is 2-bay Synology DS223J a good buy

iPhone 256GB out of space
and i stop sub iCloud/Google Photo

Trying to let go of my PC.

Which synology model would you suggest to stream Plex locally at home and able to download torrents without PC ?

This post has been edited by Chiggah: Oct 5 2025, 06:41 PM

Get a Plus Series model. J model the processor is too weak for some apps. Avoid Plus Series models released in 2025 and onwards as it locked the device to only Synology own HDD which is a lot more expensive than other brand HDD.


Same as above. Get a Plus Series model. Avoid Plus Series models released in 2025 and onwards as it locked the device to only Synology own HDD which is a lot more expensive than other brand HDD.

which specific model can recommend? im actually on tight budget
looking for 2 bays only
or should i go the beestation? but its hdd cant be replaced

This post has been edited by chupapi_munyayo: Oct 5 2025, 10:27 PM

I checked Lazada and Shopee, it's actually hard to find Plus Series model year 2024 and older. I guess everyone been buying the older model and avoid 2025 model.

Another option is to buy second hand. Year 2020 and above should be okay.

Beestation is no difference than J model. Only good for transferring files in and out of the NAS. If you want to do more processor intensive stuff such as cataloguing the photos or using Synology word/spreadsheet app, it will be slow.

Don't forget if your photos only at the NAS, then it is not a backup. You only have a backup when the photo/file have 2 copies or more at separate device. Read more about 3-2-1 backup rule for protection of your data.

last month, nascompares posted a workaround that lets you use any drive with the 2025 synology nas. i haven’t tested it myself since i don’t own one, but based on the comments, it appears to work for most users. it’s unclear if synology will patch this in future updates, so proceed with caution.

Thanks. Is there a guide to download torrents from nas without any use of PC ?

Do I need to install docker?

And does it need to be an Intel x86 processor for transcoding or not necessary?

This post has been edited by Chiggah: Oct 6 2025, 05:04 PM

Synology's Download Station can also download torrents. You need to port forward the necessary port.
Most router these days also support download torrent, I think it will be better to use router than opening port to your NAS, reduce the risk of exposing the NAS to internet.

For hardware transcoding you need Intel CPU suuch as J4125, but I'm not sure how Plex handle it these days. Might need Plex pass for hardware transcoding. Recently Synology also remove the ability for the NAS to use hardware transcoding on it's app, don't know if that have any impact on Plex and hardware transcoding.

Are you already using Plex now? It can have a lot troubleshooting when something is not right, such as wrong setting that causes it to do transcoding just because subtitle format in SSA or something. If playback 4k and because of the transcode, the video is uncompressed and if you stream from Wi-Fi then not enough bandwidth. I'm using Jellyfin and encounter these problems but I believe Plex also will have same issue. It will be more easier if the NAS doesn't need to do any transcode, just stream the media.

if u use a desktop pc, u merely point the torrent client to the NAS location. simple.

But if you just want the NAS to run the torrent client directly, then you can install torrent client app. A docker container is one example for doing so.

There a number of torrent clients. there's rtorrent, and among others.

This client will have a web interface, which you can access via the web browser and the apps lan ip for the app.


If you want automation, you can setup the RSS feed, and filter what it is you want to download based on the triggers. This gets a bit more complicated, and depends on how good that torrent client is for this sort of thing. I use tixati on desktop, it can do this fine tuning. But i don't use it directly on NAS.


A bit outdated but if you check reddit you may find something similar. where they use a combination of docker containers like sonarr, radarr (i dont know the latest people use. i dont download much torrent myself haha)
https://www.reddit.com/r/synology/comments/...torrent_guides/


why exactly do you need transcoding for?

When you transcode the original, you are only destroying the quality making it worse. I can get it if you want to make file size smaller, in that case stick to sources that use smaller file sizes. no need to retranscode yourself.

One application for live transcoding, is you keep the original content, but you live transcode to a client device like a smartphone, off site, if your internet speed not good enough.

But if you are on local lan, you can use wifi and stream the original source e.g. 1080p and it will work fine assuming your wifi is good.

for media playback, mxplayer with ffmpeg codec on smartphone can play back most content without issue. this is why transcoding not really needed much.

So ask yourself again, what exactly are you needing transcoding for exactly?


FYI i've used transcoding with graphics card, or cpu, for live transcoding in NAS. So i've used it myself and understand it's usage.Like i said, there is a use, mostly for the limited internet speed offsite, so a live transcode to reduce the transmission speed needed, to make it a smoother experience. Or if the client device lacks the format support (these days support is good for modern hardware however). Some people just outright transcode to make permanent file change to reduce file size, but i feel this is a terrible idea since it destroys the quality of the original (better off downloading lower file size for the content to avoid RE-transcoding and ruining quality, or to re-encode direct from source. Or better yet get more storage space )



even if u dont use a pc, u still need some what to access the torrent client on the NAS via the web interface to set your settings or whatever right? who doesn't have a pc these days. But the main advantage is u can not have your pc running, and let your nas be the only device on, and let it seed or download torrent. so one less machine needing to be on over night i guess.



This post has been edited by Moogle Stiltzkin: Oct 7 2025, 09:36 AM

Synology comes to its senses, removes all HDD limitations from 2025 DiskStation models

https://www.androidcentral.com/accessories/...kstation-models

Synology Hard Drive Support MASSIVE U-TURN in DSM 7.3



SYNOLOGY Allowing THIRD PARTY DRIVES AGAIN - DSM 7.3 UPDATE



This post has been edited by incognitroll: Oct 8 2025, 12:33 PM

Good news! But I wonder how much damage has been done and how many consumer that still wary of Synology and buy other brand in case this thing happened again in future.


There's a nuance. New buyer of 2025 Plus model need to update DSM to v7.3 then only they can use HDD that is not in the compatibility list, but they cannot install HDD that is not in the compatibility list if the DSM is not v7.3

New buyer need to ask seller to update the DSM to v7.3 before ships out the NAS then they can use HDD that is not in the compatibility list.

but trust is easily destroyed, and hard to earn back.

point is the damage is done. who wants to trust them when this is what they do? clearly they will throw their customers under the bus.

did they ever fire the person in charge who came up with this idea and the boss of that person who gave the greenlight? probably not


but i guess good reprieve for existing synology users.

This post has been edited by Moogle Stiltzkin: Oct 9 2025, 06:22 AM

i plan to buy nas..is this UGREEN NASync DXP2800 good?can share some review

This post has been edited by keaizer: Oct 10 2025, 12:33 PM

And where can i get 16TB drive locally?2 seller i ask only have 8 and 10TB

I notice amazon offer free shipping for WD Red PRO,but if anything happen can claim warranty here?

This post has been edited by keaizer: Oct 10 2025, 12:22 PM

Unless its stated global warranty covered, its normally that local warranty will only cover products from local official distros & resellers.

I'm looking at this too, and the Synology BeeStation.
What hold me back is, I appreciate the search function of Google Photo.
UGreen claims that DXP2800 is powered by AI and supports semantic search, not sure how good the performance is, hope that anyone who has this function for either one of them can share the experience.

this function also available at synology right?

After what Synology tried to do their customer base, I think new buyers should be wary before committing to their ecosystem. Sure they have corrected this for now. But will they try luck again, nobody can be certain.

Recognition & classification and duplicate image function already have in Synology. Semantic search don't have.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/synology-back...theres-a-catch/

But there is a catch that remains, one that Synology buried in a footnote to the announcement of the change. And this is that while third-party HDDs and SSDs are now allowed, users who want to install M.2 drives for either storage or caching will still have to buy Synology-branded M.2 drives. 

Whether this is permanent or if this limitation will be lifted in the future remains to be seen.