Would You Buy A Dreambox Now.

[Celtictiger]

Strange thread title...but here is the dilemma...

My mate is going to buy a dreambox 500c, but if we are to believe the pending Nagra3 introduction and there being no current way of beating this encryption. Do I advise him to hold off.

I am unfortunately the eternal pessimist and have taken the contingency of purchasing FTA sat system just incase we get rolled over xmas.

What are people thoughts on the pending Nagra3....how soon is this coming and are all the boxes going to gather dust until someone can break this encryption.

Obviously this will take a lot longer than the standard key roll issues we have had intermittently....as I said I am a pessimist.....

[Curious123]

You are looking at it the wrong way m8. You need to look at how much will the box cost, how much would it cost you to get the services that you would be watching if you had to pay the full whack and than how many months are you likely to get from the box before everything goes pear shaped if it does actually go pear shaped.

[Celtictiger]

so do you anticipate the intoduction of Nagra3 is months rather than weeks away?...

[Curious123]

so do you anticipate the intoduction of Nagra3 is months rather than weeks away?...

If I knew the answer to that question I wouldn't be wasting time writing this post I would be down the pub flogging my box to Knock off Nigel.

[Hazza]

This is a very pertinent question, as I too have a friend who is looking to buy a dreambox and has asked me for advice. I have no idea what to tell him, as, if I say go ahead and then it goes t*ts up I will feel responsible. Then again it could last a few months yet, and he would have had his monies worth. There seems to be no easy answer to this and all we can do is tell them the current situation, which is uncertain, and leave the decision to them. I think that even if/when they do go off, someone will eventually come up with a fix, and no one knows how long that will take.
I wish I had a crystal ball sometimes.

Harry

[tdw197]

This is a very pertinent question, as I too have a friend who is looking to buy a dreambox and has asked me for advice. I have no idea what to tell him, as, if I say go ahead and then it goes t*ts up I will feel responsible. Then again it could last a few months yet, and he would have had his monies worth. There seems to be no easy answer to this and all we can do is tell them the current situation, which is uncertain, and leave the decision to them. I think that even if/when they do go off, someone will eventually come up with a fix, and no one knows how long that will take.
I wish I had a crystal ball sometimes.

Harry

looking at the cost of subs for sly sports & movies, you will get your money's worth in 3 months - unless v*rgin really, really pull their finger out you should easily be good for 3 months.

I remember all sorts of scare stories around when i bought my box a year ago - well i've had a years worth out of it, which i woouldn't have had if i kept dithering

[lardy]

I'll make the most of mine until such the time the signal is lost, then i'll go back to freview! I'm certainly not paying Branson any more money !

[lfc4life]

i have a dreambox 500 c and its has been no bother for me. And it has been updated twice and worked fine. I know of a site were u can get them too. pm me

[student]

You can always get DM600, if/when you cannot receive the service, you can just swap the cable tuner for satellite tuner and use is as satellite box. Its more expensive solution but also more flexible.

[Dazmeister]

i have a dreambox 500 c and its has been no bother for me. And it has been updated twice and worked fine. I know of a site were u can get them too. pm me

Errr, i think you missed the point?

Or are you just a wind up merchant.

[DonkeyOaty]

Hi Celtictiger,

Dilemma indeed, its like the eternal "Do I buy the latest spec PC and pay the earth knowing it will be out of date in 15 minutes".

My response is;

How keen is he to watch all the channels the DM would bring him?
Is he prepared to take a risk that he may end up with little more than a brick* if this update comes sooner rather than later?
If he's not sure then tell him not to bother. You'll only get the blame. Trust me I have been there.....

HTH



*a little harsh maybe

[dctyper]

full sky package = ?42 per month
cheap clone ?59+ ?10 month bb

do the maths mate, well worth a purchase.

[gingerninja]

dilemma!/dilemma!

I was debating this myself and was thinking of buying another to have in another room but have held off buying another as there is too much uncertainty in the market.

[Donnie Darko]

Go legit,never have to worry again.

[andiewill]

To role out N3 over the uk will need alot of and careful planing which customers will be notified well in advance of the change, a bit like the big switch over to Digital TV .

I beleive that this would involve subscribers getting new cards / boxs to handle the change of some sort, apparently N3 can be Ha++ed its been done on the satalite platform, so i believe there is much more viewing left to come.

So the answer is yes get a box, a dreambox 500c is a open source linux box which means you can if skilled enough write / update your own software.

as long as the box is supported there will be people out there to do there best, its like a game of cat and mouse if you know what i mean.

Any Linux box i would get oh i do have a 2 x 500c and think its a great little box but to get a original dreambox 500c will be rare, they are mostly clones on the market with bad tuners.