IPEVO Mini Network Storage Adapter: Review

INTRODUCTION

Have you ever wondered why your hard drive is so full – why there is a cluster of seemingly useless data hogging your precious computer’s bites? Maybe you’re too lazy to purchase a handy-dandy external hard drive. Or maybe you haven’t the time to transfer thousands of files from one drive to another. Either way, everyone with a computer and a nack for downloading has already (or will in the near future) experience this devastating realization. Well, IPEVO has a solution – something better than a clunky external hard drive or piles of USB drives – and it’s cloud-based.

This solution is IPEVO’s Mini Network Storage Adapter. This cute, harmless little green box might just revolutionize the way you share, store, and upload everything from media to documents and more. Essentially, by allowing customers to connect an external hard drive to their Local Area Network (LAN), the adapter puts all of your goodies in the air and over the network.

THOUGHTS

After a few simple setup procedures (discussed below), fiddling around with my network router, and plugging the whole operation in, I finally got a taste of what IPEVO’s new product truly had to offer.

To setup the IPEVO:  connect it using the provided cables to a network router and a hard drive or other external storage device, install a quick installer disc, boot up your engines, and let the sharing begin.

First of all, the IPEVO is a great way to keep any sort of file, whether it’s media or document, stored on a separate location, not on your computer, and accessible across your network. This small lime-green little guy doesn’t exactly do the storing, but it does the “adapting” for you. That means, with the IPEVO Mini Network Storage Adapter you’ll get fairly good connection from your external hard drive or other storage drive to your network and beyond.

Furthermore, the IPEVO adapter allows you to not only share files across the networks through separate computer, but to share these files over additional platforms. For example, the IPEVO adapter worked great with my PS3 and Xbox 360 when I tried listening to some tunes I had store on one of my drives connected to the network. Another great use of the IPEVO is for downloading BitTorrent files without a computer (Editor’s Note: if you decide to buy one of these guys, the manual has some helpful information on on setting up the IPEVO Mini Network Storage Adapter as a BitTorrent client. Remember: don’t download illegal stuff!).

While all of these wonderful options sound phenomenal to any computer user out there, there were a few problems with the network storage adapter that are worth noting. First off: connection speed. The ability to access files across your network can come at a price (depending on how fast your network speed is) – I noticed that my internet was slightly slower with the IPEVO adapter connected to my LAN. On the other hand, moving many of the files on your computer to an external hard drive (and then using the IPEVO adapter to get those files up on your network) will definitely clear up a lot of congestion you may have noticed in your computer’s performance.

Second off: clutter. While the IPEVO Mini Network Storage Adapter is pretty damn small itself, it doesn’t exactly leave your desk looking very sharp and organized. If you were to utilize the storage adapter, it would require an AC power source and an ethernet router (not to mention all the cables coming off your external drive). Why couldn’t IPEVO just invent an external drive that connects directly to your network? Who knows.

THE GOOD

• Sturdy yet light
• Very small
• Great for streaming media over a wireless connection- music, movies, photos
• Great as a Bit Torrent Client
• Works with Mac, PC, and Linux

THE AVERAGE

• $59 just for an adapter…
• Can create clutter when in function

THE BAD

• Cannot connect directly to a modem (only works with a router)
• Requires additional power source

THE VERDICT

When I realized that my hard drive was getting a bit too full for my liking, I looked to the IPEVO storage adapter – and I’m quite glad I did. At the time, I didn’t realize what kind of a purchase I was making (and a bit of hefty one, if I may say so myself). Simply stated, I was searching for something to facilitate media and document access across my home network. Well, the IPEVO did just that, and more. Besides the additional cable clutter and the barely noticeable decrease in Internet speed, I was very satisfied with this network storage adapter.

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YOUR THOUGHTS

If you’ve found your homemade solution to the filled hard drive problem, we’d love to hear about it. Feel free to share your stories with the IPEVO Mini Network Storage Adapter and tell us whether or not this product has truly facilitate the way you share and access files.

Photos courtesy of IPEVO