Which receiver to buy?

[waqasahmed]

Hey all!

Currently, my parents have a KV A780 (cable) and tbh that's apparently been on the blink. I'm looking for a receiver, which is largely "plug and play" ie: I don't mind taking out some time to do the initial set up, but Im kinda 200 miles away from my parents. This was the original reason for having the KV A780 instead of say a dreambox

At any rate, I've seen several boxes now available (I haven't been much in to the C&S scene since..years) I've come across:

ZGemma and
Openbox

Are there others? Which box is best to buy? Of course, Im aware that I'd need to purchase the "gift" I've noticed that there's one ZGemma box that has two satellite tuners, so I assume that in theory, one could be for PVR purposes and one could be for live viewing purposes?

I believe that Openbox has a HD model, but ZGemma doesn't. Is this correct? It'd be nice to have the system "look like Sky UK"

Or are there any other boxes to consider that I haven't thought about?

Basically I'd like a box, that I can basically leave, and pay a subscription for if needs be, and of course without it glitching!

Thanks!

[waqasahmed]

I also assume that Openbox and Zgemma will operate in a similar fashion to dreambox, for management purposes? ie: FTP in to the box, change the xxxxx to chmod 775 (iirc) ?

[cactikid]

if replacing the 780 and you want to record also then its a twin cable box receiver your thinking off.like on this updated list.

http://www.digital-kaos.co.uk/forums/showthread.php/480362-cable-sat-combos-boxes?highlight=cable+sat+combos

[rigga]

Openbox is very basic they and you have to update your channels manualy i got bored of mine after a week, cant record on them or plan on the epg it only shows now and next, i dont rate the picture quality on the openbox either. i now have a zgemma s2 which is great the picture quality is amazing and can record on them but takes a bit to set up.

[waqasahmed]

if replacing the 780 and you want to record also then its a twin cable box receiver your thinking off.like on this updated list.

http://www.digital-kaos.co.uk/forums...ble+sat+combos

Tbh, you get far more available via satellite than on cable, and both ways require you to have some sort of subscription, whether that be legally or illegally Of course, the satellite way also allows you to get other satellites (if I so wanted, but then I've thought...nah Im OK with English language programmes (And parents who might wanna see the Asian channels, which there are plenty of on Sky UK)

Back in the day, we had an Opemedia 500CS (when the whole nagra..2 rollout kicked in, and no that's not a typo )

[waqasahmed]

Openbox is very basic they and you have to update your channels manualy i got bored of mine after a week, cant record on them or plan on the epg it only shows now and next, i dont rate the picture quality on the openbox either. i now have a zgemma s2 which is great the picture quality is amazing and can record on them but takes a bit to set up.

Thanks. I dont mind spending time setting it up initially, so long as I can "leave it" and that's it. I work 12 hour shifts. Sure I get days off which is quite nice (6 days off this week. Wooh!) but basically on the days Im working, I can't really help (And because my parents are 200 odd miles away, I'd have to remotely connect) Showing mum and dad how to use teamviewer isn't exactly what I want to do!

There's also the Zgemma H1 and possibly the H2? Are they any better? Certainly, they cost more

Also, can you just pop in a hard drive in to the devices? Or do they have to be external drives?

[waqasahmed]

Doing a bit of research, I assume:

Zgemma S2 = Twin DVBS2 tuner + supports external hard drive
Zgemma H1 = 1 x DVBC tuner, 1 x DVBS tuner + supports external HDD + HDMI (But for which tuner exactly?)
Zgemma H2 = 1 x DVBS tuner, 1 x DBDC tuner, 1x DVBT tuner (for freeview perchance?) + supports external HDD + HDMI (But not sure of tuner?)


Please could someone advise if I am correct in what I think?

[waqasahmed]

Also looking at this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPyqPp0MZNY

Tbh, that seems easy enough. I used to pop on a ****** back on to a dreambox back in the day. Not exactly much different I guess (Though I guess initially I'd have to flash an image to make it look like SkyUK) but again, not sure which receiver to buy?