Downloadable Dr Dish Review - Dreambox 7025

Zaphod

One of the more interesting reviews I've seen.
http://rapidshare.de/files/21669651/Dreambox7025.wmv.html (70MB)



@Byte, Watty - I tried to upload this to ICDG, but it failed. Are there bandwidth or file size limits in place?

cormacl

A very unbiased review.. especially when he referred to it as a "piece of receiver" and even threw it on the ground at the end of the interview :rolleyes:

Apparently he was annoyed you can't flash it unless you use the Ethernet or serial port.. I had a Strong receiver that "claimed" to have OTA update and yet never once received one when I set it to upgrade.. I've always upgraded over serial or Ethernet and the latter is mighty fast with my 7025.

Stability is still an issue but it has made major leaps and bounds since its first release at the end of '05. And once the web interface and streaming is sorted, it will be once excellent piece of kit. I'm told the main cause of the web I/F delay is the lack of itnernal APIs for controlling channel changing and accessing the EPG.

Some love to call dreamboxes hobbyist systems.. but there are plenty of users that just install their preferred image and use a very functional receiver that has plenty of bells and whistles.

The other positives include the hard-drive recordings being accessible over FTP, NFS or CIFS (Windows share). They are also stored unencrypted.

I opted for the 7025 so that I could switch one of the tuners with a DVB-T variant when DTT trials start here. I alrady own a 5620 but was not having perfect results and really wanted a dual-tuner solution with internal disk. I have mine connected to an Ethernet bridge onto my wireless LAN.

watty

Zaphod wrote:

One of the more interesting reviews I've seen.
http://rapidshare.de/files/21669651/Dreambox7025.wmv.html (70MB)



@Byte, Watty - I tried to upload this to ICDG, but it failed. Are there bandwidth or file size limits in place?

70Mbyte is bound to be oversized I imagine. I'd have to check with Byte (his site). But the hosting comapany has just doubled my allotment so I presume Byte's also.

watty

cormacl wrote:

Stability is still an issue but it has made major leaps and bounds since its first release at the end of '05. And once the web interface and streaming is sorted, it will be once excellent piece of kit. I'm told the main cause of the web I/F delay is the lack of itnernal APIs for controlling channel changing and accessing the EPG.

Some love to call dreamboxes hobbyist systems.. but there are plenty of users that just install their preferred image and use a very functional receiver that has plenty of bells and whistles.

Sounds Hobbyist to me. Infact I'm NOT using it for an OEM application because you have to fiddle with it and the reputation it has would hurt negotiations with other suppliers.

cormacl

watty wrote:

Sounds Hobbyist to me. Infact I'm NOT using it for an OEM application because you have to fiddle with it and the reputation it has would hurt negotiations with other suppliers.

Well do report on how well you get on with your reelbox.. I've seen plenty of flame on them being unreliable.

fat-tony

Zaphod wrote:

One of the more interesting reviews I've seen.
http://rapidshare.de/files/21669651/Dreambox7025.wmv.html (70MB)

Hah - vot funny guys The Germans really can't do humour :rolleyes:

Seriously though, I've had a 7020 for about a year now - with a Motek rotor and 90cm dish. I'm using the Hydra image which I have found to be very stable. I'd agree with Watty that this is a hobbyist box - definitely not for mainstream usage. I swapped in the 40GB harddidsk from my SKY+ box when I upgraded that to 120GB and use it for recording ITV/BBC 3/4 etc. What I would have liked was a facility to do blind searches for transponders, it seems to be limited to the frequencies and symbol rates stored in the tables. I've updated these occasionally from Lyngsat etc., but I'd like to be able to leave it to scan blind. Are you aware of any images that allow you to do that?

watty

Don't misunderstand me lads. I'm all for legitimate hobbies. I don't use hobbiest in a derogitary sense. If the Dream box had *ONLY* a hobbyist reputation that would be fine. Its the aspect of card and Internets, enough said, that causes the problem.

Ronan|Raven

And the wonderful sc8in1 addon some people have for it