QNAP TS-119 Turbo NAS Review

Name: QNAP TS-119 Turbo NAS Review - Page 2
Brand: QNAP

by Shawn Oliver — Tuesday, June 09, 2009, 12:00 PM EDT

Design and Build Quality

Page 2: Design and Build Quality

QNAP's devices have always been simply styled; classic designs and black coats have become the norm, and nothing's changing drastically with the somewhat plain TS-119 Turbo NAS. The shell itself is solid aluminum, with the only plastic being on the front and rear end caps. The case itself boasts a matte black finish with curved edges, which sort of reminds us of Western Digital's early My Book Essential line.

On the front, you'll find two hard buttons -- 'Copy' (for one-touch backups) and 'Power' -- along with six LED-backlit status indicators. There's also a USB 2.0 port for easy expansion.

On the rear, you'll find twin USB 2.0 ports (for USB hubs, printers, external hard drives, etc.), an eSATA socket, a Gigabit Ethernet jack, an AC output and a Kensington lock slot for added protection.

The build quality of the unit is second to none, with the rugged aluminum shell exuding confidence. Opening the device up to install a hard drive wasn't too difficult, and everything within seemed sturdy and well built. Speaking of within, you'll hardly find anything in there. A single slab of PCB dominates the interior, waiting for your HDD to be inserted. There is plenty of open space within, which was a deliberate move to keep the fans out of the equation.

Inserting the hard drive was a lesson in simplicity. Simply align the connection pins, slide it in, and screw it down. Nothing to it, really. Just to be clear, QNAP doesn't ship its TS-119 Turbo NAS with a hard drive. The HDD you see here in our tests is for evaluation only. Those who purchase this NAS will have to provide their own hard drive, as the $299.99 MSRP does not include one.