Sat box upgrade

[Cccam4ever]

I have an ancient Skybox F3 and am looking to upgrade to a much better box. F3 is basic as it has no 7 day epg just 'now and next', YouTube & YouP**n don't work and the list goes on. I am looking for a satellite box that is under ?130 and the features I'd like are:
-HD
-Ability to record while watching another channel (This would be a huge boost but not twin tuner as they are over budget)
- 7 day epg (This is a must as the F3 is s**t at this)
- YouTube app works, don't care about YouP**n but if included then that is fine (but this is not a must)
-CC**m and MG***d compatible

I have looked at Technomate TM-5402 which does what it says above I think but not sure if it supports cc***d/mg***d. And finally is the VU+ Zero any good? Does it do any of the above because it is a single tuner and the cheapest VU+ out there.

I know it is a lot of requirements but I'd really appreciate if anyone can help to give me some choices to narrow down a choice of receiver.

Thanks in advance for your help

[ramjet]

you need a bespoke type of box to do this, like the VU range, but the cheaper the box the more facilities you fail on

ideally you require a twin tuner VU type box, like the solo 2, especially for the record one channel and watch another, the Zero fails on this and also fails because you cannot add a hdd internally either, but its a good single tuner box and better then the bespoke boxes you mentioned

to achieve what you want , you require a box that runs openvix or blackhole or openpli or openatv
you require a minimum of 2 sat tuners
you require or should go for a box with the ability to fit an internal hdd
you require the box to be able to run the emus you mentione
you require the box to run crossepg in order to download the 7 day epg data to usb stick placed in the back of the box
you require the images mentioned as they should allow for plugins like youtube

so ideally you require a bigger budget and buy a vu twin tuner or the tm equivalent, or maybe a clone like the zgemma

ideally a vu duo 2 but cost prohibits this
or a vu solo 2 (which is what I bought and would buy and would recommend)
or an older vu duo1 (which I started with)

a tm twin also fits the bill, or something similar as they run some of the official images like vix

then there are the clones which dont run official images but can also do what you want I believe

the subject has come up countless times on here, just read the similar threads on the same topic

tm5402 is a bespoke box and only runs their firmware or the patched firmware, it cannot run the emus you ask about except where the c one is built into the patch, it cannot have emus installed at all, unlike the VU boxes

the VU ZERO gets good reviews, but is external hdd and a single tuner only, so is a good replacement for a DM800 which is older but similar

buy a vu solo 2 , you wont regret it

[martin035]

I have a Zgemma 2s box, it isn't a clone box as it's well supported by various groups, notably openatv which is what I use on my box.

1_0_19_22C5_80D_2_11A0000_0_0_0 (1).jpg

As you can see it handles HD channels quite well.



The 7 day EPG via CrossEpg works without fault



It's quite easy to watch one channel and record another

1_0_19_22C5_80D_2_11A0000_0_0_0 (3).jpg

I also connect my Zgemma to my Network Drive, so I can watch all the movies/tv shows I've acquired from Kodi.

Which brings me to the Negative side of the Zgemma series, as this is a budget box the components inside are slower, so plugins like kodidirect, tsmedia, youtube and iptv viewer are rubbish but for ?60 to ?70 quid you can't go wrong.

[Cccam4ever]

I'm not too fussed about the recording but that can come in handy, can buy an external HDD. But these VU+ solo & duo cost way too much and are over budget. They are the best linux single/twin tuners available but want a cheaper option which doesn't compromise the 7 day epg (OpenVix etc) and supports emus. Not too concerned about plugins but like recording they're a plus. I've done research on Zgemma star 2s, that is cheap and practical and does what I need but does it support emus?

[martin035]

can buy an external HDD.

I use a 64 Gb USB stick drive as it's faster than a HDD especially for the EPG data, I would only use a HDD if I wanted to keep record programs for a long time, most of the time on my system I just watch and delete or convert via my PC and put on the Network drive.

but does it support emus?

If you're on about the subject which the 'forum word filters' have masked in your quoted username then yes, but before you start asking a few questions on this remember the forum rules.

[Cccam4ever]

I have a USB to update the F3, 8GB I think but obviously for the recording stuff I'll buy a 64GB and I do know the rules but just want to know if the boxes support the you know what which cannot be named

[martin035]

Check out this website, there's always deals on 64GB USB drives on there, just search 'usb'

http://www.hotukdeals.com/all/deals/new

[Cccam4ever]

I've checked it out and there are some amazing deals on there, cheers pal. Found a 64GB for around 10 quid

[cactikid]

i would not be buying a vu duo as its now old and slow and with newer images been bigger.newer boxes have more grunt.

[Cccam4ever]

VU are not within my budget so I am looking to get the zgemma star 2s which I've looked at and is a cheap twin tuner alternative to vu duo

[plasterer]

Edge yer bets mate ,get cable and sat tuner zgemma quality box at the price ...............Paul

[the goat]

I've brought a few boxes over the years for me and my children (normally get the kids cheap boxes -?100)
best boxes I've ever got were the old dreambox 500 still working after all these years (use it as a backup if others fail)
and vu+ solo2 original (not a clone),
had a clone vu+ duo never really reliable, about 3 of these sub ?100 (skybox, zemma etc ) all seem to break around a year old

[Cccam4ever]

Cheap boxes like skybox are fine for kids as they do the job but regularly need updating which is the downside as well as firmware which is no longer supported for the F3 I currently have and want to replace. I've had the F3 for nearly 3 years and apart from it completely freezing, it's done the job quite well but definitely need an upgrade sooner or later