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The MyCloud is an extremely useful box, especially when it comes to backup. But we can't help but think there's a missing link with that – we'd love to see the contents of our NAS drive being backed up to the actual cloud automatically for a fee. After all, if it was to get stolen along with your Mac, all your files would be completely gone. The Safepoint feature goes some way to limiting the problems of having a single volume NAS box with no internal backup, but unless you physically take the hard drive somewhere else – such as to work – there is still a risk of complete data loss, however small.
What we liked
Once it's set up, this is an easy-to-manage device that's accessible from virtually anywhere. It will handle the dual needs of backup and file storage and is a great place to keep media content and stream to iTunes or any other connected devices on your network. While it's decent for connecting to iOS, Android or Windows Phone devices on your own network (providing you've got stuff in the right format!), it's brilliant for use with multiple PCs or Macs and really sets you free from the mentality of having all your content on a single PC – providing, of course, you save all your content to the network drive instead of locally. An added bonus is that all the MyCloud apps (mobile or desktop) really enable you to share files effectively.
What we didn't like
There are still some gaps in the user experience – how would novices ever know they really should download the extra software for easy desktop access? For us, the dots aren't quite joined up. And if NAS is ever to break out of its prosumer bubble, people need more help than is provided here.
They need to know how the browser-based configuration interface, Windows Explorer/Finder view and additional software relate to one another. And that's before you get to the add-on backup software for PC. The mobile apps aren't that useful for watching downloaded video content or other files in unusual formats and as such are a bottleneck for content consumption.
The hardware is extremely capable, the software isn't quite there as yet.
Final verdict
Overall, this is a terrific home NAS device and the best currently available. Despite WD's protestations, there are still some problems with handholding through the setup process. Dots still need joining.
But we love the performance, the lack of noise and the price as well as the ability to get remote access. Because of media format support issues it remains of limited use for remotely streaming to a mobile device but for any PC or Mac it's a fantastic extra.
And it's brilliant for accessing and sharing non-media files on any device. We'd still like to see a way to get MyCloud backed up without having to get hold of a separate hard drive and doing it yourself. Backup is always best effective when it's automated.
