NAS_noob

Sadly, I dont have a spar/old PC, but maybe I can find an old, used one. The only problem I have with this solution is, that its quit big (I dont have much space). Also, what about powerconsumption? Isn't the hardware in the Synology/AOOSTAR specially selected so that it consumes little power? Or in other words, isnt an old PC more power hungry?

Hi there. Im an absolut noob (not even a beginner) when it comes to NAS but I want a NAS for qiute some time. The thing is I dont really know if I should try HexOS or buy a prebuild (like Synology). Maybe you can help me decide (I know its hard, espacially because HexOS is only in Beta)? The thing is, I dont know if I need all the options (Apps) that Synology provides. At the moment I think I just want do store data (more or less everything I have on my PC and pictures from my phone) and stream movies. Accassing my NAS from everywhere is not something I need for now (meaning I can wait for HexOS implementing something (App) for that; as far as I know you can do that with Synology). The price/performance is also a factor Im not sure about: I could get this https://aoostar.com/products/aoostar-n9e-intel-n100-mini-pc4c-4t-up-to-3-4ghz-with-w11-home-8-16gb-ddr4-3200mhz-ram-256-512gb-m-2-2280-nvme-ssd?variant=48813283475754 for about 460€ after taxes and customs (lol, it just sold out) + ~100€ for HexOS. For about the same price (610€) I could get this Synology NAS: https://geizhals.at/synology-diskstation-ds923-a2846784.html. Especially RAM is a quite a big diffrence (not sure about the CPU). But I heard when you have a Synology NAS you dont need the "best" hardware to get the same performance, is that true? Also, is the AOOSTAR NAS overkill for my usecase? Something I should alos add: I dont have the time/knowledge to try and fix any problem that may occur (at least not on a regular basis; Im currently in University). I hope I was able to explain my situation and that someone can help me decide on what to do. Thanks 🙂