IPBox vs Dreambox

[chirag1082]

Hello I'm looking for some advice. I've spent a lot of time researching different forums and other websites to find a PVR that I can use with sky (to eventually replace it). From what I can tell, IPBox and Dreambox are the two main ones competing for the top spot. I'm looking at two scenarios, 1 for high definition and one with standard definition. I've read a lot about the IPBox 9000 and the Dreambox 800/8000, and the more I read, the more confused I get... All 3 have websites claiming that they are High Definition compatible, but then I read somewhere that only the Dreambox 8000 is, and the Dreambox 800 is NOT! Can someone please clarify this for me? Also, is the IPBox fully compatible with high def? When I say compatible, I mean can it receive and play high definition TV? So for e.g. Sky 1 HD? What is the difference between tuners (1 and dual)? Is a tuner referring to tuners from different regions (e.g. Countries)? Are there any boxes that will work for both cable and satellite TV? Can both boxes use the same software/cams etc...? Thank you in advance for your help. Regards

[aftermath]

Hello I'm looking for some advice. I've spent a lot of time researching different forums and other websites to find a PVR that I can use with sky (to eventually replace it). From what I can tell, IPBox and Dreambox are the two main ones competing for the top spot. I'm looking at two scenarios, 1 for high definition and one with standard definition. I've read a lot about the IPBox 9000 and the Dreambox 800/8000, and the more I read, the more confused I get... All 3 have websites claiming that they are High Definition compatible, but then I read somewhere that only the Dreambox 8000 is, and the Dreambox 800 is NOT! Can someone please clarify this for me? Also, is the IPBox fully compatible with high def? When I say compatible, I mean can it receive and play high definition TV? So for e.g. Sky 1 HD? What is the difference between tuners (1 and dual)? Is a tuner referring to tuners from different regions (e.g. Countries)? Are there any boxes that will work for both cable and satellite TV? Can both boxes use the same software/cams etc...? Thank you in advance for your help. Regards
The DM800 has a DVI connection to HDMI and can upscale the picture to near full HD, i have heard good and bad things about them,

The DM8000 , i dont know much about, but i understand it will have multi tuners and has HDMI socket, but the main problem is the Price, they are going for about ?820.

The Ip box 9000 also has HDMI, and the picture quality is superb, and deffo has better hardware capabilities than DM, but they also have problems. The images at the mo... are very basic and have many bugs. Also they are a lot harder to mess about with than a dreambox, but hopefully when Enigma2 image comes out ( official version and not beta ) things will have improved a lot.

Duel tuners are handy , you can choose between either ( 2 sat ) or ( 2 cable ) or ( 1 sat and 1 cable ) the advantage being that you can have the best of both worlds, you can record from 1 transponder, and watch another.

On IPbox you can watch 2 Channels on the screen and record another at the same time.

Its a hard choice my friend, new boxes always come with many bugs, also Dreambox deffo will have more support.

if i had the money and was buying a new box , i would go for the Dreambox 8000 but at ?820 its a lot of money

The choice is yours..lol

[.: JaCkPoT :.]

Which ever Receiver you do buy you wont be able to view sky 1 hd etc unless you are paying for it.. However there is one other way but discussions here are barred

[chirag1082]

Thanks for the prompt response Aftermath and also SaDiQ999uK - I don't actually have a HD capable TV at the moment, but would like to buy a PVR box that has this functionality so it's future proof, would this be a bad idea to do now with boxes not being fully HD; would I be better off waiting until a PVR is released that can get the full 1080p, or is this likely to be some time (years) off still? I just hate buying things twice :p

The problems you mention with the IPBox, is this the freezing I read everywhere? Or is that something that is purely a problem with Starview - what is Starview by the way? Is this just a channels package you can buy?

Thanks

[aftermath]

you could go for a dm600 ( i know it dont have HD ) but you can then afford a media box which will upscale the quality from the dreambox to 1080i, ready for when you get an HDTV in the future, you will get both these for under ?400

Digital Kaos Shop - Home (http://www.digital-kaos-shop.com/)

[grizzlyt]

Both aren't capable of displaying 1080p, the all do upscaling but there is no sense in doing that anyway because there is no one that is broadcasting in this norm.

No Dreambox has a HDMI connector, they all have a DVI connection (because it's proprietary and they are not paying royalties :D ).

There was a Enigma 1 promised for the IP Box HD series but never delivered, the Enigma 2 hacks that are distributed are from groups that ported it from the Kathrein E2 project.

However they are getting there and things seem to get better.

The DM800 HD had their own share of problems in the past (crapy hardware) and the 8000 HD is way overpriced.

I think that things are getting better because more competition is going to lower prices.

Look at the QBox HD and the AZBox HD who are much cheaper and have more features than the DM 800.

[chirag1082]

Aftermath/Grizzly, thanks for your replies.

What is upscaling? Will it upscale quality of anything that is broadcast in HD (1080i or 1080p??? - my understanding is the difference between these two is quite big!), or will it also help to upscale SD broadcasts a bit?

I've just done some reading on upscaling of other boxes for terrestrial channels such as BBC/ITV in the UK and there are mixed messages on the quality output...

The QBox HD looks good, especially like the Wifi capability. I assume there is less support for this box than the Dreambox though.

My question really is, I guess, is the quality from these HD boxes (1080i?) really that good or is it worth waiting for a proper HD 1080p box to be released.

Perhaps Aftermath's solution of getting a DM600 for now and then either a mediabox to upscale or maybe just get the latest HD PVR in 1-2 year's time is the best option.

One more question - do most of these boxes (Dreambox/IPBox./QBox etc...) work with Satellite (Sky) and Cable TV? I know with some of the older boxes, you had to buy a specific box for cable and a specific box for Satellite.

[satman]

i would leave the qbox and azbox a little longer to let software progress,

one our team has a qbox for test and although running e2, is has many many bugs not even present in the ip9000 version.

upscaling means it will immprove your SD channels > 1080

[amorak]

Upscale means it zooms SD 720x576 (on pal) to fit HD resolution 1920x1080, meaning if source is crappy, result will be disasterous.
unfortunately all over the air transmissions are 1080i, 1080p it is used these days only with BlueRay or HDDVD.

[KMM]

BUY A DREAMBOX DM500 HD
ONLY ?299 AND HDMI Download:

[opsmonkey]

BUY A DREAMBOX DM500 HD
ONLY ?299 AND HDMI

yes but only 720px not 1080px

[jim63]

very interesting debate

[portbhoy]

Dont sky only broadcast 720 anyway so 1080 is never gonna be possible no matter what box!

[alunfennell]

I would look at what type of Tv set I have got firstly ! LCD or Plasma the manufactuer Sony-Panasonic etc, different types and manufacters give very different results especially when it comes to receivers !

Just because I have a sony Bravia LCD and get great results from a particular receiver does not mean you will get the same quality coming from a Panasonic LCD or plasma set !

At the moment the Vantage VT7100 Satellite HD is best receiver on the market and has picked up some big European Awards with its superior HD picture quality across all three resolutions presently been introduced by broadcasters.

http://www.smartcard24.com/thumb.php?src=3646&w=251
http://www.vantage-digital.com/index.php?a=produkte&pid=66

Dreambox ranks pretty low on quality and overall assestics however because of its functionality, support and been one of the biggest patched (C/S) receivers been used by enthusiasts it comes down to functionality over quality .....

At the end of the day you need to decide do you want a receiver that has the best quality picture and perhaps dont mind paying for a subscription or do you want an OK HD receiver like a Dreambox that can if used in the corect way open a lot of channels pretty much freely ?

A HD Dreambox / Ipbox does not mean high quality workmanship and superior picture quality Dreamboxs / Ipbox are made for one reason Piracy thats why the sell ! If thats not what you are after there are some very High quality receivers out there....

Regards:
Alun