to support this, but it didn’t.
• You can install Firefly and turn it into an iTunes Music server.
• You can turn it into an FTP server. As far as I know, installing server software such as apache to serve up websites is not supported.

Upon further physical inspection, I also noticed an expansion bay. On Lee Devlin’s FAQ site, it seems that any SATA drive can fit in there, so once we’ve used up 300GB, we can add more capacity.

Would I Still Get Apple’s Time Capsule?

Frankly, I can’t see a need for Apple’s Time Capsule anymore. Since upgrading to Leopard, I’ve been backing up via Time Machine to a USB WD Passport and it’s been working so far. And although Apple’s Time Capsule can do a lot of the things the mv2010 can do, the mv2010 just seems like a much more open platform.

Also, having the NAS separated from the router is a plus. I am currently routing my connections with a Linksys WRT54G running DD-WRT firmware, and I don’t think I would get all the flexibility I have if I were to replace my router and the mv2010 with Apple’s Time Capsule.

In closing, I’m pretty happy with the mv2010, although there is a bit of a letdown; the write speeds seem a little sluggish, and from googling up this topic, others seem to agree. However, the streaming seems solid so far as watching DivX media streamed from the mv2010 is smooth.
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