With a street price around $200 ($419.99 list), the LinkStation was one of the least expensive units I tested and easily offered the most features for the money. Fortunately, the more advanced features don't get in the way for users who just want the basics.

My test unit had a capacity of 320GB, but Buffalo also offers a 500GB model. Linkstation uses SATA drives with 1.5Gbit/sec. throughput. The bells and whistles start with four indicator lights on the front of the unit that indicate power, connectivity, errors and status message waiting (messages can be viewed from the management console).

Setting up is relatively painless, especially on the iMac, although the software installation process could be more straightforward. The enclosed Link Navigator installation disk walks the user through physically setting up the unit and connecting it to the network. It concludes by creating a desktop shortcut to the shared disk and installing the NAS Navigator configuration utility.

Link Navigator presents two options: "Connect LinkStation to Network" and "Connect LinkStation to PC." The former consists of the step-by-step pictorial that walks the user through the physical setup. The latter actually installs the software. If the user clicks on the "Connect LinkStation to Network" option first, he must know to circle back to the first screen and run "Connect LinkStation to PC" to complete the process.