Yet another newbie thread :-)

[IckleImp]

Hi all. I am relatively new to the world of satellite, about a year ago I aquired a Eurovox Quantum box which I just use as a fta on 28E and it does what it is supposed to, picture quality is good etc. I am now looking to venture a little further and get something a little more modern and to a certain degree future proof, if there is such a thing?. I am not really into it as a hobby, we just use it to give a bit of variety to what we watch.

So which box to upgrade too?.

Musts are HD and USB recording, good picture quality, ability to use a motorised dish and cost.

I have been looking at a Skybox F3 but I am not sure if it will end up the same as the Quantum in a few years time, also is it a bit too techie for what I want?.

Sorry for the long post

Views much appreciated

[brin251]

u are about a few months late mate if u gettin a motorised dish get a spiderbox 6000hd 100 quid and freebies installed already but nothing in this game is future proof mate

[IckleImp]

I realise nothing is ever futureproof

spiderbox 6000hd? I did look at that and decided that maybe it was a bit OTT for what I was looking for. I am looking for a bit more plug and play

[ramjet]

I realise nothing is ever futureproof

spiderbox 6000hd? I did look at that and decided that maybe it was a bit OTT for what I was looking for. I am looking for a bit more plug and play

that box is about as simple as it gets, as is the skybox and similar budget boxes

nothing is plug and play as all need the same work to achieve the same goals

[septicsmurf]

Blade 7000 is about as plug and play as you get, but I'd suggest a vu+, dreambox, gigablue, or even a technomate.
Take a bit more setting up, but once they are you'll reap the benefits. Movies on demand, iplayer, itvplayer, 4 on demand, loads of plugins., etc
Oh and definitely a motorised dish, just in case sly uk goes off in the near future which is looking increasingly likely.

[rigsby71]

I realise nothing is ever futureproof

spiderbox 6000hd? I did look at that and decided that maybe it was a bit OTT for what I was looking for. I am looking for a bit more plug and play

spiderbox 6000HD is probably the most plug & play box you can get.

If you dont want motorised, then get an 80cm dish & monoblock LNB to pick up 13 & 19 east.

spiderbox comes ready to roll for many packeges on those two sats.

[IckleImp]

So basically any Linux box. I assume that Skybox etc are not the way forward?

I did think about dropping the HD (because we only have a small TV) and the USB (we already have an HDD recorder for freeview) and getting a 500s to start off, not really sure though as there seem so many clones/OEM's that I could end up buying a piece of junk and not realise it until too late.

[septicsmurf]

If you're only looking for a single tuner you could get a gigablue 800 se for around ?150. Or for ?20 more you could get a Combo DVB-S/S2 + Hybrid DVB-C/T.
I would personally go open source enigma 2, but that's just me.

[IckleImp]

I was originally looking for a sub ?100 box that I could use for watching TV and maybe a few freebies if I was lucky.

unfortunately my budget does not run to nearly ?200

[rigsby71]

You'll probably be dissapointed then, spiderbox 6000HD is your only hope with a 80cm dish looking at Hotbird & Astra 1.

That's about as cheap as you'll get.

Spidebox ?90
80cm Dish & monoblock LNB ?30-40
Cabling, brackets etc ?15-20

So even with the cheapest option, you'll need around ?150 for a self install.

Anywhere between ?200 - ?250 if you got someone to fit it all.

[ramjet]

So basically any Linux box. I assume that Skybox etc are not the way forward?

I did think about dropping the HD (because we only have a small TV) and the USB (we already have an HDD recorder for freeview) and getting a 500s to start off, not really sure though as there seem so many clones/OEM's that I could end up buying a piece of junk and not realise it until too late.

spiderbox and skybox and blade bm7000s and tm5402 are closed source boxes, not linux and not open source either
they are boxes you put a patch into and then add your channel list and sea lions etc, nothing too complicated

the dm500s will be a clone dreambox or buy something similar like the bm500s which are SD linux boxes

speaking personally I would not buy an SD box at all, always HD no matter what you buy
so if I were buying again, it would be a HD linux box, like the vu boxes, so a solo , or a twin tuner like the solo2 or maybe the duo
these need setting up from scratch using images like vix or blackhole, then add plugins and emus and channel lists etc

[IckleImp]

Thank you for explaining. So, if all these boxes are closed source and fairly similar, why is the skybox not an option but the spider is?. Sorry for my lack of knowledge

[andy91]

Dreambox 800hd from China for 100 quid delivered. Better to get an open source Linux box which you can play with and add plugins like 1 channel to stream movies etc Trouble with Skybox they closed source and poor build quality, Andy.

[ramjet]

the spiderbox is a better box and has access to more channels using something we cannot discuss, other than that they both do the same tasks and are setup in similar ways, neither are linux, both are budget boxes at the cheaper end of the market, bear in mind there are some things we cannot discuss or explain on the forum but the spiderbox has an addition that comes under the no-discussion category, whereas basic skyboxes do not, both are closed source and are starter boxes (I never said you can use one and not the other, use any you wish to but I would buy a linux box)

have a read of this for more info http://www.digital-kaos.co.uk/forums...-setup-301108/ but do not expect full explanations on every aspect of the hobby as clearly there sre some taboo subjects

hope this info helps

[IckleImp]

Thank you for taking the time to explain