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In the box you’ll find the LinkStation, a power cable, a flat Ethernet cable, a quick setup guide and a CD with the utilities and manuals. Despite the small dimensions, the LinkStation has an internal power supply so there’s no extra power brick laying around under your desk.

Buffalo has definitely come up with a good idea with the LinkStation, but as the man in the Grolsch adverts says, it’s not quite ready yet. It just feels as if the LinkStation hasn’t quite made it out of the R&D lab and it needs a little more tidying up and polishing before being presented to an eager audience. Of course this isn’t far from the truth, and hopefully the updated firmware will address most of the issues I had with this early unit.

There’s no denying that many home or even small office networks could benefit from a device like the LinkStation. The ability to share files without all the PCs being switched on is compelling enough, but the ability to turn an inexpensive printer into a network printer that requires no PC host will make the LinkStation even more attractive. It certainly looks the part and is small and unobtrusive enough to fit onto your desk without getting in the way.

I did want to review the LinkStation with the new firmware installed but I’ve been waiting a very long time now. If I do get my hands on a unit that’s flashed with the new firmware I’ll update this review with the changes that it implements.

At £233.83, the LinkStation isn’t particularly cheap. After all, you can buy a network print server and a 120GB external hard disk for around £150. However, you still wouldn’t have network storage and both devices would not be inside one, stylish little box.

I do like the LinkStation, and if you can get through the somewhat obscure setup it will pretty much do what it’s supposed to do. It could definitely be improved upon with support for FAT and multiple printers, but I guess I’ll have to wait for the LinkStation 2 to see that.

Verdict

The LinkStation isn't perfect, but once setup it’s a very useful piece of kit for the home or small office user. If Buffalo can iron out all the wrinkles and add support for multiple printers and other USB devices, the LinkStation would definitely be a winner.

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