Dreambox 500

darkmaster2 · 20-06-2005 9:10pm #1

Anyone have a Dreambox 500?

If so , what do you think of it etc?

Rew · 20-06-2005 9:17pm

Friends of mine have Dreamboxs, not sure of the model though. They love them, the featuers seem endless.

Rew · 20-06-2005 9:24pm

Actually they have 7000S's

darkmaster2 · 20-06-2005 9:28pm

Yeah, the 7000`s have a Hard drive bay. Nice machines, unlimited software cams etc.. I just ordered the 500 one in from Germany. I havent done any satellite DXing since the analogue days. Should be fun !

Max2000 · 21-06-2005 12:37am

Hello,

Dm500 works fine, but dm7020 is better, becouse you can use hardisk and usb pen on it.

cormacl · 21-06-2005 8:38am

.. 5620 is I think more or less the same CPU kit. The main difference being that the 5620 has an RF in/out and 2 CI slots. At the time when I bought it, it was the only one of the dreamboxes that had RF in/out and I specifically needed that for multi-room viewing.

Excellent receivers in general.. but to excell beyond the norm, you need a network connection which allows for fast image download and if you are on broadband, you can use this to download plugins and other goodies. In my case, I have an attached Linksys wireless bridge into the receivers Ethernet port.. this effectively joins the receiver to my wireless network at home and also gives it access to the broadband connection.

The stock images on the box are average.. in my case, I use the Gemini image which provides greater flexibility in downloading plugins and provides a usable recording facility over the network... earlier images had real bad recording quality over the LAN.. this has improved significantly in recent times... still not perfect but not far off.

You can get it to mount (map) NFS exported filesystems or CIFS/samba Windows network shares and use these as if it had an internal hard disk.. then you have yourself a PVR.

The boxes can occasionally hang.. in my case it only ever happens when playing back recorded programs.. normal use rarely hangs the receiver.

That said, some of the images I have tried were unstable and had frequent hangs.. The DBF and Gemini images seem the most stable, with Gemini having the edge on features.

Pal · 21-06-2005 9:17am

cormacl wrote:

.. 5620 is I think more or less the same CPU kit. The main difference being that the 5620 has an RF in/out and 2 CI slots. At the time when I bought it, it was the only one of the dreamboxes that had RF in/out and I specifically needed that for multi-room viewing.

Excellent receivers in general.. but to excell beyond the norm, you need a network connection which allows for fast image download and if you are on broadband, you can use this to download plugins and other goodies. In my case, I have an attached Linksys wireless bridge into the receivers Ethernet port.. this effectively joins the receiver to my wireless network at home and also gives it access to the broadband connection.

The stock images on the box are average.. in my case, I use the Gemini image which provides greater flexibility in downloading plugins and provides a usable recording facility over the network... earlier images had real bad recording quality over the LAN.. this has improved significantly in recent times... still not perfect but not far off.

You can get it to mount (map) NFS exported filesystems or CIFS/samba Windows network shares and use these as if it had an internal hard disk.. then you have yourself a PVR.

The boxes can occasionally hang.. in my case it only ever happens when playing back recorded programs.. normal use rarely hangs the receiver.

That said, some of the images I have tried were unstable and had frequent hangs.. The DBF and Gemini images seem the most stable, with Gemini having the edge on features.

mmm. didn't understand a word. Where do I begin to learn about Dreambox before I buy one.

cormacl · 21-06-2005 9:35am

Dream Multimedia Home page...
http://www.dream-multimedia-tv.de/

Or Go here..
http://www.satellite-online.tmfweb.nl/index.htm
click reviews button and then on Dreambox 7000 review.. old and when the box was at beta stage.. but relevant.

If the product specs or review above does not do the job, post back questions and I'm sure people can respond with details.. I know of a fewe others on this forum that have dreambox receivers.

In general, If you don't have home network or broadband, the benefit of a dreambox is reduced somewhat.. the 7000-series can still be used by a non-techie to house a hard drive to act as a PVR and record programmes etc. But again, if you don't have the home network etc, then there are cheaper PVR receivers available that will do the same job.

Tony · 21-06-2005 11:13am

Sorry for OT but could you tell me what Voltage the Linksys takes from the mains adapter, lost mine when moving offices.

Thanks

cormacl wrote:

..
Excellent receivers in general.. but to excell beyond the norm, you need a network connection which allows for fast image download and if you are on broadband, you can use this to download plugins and other goodies. In my case, I have an attached Linksys wireless bridge into the receivers Ethernet port.. this effectively joins the receiver to my wireless network at home and also gives it access to the broadband connection.

cormacl · 21-06-2005 3:02pm

will PM you Tony

Tony · 21-06-2005 3:25pm

cormacl wrote:

will PM you Tony

Thanks for PM, most helpful , dont know why I could not find info on linksys site before now.

cormacl · 21-06-2005 3:44pm

I sent you a 2nd PM.. the device you probably have is a 12V feed.. mine is a 1st generation that used 5V..

Thankfully like the Dreambox, Linksys routers are Linux-based and have sites that are dedicated to hacking the daylights out of them.. for anyone thats curious..
http://www.linksysinfo.org/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=6

OT over.. back to Dreambox!

Dreambox 500

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