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Newegg - Open Box HP MediaSmart EX495, Windows Home Server $390.99 + $10.19 Shipping

  • Last Updated:
  • Feb 2nd, 2011 4:17 am
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Jr. Member
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Mar 31, 2008
168 posts
56 upvotes
Alberta

[Newegg] Newegg - Open Box HP MediaSmart EX495, Windows Home Server $390.99 + $10.19 Shipping

I have been watching these since Black Friday hoping for them to go on sale again. Just noticed the EX495 on sale, open box though. I probably would have bought it but I just bought a used home server pc this weekend. What timing...

HP EX495
13 replies
Deal Fanatic
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Jan 24, 2005
5763 posts
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me too lol ... i just got the acer one.

and this is the one i really wanted! :facepalm:
Deal Addict
Apr 28, 2004
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am I reading right, no raid?
Jr. Member
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Mar 31, 2008
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Alberta
Fate wrote: am I reading right, no raid?

Windows home server doesn't do raid. It uses something called folder duplication which protects against single drive failure. Similar to raid but not quite.
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Feb 11, 2004
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Nepean
As good as the deal is/was, you have to also consider the long term prospects of this machine. HP has pulled out of the home server market, which means they won't be developing/supporting for the next version of WHS, which we all hope will come out early this year. The current version of WHS doesn't support Advanced Format drives, so expandability with this is going to be an issue.

It's a great machine for the price now, but longer term, you might be better off to go with custom hardware that you can self manage.
Wrocky
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Jan 16, 2007
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xwar wrote: me too lol ... i just got the acer one.

and this is the one i really wanted! :facepalm:

How is the Acer? I've been watching it at bestbuy and futureshop since xmas. Easy set up etc?
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Oct 2, 2004
1274 posts
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Wrocky wrote: As good as the deal is/was, you have to also consider the long term prospects of this machine. HP has pulled out of the home server market, which means they won't be developing/supporting for the next version of WHS, which we all hope will come out early this year. The current version of WHS doesn't support Advanced Format drives, so expandability with this is going to be an issue.

It's a great machine for the price now, but longer term, you might be better off to go with custom hardware that you can self manage.

+1 Agreed
Newbie
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May 24, 2009
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Are there any good deals on home servers right now? I've been looking for one for a while now and all ive come up with is the refurbished acer for 299.99.
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Jan 24, 2005
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canadiantj wrote: How is the Acer? I've been watching it at bestbuy and futureshop since xmas. Easy set up etc?

The Acer is actually a very good device. It was simple to setup and so far it`s been running exceptionally well.

I picked it up off a fellow RFDer for a great price. I suggest you check out Kijiji and RFD for others that are selling second hand.

Regular price Best Buy has it for 379.99 which is not too bad, but you can save yourself a $100-150 if you get a used one.
Deal Addict
Oct 1, 2009
1162 posts
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meatstick wrote: Are there any good deals on home servers right now? I've been looking for one for a while now and all ive come up with is the refurbished acer for 299.99.

If you just want a fileserver, I probably suggest making one from basic parts.. Pretty sure a nice simple fileserving server can be made for under 250.
Deal Addict
Jul 26, 2006
2451 posts
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AeonLux wrote: If you just want a fileserver, I probably suggest making one from basic parts.. Pretty sure a nice simple fileserving server can be made for under 250.

Indeed. Use an old PC with a better P/S and WHS which is surprisingly very easy to install and use. I tried a Linux server like Amahi and gave up in frustration...
Deal Addict
Aug 16, 2003
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West Istand, Montrea…
I had an Acer, alongside my HP EX-485 and the HP was a lot more robust - you could 'overload' the Acer with traffic and the device ended up going back to wherever it was I had bought it from. An EX-495 would have a far superior processor than the Acer, as well.

As to building your own it is not a bad idea; But realise that My 485 (which has 6.75 Terabytes installed internally) draws all of 35 watts idling where a home-brew server would pull at least twice as much, possibly three times. And while the hardware would cost less than $250, the OS would push the price up to that of an all-in-one.

Will my EX-485 become a pile of junk because HP stops supporting it? Not likely, since neither the PSU nor CPU was made by HP - so hardware replacements should be available out there.

Besides, my server has been up without a reset for almost 2 years now - there is a bug where it can't get the mandated updates and with as much data as I have on board I don't want to do a full reload, but it does what I need it to with power to spare;

I use mine to stream media to 4 media players (3 Seagate and 1 Asus), to feed files for the various desktop and laptop machines in the house, it provides some real time audio recording and also hosts my mail server (my mail domain terminates there). And it does that with memory and horsepower to spare. I have yet to see any stuttering when I'm watching anything. What I do NOT use it for is to back anything up. I prefer to simply put everyone's 'my documents' directory on the server directly and those directories are backed up to a USB-connected external drive (which is normally kept powered off) every so often.

So, if the deal was right I'd jump and buy another HP box (I was going to buy this one, which is why I reported it as OOS). I'm personally a lot less concerned with HP's withdrawal from the market as I am with the reliability of the device.
Member
Jun 22, 2003
432 posts
42 upvotes
I have a Lenovo D400 that is very similar to the Acer. I use it to record all my HD programming over 6 OTA tuners. It streams all my media to 3 locations and it seems to do it effortlessly. I have 6TB of drives and still have one drive bay to spare. It hasn't required a reboot since I installed it in Oct. 2010.

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