Cheapest NAS to transcode high bitrate Blu-Ray MKV files?

[Ja55ie]

Helllooo, I want to know what the cheapest option is if I want to be able to watch my Blu-Ray Rips (MKV) outside of the home. This would require the NAS being able to transode MKV files. I was looking at the Synology DS118 which looks like it would be a cheap options to watch videos via DS Video.

 

Are there any other recommendations one would have for a cheap NAS capable of transcoding Blu-Ray rips?

P.S., not really interested in PLEX anymore as I noticed it required much more horsepower (i.e. more expensive NAS) . I am fine with manufacturer's proprietary video streaming apps, like Synology's DS Video.

 

Any info/recommendations would help, thanks!

[unijab]

I would ensure that your media server can transcode.... wouldnt worry about the NAS system.

 

Meaning I would recommend to separate those roles to different systems.

[Theguywhobea]

If Synology makes the software and advertises it as capable on that system then yes I would expect it to work.

 

It wouldn't work in Plex though, but sounds like you don't want to use Plex anyways.

[Ja55ie]

4 minutes ago, Theguywhobea said:

If Synology makes the software and advertises it as capable on that system then yes I would expect it to work.

 

It wouldn't work in Plex though, but sounds like you don't want to use Plex anyways.

Yes I was thinking the same thing, if the specs say it should be able to then I would assume then it could BUT I did the same thing with my Western Digital My Cloud Home. It was advertised as being able to use Plex but it can't even handle MKV files in my own network! It also was very stuttery when streaming outside my network too. This was why I was sorta hesitant about trusting specifications.   

[Ja55ie]

20 minutes ago, unijab said:

I would ensure that your media server can transcode.... wouldnt worry about the NAS system.

 

Meaning I would recommend to separate those roles to different systems.

Can you elaborate on this a bit more? Wouldn't the media server and NAS be the same system? 

[Theguywhobea]

Just now, Ja55ie said:

Yes I was thinking the same thing, if the specs say it should be able to then I would assume then it could BUT I did the same thing with my Western Digital My Cloud Home. It was advertised as being able to use Plex but it can't even handle MKV files in my own network! It also was very stuttery when streaming outside my network too. This was why I was sorta hesitant about trusting specifications.   

Well if you look up the Realtek chipset these NAS's are using none of them officially support Plex, you can put it on there though but only some parts work. If you want a more mature system for transcoding videos, buy a NAS with an Intel CPU. Or use a separate device to stream your media and just have that device pull the files from your NAS.

[Mikensan]

Cheapest? Your desktop/laptop that you already have.

[Ja55ie]

9 minutes ago, Theguywhobea said:

Well if you look up the Realtek chipset these NAS's are using none of them officially support Plex, you can put it on there though but only some parts work. If you want a more mature system for transcoding videos, buy a NAS with an Intel CPU. Or use a separate device to stream your media and just have that device pull the files from your NAS.

Ah I see, well I think the DS118's Realtek chipset now does support Plex (after an update). So maybe I should just stick with that one. Since it does officially support plex I guess I should be fine with that system there. When you say separate device, do you mean something like an Android Box and DLNA? 

[Ja55ie]

8 minutes ago, Mikensan said:

Cheapest? Your desktop/laptop that you already have.

Yeah, my PC is upstairs and is on wifi so I don't think it'll be best for that. Thank you though. 

[Theguywhobea]

8 minutes ago, Ja55ie said:

Ah I see, well I think the DS118's Realtek chipset now does support Plex (after an update). So maybe I should just stick with that one. Since it does officially support plex I guess I should be fine with that system there. When you say separate device, do you mean something like an Android Box and DLNA? 

Like, buy a small intel based computer like a NUC. Even the lower end Intel CPU's support hardware accelerated encoding.

[Mikensan]

18 minutes ago, Ja55ie said:

Yeah, my PC is upstairs and is on wifi so I don't think it'll be best for that. Thank you though. 

 

Wifi won't effect how well it encodes, only how fast you upload to the internet. Do a speed test (fast.com or speedtest.org) and if your upload is 10mbs+ you are fast enough for most 1080p.

 

 

[Ja55ie]

1 hour ago, Theguywhobea said:

Like, buy a small intel based computer like a NUC. Even the lower end Intel CPU's support hardware accelerated encoding.

Yeah maybe i'll look into using my old laptop. Thank you very much. 

[Ja55ie]

1 hour ago, Mikensan said:

 

Wifi won't effect how well it encodes, only how fast you upload to the internet. Do a speed test (fast.com or speedtest.org) and if your upload is 10mbs+ you are fast enough for most 1080p.

 

 

Ahh I see. Thank you very much for your suggestion. I'll look into that. 

[GuruOfNothing]

11 hours ago, Ja55ie said:

I want to know what the cheapest option is if I want to be able to watch my Blu-Ray Rips (MKV) outside of the home.

A small external hard drive. Works even without internet!!! What has this world come to? Truly a first world country problem.

Edited March 16, 2019 by GuruOfNothing
Not enough snarkiness included in original post

[DezGalbie]

3 hours ago, GuruOfNothing said:

A small external hard drive. Works even without internet!!! What has this world come to? Truly a first world country problem.

Well, depending upon how many rips he has and what capacity they are in total, that may not be the cheapest option.

It may not even be a feasible option at all (irrespective of cost).

[Ja55ie]

8 hours ago, DezGalbie said:

Well, depending upon how many rips he has and what capacity they are in total, that may not be the cheapest option.

It may not even be a feasible option at all (irrespective of cost).

It's more of a convenience factor. If I'm out of town or something I would still wanna stream media from without having to remember to always haul around a hard drive. If I went with a hard drive I would need one for my phone, my tablet, my pc, my tv, my laptop, etc. 

[GuruOfNothing]

9 hours ago, Ja55ie said:

It's more of a convenience factor. If I'm out of town or something I would still wanna stream media from without having to remember to always haul around a hard drive. If I went with a hard drive I would need one for my phone, my tablet, my pc, my tv, my laptop, etc. 

Just busting your chops:-) I live in an area that has worse than crap internet and I have 30 TB of media I can't access unless I cart it around on a drive. It's just funny to hear someone looking for a solution to allow them untethered, cheap and simple streaming options when so many others can't get the weather without looking out the window to get it.LOL Wasn't intended to be mean or anything. I didn't realize how complicated my technologically powered life was until I move to a rural area that forced me to disconnect from the world in any fast way.