Article index
Author
- Herbert Klausner
- Retired Editor, Reviewer & Senior Moderator
- Article posted 23 May 12 23:28
Conclusion
Final thoughts and the conclusion
The LG N2A2 NAS is a stylish and very easy to use NAS system which performed very well in our tests. It offers many features which are indeed of interest for the home consumer.
The user interface is very user friendly and designed for everyone, more advanced users should have no problems navigating through the web menu and the less experienced home user can take advantage of the excellent help function which can easily be accessed in every situation while browsing through the web–menu of the LG N2A2.
Setting up a user account is straight forward and a really easy to perform task.
The NAS is very easy to setup, once the device is configured and the connections to the drives are established, there is no need to work via the web interface again.
The LG N2A2 operates relatively quiet, so you notice the device running but it doesn’t really matter, usually it is also not in the living room, next to the TV where the NAS is placed.
With the change in the user interface, LG made a good step forward and also easier for the home consumer to navigate through the device and configure it. Some more experienced users may find the user interface a bit “childish” but it simply is not an expert system, it’s a home user system.
Conclusion:
Let us summarise the most important positive and negative points below:
Positive:
- Very easy to setup and use.
- Very user friendly.
- Very good user account control features and privacy levels.
- System backup software included.
- Very good set of additional features
- Very good file transfer performance for a home user NAS
- Stylish design.
- Low price
Negative:
- Changing HDDs may cause problems
To sum up, this is what I would say:
The LG N2A2 NAS system is a very good solution for the average home consumer, it’s very easy to use and it performs fast enough for a NAS system at this level. Its whole feature set covers most of the requirements that a home consumer has.
Price
At the moment the LG N2A2 NAS is available for € 213 (cheapest price according to geizhals.at)
The parting sentence is
“The LG N2A2 NAS system is a very good NAS solution for the native home consumer, it works pretty well and offers the user a very nice feature set”. Therefore we award the LG N2A2 NAS system with our MyCE Safe Buy Award
You may comment on this review below.
11 Comments on LG N2A2 NAS review
- looks pretty user-friendly, like most LG stuff I've come across with menus. As the LG stuff I own has been pretty robust and well-made, it'd be interesting to see how well this NAS works a year or so from now. Price looks good as well
nice review! I own the N2A2 for almost half a year now and I can say it works quite ok for its cost, but is not targeted at power users.
The configuration interface sometimes works slow and sometimes it doesn't work at all, also there are some Chrome-related bugs.
Furthermore I find it strange that LG locked down the rsync functionality to their own devices because it was meant to be an open protocol.
I'm wondering whether you can post some more detailed photos of the mainboard? I'm wondering whether there is a JTAG port on it above the upper hard drive power cable (see http://gfx.cdfreaks.com/reviews/LG_N...S/image011.jpg)
|
Originally Posted by wind-rider
Hello H3rB3i,
nice review! I own the N2A2 for almost half a year now and I can say it works quite ok for its cost, but is not targeted at power users. The configuration interface sometimes works slow and sometimes it doesn't work at all, also there are some Chrome-related bugs. Furthermore I find it strange that LG locked down the rsync functionality to their own devices because it was meant to be an open protocol. I'm wondering whether you can post some more detailed photos of the mainboard? I'm wondering whether there is a JTAG port on it above the upper hard drive power cable (see http://gfx.cdfreaks.com/reviews/LG_N...S/image011.jpg) |
thanks for your comments, I agree, it's a very good NAS for the price.
I'm using the device about 6 month now and I didn't find the problems you mentoin but I must admit that I don't use the web ui most of the time. However, when using the web ui all ran smooth (also chrome).
Here you can find the requested picture in full resolution, it's not really good, so if you want a better one just let me know
It's a pity they didn't write next to the connections what they are for... How do you think they flash the initial firmware on the board?
|
Originally Posted by wind-rider
Thanks for posting that image!
It's a pity they didn't write next to the connections what they are for |
| ... How do you think they flash the initial firmware on the board? |
however, I guess the flash the initial firmware via this connector. It not used and it's on the underside of the board, so you can easily access it just by removing the case of the NAS.
another pic from the underside
|
Originally Posted by Mr. Belvedere
Nice. Judging from the screenshots it uses Transmission as a torrent client, which is a very good thing. It has nice features including a bandwith throttler for defined times. You should test if Transmission Remote works on it.
|
. |
Originally Posted by H3rB3i
thanks for the tip Mr.B. I'll probably give it a try
. |
|
Originally Posted by H3rB3i
indeed but only LG must know what they are for
Not really an idea, but I found an additional unused connector for a flat cable on the underside of the board, if you look closer onto it you'll see the connection from the assumed JTAG connector to that one. however, I guess the flash the initial firmware via this connector. It not used and it's on the underside of the board, so you can easily access it just by removing the case of the NAS. another pic from the underside |
- 3.3V
- GND
- TXD
- RXD
Can you see if the rightmost connection (in the separate "white inked box") of the group on http://upload.cdfreaks.com/H3rB3i/N2A2_MB.jpg is connected to 3.3V somehow?
From your shared photos I could see that the other three connections are linked to GND, TXD and RXD.
Edit: according to http://archlinuxarm.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=1323, probably the 3.3V connection is not even needed.
Wombler
Are there more or other settings I should do?
Gr. Ad.
Latest Comments
Hot Threads
- marloyd, last post: Albert 11
- StormJumper, last post: rosariorose9 13809
- Burnsama, last post: eddy64 199
- Clueless in Seattle, last post: roadworker 7
- LORDC007, last post: Steve33 5
