"What does managed mean?"
Means you can access a switch to monitor and control it for QoS purposes via something like SSH or some have GUIs.
Well, I understand the key difference between a managed and unmanaged switch is the
ability to configure the switch and to prioritize LAN traffic to ensure that the most important
information, as I have defined it, gets through.
Not a bad switch for the price and is very similar to the Netgear GS108Ev3 which is the managed switch I'm currently using, the TP-Link seems to have more features than the Netgear and is cheaper e.g. mine doesn't support Link Aggregation. I may have to pick one up but it depends on whether it has a web interface because the specifications pages states that you have to use the Windows utility to configure it.
I cant remember but their link aggregation does not work all that well i believe i had this discussion on the freenas forums at one point and those guys had similar issues. I will try and find that info and post here, But basically be cautious if buying for more the vlan support
From the manual for this specific switch:
Effective Management
TP-LINK’s Gigabit Easy Smart switch, TL-SG108E offers network monitoring for users to observe trafc
behavior. You can easily configure it by the web-based user interface or management utility. With Port
Mirroring, Loop Prevention and Cable Diagnostics features, TL-SG108E can identify and even locate
connection problems on your business network. Moreover, administrators can designate the priority of
the traffic based on Port Priority, 802.1P and DSCP Priority, to ensure that voice and video are always
clear, smooth and lag-free. Additionally, to improve security and network performance, TL-SG108E
supports MTU VLAN, port-based VLAN and 802.1Q-based VLAN functions. TL-SG108E is an upgrade
from the plug-and-play Unmanaged Switch, delivering great value while empowering your network
and similarly delivering great value to the end user.
I can confrim their is a web based config.
I own the 24 port version and the 8 port poe version.
Neat, thanks.
How has your experience been with them?
Very nice switches never had any problems with either ones and both have been running non stop since the day i got them without issue. Owned each one for maybe 6 months now. 5 Vlans and 4 kids streaming netflix and youtube constantly through them and then also me with my server and main rig. Setup was very easy.
I have the 16 Port version (TL-SG1016DE) of this, haven't had an issue with them. Bought it a bit over a year ago and haven't restarted it since... I'd say it's reliable.
Just don't forget to actually manually save your settings when you do anything with it. Setting apply instantly, but they are lost upon restart/power cycle if you don't manually save. If you get multiple of these you can also export the config and import elsewhere (or just backup).
The Interface is really easy to work with.
this particular model at least does not feature SSH/CLI access as far as I'm aware of, there is however a version with it (it's not in the Easy Smart line though). Please someone correct me if you found SSH/CLI access, I didn't (I didn't look too hard though).
What is the differences between manage switch and a smart switch? I am going to in 3 or 4 months put Ethernet into the house I am currently living and will be in the market for a 16 port switch. Will the 16 port version of this switch fit my needs.
Also if you plan on wiring it into the house, maybe go for 24 ports even. You can't have too much ports. And you can disable them individually for power saving (though I don't know how much it actually saves when they are not in use).
What are the differences in features and application scenarios among various serial switches?
There is L2/L3 managed Switch, Smart Switch, Easy Smart Switch and Unmanaged Switch in TP-LINK official website, this article will give a brief account about the features and application scenarios of the respective switch.
Unmanaged Switch
You are not able to configure the unmanaged switch because it doesn’t support any configuration interface or options. It is plug-and-play, so you only need to connect your computer or other network devices to the unmanaged switch directly. Therefore, if you do not need any L2 features, but only need to extend the number of Ethernet ports, unmanaged switch is the right switch for you.
Easy Smart Switch
You can use Utility or Web interface (Web only for TL-SG1016DE and TL-SG1024DE) to manage easy smart switch and configure basic settings, such as VLAN, QoS and a few L2 features like LAG, IGMP Snooping and Port Mirroring. If there are no advanced applications needed, easy smart switch should be the best choice for you. Normally, easy smart switch will be found in the home, SOHO or small business.
Smart Switch
Smart switch can be managed by Web interface, Telnet, SSH and SNMP. It supports far more L2 features and better QoS than easy smart switch, additionally, smart switch supports more advanced functions like ACL and Spanning Tree protocol, if you want to support a solution for one small company or colleague with a lower price, the Smart switch is the indispensable device.
L2 Managed Switch
L2 managed switch has a console port for CLI (Command Line Interface), it has all the managing ways and advanced features that smart switch has, besides, L2 managed switch has abundant VLAN and Multicast features as well as cluster for logical stacking and Network Security features including 802.1X and IP-MAC binding. So you can use L2 managed switch to build a resiliency and availability network or even build up a small ISP Access Network.
L3 Managed Switch
L2 switch could only work in Layer 2--Data Link Layer of OSI model. But Layer 3 switch has some L3 functions just like a traditional router--static routing, routing protocol like OSPF and ECMP, multicast routing protocol and DHCP relay. Compared with a traditional router, L3 switch has lower cost but better performance in packet routing speed because the layer 3 switch routes packets by its hardware--ASIC instead of CPU, once it learned the IP address, it will forward packets by switching performance. It is mainly used in the core layer of a middle sized business network, providing better hardware switching performance in routing.
Typically the smart switches are dumbed down managed switches they way i see it. They have only some of the features of a managed switch and usually do not have much in the way of ssh/cli control.
Get one of these to get your feet wet then get a hp or cisco or whatever enterprise down the road used if you want to get into the more complicated stuff but for household use these work great.
This is actually a copy/paste from the TP-Link FAQ above 
Thanks everyone for the info, you have given me a lot to think about.