Newbie Question on what receiver to get

[cooa99]

Hi guys,

I have been going through the forum to understand what exactly i need.

I have just stopped my UK Satellite TV subscription for a number of reasons and interested in getting a new receiver for my needs.

So far I can see that there are lots of people on ebay/gumtree offering so many different boxes for sale.

My goal/ requirements for a receiver are :-
1) Easy Navigation via the menu system as well as decent EPG
2) A responsive remote control
3) Twin tuners or Ability to add an additional tuner at a later time should i feel the need to ,PVR functionality
4) HD capable and I guess be able to watch 3D as well
5) Ability to stream from the receiver e.g when away from home - but not essential
6) lots of manufacturer/forum support
7) Other things you can think of that I might have not taught about ?

My options are to either buy a receiver that meets the requirements above OR buy a cheap box that will give me a better understanding of my needs so that I can then buy a better receiver. I would rather the earlier option since that will save me money in the long run

I have heard about the following makes of receivers so not sure if they are good/bad/best/.? i.e dream box,technomate,skybox,openbox/maxdigital/vu+/blade

Please any recommendations and advice welcomed

Thanks
cooa99

[mdt]

vu+uno is a cracking box with excellent support from blackhole/vix/openpli and will do what you want and they have a twin tuner option available. with the right camd,s installed and using a motorised dish there are quite a good selection of channels available from various sats.. you can of course use the lan connection and source a card or sea-lion to get a weatlth of other channels including the ones at 28.2e. if your serious then its better to buy a quality system now but it wont be cheap. vu+uno(single tuner) ?230, gibertini 1m dish ?70, stab100 motor ?75, inverto black ultra ?10 t,k and pole ?25/?30 then theres the installation using quality cable,clips,f-cons ect at ?120 to ?150. you can of course do it cheaper with say a vu+solo/dm800hdse clone ?100/?130,triax td88/orbital 1m ?50, darkmotor/tm2600 ?50/?45, wall mount/cable/clips ?20 and a cheap lnb ?5 and then install ityourself if you have a south-facing wall with clear line of sight, hammer drill,10mm masonary bit,hammer, couple of spanners(13mm,10mm) and a set of ladders. as with everything it all depends on how much cash you want to spend and what channels/sats you are looking to recieve and with what quality,regards mdt

[batman44]

I just bought the Blade 7000s, it's the dogs doo darrs love it, epg on foreign sat fast set up, fast scans on sats, HD quality 1080p better than s** and the technomate 6900HD. Watch films from my external hard drive last night perfect. Plenty of support on here as well as from blade and other shops forums.

On the note of new box, i must say the shop I bought it from is fantastic, from ordering online I recived updates on my order via email and text every step of the way even the delivery time and the drivers name! Fantastic service. Lavatronics via http://www.satstation.co.uk

[cooa99]

Thanks guys,

sorry for the late reply. for some reason there was no access to this forum for a while.

I still have my Multisat dish set up packed away in the shed so could still dig them out if need be but I have a feeling I might just use my existing fixed 28.2E small dish as I remembered how hooked I was to Multisat the last time!

I used the opportunity to do some more research and it looks like the Vu+ would be ideal in terms of features.
Seeing that the solo2 and duo2 are coming soon, I think I might have to wait a little bit longer to the what the prices on those units will be .

Out of curiosity Which is better best between the Vu+ Duo and Vu+ uno (with dual Tuners)?

in the meantime maybe I should go for something cheap that I can then sell later on. My main usage will be on 28.2E

How are the skybox F5 or should i be looking for a different make ?

cheers
cooa99

[simon 2003]

solo 2 end of thread

you can add a usb T tuner

[ramjet]

the blade would fit the bill for the cheap option, whereas the skybox is an extremely cheap and basic option

the solo2 is already out and should be top of your list over the duo or over a twin tuner uno. the duo2 is going to be more expensive and OTT to most satellite watchers being more for dedicated enthusiasts like the ultimo was and is

solo2 will be the one to buy at the more expensive end (about ?300) and the skybox or eagle are the cheapest available, with the blade and tm5402 being more midrange

I havent included clone boxes as I wont recommend them, neither would I personally buy a skybox/openbox either

get a good box with good support that does what you require

[cooa99]

I just checked online for sellers of solo2 and none seems to have stock

cooa99

[ramjet]

I just checked online for sellers of solo2 and none seems to have stock

cooa99

that is because as a new product the demand is outstripping supply. there will be new stock soon and some are taking pre-orders

my point was that you seemed to think the solo2 and duo2 werent out yet, whereas the solo2 came out 2 months ago for about ?300 and only the duo 2 isnt out yet and will probably cost around ?450 to ?500 when it arrives in a few months time

so it is "out", but until the actual supply increases it will always be in short supply due to high demand for it

[cooa99]

I am just about to purchase the solo2 now.

The website i am buying from asks which image to be installed free, options are :-
official Vu+
Vix Team
Blackhole
Vti

Which should I start with ?

Cheers

cooa99

[ramjet]

everybody has their own ideas on that one, which is one reason why linux boxes are so good as you can use different images

vix is the standard one

[cooa99]

Cheers,

Since my UK satellite subscription card is still valid for about another 28 days, would i be able to use my card in it before it expires?

cheers again

[ramjet]

depends if you know how to do so, and I dont think we are allowed to tell you how its done, so google it

[cooa99]

ok thanks.

i ordered the box with original vu image so that i can then see how the other images suit my needs.

cheers guys, i'm sure i'll have more questions when i start using it

[ramjet]

questions are not a problem, provided its not about sly

there is a dedicated section here for vu boxes so ask in there

[simon 2003]

I am just about to purchase the solo2 now.

The website i am buying from asks which image to be installed free, options are :-
official Vu+
Vix Team
Blackhole
Vti

Which should I start with ?

Cheers

cooa99

if it was me id want to do myself you know whats what then