Which sat box or build pc??

[philp1863]

Hi folks
My old sat box gave up before Christmas and I am still trying to make up my mind which box I should go for. Can anyone give me a little advice on the subject. I would like to be able to do the following:-1. Have it so that it is fairly simple to use to watch basic channels.....at a touch of a button.
2. Not too big....say height of 10 cm and a width of 50 cm.
3. Watch freeSat channels....just the basic ones including HD
4. Use it in the lounge to browse the internet.
5. Use Skype.
6. Watch if possible mkv and maybe avi files on it.


I am trying to keep the cost down, but wondering what the options are?


I have looked at the HUMAX smart boxes and they do look very good. I also looked at the DreamBoxes and they look brilliant. I can buy a DreamBox for 122.99. But I am very concerned that this is probably a clone? because it is so cheep. I dont want to buy rubbish...so not sure about the DreamBox.


I would be quite keen on building my own PC to do the job..but It would need to fit into the above requirements...I have no idea if I can get a PC box approaching that size...and its got to be user friendly on switching channels.
I have too many choices and dont know which way to turn so any advice is most welcome.....thanks

[ramjet]

an original vu solo 2 should be ideal for what you want, with the ability to fit a laptop sata hdd internally , twin tuner , do everything you want as a sat box

you may find a vu solo or uno can do most of what you require but check if its internal or external hdd , my advice was based on a twin tuner internal hdd with the solo 2

any dm is likely to be a clone and may not play avi , so a vu is better as it plays almost anything

[philp1863]

Thank You ramjet for your response. I have been looking at the vu+ solo 2 boxes and I can get one for 285 including postage. I contacted one of the sellers and asked if it was ok to use to browse the web and he seemed very negative about it. In your opinion will this box do the things I need? I really appreciate your help.


I am toying with the idea of costing up how much a small PC would cost to build and do the job.....and what the downsides would be. But the vu+ might be the best solution.


Thanks again

[ramjet]

cant say I use my duo to browse the internet as that is easily done using a nexus 7 or similar android tablet, or laptop like I am on now (or an android phone for that matter)

as far as building a htpc its about getting the correct software, digital tuners , finding the right plugins etc , 90% of the work is done in the images for the vu boxes, it has a twin tuner built in, space for a laptop sata hdd inside, boots up very fast and has numerous plugins including ondemand and icefilms etc , plays mkv and avi and mp4 files, mp3 files , basically does almost anything you need it for

you can check weather and news and other stuff online with it, but I prefer a tablet or lappy for those tasks myself and would advise you do the same as they even have those features on smart tv,s now, and dvd players etc

I appreciate you want one box to do it all, well the solo 2 should do almost everything you asked, maybe more besides , get a tablet for internet browsing and stream to it from your solo 2 as well

[short360uk]

The amiko alien 2 wil do most things and has opera web browser on the spark OS

[philp1863]

The amiko alien 2 wil do most things and has opera web browser on the spark OS

Thanks short360uk..you have completely thrown me. I had decided to forget the internet and the playing of mkv etc files and just go for a basic box that would allow me to record if I need and do basic HD output. I had chosen the Humax HB1000S which costs about ?90. I have already got an external hard drive that I can use.


I am having to be fairly careful with money at the mo, so this was a good price and I get a 2-year warrenty with it. Like ramjet says I can easily convert or watch mp3 etc files on my pc as well as browsing the internet on my pc.


However it would be nice to be able to do this in the lounge in front of the fire (my laptop is now old and very slow).


It seems looking on the web that I can get the amiko alien 2 for about ?145.00, which is another ?55.....I need to way up the pro's and cons. May I ask a couple more questions?


1) It looks like this box will enable me to browse the web, do you think skype has any chance of working? I looked on the web and saw no references to it?
2) I do like very much the 2 year warranty on the Humax which is a very good make. Have you any knowledge on the amiko alien 2 quality....I tried googling reviews but could not come up with anything useful. If treated right do you think that it would last?


Sorry for the difficult questions. I Thank You both for helping me to make up my mind!!!!!

[ramjet]

if you wanted a cheap but good basic sat box with single tuner and plays avi and mkv and mp3 files then the blade 5000s (or 7000s) would be a good choice, used with usb sticks or external hdd , same idea with a spiderbox 6000 too

I was under the impression you wanted a lot more than this hence my mentioning the vu boxes that can do so much more

[short360uk]

The amiko alien also comes with 2 years warranty. I have a fair bit of knowledge on them I have one as a second box and have set up a few for mates and had no problems at all with hardware and they running very stable with the latest images. U won't get skype running on it tho

[philp1863]

Thank you ramjet and short360uk for your very valuable help.
I know very little about satboxes or building a pc to do this...but thanks to you both I am gradually coming up to speed to try and make the right decision. I was initially very interested in building my own PC; I have built PC before and use linux all of the time (I have worked with linux for years), but because I know that even to get sound to HDMI can be quite a battle I have decided not to do that...maybe in the future perhaps. Cost and reliability is also high on my agenda. But thanks to you guys I can now look through the list of suggestions, discuss with family and hopefully make a decision.
A big thank you to both of you.

[southpaw]

If your going PC based, have a look at NUC, next unit of computing, nice little setup but can be pricey depending on what model you choose