Today’s a very busy day of Windows Home Server annoucements - let’s start with the big news.
HP are announcing today that their two HP Mediasmart Home Server systems, the 500Gb EX470
, circuitcity.com and compusa.com. These retailers will be shipping units in late November, at which point other retailers will also be stocking the unit.The prices of the systems have been confirmed as previously leaked:
EX470 (500Gb): $599
EX475 (1Tb): $749
Circuit City CompUSA and Amazon jumped the gun slightly by opening up pre-orders over the weekend. circuitcity.com opened up on Saturday at the $599/$749 pricing, whilst eagle-eyed shoppers on Sunday could pre-order at amazon.com at a discounted $535 for the Ex470 and $670 for the EX475. compusa.com snuck in on Sunday evening with the EX470 pre-ordering at $599. At the time of writing, buy.com did not have the units listed.
HP also mentioned their call with me last week that a small number of offline retailers will also be stocking the units in store from early December. You’ll find them in Fry’s Electronics and CompUSA before Xmas, with other retailers stocking them just after.
UK
The UK will be the first European country to get the Mediasmart Server - whilst we were initially expecting the UK to get stock in January, the great news is that PC World, John Lewis and Micro Anvika will all selling both models in early December. Online retailers other than HP’s own online store have not been confirmed in the UK at this point.
Pricing is (as expected) at a premium to the USA:
EX470: £399
EX475: £499
France and Spain
Users in France and Spain will be able to purchase the HP Mediasmart Server online from the end of January. I’ve asked for pricing but am still waiting for it from HP.
Germany
The picture for Germany is currently unclear - HP were a little evasive about this for some reason, and quoted localisation issues (which doesn’t appear to be a problem for France and Spain) but the plan is to look at Germany later in ‘08.
Specifications
If you want a quick reminder of the specifications, check out the latest HP Mediasmart Home Server datasheet.
So, for all of you that have been waiting patiently in the US to buy the HP Mediasmart Server, today’s the day - go get it! I’ll have a full review of the system up here at We Got Served soon.
November 5th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
Hi Terry,
first of all I am sorry for my very bad english yesterday night but I was somehow -nearly asleep… And now I am pretty angry that the HP will not be released quickly in Germany but that is obviously not your fault
Localisation issues does not count at all! If they wish someone to write a translation they cound have asked me and in general the special letters used here in Germany like ä Ö Ü ß do not make too much problems…
yours
lars
November 5th, 2007 at 4:17 pm
Hi Lars
Yes, I was surprised by the delays in Germany - there must be some good reasons, as I’m sure it would sell wll… maybe you need to come to the UK to visit before Xmas
Terry
November 5th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
Sweet
Two questions that I’ve had for a while now is, does the HP boxes support rebuilding the OS and/or installing a newer version of WHS when it inevitably comes out (beyond an over the top upgrade)? I’m guessing no since it doesn’t have a display port (to my knowledge anyway) but haven’t seen it mentioned one way or the other.
The other is, is the 4 terabyte limit a hard limit (i.e. hardware limitation) or something else. I don’t have a need for more than 4 Terabytes yet but with single disks now coming out at 1 TB along with that eSATA port on the back….
If you could answer my questions here or in the review it would be most appreciated
Bryant
November 5th, 2007 at 10:48 pm
Hi Terry,
Can you see if you can get some word on when these will hit Aussie shores. Even my HP rep (We spend about a million bucks a year direct with HP at work) says he hasn’t heard a thing.
Cheers
Shan
November 6th, 2007 at 12:23 am
Hello Terry,
I tried the Amazon.com link, but did not get any option to pre-order. Do you kno when that would be available?
Thanks, keep up the great web site.
Nick
November 6th, 2007 at 2:03 am
Hi Terry
Looking forward to your review. I previously asked you if you could check on the review unit if you can add RAM, any chance i can be a pain and ask if you can also see if there are any VGA headers on the mother board?
Cheers
November 6th, 2007 at 3:47 am
Hi Bryant
Yes, the system does definitely support reinstallation, although you’re right that this is a little complex as WHS units are headless. Basically, you’ll find a button on the server that puts the system into a “restore” state (there’s no DVD drive, so the unit restores from a partition on the hard drive), and you then access the server from one of your home computers to complete the installation.
With regard to your second question, I’ll have to double check, but I believe this is not a hardware limitation, but rather that there’s 4 internal hard drive bays, each of which can take a 1Tb drive. You can then add more external storage if need be!
Hope that helps
Terry
November 6th, 2007 at 4:26 am
Shan
Will check in on Aussie and NZ and get back to you…
Terry
November 6th, 2007 at 4:28 am
Hi Nick
Which link did you try? The all appear to be working fine and Amazon.com is definitely taking pre-orders!
Best
Terry
November 6th, 2007 at 9:10 pm
Hi Terry,
I tried again and they work. The 1TB version did not have the option to pre-piad. But, it’s working.
Thanks,
Nick