Mediasonic SU2LA Dual Bay RAID + NAS Review

Packaging & Accessories


The box color scheme consists mainly of white, black and gray background with red highlights, all with basic black and white coloured text. It seems that MediaSonic like to keep things simple as this HUR1-based NAS came in box so similar to the ones we reviewed previously that unless you are very careful you may end up picking up the wrong box. The “quick and easy” way to tell them apart is by a colour coded sticker on the front lower corner which tells you what the enclosed box supports. In the case of the SU2LA model it was a blue sticker that proclaims its support for both RJ45 and USB. It is easy to understand why MediaSonic recycled nearly the exact same box from model to model, as it does keep art design costs low. This lowered cost is directly reflected in the impressively low MSRP. The downside to this re-use is that fact that it makes for a very confusing box. No one, especially busy moms whose mantra literally is “Time is more important than money”, might not want to purchase a NAS box just to find out when they get back to their home that they picked up the wrong model.


Yes MediaSonic does use little stickers to distinguish between its models and does have “NAS edition” up in right hand corner but in all truth a small sticker and an unobtrusive note just does not cut it in today’s busy marketplace. Mediasonic would have been much better off taking their neutral colour scheme and applying it in a more forthright manner. For example if they had left the "USB only" model’s box mainly white with black and gray background, the FireWire 800 model Black with a white and gray background, and the NAS box gray with black and white background; people would not have been confused over which box contains what model. While stickers are great for bringing attention to the box, their forte is certainly not helping people distinguish between similar yet highly specialized products. Or to put it bluntly leave the stickers for the kids' toys since they are ignored at best and gimmicky at worst. The same goes for the small unobtrusive note, instead of making a big deal over “RAID+” with “NAS edition” in a much smaller font, how about swapping the two? That would be a fairly quick, easy and workable solution if MediaSonic has their heart set on the one colour scheme “to rule them all” approach.


On the positive side the box is not only ascetically pleasing, but the box itself has a dearth of information plaster all over it to help first time buyers make an informed decision. In particular, the use pictograms on the back of the box were especially nice. These pictograms not only tell you what the different RAID levels are, it shows you in easy to understand “laymen’s terms” what a NAS is. Overall it’s a very nice box that advertises its contents fairly well; it is just too bad it is a near duplicate of the other models boxes.


The trend that started with the outside of the box continues to the inside. When you do open the box you are greeted with the exact same cardboard “split level” packaging scheme that was seen on the previous two HUR1 models. The top section is comprised solely of the plastic wrapped loosely placed HUR1-SU2LA box. When you remove both the SU2LA from the box and its cardboard divider you can see the accessories are loosely packed in the bottom of the box. Where this NAS is BYOD or “Bring Your Own Disk(s)” unit it does not contain any super sensitive electronics, so this packaging scheme is more than adequate to protect it from the occasional knock, bang and other typical sundries that happen in transit with shipping. Overall, this box is a fairly effective packaging scheme that should not require a secondary box for shipping long distance. Of course, there is no such thing as too much protection, so investing in secondary box wouldn’t not be a foolish investment if you are planning on shipping it.


Like most external storage enclosures, Mediasonic provides everything except the necessary hard drives.


The full list of accessories included is:

• USB 2.0 Cable
• RJ-45 Cable Cat 5 (10/100 Capable)
• AC Adapter 100V - 240V
• Power Cord
• CD for Manual & Software
• Screws for hard disk drive


Once again the list of accessories is very similar to what you get with the other two HUR1 models. This is not a bad thing as the quality level that was found to be very good on the previous models carries over to this model as well. The small screwdriver that we liked so much on the previous versions is included; it seems to have a hundred and one computer uses and having an extra spare is always nice. As mentioned in the previous review the screw driver is not a costly accessory but it’s the right size to make it extremely handy and it is always a welcome addition. The included network cable is a little on the short side yet still serviceable and its quality is actually a lot higher than one would expect for a NAS costing less than a good sized hard drive. The cable’s short length may or may not be an issue for you; it all depends on how close you had planned on placing the NAS box to your router / switch. In any event, premade cables are fairly cheap and are always a wise investment. One thing worth noting is that the cable is Cat 5, not Cat 5e. This is for the simple and yet frustrating reason that this unit only supports 10/100 connections. In this age of 1GB home networks this low limit of 12,500KB/s is going to severely limit its mass appeal as we will see later in the testing stages.


Overall the included accessories does leave one with a good first impression. However, just as with the previous models this unit also lacked installation instructions. The CD that comes with the enclosure includes fully diagramed installation instructions but having to print them off does not leave a good lasting impression. It is one thing to not include setup instructions for an external enclosure that is basically “plug and play” but it’s bordering on disrespectful to not include one in a NAS box that requires a secondary software installation to be able to use it. I say “disrespectful” because most NAS customers (even in this price range) are going to be average Joes who do not have an IT department to set things up for them. Regardless of whom this unit is targeted for, this oversight is at the very least frustrating.