HP Answer Your Questions About the MediaSmart Server 3.0 Update

By on March 1, 2010 in Windows Home Server

There’s been a lot of debate, and many more questions from you about ordering HP’s MediaSmart Server 3.0 update. I’m sure managing this kind of global update process isn’t easy, so it’s helpful to get as much clarity as possible on the process. We picked out and sent over some of your questions to HP, who have responded with the following answers:

WGS: Could you confirm in which countries each of the update discs can be ordered?
HP: They can be ordered in US, Canada, UK, Spain, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, France, Finland

WGS: Are the updates multi-lingual or set by country?
HP: No, they are not multi-language discs, they are only single language just like the original server discs.

WGS: The UK and French ordering sites appear to be down (best2serve.com)  – when will they be operational?
We just tested these sites and they appear to be working fine. Please let us know if you’re still experiencing any issues.

WGS: Could you please confirm pricing by territory?
The price is $25 US with some countries adding additional taxes or shipping costs above that price. In other countries HP has a policy to pick up these costs.

Clearly, there’s  lot of readers (mainly Canadians!) who are upset with the current price differential vs ordering the discs in the USA – it appears that different countries are free to set their own prices over and above the $25 US set by HP centrally. Certainly it seems that Canada is at the top end of the price range, with Europe in particular coming in at the lower end (for a change!).

Feel free to ask any more questions you have below, and we’ll pass through to the guys at HP.


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About Terry Walsh

Terry Walsh is the founding editor and owner of We Got Served. Since February 2007, the site has provided detailed coverage and analysis of the emerging home server category, and has subsequently grown into a trusted outlet for digital home news and reviews.
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  • Peter Eriksson

    Hi,
    I still can't order from https://www.best2serve.com/ then I got No results found. Please try again.
    if I try with hp.com then I must enter a zip code (from USA?) and if I try the swedish website hp.se. Then I come back to https://www.best2serve.com/ …….???

    Regards
    Peter

    • Jose De La Rosa

      I would not even try ordering the product, I just got off the phone with HP, and an order that I placed on 2/24/2010 will not be shipped until 3/17/2010. And that is also an expedited shipping method.

      • colorado_outbacker

        Who indicated that you would not get the order until 3/17/2010? I manage that team and we're shipping discs this week so whom ever you spoke with did not have the correct information. The call center hasn't given out any dates to customers on specific orders so who did you talk to?

        • Jose

          I spoke with a supervisor at the tech center. I thought the same about him not knowing what he was talking about but I am just repeating what he told me. & he even told me to go online and cancel my order and replace the order again. He said "that they were not prepared for the amount of people ordering the upgrade". They are just very unprepaired and misinformed at HP.

    • http://twitter.com/nicksak @nicksak

      Same here from the Swedish site. Can't place an order; I keep getting a "product unavailable" or equivalent message.

  • Neil Koert

    Iordered the update othe first day avaible. It said it would arrive on Monday 3/1/10.
    Has anybody received thiers? They have not deducted the charge from my account.
    Neil

    • Jose

      I placed the same order, and just got off the phone with them. It wont actually ship until March 17, 2010… A waist of time.

  • Harry

    Still no joy trying to order from the UK site. Anyone else managed to order one yet?

  • Joe M.

    Not shipping until March 17 ???? …. and like an idiot I upgraded the shipping…. I thought they were supposedly ready to take orders and start shipping this week?

    • Jose

      Joe, thats what I thought too. I also upgraded the shipping so I could get it ASAP. I want that update for the iPhone app. But thats what was told to me… I think the supervisor was kinda irritated with me, asking him questions that he could not answer. Will see this week if they get their act together at HP.

  • Ian

    Still not able to order in the UK from Best2Serve.

    I don't believe that comment above from HP that they've 'just tested' the UK site link and it's working fine. I've been getting the same broken link for the past 3 days.

    • http://www.best2serve.com Best2Serve

      That's probably because the question said that "the ordering sites are down". HP's answer is correct, the Best2Serve website works fine. However, not all products are available for order at this time. I work for Best2Serve and know that my colleagues are working on making them available as soon as possible, in close cooperation with HP and the partner producing the upgrade discs.

      I've checked some links in the "Gimme It!" topic and it seems that for the 470 series, the products for Germany, France and Spain are available for order now. There's no availability for the UK yet, and I'd have to check on availability for the 480 series. I believe they will be available soon though. Hope this helps a little!

      Michel
      Best2Serve.com

      • http://www.best2serve.com Best2Serve

        Hmm it seems I spoke too soon. Even though the links in the other topic seem to work, the official link from the HP websites still lead to an unavailable product. That would mean these are the products that they're working hard on to make available as soon as possible. Sorry if my message caused an inconvenience, but know that people are working on this.

        Michel
        Best2Serve.com

        • http://twitter.com/nicksak @nicksak

          Well, this was the closest I guess we'll come to an "official" response. ;-)

          Thanks Michel for posting in this thread and updating everyone on the efforts made to make the update available. Much appreciated.

      • KIm

        What about denmark

  • http://twitter.com/welchwerks @welchwerks

    looks like free might have been a better move for HP

  • Sogarth

    Yeah, I just talked to HP customer support in the US, and apparently demand severely outstripped their supply (they apparently didn't expect all of us to care!). I wasn't told as late as 3/17, though – I was told that they would be shipping out at "the end of this week," but suffice it to say that the estimated delivery dates of 3/1-ish (like mine) aren't going to met. :P

    And, I don't know about you, but at least in the US, the price difference between 5-7 day shipping and 1-2 day shipping was something like $1. I'm not going to complain about an overall delay when the people who went for cheaper shipping (saving only $1?!) are going to have to wait that many days longer….

    • Jose

      My order was a little more for shipping on 1-2 days. I paid an additional $15 for overnight, that I will get in like 2weeks.LOL the nerve of them… All I can do is wait, no use in getting upset with bad service… or buy from another company.

      • Sogarth

        The main "service" issue I'm having at the moment is the lack of clarity on when it'll ship – if they run out of discs, there's not a whole lot they can do about it, except *make clear they ran out*. And, well, I don't think you'd be able to get it from another company, since it's an OEM release, after all.

        But, if it bothers you that it'll be $15 for overnight shipping, you should be able to call them, cancel the order, and re-place the order with ground?

        • Sogarth

          Oh, hey, look! I'm an idiot! Tax != shipping, right? :D

          Mebbe I should go update my shipping options on my order. :P

  • Rifleman,UK

    I ordered my copy from the Best2Serve site last week by following the link on the wegotserved website ( it was the night that the item saying "it will be available later this week" appeared on wegotserved for the first time ). The quoted charge was £10 including tax and shipping. I received confirmation of order and an e-receipt. My credit card has been charged but as yet the software hasn't arrived.
    £10 seems to be very low compared with other none-uk prices being quoted here. I wonder if HP will honour the deal ?

  • Guest

    I tried the UK site for the ex485 but its not even listed! The ex475 is though. Will this be the same and could I just order the ex475 disc?

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/urmaster urmaster

      Doubtful, I'm sure the hardware is pretty different; you won't have the drivers required to start the machine.

    • Q_Division

      Personally I wouldn't until we know they are the same. I agree with urmaster that the hardware is different and so requires different drivers. However I suspect they might be the same disc (as it lowers manufacturing costs), with both sets of drivers on (not dissimilar to any other image of Windows deployed on multiple PCs), after all Windows quite happily contains lots of drivers you never use and loads the ones it needs.

      Equally unless it has changed recently you can't get a UK disc anyway, Michel (Best2Serve) has stated they are trying to make them available as soon as possible.

  • tutu1976

    Best2Serve site still not working with either links from HP, WGS or by putting in the Part Number directly on the site – come on WGS kick some HP butt and get them to do something about this now.

  • Where is my 3.0

    My Question is , It the Update delayed ? Because i ordered it first thing on the 25th and no update at all on its progress , Just Says March 5th . but it hasn't shipped yet

    • Jeff

      Same here I ordered on 24th and just got an e-mail today from HP advising of the possible delay in the shipment of me product. Way to go HP!

  • http://www.scottmulligan.ca Scotty

    So I have been patiently waiting for months for this update… and now it comes out for $64.16 Canadian. Is this some sort of joke?

    Last time I checked, the Canadian and US dollars were almost at par! $30.68 vs $64.16.

    Looks like no update for me!

  • paul

    Has anyone recieved there 3.0 update disk …..!!!!!!!! …I ordered my copy from the Best2Serve UK on 23-Feb-2010:13:51 and still nothing ……….

  • Jeff

    Just received an e-mail from HP on my 3.0 upgrade discs:

    We apologize for the possible delay in delivery of your service; however, we are diligently working on expediting your order.

    We are striving to meet our estimated delivery date; in case where this is not met due to various reasons, an HP representative will attempt to contact you to communicate a new date and/or discuss possible alternative support solutions that could better meet your needs.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/tezzer Terry Walsh

    Refer to Q1 above:

    WGS: Could you confirm in which countries each of the update discs can be ordered?
    HP: They can be ordered in US, Canada, UK, Spain, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, France, Finland

    Think you're out of luck, Bodog…..

  • HP You are Silly

    How can it be delayed Its just a CD !! how hard can it be … just make a special Download page with the .ISO and i will do it myself

  • Fingers crossed

    Ordered my UK version on 23rd form Best2Serve, they took payment from my Card on 24th, the order confirmation says that it will be shipped 6-8 days after payment has been taken….hopefully shoud have mine by the end of the week. I'll have to wait and see though, looking that this might not be the case reading the comments above!

  • http://www.wegotserved.com Bodog (WGS)

    Any word on if /when they will allow Australia and New Zealand customers to order? – I suspect the answer is going to be….NEVER! – there are workarounds but it's tough on those who privately imported their MediaSmarts ahead of the release of the EX49x and X51x series

  • still waiting

    Just got a call from HP that delivery would be delayed in Canada until March 17. Has anyone received a copy yet? Care to post it on bitorrent? Then we could all cancel our orders to help out HP's supply issues.

    • Tom Delgado

      Just received my copy today, followed software leaving California to Memphis, TN and back to California since the 19th. Will update later this week, software has patch 1 also included in the server recovery disk..

  • Willie

    I just finished installing Hp Mediasmart update 3.0 and the system keeps blinking and will not let me continue to install the software or any other actions any suggestions.

  • Ralph

    I live in London, UK. I have an EX485. How can I get the V3 disks????
    (Only the Ex470 version of the disks is available from B2S)

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