What's the most family friendly setup to...

[davidy80]

...replace a V+ box?

I'm new to all of this, so please be gentle!

We've had Sky plus (still have the dish in place), and currently have a V+ box.

What I'd like is a box that lets me record one channel to hard disk whilst watching another. If I could record two channels, so much the better. I'm not particularly fussed about getting premium channels, as most of what we watch is fta anyway.

Ideally I'd like something that connects via HDMI, even if we're only watching SD stuff.

The long and the short of it is that I don't want to pay subscriptions for the privilege of being able to record.

I previously built a Myth TV PC using Suse Linux, but It wasn't particularly family friendly, and frankly was a pain in the a**e to get all the hardware working in the first place. (kernel patches etc)

So, is a dreambox of some sort my answer - either cable or satellite connected, or would something else be better bet (freesat Humax PVR)?

Thanks
Dave

[Devilfish]

If you want to watch one channels and record another, you'll need a box with dual tuners and a hard disk. The DM7025 is the only dual tuner dreambox at the moment.

Why not get a freeview or freesat pvr is you only watch FTA channels?

[The Reaper]

Is this a family friendly set up--------not according to my wife but the kids love it. Plenty of channels from 42east to 30west plus of course the cable [set up with help from the great guys on here]. It consists of a 500c, 500s--used as server, technomate 5500cip which turns my rather oversized and heavy dish plus my 7020si server----all great for that rainy afternoon indoors.All attached to video-dvd recorder and external hdd for recording from 500's. Great fun whe theres a power cut.
Regards.
The Reaper.