Building my own NAS for DLNA (V): Conclusions

Time to do some maths. Let's call

• H the number of hours a week you stream content (on average),
• I the power consumption while idling,
• S the power consumption while streaming,
• C the cost in cents of a kWh,

you can estimate your annual costs by 0.00052 x C x [S x H+I x (168-H)] (evaluate your numbers). In my analysis, I'll take 21 as the weekly hours I stream content and 16 as the cents a kWh (euro or dollars, it doesn't matter for the maths):

• Atom netbook would cost me 9.95 a year (without VAT)
• Pentium M notebook would cost me 11.88 a year (without VAT) .

The difference is minimal. Both machines fit the requirements, but no one can choose for you. If you have an old notebook at hand , I think it is worth bringing back to life and using it as an very customizable DLNA/NAS unit, as you will only need an external USB disk to keep up with the storage requirements. But its battery probable will almost be destroyed because of the years (mine only lasts 5 minutes with a full recharge...), so it'll be only useful to avoid micro electrical shortages (as it sometimes happens in my building).

On the other hand, if you plan to buy you can find an old notebook for about €120 but I'd go for a new Atom netbook: it already comes with 1GB of RAM, the battery is fresh so you can take it with you when travelling and it will have more value after some years.

Don't hesitate in sharing your results/opinions in the comment section.

Building my own NAS for DLNA (I)
Building my own NAS for DLNA (II): specs
Building my own NAS for DLNA (III): performance
Building my own NAS for DLNA (IV): CPU usage and power consumption
Building my own NAS for DLNA (V): Conclusions

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