I understand your experience. It was only after time spent comparing models that I found that a slightly easier way (which may not work for you or anyone else)

I understand your experience. It was only after time spent comparing models that I found that a slightly easier way (which may not work for you or anyone else) is to figure out three things: - start with the number of drive bays you’d like to have (Synology has a good calculator page you can use to figure out different configurations, if you wish to go that deep). - the model year you’d prefer (newer, older, etc.). This is part of the model (like DSx17 is from 2017, DSy18 is from 2018). - and if you prefer an Intel CPU or a non-x86/ARM CPU (this decides what kind of additional software you can find or run easily). This is still a lot of work, but breaking it down helps.