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Given the sheer size of the universe I find it highly unlikely that we're the only planet with life on it, in fact I personally believe there are almost certainly aliens out there somewhere but until we have any tangible evidence that they exist it's little more than an intriguing theory. Nor am I really sure if any of the "UFO" sightings on Earth were actual aliens or not.

Have you seen one? I mean really you seen one not your friends not the guys on TV.

Yes.

I have always found it weird that people don't believe in Aliens.

There's Billions, no mopre than Trillions and Trillions of stars out there, which are suns of other solar systems, and of course many many many would have life.

It's plain stupid to even doubt life on other planets.

Even in our own solar system there's more than likely life on the other planets. Just cuz we couldn't live on them, doesn't mean some other species couldn't.

Are people really that retarded? It doesn't even make sense to think that we're the only ones around.

There's way more proof that aliens exist than God, but it's alright to believe in God, but you're considered crazy if you believe in Aliens, go figure.

This is because the gods of Science have not pronounced other intelligent life as true.

And so few humans are able to think for themselves. ;)

Given the vastness of the universe it seems almost a statistical certainty that there is life on other planets and likely plenty of it. Given "life" can include anything from microbes to more complex species I question the sanity of anyone who flatly denies even the possibility of that occurring somewhere else besides the Earth. In the same breath, there are likely to be countless beings infinitely more advanced than us too.

Do we have "evidence" yet. Not in plain sight. If you believe in UFOs and Roswell and all that then fine but if it's true it's currently hidden.

I think the issue would be even if "evidence" was forthcoming, "luddites" wouldn't stand for it or would attempt to discredit it. If Mr Spock himself landed in the middle the Super Bowl and proceeded to cut himself open and bleed green blood you'd get people saying "fake".

How many times have we laughed at the guy who calls himself Jesus Christ who hath returned! Even if it was in front of our faces we'd likely be too dumb as a collective to see it.

This is because the gods of Science have not pronounced other intelligent life as true.

And so few humans are able to think for themselves. ;)

Because science deals with observable truths, not wild fantasies.

Just because I don't believe in aliens doesn't mean I'm a mindless drone, get off your high horse.

  • Like 2

Because science deals with observable truths, not wild fantasies.

Men of science are just as capable of having their own personal biases as anyone else. Every new theory is shot down to hades and back and science has a big row until it's proven beyond belief and they have to except it.

Men of science are just as capable of having their own personal biases as anyone else. Everything new theory is shot down to hades and back and science has a big row until it's proven beyond belief and they have to except it.

In English please

Second, if you have evidence, then by all means post it. I see you suggesting there is but don't bother to post a single shred of it. Third, evidence in the court of law is by far no where the same as scientific evidence for proving X. For example, in a court room a witness can testify to seeing something and have that counted as evidence. In science, first hand eye witness testimony is not considered viable evidence.

Wrong the burden of proof is on those that say there is proof to begin with. Again odds are there is life beyond Earth, I believe this highly but the simple FACT is, we currently do not have proof. As for atoms, electrons and so on, at one point, we had theories of such but we didn't have the proof. Over time proof was gathered, it may have always been there but it wasn't known and wasn't within our reach to gather it. So in a sense if there is proof of alien life, we just don't currently have it. So unless you can provide said evidence, then you're talking out of your ass by saying there is a wealth of it.

In all fairness there is as much proof of alien existence as there is for god, which is none. The odds say we are not alone, given the vast size of space and the amount of stars and planets. We know the materials for life exists elsewhere. We know life "can" exist off planet Earth. We DO NOT how ever have evidence of alien life itself. So while it is astronomically silly to think we are the only planet with life, as of yet, we are the only planet that we know for sure that has it.

No where do I deny the probability or likelihood of the existence of alien life, I deny that proof or evidence for it currently exists.

As for your tree example. You have evidence of a tree, you have evidence that it fell, what remains is the how. The bigger picture is that you still have evidence, even if it's partial. There is no evidence for alien life, period.

I see your challenge of evidence, but please, in return do me the favor of seeing this challenge...

You state that there is the probability, likelihood, odds, that you believe this highly, to the point of otherwise being silly, that alien life exists. Yet you state over and over that there is no evidence and/or proof. How is it not irrational to be so sure of something while at the same time claiming to have no evidence? How is it not unreasonable to advocate an opinion or position while also advocating a lack of evidence for that same position? How can you have an opinion without any information about it's subject? How can you speak to an issue with authority, declaring that there is no evidence, without being well informed on that issue?

Because of some of your other statements, I'd normally give you the benefit of the doubt. Maybe you just misspoke several times, maybe you got confused about what constitutes evidence and proof in a court of law or in the scientific method. However, because of some of your other comments I'd take you to task for an explanation of this.

Being intellectually honest, reasonable, and rational, you must admit that something you know has led you to a conclusion. It is irrational and unreasonable to draw a conclusion that is based upon no evidence. It is also unreasonable and irrational to claim that although you have somehow convinced yourself of a conclusion in a logical manner, that someone else who has come to the same conclusion cannot have evidence to support that conclusion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proof_(truth)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evidence

Ok first off, you attempt to use another example that already contains proof of it's existence, the sun and the Earth. The evidence of both is there readily available to all.

The point here was lost completely? The Earth and Sun were known to exist in the 17th century, of course, but the fact of heliocentricity was extremely controversial. If someone asked Galileo for proof of heliocentricity, he would show them celestial observations and mathematical equations. There was no definitive proof like a picture or a video or a trip to space to watch. It was circumstantial evidence.

Evidence as used in a court of law and in the scientific method

You're correct that eye witness testimony is highly fallible and not used in the scientific method as it is in a court of law. Fortunately, I won't need to call anyone to the stand. The most plentiful type of evidence used in science, which is also extremely common in law, is circumstantial evidence.

On its own, it is the nature of circumstantial evidence for more than one explanation to still be possible. Inference from one piece of circumstantial evidence may not guarantee accuracy. Circumstantial evidence usually accumulates into a collection, so that the pieces then become corroborating evidence. Together, they may more strongly support one particular inference over another. An explanation involving circumstantial evidence becomes more valid as proof of a fact when the alternative explanations have been ruled out.

Circumstantial evidence allows a trier of fact to deduce a fact exists.[1] In criminal law, the inference is made by the trier of facts in order to support the truth of assertion (of guilt or absence of guilt).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumstantial_evidence

Example: The weight of the Earth is calculated using the gravitational constant and the distance to the center of the Earth. No one actually put it on a scale that had been tested for accuracy. It was measured indirectly by circumstantial evidence.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-can-the-weight-of-ear

Example: Most of planets found to exist outside of our solar system have been determined to exist by measuring the fluctuations in light of it's host star, or using gravitational lensing. It is most certainly determined by circumstantial evidence.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methods_of_detecting_extrasolar_planets

Evidence, wealth

In order for the concept that life is common and abundant in the galaxy to be a valid position, these conditions would logically need to be met.

1: Planets must exist outside of the solar system.

2: There must be a significant amount of Earth-like planets where life can take hold and thrive.

3: The materials that create life should be abundant and wide spread throughout the galaxy.

4: Life must not be fragile, but rather able to survive robustly in harsh environments.

5: If life is not an aberration on Earth, there should be evidence that the processes of the Universe create the possibility for life in the same way those processes create the possibility for galaxies, stars, and planets.

Facts, quotes, links

1-2 Planets must exist outside of our solar system and Earth-like planets should be abundant

One or more bound planets per Milky Way star from microlensing observations

Here we report a statistical analysis of microlensing data (gathered in 2002?07) that reveals the fraction of bound planets 0.5?10?au (Sun?Earth distance) from their stars. We find that of stars host Jupiter-mass planets (0.3?10?MJ, where MJ = 318?Mcircle plus and Mcircle plus is Earth?s mass). Cool Neptunes (10?30?Mcircle plus) and super-Earths (5?10?Mcircle plus) are even more common: their respective abundances per star are and .

Recently, a population of planets that are unbound or very far from their stars was discovered by microlensing. These planets are at least as numerous as the stars in the Milky Way.

We conclude that stars are orbited by planets as a rule, rather than the exception.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v481/n7380/full/nature10684.html

Many Billions of Rocky Planets in Habitable Zones Around Red Dwarfs in Milky Way

"Our new observations with HARPS mean that about 40% of all red dwarf stars have a super-Earth orbiting in the habitable zone where liquid water can exist on the surface of the planet," says Xavier Bonfils (IPAG, Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble, France), the leader of the team. "Because red dwarfs are so common -- there are about 160 billion of them in the Milky Way -- this leads us to the astonishing result that there are tens of billions of these planets in our galaxy alone."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120328090937.htm

There are estimated to be 200-400 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy. Some stars probably don't have any planets, and some stars probably have more than the eight planets of our Sun. Most stars have at least one planet.

A conservative compromise of these estimates and the evidence is that there are around one trillion planets in the Milky Way galaxy orbiting stars. This assumes that there are around 300 billion stars in the galaxy and an average of almost 3.5 planets for every star.

This is a trillion planets. Most planets probably don't have the properties that we would consider to be conducive to life. Though, life could just as easily take hold on a moon of a giant planet, like Jupiter. Consider that Jupiter has 63 and that Saturn has 62 known moons.

3-5 The materials that create life should be abundant and wide spread throughout the galaxy. There should be evidence that the processes of the Universe naturally create the possibility for life.

Complex Organic Matter Discovered Created by Stars Throughout the Universe

Physicists Freeman Dyson has said that it appears as though the Universe was anticipating our existence. A recent discovery seems to support his observation: In 2011, astronomers discovered that organic compounds of unexpected complexity exist throughout the Universe, suggesting that complex organic compounds are not the sole domain of life but can be made naturally by stars.

Most interestingly, this organic star dust is similar in structure to complex organic compounds found in meteorites. Since meteorites are remnants of the early Solar System, the findings raise the possibility that stars enriched the early Solar System with organic compounds. The early Earth was subjected to severe bombardments by comets and asteroids, which potentially could have carried organic star dust.

http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2012/02/complex-organic-matter-discovered-to-be-created-by-stars-throughout-the-universe.html

This complex organic matter exists in vast molecular clouds in space, such as nebulae.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molecular_cloud

Found: A Batch of DNA Molecules That Seem To Have Originated in Space

This is big news, of course, because if the ingredients for life were brought here from some external source, there?s always the possibility that the same thing has happened elsewhere in the universe--possibly many times over.

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-08/building-blocks-life-can-originate-space

NASA Researchers: DNA Building Blocks Can Be Made in Space

"People have been discovering components of DNA in meteorites since the 1960's, but researchers were unsure whether they were really created in space or if instead they came from contamination by terrestrial life," said Dr. Michael Callahan of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

"For the first time, we have three lines of evidence that together give us confidence these DNA building blocks actually were created in space." Callahan is lead author of a paper on the discovery appearing in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/dna-meteorites.html

Possible Key to Life's Chemistry Revealed in 50 Year Old Experiment

"(Early life) didn't care if that amino acid was formed in space or a lightning strike in Earth's atmosphere or came out of a hydrothermal vent? So in the end, it is possible life got started from acquiring building blocks from a wide variety of sources."

"At some level, the universe seems to be hard-wired to create amino acids, provided you have the right elements present and energy," (Scott Sandford, a research scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center in California) said.

http://www.livescience.com/13339-primordial-soup-chemistry-reaction-amino-acids-life.html

4 Life should not be fragile, but rather robust and able to thrive in extremely harsh environments

Methanogens are unique among organisms in their ability to survive a wide range of temperatures, from the freezing point of water to 185 degrees Fahrenheit and everything in between.

Some of these hardy organisms also live in oxygen-starved environments, without sunlight or carbon, and scientists believe that studying these microbes could reveal the boundaries of extreme environments that support life here on Earth and on other planets.

http://www.genomenewsnetwork.org/articles/07_03/extremo.shtml

The National Science Foundation (NSF) supported an extremophile sampling expedition to Loihi in 1999. Microbial mats, including a never before seen jelly-like organism surrounding the 160?C vents were collected for incubation and study at the Marine Bioproducts Engineering Center.

http://www.research.noaa.gov/spotlite/archive/spot_loihi.html

Odds of Alien Life on Newly Spotted Exoplanet Are "100 Percent" Says Its Discoverer

Steven Vogt, a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz, said he had "almost no doubt" (which seems slightly different than 100 percent sure) that life exists on Gliese 581g, an exoplanet Vogt and colleagues discovered via the Keck Observatory that is orbiting in the "habitable zone" surrounding the red dwarf Gliese 581.

Vogt's statement might make for a bold prediction -- especially given the number of life-bearing planets we've found thus far -- but his statement is more an endorsement for the persistence of life than a declaration that he's found it elsewhere in the galaxy. "Personally, given the ubiquity and propensity of life to flourish wherever it can, I would say, my own personal feeling is that the chances of life on this planet are 100 percent," Vogt said to reporters.

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-09/researcher-says-chances-life-newly-discovered-exoplanet-100-percent

A breakdown of this wealth of evidence

1: Complex organic matter is made in space, and drifts in clouds in stellar nurseries.

2: DNA and amino acids are created in comets and asteroids.

3: Amino acids can also be created with the basic chemicals and conditions found on newly formed planets in varied ways.

4: The ingredients that we know are needed for life are abundant and widespread throughout the Universe.

5: The number of Earth-like planets for life to take root on or in is a fittingly astronomical number, on the order of tens of billions.

6: Life is not fragile, and is often found to exist in conditions that were once thought impossible.

7: Life doesn't have many requirements to exist, and those few requirements are met with abundance in the Universe.

8: As some of the scientists quoted have stated, it seems that the conditions and processes of the Universe are configured in a way that naturally creates life in abundance, just as it is configured in a way that naturally creates stars and planets in an abundance.

Our galaxy is thought to be around 13 billion years old. Life evolved on Earth around 3.5 billion years ago. Humans have evolved only within the last 7 million years, (150,000-200,000 years for homo-sapiens). Life in the galaxy has (and has had) time on it's side.

No one piece of this evidence is decisive, and taken as a whole it is not even decisive to the degree needed for a scientific proof. However, given this collection of evidence, it is very difficult to hold a reasonable doubt as to the existence of alien life.

That all builds up for a nice theory, something Im not in dispute with. I don't disagree that all the ingredients for life is there. I don't disagree that all the proper places or environments for life to survive is there. What I do disagree with is that there is actual evidence of life itself.

If you have a pan filled with all the cake ingredients mixed together and you have the oven set to 350 and it's ready to be thrown in, just because the outcome will be a cake, doesn't make it a cake just yet. It's not a cake til it's done cooking.

What you have listed above is akin to having all the proper ingredients and (what we believe to be) the proper tools and materials needed to make life. One of the key problems is, science still doesn't know how life is made. Some think life started in the primordial ocean vents, others are now saying it started on land and not in the oceans. We don't really know how it starts so we are kind of missing the oven. You can have all your ingredients but you can't make your life cake if you don't have the proper oven.

So pointing out evidence of the stuff that makes up life, is still not evidence of life. There is a wealth of evidence for the "stuff", there is none for actual life.

FYI that last article " Odds of Alien Life on Newly Spotted Exoplanet Are "100 Percent" Says Its Discoverer" is a bit silly. From this line "my own personal feeling is that the chances of life on this planet are 100 percent", to this "Steven Vogt, a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz, said he had "almost no doubt" (which seems slightly different than 100 percent sure) that life exists on Gliese 581g".

That all builds up for a nice theory, something Im not in dispute with. I don't disagree that all the ingredients for life is there. I don't disagree that all the proper places or environments for life to survive is there. What I do disagree with is that there is actual evidence of life itself.

If you have a pan filled with all the cake ingredients mixed together and you have the oven set to 350 and it's ready to be thrown in, just because the outcome will be a cake, doesn't make it a cake just yet. It's not a cake til it's done cooking.

What you have listed above is akin to having all the proper ingredients and (what we believe to be) the proper tools and materials needed to make life. One of the key problems is, science still doesn't know how life is made. Some think life started in the primordial ocean vents, others are now saying it started on land and not in the oceans. We don't really know how it starts so we are kind of missing the oven. You can have all your ingredients but you can't make your life cake if you don't have the proper oven.

So pointing out evidence of the stuff that makes up life, is still not evidence of life. There is a wealth of evidence for the "stuff", there is none for actual life.

FYI that last article " Odds of Alien Life on Newly Spotted Exoplanet Are "100 Percent" Says Its Discoverer" is a bit silly. From this line "my own personal feeling is that the chances of life on this planet are 100 percent", to this "Steven Vogt, a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz, said he had "almost no doubt" (which seems slightly different than 100 percent sure) that life exists on Gliese 581g".

Still here, you claim there is no evidence. You criticize only the lowest hanging fruit of the evidence you claimed I didn't have. You were screaming for evidence, yet you offer nothing but uninformed opinions and criticisms while slipping by without any facts or evidence of your own.

It would be quite astonishing to see you research and post evidence contradicting something that you "believe highly", all the while claiming that you still are quite sure that aliens do exist.

I can't have a conversation with you if you cannot assume responsibility and explain your previous gross errors of logic and reason that I quoted in my post. If they are any indication of how you process and analyze information, which now seems likely, it is pointless.

Nothing is more aggravating than someone who talks as if they know what they are talking about, but actually knows as much about the subject as I know about karate, being the expert on the original Karate Kid that I am. Possibly the only thing more intellectually immature is to ignore your mistakes and/or not admit when you were wrong. That's what I define as "talking out of your ass", to use your own verbage.

Still here, you claim there is no evidence. You criticize only the lowest hanging fruit of the evidence you claimed I didn't have. You were screaming for evidence, yet you offer nothing but uninformed opinions and criticisms while slipping by without any facts or evidence of your own.

It would be quite astonishing to see you research and post evidence contradicting something that you "believe highly", all the while claiming that you still are quite sure that aliens do exist.

I can't have a conversation with you if you cannot assume responsibility and explain your previous gross errors of logic and reason that I quoted in my post. If they are any indication of how you process and analyze information, which now seems likely, it is pointless.

You're the one claiming evidence exists, not me. I don't need to offer counter evidence to your non existent evidence, you need to provide actual evidence of life given it's your claim. You want to use building blocks as evidence for the building itself. You ignore the fact that the building, in this case life, doesn't even have a proper blueprint for how exactly it's put together in the first place to actually start the life. For the record, not a single link you provided claimed to be evidence of life. Evidence of the building blocks but not of life itself.

If there is evidence of life, where are the articles and peer reviewed studies that back up that claim? Where are the scientist that are shouting "look at my work, it proves that we are not alone in the universe"? Where is the scientific data that is agreed upon as showing alien life exists? Oh that's right, that doesn't exist either.

No wonder you can't have a conversation, you are in denial. You want to believe so bad that you take a few puzzle pieces as if it were a completed puzzle.

Nothing is more aggravating than someone who talks as if they know what they are talking about, but actually knows as much about the subject as I know about karate, being the expert on the original Karate Kid that I am. Possibly the only thing more intellectually immature is to ignore your mistakes and/or not admit when you were wrong. That's what I define as "talking out of your ass", to use your own verbage.

Get mirror, look into mirror, repeat lines, wake up.

Again I don't doubt life exists, I doubt that we currently have evidence for said life. When you want to provide evidence and not some "I have some flour and sugar which equates to a cake" bit, then Ill be more then willing to agree. Til then you don't have proper evidence that constitutes as evidence for alien life, period.

You're the one claiming evidence exists, not me. I don't need to offer counter evidence to your non existent evidence, you need to provide actual evidence of life given it's your claim. You want to use building blocks as evidence for the building itself. You ignore the fact that the building, in this case life, doesn't even have a proper blueprint for how exactly it's put together in the first place to actually start the life.

If there is evidence of life, where are the articles and peer reviewed studies that back up that claim? Where are the scientist that are shouting "look at my work, it proves that we are not alone in the universe"? Where is the scientific data that is agreed upon as showing alien life exists? Oh that's right, that doesn't exist either.

No wonder you can't have a conversation, you are in denial. You want to believe so bad that you take a few puzzle pieces as if it were a completed puzzle.

Get mirror, look into mirror, repeat lines, wake up.

Again I don't doubt life exists, I doubt that we currently have evidence for said life. When you want to provide evidence and not some "I have some flour and sugar which equates to a cake" bit, then Ill be more then willing to agree. Til then you don't have proper evidence that constitutes as evidence for alien life, period.

I didn't think you'd attempt to explain the logic of advocating an opinion at the same time as denying that any evidence exists to support your opinion. Or, offer any evidence to support your own claim, as you demanded of another.

Pathetic...

I didn't think you'd attempt to explain the logic of advocating an opinion at the same time as denying that any evidence exists to support your opinion. Or, offer any evidence to support your own claim, as you demanded of another.

Pathetic...

You still can't dispute what I said. Im starting to wonder if you even understand the difference between what the building blocks of life are vs what life actually is. Not a single like you provide makes the claim of evidence of life. At the very most they make claims for evidence of the materials that in part make up life, i.e. building blocks. Again you took on the claim that evidence exists, it's not on me to prove it doesn't, it's on you to prove it does. If you can't understand that basic idea, then you are incapable of having a proper and adult debate on the matter. It's not my opinion that there is no evidence, believe me when I say Id love for there to be some, it's just a simple fact that there isn't.

So either provide said evidence or keep on ranting and raving, either way you still haven't proven yourself. What's honestly pathetic is how personal you are taking this.

You still can't dispute what I said. Im starting to wonder if you even understand the difference between what the building blocks of life are vs what life actually is. Not a single like you provide makes the claim of evidence of life. At the very most they make claims for evidence of the materials that in part make up life, i.e. building blocks. Again you took on the claim that evidence exists, it's not on me to prove it doesn't, it's on you to prove it does. If you can't understand that basic idea, then you are incapable of having a proper and adult debate on the matter.

So either provide said evidence or keep on ranting and raving, either way you still haven't proven yourself.

You aren't grasping the concept of circumstantial evidence, it's wide use, and it's significance. People have been put to death on nothing but circumstantial evidence. Most of science is circumstantial evidence.

You are clinging to the notion that since there isn't absolute, definitive, direct evidence, there is no evidence. It's a thin thread that is easily seen through. It's weak.

You aren't grasping the concept of circumstantial evidence, it's wide use, and it's significance. People have been put to death on nothing but circumstantial evidence. Most of science is circumstantial evidence.

You are clinging to the notion that since there isn't absolute, definitive, direct evidence, there is no evidence. It's a thin thread that is easily seen through. It's weak.

If this was a court of law you might be able to make a case but in the realm of science no one in the scientific community is saying here is evidence of life and we base this off what you have listed above. If it were truly that simple, you would be able to find a scientific article based on peer reviewed journals supporting said claim. You don't find that because a claim like this is to big to make on just circumstantial evidence alone. Science, while not exact does it's best to get damn close. Even still they mess up from time to time and some screw ups can be big. Do I need to remind you of NASA's arsenic based life announcement that turned out to be false. Finding actual evidence beyond our planet would be one of, if not the biggest events in human history. Right now all we have are bit's of pieces that, in part, that make up life, not even a whole piece itself that is part of a great set of pieces. So yet again, we do not have evidence of alien life.

I also dont have a notion that there isn't absolute, definitive evidence, what I believe is that we haven't found it yet. If anything is weak it's your reading comprehension.

If this was a court of law you might be able to make a case but in the realm of science no one in the scientific community is saying here is evidence of life and we base this off what you have listed above. If it were truly that simple, you would be able to find a scientific article based on peer reviewed journals supporting said claim. You don't find that because a claim like this is to big to make on just circumstantial evidence alone. Science, while not exact does it's best to get damn close. Even still they mess up from time to time and some screw ups can be big. Do I need to remind you of NASA's arsenic based life announcement that turned out to be false. Finding actual evidence beyond our planet would be one of, if not the biggest events in human history. Right now all we have are bit's n pieces that, in part, make up life, not even the whole pieces itself. So yet again, we do not have evidence of alien life.

I also dont have a notion that there isn't absolute, definitive evidence, what I believe is that we haven't found it yet. If anything is weak it's your reading comprehension.

You didn't even read my whole post... pointless.

You didn't even read my whole post... pointless.

You said "Im not grasping the concept of circumstantial evidence", to which I debated that point. Instead of countering that point, you resort to another silly dodgy post. You have no interest in actual debating, only stating your beliefs and running in circles ignoring counter posts. You come across a few articles talking about "building blocks of life" and assume it means life. Iv tried to counter every post you have made, you are the one that has yet to even try to counter my counters. Nothing you provided would remotely count as enough circumstantial evidence to qualify as evidence of life. Bits of pieces is not enough. Again you can't provide a single study to make this claim.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
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We start off with the very affordable GEEKOM A5 in the AMD Ryzen 5 7430U, 16GB RAM, and 512GB NVMe SSD configuration, with some of its highlighted specs listed below: Operating System: Windows 11 Pro CPU Model: AMD Ryzen 5 7430U CPU Speed: 3.5 GHz Cache Size: 16 MB Graphics: Integrated AMD Radeon Vega 7 Graphics Memory: 16 GB 3200 MT/s DDR4 Copilot+ PC: No SSD: 512 GB Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.2 + WiFi 6E I never got the chance to review this variant, but here is how GEEKOM describes it: GEEKOM A5 [Ryzen 5 7430U, 16GB+512GB] for $371 —was $439 (15% off) Next up is the GEEKOM A6 in the AMD Ryzen 7 6800H, 16GB DDR5 RAM, with a 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD configuration, with the below highlights: Operating System: Windows 11 Pro CPU Model: AMD Ryzen 7 6800H CPU Speed: 4.7 GHz Cache Size: 16 MB Graphics: Integrated AMD Radeon 680M Memory: 16 GB 4800 MT/s DDR5 Copilot+ PC: No SSD: 1 TB Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.2 + WiFi 6E I gave the A6 high marks in my dedicated review from just over a year ago; GEEKOM has this to say about this compact Mini PC: GEEKOM A6 [Ryzen 7 6800H, 16GB+1TB] for $524 —was $649 (19% off) Next up is the MAX variant of A-series mini PCs in the Prime Day Sale. The GEEKOM A7 MAX [2026 Edition] powered by the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS with 16GB of DDR5 and a 1TB SSD. Below are some of its more important specifications: Operating System: Windows 11 Pro CPU Model: AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS CPU Speed: 5.2 GHz Cache Size: 24 MB Graphics: Integrated AMD Radeon 780M Memory: 16 GB 5600 MT/s DDR5 Copilot+ PC: No SSD: 1 TB Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.2 + WiFi 6E I reviewed this Mini PC a year and a half ago, and praised it for its modern internals like a dedicated NPU and DDR5 memory, as such it is more than capable of keeping up with today's offerings of Mini PC on the market. GEEKOM A7 MAX [Ryzen 9 7940HS, 16GB+1TB] for $594 —was $699 (15% off) Next we have another in the MAX series of A mini PC. The GEEKOM A9 MAX powered by the AMD Ryzen AI HX 470 with 32GB DDR5 and a 2TB SSD. Below are some of its more important specifications: Operating System: Windows 11 Pro CPU Model: AMD Ryzen 9 AI HX 470 CPU Speed: 5.4 GHz Cache Size: 24 MB Graphics: Integrated AMD Radeon 890M NPU: 55 TOPS Copilot+ PC: Yes (combined NPU+CPU=86 TOPS) Memory: 32GB 5600 MT/s DDR5 SSD: 2 TB Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.4 + WiFi 7 We reviewed this Mini PC last month, also in the 64GB configuration. Be sure to check out both reviews before dropping this kind of money on it, you won't be sorry! I praised it for its excellent NPU (AI) performance and premium all-metal build, as such it is more than capable of keeping up with today's offerings of Mini PC on the market. GEEKOM A9 MAX [Ryzen AI 9 470 HX, 32GB+2TB] for $1,444 —was $1,699 (19.72% off) Last but not least we have the GEEKOM IT13 MAX, which is an Intel configuration featuring the Ultra 9 185H with 16GB DDR5 memory and a 1TB SSD. Below are some of its more important specifications: Operating System: Windows 11 Pro CPU Model: Intel Ultra 9 185H (65W TDP) CPU Speed: 5.1 GHz Cache Size: 24 MB Graphics: Integrated Intel ARC Graphics Copilot+ PC: No Memory: 16GB 5600MT/s DDR5 SSD: 1 TB Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.4 + WiFi 7 I never got a chance to review the IT13 MAX, but I did review the GEEKOM X14 Pro which has comparable specifications if you want to get an idea of the IT13 MAX's capabilities. In any case this is what GEEKOM has to say about this variant: GEEKOM IT13 MAX [Intel U9 185H, 16GB+2TB] for $764 —was $899 (15% off) Check out other US and UK deals too These are just a sample of discounts in GEEKOM's Prime Day Sale, you can check out the entire line up, which include more Intel and AMD mini PCs, discounted at up to 30% off, which was more than the recent Spring Sale they ran earlier this year. You can check out the entire lineup of Prime Day deals on the dedicated GEEKOM store page at Amazon in the following regions: Amazon US GEEKOM Prime Day Sales (up to 30% off) Amazon UK GEEKOM Prime Day Sales (up to 30% off) What's more, all products from GEEKOM receive a 3-year free Warranty from the date you receive the product. If needed, you can RMA or return locally relative to your region (the U.S. has a U.S. warehouse, mainland E.U. has a German warehouse, U.K. has a U.K. warehouse, Australia has an AU warehouse). To recap, here are all of the above mentioned deals, available on Amazon US. GEEKOM A5 [Ryzen 5 7430U, 16GB+512GB] for $371 —was $439 (15% off) GEEKOM A6 [Ryzen 7 6800H, 16GB+1TB] for $524 —was $649 (19% off) GEEKOM A7 MAX [Ryzen 9 7940HS, 16GB+1TB] for $594 —was $699 (15% off) GEEKOM A9 MAX [Ryzen AI 9 470 HX, 32GB+2TB] for $1,444 —was $1,699 (19.72% off) GEEKOM IT13 MAX [Intel U9 185H, 16GB+2TB] for $764 —was $899 (15% off) Please be aware that the above promotional discounts expire on June 26 Between June 23 - 26 it's Prime Day week on Amazon, click here to check out all the deals. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
    • Nice to see! Especially now with Arm64 VMs getting more popular and sometimes even cheaper than traditional x86 ones in datacenters.
    • I never said they weren’t, I said I don’t care. Do keep up…
    • TerraMaster F2-425 Pro review: a low-powered Intel NAS that ships with AI (OpenClaw) by Steven Parker It has been a while since I reviewed a TerraMaster NAS, but the company reached out to me asking if I was willing to test the F4-425 Pro, which goes on sale today. It is an upgrade on the F4-425 Plus, which I reviewed back in October 2025 What you need to know is that it basically follows the design principles of the four-bay F4-425 series, with its all-metal exterior. Here are the most important specifications: TerraMaster F4-425 Pro CPU Intel Core N350 (8x E Cores/Threads, Max burst up to 3.9 GHz) Intel Core N305 (4x E Cores/Threads, Max burst up to 3.8 GHz) TDP: 7W / 9W (Base) Graphics Intel UHD Graphics 32 EUs (1.35 GHz) Intel UHD Graphics 24 EUs (1.25 GHz) Memory 1x slot 16 GB DDR5 4800MT/s non ECC SODIMM (Max 32 GB) 1x slot 8 GB DDR5 4800MT/s non ECC SODIMM (Max 32 GB) Disk Capacity 120 TB (30 TB x 4) Supported RAID Types TRAID, TRAID +, RAID0, RAID1, RAID5, RAID 6, RAID 10 Network 2x RJ-45 5 GbE Internal storage 3x M.2 2280 NVMe Slot (PCIe 3.0 x1) Bootloader 2Gbit 256 GB NAND Flash card (MX30LF2G28AD) USB port (internal) USB Ports 1x Type-C 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) 3x Type-A 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) HDMI 1x (HDMI) Hardware Transcoding Engine H.264, H.265, MPEG-4, VC-1 Maximum resolution: 4K (4096 x 2160); Maximum FPS: 60 Size (H/W/D) 219 x 181 x 150 mm Weight 2.9 kg System Fan 150 x181 x 219 mm Power 90W, 100V - 240V AC, 50/60 Hz, Single frequency Power consumption (HDDs) 45W (4x 4TB ST4000VN008 in read/write state) 14W (4x 4TB ST4000VN008 in hibernation) Noise Level: 20.9 dB(A) Using 4 SATA HDDs/SSDs in standby mode; Test environment noise: 17.3dB(A); Test distance: 1m Warranty 2 Years OS TOS 7.0.0706 (Beta) MSRP £639.99, $699.99, €739.99 / £739.99, $799.99, €839.99 As you can see above, there are two variants of the F4-425 Pro releasing today. The lesser variant has the slightly weaker N305 CPU and iGP, and 8 GB less RAM, although it also costs $100 less than the top variant we are testing today. In addition, these new F4-425 Pros are shipped with the as-yet-unreleased TOS 7 beta. So what is TOS 7 exactly? During the device initialization, you are warned not to use it in a production environment, which we'll get into later. My contact told me that TOS 7 exits beta today, June 23. The clear difference with the F4-425 Plus is that it contains the more powerful N350 Intel CPU released in the first quarter of 2025, with support for DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.1, LPDDR5 (4800), DDR5 and DDR4, and a max TDP of just 7W. It also supports AV1 decoding, as well as H.264, VP8, VP9, H.265 (8 bit), and H.265 (10 bit). The different capabilities in the Alder Lake-N (and Twin Lake) series are listed below. Processor E-cores L3-cache Turbo clock GPU GPU-clock TDP Intel N355 8 6 MB 3.9 GHz 32 EUs 1.35 GHz 9 W Intel Core 3 N350 3.9 GHz 1.35 GHz 7 W Intel Core i3-N305 3.8 GHz 1.25 GHz 9 W Intel Core i3-N300 3.8 GHz 1.25 GHz Intel N250 4 3.8 GHz 1.25 GHz 6 W Intel Processor N200 3.7 GHz 0.75 GHz Intel N150 3.6 GHz 24 EUs 1 GHz Intel N97 1.2 GHz 12 W Intel Processor N100 3.4 GHz 0.75 GHz 6 W The CPU is part of the Alder Lake-N series that sits just below the top N355 offering, albeit with an impressive TDP (less than the N355 and N305) for the features it offers. It is designed for low- powered systems and entry-level laptops. As before, we are seeing another NAS with an acceptable, if not great, amount of RAM. It should be noted that the F4-425 Pro only has one SODIMM slot, so if you are planning to upgrade the already 16GB included in this NAS, it will have to be on one module of Single Rank DDR5. As a reminder, up until a couple of years ago, it was commonplace to only get 2 or 4GB max on a flagship Synology or QNAP home NAS. Ever since the likes of TerraMaster and more have entered the market with ample RAM sizes included in their NAS offerings, it has gone a long way in forcing the hands of the traditional makers to up their game a bit. Before we dive in, you can view the different SKUs released so far since the 2025 series launched for Home and SMB users, with the most important specifications listed along with the MSRP listed below: SKU CPU Cores Memory Link Price F2-425 Intel N5095 4 4 GB DDR4 2.5 GbE x1 $249.99 F4-425 Intel N5095 4 4 GB DDR4 2.5 GbE x1 $369.99 F2-425 Plus Intel Core N150 4 8 GB DDR5 5 GbE x 2 $399.99 F4-425 Plus Intel Core N150 4 16 GB DDR5 5 GbE x 2 $569.99 F4-425 Pro Intel Core N305 8 8 GB DDR5 5 GbE x 2 $699.99 F4-425 Pro Intel Core N350 8 16 GB DDR5 5 GbE x 2 $799.99 The F2 in the product name means two 3.5-inch HDD bays, where F4 is four 2.5-inch bays. First impressions Like with the F8 SSD Plus packaging, the F4-425 Pro is using the upgraded box materials, which certainly look better than a plain cream colored box with TERRAMASTER stamped on the sides. The box gives off a premium feel and certainly adds a positive vibe to first impressions. In the box F4-425 Pro TNAS device Power adapter LAN cable (CAT 6) Quick guide [full online guide] Limited warranty notice Screws (for HDD bays) Stickers 2x rubber feet (spares) Design As has become kind of common with TerraMaster, certainly in the last three years, the 2025 F2- and F4-series have received a makeover that really adds to the premium feel of the NAS. Gone are the plastic shells, now replaced with an aluminum outer shell, with the front and back retaining the textured black plastic we saw on the 2024 models. Some key differences from the 2024 series include placing the power button back on the front, along with the addition of a Type A USB port. It's not much bigger or heavier either; in fact, it weighs 500 grams less than the F4-424 Pro. It's slightly shorter in height and depth (length), but only by a few millimeters. The front and back do retain a similar style to the 2024 series. On the front, you just have your four bays along with LED indicators for the HDDs and power. The welcomed change is having a USB port on the front for quick access, should you need to back up a USB drive, for example. Around the back, from top to bottom, you have a reset pin hole, an HDMI port, two 5 GbE Ethernet ports, two USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) Type A ports with a Type-C port below them, and a connector for the barrel port power source. Again, there's no Kensington Security Slot present, which is a bit of a shame considering it's a data storage device. Left side Right side On the left and right of the F4-425 Plus, it is completely smooth aluminum with a TERRAMASTER logo printed on both sides. On the bottom, there are some holes to assist ventilation. Unlike with the F4-425 Plus, the rubber feet did come unstuck during the teardown, which was also an issue on the 2023 series. It seems like other customers have lodged complaints about them, as TerraMaster now includes two spare rubber feet in the box, in case any of the preinstalled ones are lost; however, this seems more like a papering over the cracks solution rather than actually fixing the issue with better quality rubber stand-offs. There are also four screws that must be removed in order to access the internals. Teardown Upon removing the four screws, you can slide the device out of its shell to reveal the three NVMe M.2 slots (PCIe 3.0 X1) and single SODIMM slot connector, which is populated with a single 16GB DDR5 4800MT/s module. I added a couple of MP44Q M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSDs (2 x 4TB) that can be availed on Amazon for $492.99 that TEAMGROUP supplied us with, along with a 250GB 970 Evo Plus that my colleague Chris White sent me by accident and let me keep a few years ago. As I have said in previous reviews, TerraMaster support staff actually encourage installing whatever you want on their devices, and happily, the USB port for the bootloader is now easily accessible should you want to use it for your own flavor of NAS OS, such as TrueNAS, Unraid, or maybe Xpenology. Yes, because TerraMaster has now switched to a 256 GB NAND Flash card (3rd photo above) for the TOS bootloader. This is also replaceable, but you can also simply add a USB bootloader, access the BIOS, and tell the F4-425 Pro to boot from that instead of the Flash card. Unlike earlier iterations of TerraMaster NAS, you don't have to tear this down any further than the four screws on the outer shell in order to be able to access and manage the memory, NVMe slots, and USB bootloader. However, if you need to access the NAND Flash card or CMOS battery, then eight more screws (four on each side) need to be removed in order to take off the rear panel with the 120mm fan, and then the motherboard can be lifted off and removed from the SATA connector PCB. There's also no risk of threading the screw holes, because the four that hold the shell in place are metal on metal, while the screws that hold the rear panel on do screw into plastic. Either way, like last time when I reviewed the F4-425 plus, I was just happier to see larger screws being used. Overall, it follows some great improvements in build quality from the 2024 series and earlier. Setup BIOS The F4-425 Pro includes an Aptio BIOS from American Megatrends [1, 2], and you can setup pretty much everything here including the boot order, which is locked to the UEFI OS, however above that choice you can enable or disable booting to the USB bootloader so this would still allow you to switch to a USB stick with an alternative bootloader and boot from it, or disable it to instead always start from the first disk with an OS installed on it. Initial Setup Setup is roughly the same as the F4-425 Plus, along with the new TOS 7 setup dialogs, so there will be no surprises here. Upon connecting to the LAN and booting up, the F4-425 Pro can be reached by navigating to http://tnas.local. If that doesn't work, you can use the local address assigned via DHCP, which you can find using the TNAS PC desktop application, which is essentially a TerraMaster NAS finder. The setup process is pretty straightforward, through a wizard, and in full below: TOS 7 Initialization As you can see, TOS 7 received a new coat of paint, and the initialization requires fewer interactions. Happily, TOS no longer decides to throw all disks into the same Storage Pool; 2.5-inch HDDs are allocated into Storage Pool 1. This is because two of the HDDs are allocated to hold system files. Previously (with TOS 5 and 6), if you pre-installed HDDs and SSDs, they were all placed into Storage Pool 1, even if you did not select the SSDs for inclusion during the onboarding. TOS 7 Setup On first boot, there is a tutorial and some steps to take to harden the TNAS (or not), which includes an immediate update from TOS 7.0.0616 to 7.0.0706, of which the changelog screenshot is also included in the above gallery. It must be noted that the Security Advisor still contains (in my opinion) a pretty major bug in that if you enable SPC and then do the required rebooting, the Security Advisor still says that SPC is disabled. TerraMaster provided the following statement about it: It is disappointing that TOS 7 has been in beta since December, and this OOBE issue is still there. Shutdown option has moved Instead of a Taskbar option to manage the NAS, all of these options have been moved to the Control Panel, initially I did not see it and my contact had to show me how to power off the F4-425 Pro. To logout, reboot or power off you can find those controls at the top right of the Control Panel. It is also possible to power off through the TNAS mobile app beta. Storage setup Above, you can see the steps I took to create the Storage Pools and Volumes. I made a second Storage Pool using TRAID on two 4TB MP44Q SSDs (which, in this instance, is similar to RAID 5), and finally, I added the 250GB 970 Evo Plus drive as Hyper Cache on Storage Pool 1 in Balanced mode. Registering If you decide not to lock down the F4-425 Pro in Security Isolation Mode (blocking all external connections), then you could set up a TNAS device ID through the Remote Access setting in the Control Panel (which must be unique). This works in combination with an online TerraMaster account. TOS 7 TNAS Online Creating a TerraMaster account and linking the device online activates the warranty when you provide proof of purchase and the serial number, but it also gives you access through the TNAS mobile app, which allows you to complete certain operationsб including powering off and restarting the NAS remotely. A TNAS mobile update is required to gain access through TOS 7, and this is provided on the TerraMaster website, as it is not yet on Google Play. The app is evolving all the time and has made leaps and bounds since I first started reviewing TerraMaster devices almost three years ago. It is not quite there yet if you are comparing the likes of Synology, which, sadly, a lot of users online do all the time. OpenClaw setup One of the main selling points of the new F4-425 Pro is the inclusion of OpenClaw, with TerraMaster claiming that it is "powered by the world's first AI-native TOS 7 OS, supporting local-first smart workflows and independent data control." However, I immediately ran into problems trying to enable OpenClaw. After waiting 20 minutes at the "Enabling" message of the OpenClaw app following installation, I decided to do some searching online and discovered that it couldn't complete the installation process due to SPC being enabled, which is something TOS 7 immediately recommends to be enabled on first boot. SPC for NAS (TOS 7) is basically the same principle as UAC in Windows; it blocks executables from being launched by non-Super Users. After reaching out to my contact about these issues, I received the following response: Anyway, this only became clear when I closed the OpenClaw app screen and clicked on the OpenClaw icon in the taskbar; that is when I saw the message about disabling SPC. I think, due to the fact that this is a requirement, this should be a prompt during the installation process, not when closing the App Market and then trying to launch OpenClaw. There's also no 'Getting started' guide for people like me who have never used OpenClaw. I tried to add an LLM and discovered the tutorial led nowhere. That's when I started looking around the official TerraMaster forums, and I found a guide that helpfully explains that you won't get anywhere with OpenClaw unless you have a paid plan, which is disappointing because I imagined there would be an option to use a local LLM as I do in SubtitleEdit with Whisper-XXL. In addition, with the marketing imagery on the official site, it says that the OpenClaw feature is "all processed 100% locally for absolute privacy." which led me to believe that I could install a local LLM, not one that required paid tokens. In any case, TerraMaster does not provide guidance for this new feature, which was also a selling point of the F4-425 Pro! My contact also provided clarification about the above points I raised with TerraMaster Since it is not in the scope of the review to add paid services, I'll leave that to the people who are more qualified with OpenClaw. F4-425 Pro Surveillance App TOS also comes with a Surveillance app, which is not installed by default; it can be found in the App Market recommended section. In addition, after installing, it doesn't drop a shortcut on the Desktop or top taskbar, but you can "Send to Desktop" from the App Market listing for the app for a quick way to open it. Adding my Reolink POE doorbell camera was painless. TerraMaster doesn't appear to have a repository of preconfigured cameras; instead, the camera must be added using ONVIF or RTSP. No mobile Surveillance app TerraMaster still doesn't have a dedicated Surveillance app, although from searching online, Surveillance can be used and managed through the TNAS mobile app. I tried this with the updated TNAS mobile app beta in combination with TOS 7 and got a message that Surveillance was "Only accessible through web browser," so I reckon this must be limited to the stable versions of TOS 6 and the mobile app. More quirks In addition, whenever I minimized the Live View window in the browser Surveillance app, the feed appeared to switch to the Low-bandwidth stream, and there was no way to get the High-quality stream back. To get the High-quality stream back, I had to close Live View and then reopen it. Benchmarking A pretty cool feature of the TOS 7 is that it allows you to install directly to the NVMe M.2 SSD. In order to do that, you would have to leave out any HDDs during initialization, and even then, the system partitions are always written to two HDDs when they are eventually added. With three NVMe slots, this also gives an interesting scenario where you could build a TRAID storage Pool for installing all your apps and Docker on, and keep the third for SSD cache on the HDD pool. Limitless options! SATA PCIe 3.0 X1 A CrystalDiskMark test on a mapped network drive from within a Windows 11 25H2 PC (image above) connected over a 5 GbE hub was well within acceptable ranges. Although the read result on SATA was a little less than with the F4-425 Plus, for some reason, while writes were generally better. SATA PCIe 3.0 X1 I also ran the NAS Performance tester, which tests the link speed performance. As you can see, it pretty much maxes out the 5GbE connection. Of course, you can also opt to bond the two 5 GbE connections for a bit more umph, but I didn't do that. TOS 7, which, as of testing, is still in Beta, comes with an App Center that has a bunch of handy programs you can install right off the bat, such as Emby, Plex, Docker, as well as in-house Backup and Surveillance solutions. As you can imagine, any media streaming services you would want to host off the F4-425 Pro will work great, thanks to the Intel Core N350 CPU and its 16 GB of DDR5 memory. Accessing from mobile is only possible if Security Isolation Mode is disabled, which can put your NAS at risk from external sources, so there was no way to access it from the TNAS Mobile app. It's also quiet. I had this sat next to my computer on my work desk for the past week, and I did wonder if the noise I was accustomed to with NAS devices would annoy me, but all I could hear was a soft whirring of the rear fan (which was a little annoying) when the disks were not actively copying or reading data. Conclusion So what have I learned? Unfortunately, this release raises a few important questions and concerns that I feel haven't been adequately addressed. What I didn't like Our variant shipped with TOS 7 beta, and it's advised not to use it in a production environment. I feel that's a bit limiting on an $800 device. The mobile app is also still in beta and does not support some of the first-party apps, like Surveillance, and it still has quite a few bugs. I am a bit confused about the OpenClaw marketing along with the F4-425 Pro. I feel like that if it's going to be a main selling point, then offer official guidance on how to get started with it. TerraMaster recommends enabling SPC, but then markets the NAS for use with OpenClaw, which requires disabling SPC to be able to use it, opening up genuine security concerns for the NAS; and that's before you get into the security concerns of OpenClaw itself. Of course, the above issues won't be a problem if you decide to install something else on it, or even go back to the stable TOS 6. I wish TerraMaster had just given TOS 7 as opt-in rather than shipping with it. TOS 7 has been available as a preview since December 2025 (so well before my last TerraMaster review), and according to a thread on Reddit where a user shared a screenshot from the TerraMaster Facebook page, it is scheduled to launch today, June 23, but there's nothing about that in the TerraMaster news blog. My contact confirmed over email that TOS 7 exits beta today. The rubber feet also deserve a mention as they continue to be a problem, with them coming unstuck the moment you shift the F4-425 Pro anywhere on your desk. What I liked What it comes down to, though, aside from what I already mentioned, you are still getting a quality, affordable device here, so recommending it will depend on the individual's use case. If you're just looking for a relatively small NAS device to manage virtual machines on, backup your files, and take care of your home theater streaming, then it is a great device that will certainly futureproof you for some time. It provides good performance, takes up little space, and is, on the whole, very quiet. Four bays afford proper redundancy using TRAID or RAID 5, and you can even expand on storage capacity by adding the 2-bay D5, or 4-bay D8 Hybrid DAS over a USB 3.2 (10Gbps) link. Considering the 2024 releases were more about power, with the likes of an Intel Core i5-1235U high-end laptop CPU under the hood, I asked my contact last time if we could expect more of the same in higher-end models and was told: It makes a lot of sense to use Intel's N350 chip inside a NAS; it is more than capable of doing what the F4-425 Pro is intended for, media streaming and backup. The only downside is still the clear lack of community and even staff support on the official forums. In the past, I have had topics go unanswered for days, or there would be generic-type "we've noted this and passed it onto our developer team" type responses. Along with the other things I mentioned, it all ends up costing it a couple of points. If you are comfortable with the command line, Docker, and setting up TrueNAS or Unraid, you'll be fine. You can do great things with this hardware. In TOS, the apps are a bit lacking, and things don't always work as expected.\ AI NAS?! What has become clear to me this year is that we are going to start seeing all kinds of "AI NAS" come to market, and while that might be good for us consumers, be diligent and research these claims. Although the F4-425 Pro technically comes with AI, it is really using a cloud service that is externally sourced off-device through the third party OpenClaw app. My colleague did review a newcomer to the NAS space earlier this year, and it includes a local AI assistant inside the Zettlab D4 NAS, and they do not even use AI in the product name, check out Chris' review here. Where to buy and a discount coupon However, it does not change the fact that this is truly a great entry-level home media-class NAS that you can buy right now. TerraMaster is having a 20% off launch discount, plus you can also still apply our unique 10% off coupon on checkout, which only works on the official website. So here is a breakdown of the pricing that is only valid on the official TerraMaster website. TerraMaster F4-425 Pro (N350) + 20% discount + 10% coupon = $575.99 TerraMaster F4-425 Pro (N305) + 20% discount + 10% coupon = $503.99 TerraMaster F4-425 Pro (N350) + 20% discount + 10% coupon = £525.59 TerraMaster F4-425 Pro (N305) + 20% discount + 10% coupon = £460.79 Use NEOWIN coupon code during checkout for 10% discount Over on Amazon US and UK, the F4-425 Pro also gets a 20% launch discount, but here, the above 10% coupon cannot be applied. TerraMaster F4-425 Pro (N350) for $639.99 at Amazon US (was $799.99) TerraMaster F4-425 Pro (N305) for $559.99 at Amazon US (was $699.99) TerraMaster F4-425 Pro (N350) for £583.99 at Amazon UK (was £729.99) TerraMaster F4-425 Pro (N305) for £511.99 at Amazon UK (was £639.99) As an Amazon Associate, when you purchase through links on our site, we earn from qualifying purchases.
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