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AZBOX /Elite / HD / Premium

  • 14-04-2009 6:58am
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 685 ✭✭✭


    hi,
    thinking of getting an azbox hd premium as a replacement for my troublesome 6900 as it seems to tick all the boxes. Does anyone have any experiences or comments on this receiver?
    cheers.


«13456720

Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,719 ✭✭✭kaisersose77


    yes i have one, the fw is still in beta, but i think this receiver will be huge. check out satpimps forum for more info.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,879 ✭✭✭✭dxhound2005


    Hi Kaiser

    On the other thread we were talking about 4:2:2 feeds, I left a question for you there on 12th. Were you able to try it on 4:2:2 please?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 685 ✭✭✭jackbauer


    Hi,
    thanks for that. do you know when the tuner modules will be available? Whats holding me back from making the purchase is the "a few weeks" that i'm hearing which can easilly translate to never!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 510 ✭✭✭TVDX


    Two tuners aren't supported in the firmware yet but keep an eye on this site :
    http://www.techno-com.de/shop/
    They have been in stock there before.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,719 ✭✭✭kaisersose77


    Hi Kaiser

    On the other thread we were talking about 4:2:2 feeds, I left a question for you there on 12th. Were you able to try it on 4:2:2 please?

    havent tried it myself, i copied this from another forum

    "The machine was tested by my friend, reported their results

    feeds on dvb-s and dvb-s2: l'azbox works correctly, there is no difference, that depends on the tuner that is fully dvb-s and s2

    feed in dvb-s2 4:2:0 SD: ok
    feed in dvb-s2 4:2:2 SD: ok
    DVB-S2 feed in 1080i HD 4:2:0: ok
    DVB-S2 feed in 1080i HD 4:2:2: ko

    the negative test was carried out with the HD ELITE AZBOX this feed:
    10/04/2009 08:57 PM Submitted by yosssi
    NSS 7 (22.0 ° W)
    11689 H 15000 - MPEG2 4:2:2
    Sport - Golf
    Masters HD (dvb/s2)

    is thought that the problem depends on the chipset, a chipset Sigma, just as it is used for streaming digital media reader Popcorn Hour: The small Popcorn Hour is perfectly compatible with the video in SD and 4:2:2, in HD, only 720p format, but is not compatible with the 4:2:2 HD 1080i

    I do not know if something has tested the same feed with different outcome

    if the problem is real, I do not know if it can be solved with new firmware

    If so go hassle and go with great difficulty that we were going well with this deco,, hope if anyone knows more of the item says something thanks"


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 465 ✭✭cramp


    i have preordered a AZ Premium from the Irish distributor SaorTv..
    same as UK/Euro prices and local shipping......

    Only getting shipped with Single tuner with additional tuners to follow it seems.....

    @jackbauer

    also replacing this with a TM6900 that i have, i had zero issues with the 6900, but had no LAN......


    cramp


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 685 ✭✭✭jackbauer


    i'll get it from saortv as well but not until its shipping with two tuners and stable software. I have seen to many of this sort of thing go belly up.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,759 ✭✭✭gtg60


    Just got one of these, smashing bit of kit :D

    Twin tuner firmware available from Friday, extra tuners in 2 weeks and Freesat/ Sky EPG also in 2 weeks, exciting times ahead :D


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,759 ✭✭✭gtg60


    Ok, just got one of these a few days ago and thought I'd let everybody know what they are like (have posted in this forum even though it'll be 2 weeks before I have my DTT tuner).

    Firstly, there has been a lot of speculation and misinformation floating around since these were announced last year and this, understandably, seems to be one of the main reasons people are holding off purchasing.

    As an introduction to Linux boxes, my previous STB's were a Sigmatek (DTT only) Globalteq (combo) and an Mvision HD200 (combo), the price really is great, a similar specced Dreambox costs at least twice as much and even though the firmware is still technically in Beta and without extra tuners I decided to take the plunge.

    I purchased it from slegs from SaorTV who I have dealt with in the past and as usual found him to be extremely accommodating and helpful (also good to know he is the official Irish distributor for AZBox).

    Right, to the actual unit! I was never not going to be disappointed by the looks of the STB as the original (photoshopped) pictures that floated around the net showed a vastly superior looking piece of kit, the actual unit looked a bit better than the real pictures of it but not as expensive looking as my Mvision 200HD but then it has an actual display instead of numbers (my biggest gripe with the Mvision), so like everything, a trade off. Built quality though looks very good and the plethora of connections at the back gave me the excitment that only techies seem to get with bits of kit like this, dare I say the back looks better than the front!

    After connecting it up and switching it on I was amazed by the sheer amount of configurability (is that a real word?) and always had been daunted by the thoughts of a Linux OS but it was actually simple to set up (worth noting that slegs will configure any STB he sells before he posts it out so even if you are completely tech-less you have no excuse). Straight away the Menu system showed that this was no ordinary STB, on pressing the 'Home' button a menu came accross the bottom listing this boxes many talents, it appears that TV is just one of them as it also has a Browser, Youtube app, RSS reader and various media player and File Manager options.

    For SD material on TV it definately displays the best pictures I have ever seen and while not a million miles better than my Mvision it is an improvement N.B. I always thought that the Mvision had a great picture.
    For HD material I felt a little disappointed, it may just be that the jump from SD to HD wasn't as much now and I had expected an improvement similar to the way it handled SD material, will try and do some back to back testing but don't get me wrong it's more than acceptable.

    Youtube app works exactly as promised and if that was more my sort of thing I'd be more excited about it but again, thumbs up for an whole new feature :)

    RSS reader, same thoughts as above, not my cuppa but works perfectly.

    Browser, I suppose after having the internet for 10 plus years I was going to be critical of this and I wish it had been implemented a little better, it works fine and certainly better than the browser I currently use in my sitting room, which is on the Wii, the real letdown and no fault of the machine is that I NEED a mouse and keyboard to surf! There has been talk on other forums of a plug-in to allow use of a USB keyboard, if this develops into support for a wireless keyboard and mouse then I'll be a happy bunny! For most though it is going to be more than acceptable and I certainaly won't be using the Wii to surf again, of course hats off for bringing another great feature to this box as it is going to mean a lot of people surfing from their sitting room for the first time.

    The Music, Video and Photo viewer I haven't even tried yet (this box just does so much) but I have heard it is great, will test later as I have a few Blu-Ray images on my PC and would love to see if it can play them accross the network.

    I only experimented briefly with Recording and it seems to work fine, one thing I did note and that was that it doesn't store them as Transport Streams but as MPEG that even Windows Media Player can play without modification! (Something my Mvision didn't do).

    Another great feature is the LAN connection, being able to download the latest firmware without having to switch on your PC or mess around with USB sticks is great! You can also remotely access the STB from your PC and download, edit and upload your channels listings!

    Even though I have this 2 days I have only barely scratched the surface of what it can do and that's saying a lot, for a techie like me I don't think I'll ever stop playing or adding to it (there is a Plug-in section on the Menu to add new apps!) and I know development continues at a staggering pace and a quick Google will find you all sorts of forums to see what this machine is capable of.

    Worth noting that I can use my Dragon CAM and genuine Sky sub card in this box, if I hadn't loaned out my spare Dragon I would be able to test if I can run 2 CAM's, one with my Genuine card and one with my FTV card (this has been one of my ambitions to get both running on one box).

    The biggest gripe I have though is with the remote, it really is a step down from the one for my Mvision, it, in comparison is well built, solid and laid out well, the AZBox one has me looking at the remote looking for keys a lot and doesn't fell as solid, I'll probably be less harsh on it once I've learned where the buttons are and truthfully this doen't bother me as I have a Harmony that will soon be learning the AZBox codes but I want to make this 'review' as honest as possible.

    Now, as mentioned in the beginning of this thread, this box is kinda still in Beta and there is promise of all sorts to come, well the most exciting developments are just around the corner, the Firmware for the DVB-T tuners and twin tuners is being released today, the extra tuners will be here in about 2 weeks and slegs has negotiated a deal with a programmer to implement the Freesat/ Sky EPG into the AZBox (and hats off to him), this is an exciting time and the dream DTT/ Sat combo box with 7 day EPG's for both looks like it'll be a reality VERY soon.

    So, a very postive review for this box from me and it's main let-downs seem to be that it is a bit more functional than stylish (ala the looks of the box and the remote) but it is more than made up for by the features and definately the price! So, the question is, do you wait until the few weeks until the Unified EPG combo box becomes a reality (to be on the safe side) or do you take the plunge now?

    IHMO when the first report comes in that it is working you better hope you can grab one as they will fly off the shelves, now that Boxer is gone there is no point holding on to see if you can get a cheap DTT box on a special offer or something!

    Hopefully that covered most things and over the weekend I should be able to test a whole host of other features so will do a follow up review, and, as usual if you have any questions, just ask.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,335 ✭✭✭KeRbDoG


    Great review of the AZBox, now more tempted to buy one soonish.
    Would be completely sold if the 7-day EPG was implemented.

    Does your box have dual DVB-T and DVB-S tuners?


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,759 ✭✭✭gtg60


    kerbdog wrote: »
    Would be completely sold if the 7-day EPG was implemented.
    As I said in my review, this is looking like it's happening and there will be such a demand once it does!
    kerbdog wrote: »
    Does your box have dual DVB-T and DVB-S tuners?

    Just have a single DVB-S2 tuner at present, have a DVB-T one on order though, counting down the days...


    [Moved to Hobby Satellite AKA Foreign Satellite as it's a hobby box rather than pure consumer and not appropriate to terrestrial forum till it has a DTT tuner working on MPEG4]


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,038 ✭✭✭slegs


    Great review GTG60

    FYI. Harmony remotes work out of the box with AZbox without any learning etc

    Movies feature is one the best on the box. Works with nearly all formats including DVD ISO and DVD folder structures along with the usual DIVX and XVID etc. Find it great for streaming kids movies to other TVs via the RF modulator.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,711 ✭✭✭fat-tony


    must ..... resist.... temptation.... :)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,719 ✭✭✭kaisersose77


    jackbauer wrote: »
    i'll get it from saortv as well but not until its shipping with two tuners and stable software. I have seen to many of this sort of thing go belly up.

    I think things might be different though with this, hardware/software wise none of other receivers offered anything better than the dreambox. The main aim of a lot of them was just try and port enigma to them.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,038 ✭✭✭slegs


    Ive played MKV files without difficulty...


  • Moderators, Regional North West Moderators Posts: 19,159 Mod ✭✭✭✭byte
    byte


    slegs wrote: »
    Ive played MKV files without difficulty...
    Even 1080p MKV?

    From the review I've read it sounds promising indeed. My TM6900Super could find itself on eBay soon! But I'll hold off a fair while yet, having already been stung by the over-inflated promises of the Octagon SF918. Indeed the HD Darkbox was out for a long long time before it had PVR functionality.

    This must be one of the first well-featured STB's to come with RF modulator (Octagon had one, but it had poor support and compatibliity issues at the time. TM6900S has one but the LAN functionality doesn't do much at all).

    @Cramp: your post has been removed, as CS discussion can't be allowed in here.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,719 ✭✭✭kaisersose77


    high bitrate files might stutter but thats because they have the bit rate capped while fw is in beta. Its the same processor as popcorn hour etc, so shouldnt be a problem in the future.

    hopefully all the popcorn hour plugins are ported over at some stage.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,879 ✭✭✭✭dxhound2005


    Thanks for the review GTG. My main interest is in feeds and with so many in 4:2:2 I would like to have one box to replace my TM 6900 HD and QualiTV which are looped together and very awkward to use. Have you got a motor and if so could you try some 4:2:2 feeds please. I'm sure you already know this site for feeds.

    http://www.satelliweb.com/index.php?section=livef

    Also how sensitive is the receiver, did you notice any difference in marginal signals compared to your previous receivers? I'm in Dundalk and I get over 30sats on a 1.1 m dish on the TM.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,759 ✭✭✭gtg60


    At the moment I have a dish for 28E and a Triax 88cm with 2 lnbs pointing at 19E and 13E, I have a 4 way holder and 2 more lnbs on the way so I can set one of them on a likely sat for feeds.

    I can compare the AZBox with my Mvision and see if it's more sensitive, I remember Fat-tony remarking that he found his Mvision more sensitive than anything he had used before so it would be a good comparison.

    Really though, this machine is so featured that I am a little overwhelmed (in a good way) and it may be a few days before I get round trying any of this. :):rolleyes::P


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,038 ✭✭✭slegs


    byte wrote: »
    Even 1080p MKV?

    From the review I've read it sounds promising indeed. My TM6900Super could find itself on eBay soon! But I'll hold off a fair while yet, having already been stung by the over-inflated promises of the Octagon SF918. Indeed the HD Darkbox was out for a long long time before it had PVR functionality.

    This must be one of the first well-featured STB's to come with RF modulator (Octagon had one, but it had poor support and compatibliity issues at the time. TM6900S has one but the LAN functionality doesn't do much at all).

    @Cramp: your post has been removed, as CS discussion can't be allowed in here.


    I only have two, both 720p...both perfect. Have seen reports on other sites of 1080p playback


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  • Moderators, Regional North West Moderators Posts: 19,159 Mod ✭✭✭✭byte
    byte


    Ah, well since it has the same processor as the PCH, it should be well capable. Must say, it sounds promising as an all-in-one media device. Looking at images of it, you wouldn't think it had anything special under the bonnet!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,038 ✭✭✭slegs


    Thanks for the review GTG. My main interest is in feeds and with so many in 4:2:2 I would like to have one box to replace my TM 6900 HD and QualiTV which are looped together and very awkward to use. Have you got a motor and if so could you try some 4:2:2 feeds please. I'm sure you already know this site for feeds.

    http://www.satelliweb.com/index.php?section=livef

    Also how sensitive is the receiver, did you notice any difference in marginal signals compared to your previous receivers? I'm in Dundalk and I get over 30sats on a 1.1 m dish on the TM.

    I have a motorised setup. Will take some screenshots later when the missus stops watching the Late Late (only discovered today that it can take screenshots - will have to update the website with better pictures)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,432 ✭✭✭pbirney


    Thanks for the excellent review gtg60.

    I'm also interested in the MPEG 4:2:2 capabilities. Very tempted to buy based on what I've read so far. :)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 360 ✭✭cormacl


    Is it confirmed yet if you will be able to record from one tuner while watching services from the other? Seems a lot of the cheaper combo systems have hardware limits in this regard. I realize twin tuner support is not yet available or only soon to be released but it would good to know this asap.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,038 ✭✭✭slegs


    Not known yet but would be very surprised if not. You can watch channels on another transponder from the one you are recording. Would be hoping that you can record and watch channels on the same DVB-T Mux also.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,038 ✭✭✭slegs


    slegs wrote: »
    I have a motorised setup. Will take some screenshots later when the missus stops watching the Late Late (only discovered today that it can take screenshots - will have to update the website with better pictures)

    I can only go to 8w from my dish location and I have an 80cm dish..if you see any 4:2:2 feeds in the east of 8w then let me know amd I will check.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,879 ✭✭✭✭dxhound2005


    http://www.satelliweb.com/index.php?section=livef

    7 East and 10 East are busy especially early evenings. The times on the link are one hour ahead.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,759 ✭✭✭gtg60


    cormacl wrote: »
    Is it confirmed yet if you will be able to record from one tuner while watching services from the other? Seems a lot of the cheaper combo systems have hardware limits in this regard. I realize twin tuner support is not yet available or only soon to be released but it would good to know this asap.

    Nothing confirmed just yet but what I've read on other forums indicates that this is the goal and shouldn't be a problem, there is even a rumour (from a reliable source :confused:) that Picture in Picture will not only be possible but is planned :D


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 685 ✭✭✭jackbauer


    could someone with a motorised dish check if it will properly receive and display msnbc on telstar12 at 15w via hdmi?


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,719 ✭✭✭kaisersose77


    someone was asking that on the satpimps forum recently, they got a repl saying "You can change the colour format in the menu to NTSC before watching the NBC feeds on at 15W".


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,038 ✭✭✭slegs


    pbirney wrote: »
    Thanks for the excellent review gtg60.

    I'm also interested in the MPEG 4:2:2 capabilities. Very tempted to buy based on what I've read so far. :)

    OK, got a 4:2:2 feed. Its the Irish AIB Rugby final on Thor 0.8W

    Fréquence: 11464 - Pol: V - SR: 6111 - FEC: -
    Catégorie: Sport - Rugby
    Transmis en: MPEG-2 4:2:2
    Infos: Irish AIB League

    Lots of Joanne Cantwell standing around. She is not as chirpy off screen :)

    Had to set the HD flag on the channel to get it to clear but comes in fine video and audio.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,879 ✭✭✭✭dxhound2005


    Slegs

    Yes 1 West is the place for Irish feeds, lots of GAA during the summer and they are all in 4:2:2. Thank you for your help that is great news and it looks like I will be getting the AZ box. have you any thoughts on the sensitivity of the receiver?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,719 ✭✭✭kaisersose77


    is that channel working ok for you now? just seeing a frozen picture of an ireland match with some sound in the background.


    edit: working ok now, must be like that during breaks


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,759 ✭✭✭gtg60


    Slegs

    Yes 1 West is the place for Irish feeds, lots of GAA during the summer and they are all in 4:2:2.

    What size dish would you need for these feeds and what are these feeds for? I mean what channels are they for and could you see the full match on a feed and only ever see the highlights on TV?

    Also, what is the best way to test the sensitivity of this receiver? Surely just because my Mvision says X signal strength and Y signal quality then it is no good comparing it to what the AZBox says?

    Also, remember I have a fixed dish on 13E, 19E and 28E so can't tune into a borderline satellite, unless there is a borderline transponder on one of these??


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,038 ✭✭✭slegs


    Slegs

    Yes 1 West is the place for Irish feeds, lots of GAA during the summer and they are all in 4:2:2. Thank you for your help that is great news and it looks like I will be getting the AZ box. have you any thoughts on the sensitivity of the receiver?

    No problem dx. I am a newbie to a motorised setup so I am probably not the best person to comment.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,879 ✭✭✭✭dxhound2005


    Any live sports being broadcast on RTE, TG4, TV3 and sometimes Setanta will generally have a feed somewhere usually 1 West sometimes 27.5 West. GAA, League of Ireland, Rugby, Racing, Greyhounds etc. Sometimes other events like party conferences. During the GAA Leagues the live game on TG4 would be on on frequency the delayed game on another and the live game with English commentary for RTE highlight on another. Also the Saturday night games which you could only see if you had Setanta were on a feed. The Satelliweb site will have the details shortly after a feed fires up. Lots of other good stuff on feeds like Spanish football in HD on 4 East but you have to have a motor. You can see all the background stuff like interviews being set up after a game can be amusing sometimes.

    We are probably straying off topic here but I just wanted to be sure that someone with the AZ box could prove it got the 4:2:2 feeds so thanks again Slegs. I have a 1.1 metre dish in Dundalk and the 1 West signals are strong. I'm not too technical either so I don't know how to measure sensitivity of the receiver but I imagine they are mostly the same anyway.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,719 ✭✭✭kaisersose77


    twin tuner support in new fw out today

    0.9.1868
    Fixed

    - If do a scan at for example some TP on Hotbird and have more than one satellite scanned,
    when go back to TC always go to position 001 at channel list, what is big inconvenience if you have motorized dish,
    because will jump for satellite that have channel at position 001.
    Cursor should go for channels position of scanned TP.

    Fixed
    - Some Polish channels like TVP1, Universal, Sci-Fi, MGM can`t get EPG data info

    Fixed
    - Some channels (like Filmbox HD) at Hotbird need go catch EPG info at other TP, actually AzBox cannot support that

    Fixed
    - Quality of pictures using photo player is very bad, this should be improved

    Fixed
    - ISO files do not work anymore (none at all). Box hangs if you try to play them.

    Add
    - Auto-Detect Tuners plugged and add support for Combo models and DVB-T and DVB-C twin tuner support


    Add
    - At Satellite list show not only the satellite name but also satellite position

    Add
    - When we played ISO (backup DVD) we don?¯t have possibility choose outside subtitles from files

    Add
    - Auto Scale Pictures to 1920x1080, with option to keep or not the original aspect ratio

    Add
    - Storage Create option: HDD standby, receiver should put HDD in standby if during some minutes not usage, to save energy and HDD life

    Add
    - TV Channel After finish Scan and decide if Store or not store scanned channels, go directly to menu of Scan channel

    Add
    - Data Reset Option to erase all Plug-ins

    Add
    - Support uncommitted Diseqc and committed Diseqc at same time

    Add
    - Change Font by User
    1. Copy your_font.ttf to USB storage and plug it on AZBOX
    2. Go to 'System Information' of Setting
    3. Press OK on Font Setup


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,759 ✭✭✭gtg60


    God damn it, where's the super excited smilie!! :D:eek::cool: Close enough!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 70 ✭✭remlap


    jackbauer wrote: »
    could someone with a motorised dish check if it will properly receive and display msnbc on telstar12 at 15w via hdmi?

    Why would any one want to watch MSNBC :p


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 360 ✭✭cormacl


    gtg60 wrote: »
    Nothing confirmed just yet but what I've read on other forums indicates that this is the goal and shouldn't be a problem, there is even a rumour (from a reliable source :confused:) that Picture in Picture will not only be possible but is planned :D

    This is something to watch then. These receivers, well all of them use some vendors cpu with a reference motherboard or some variant. We have dream using a broadcom design, sti170x being used by most of the cheap sat/ter USB combo boxes and now this sigma design being used by azbox. I've read that the Sti cannot support two tuners active at once or at least record from one watch the other. But it does support watch other tp services of the one being recorded.

    I know the dm8000 can record from any combination of it's 2 s2 tuner and/or 2 optional extra tuners while watching others or watching a recording. But even there I found that recording a hd service on one s2 tuner prevents recording another hd service at the same time. I'm not yet sure if this is a firmware limit or imposed restriction.

    The point is that it is possible you may not have the ability to use both tuners simultaneously..... So it's worth exploring this the first chance you get.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,759 ✭✭✭gtg60


    cormacl wrote: »
    But even there I found that recording a hd service on one s2 tuner prevents recording another hd service at the same time. I'm not yet sure if this is a firmware limit or imposed restriction.

    There was a mention of a similar limitation for PiP, must be a hardware thing.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 360 ✭✭cormacl


    gtg60 wrote: »
    There was a mention of a similar limitation for PiP, must be a hardware thing.

    If it turns out that the azbox cannot record simultaneously from both tuners, it will make it a disappointment for many. With the FTA model for Ireland being a mix of sat and dtt, we need that unified notion that its one list of services. But locking you to viewing only the national 4 when recording the 4, is just too restrictive, likewise for sat recording. If it turns that the new dual-tuner support is not "yet working" with this, I'd advise you to start a posing a lot of questions to the manufacturers.. because when you add dual-tuner support, it would be madness for this to not be present unless there was a hardware limit in play.

    I was sort of forced to go the dm8000 route because I needed 3 tuners.. 2 sat tuners and 1 terrestrial. For PVR or just general viewing, we get too many clashes at home for German TV for the wife and stuff I want to watch on UK sat tv. While it has cost me a grand, I know where I stand with it in terms of community support and flexibility.

    I think the lyngbox plus an extra sat tuner or the qbox might have been alternatives.. certainly cheaper alternatives.. but it became a concern that I would pay half the price and might end up with something that is never as good as the dreambox or had some annoying limit etc. So I stuck with what I am used to... so far so good.

    But reading this review and others on the azbox, what impresses me a lot about this receiver is the youtube support. The dreambox can do this but only via proxy assistance from a vlc app running somewhere on a computer. Its quite an achievement for the azbox if they have native Adobe flash or at least some aspect of FLV working on the box.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,759 ✭✭✭gtg60


    Just to clarify, there was mention that if PiP is implemented that you wouldn't be able to watch a HD channel and have a HD channel as the picture in picture.

    But all speculation til the extra tuners are available and we can see for ourselves...


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,719 ✭✭✭kaisersose77


    cormacl wrote: »
    If it turns out that the azbox cannot record simultaneously from both tuners, it will make it a disappointment for many. With the FTA model for Ireland being a mix of sat and dtt, we need that unified notion that its one list of services. But locking you to viewing only the national 4 when recording the 4, is just too restrictive, likewise for sat recording. If it turns that the new dual-tuner support is not "yet working" with this, I'd advise you to start a posing a lot of questions to the manufacturers.. because when you add dual-tuner support, it would be madness for this to not be present unless there was a hardware limit in play.

    I was sort of forced to go the dm8000 route because I needed 3 tuners.. 2 sat tuners and 1 terrestrial. For PVR or just general viewing, we get too many clashes at home for German TV for the wife and stuff I want to watch on UK sat tv. While it has cost me a grand, I know where I stand with it in terms of community support and flexibility.

    I think the lyngbox plus an extra sat tuner or the qbox might have been alternatives.. certainly cheaper alternatives.. but it became a concern that I would pay half the price and might end up with something that is never as good as the dreambox or had some annoying limit etc. So I stuck with what I am used to... so far so good.

    But reading this review and others on the azbox, what impresses me a lot about this receiver is the youtube support. The dreambox can do this but only via proxy assistance from a vlc app running somewhere on a computer. Its quite an achievement for the azbox if they have native Adobe flash or at least some aspect of FLV working on the box.

    youtube has non flash streams aswell. It works on the iphone which doesnt have flash, so i'd assume the azbox is using that stream aswell. The sigma chip doesnt support flv.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 32,417 ✭✭✭✭watty


    cormacl wrote: »
    If it turns out that the azbox cannot record simultaneously from both tuners, it will make it a disappointment for many. With the FTA model for Ireland being a mix of sat and dtt, we need that unified notion that its one list of services. But locking you to viewing only the national 4 when recording the 4, is just too restrictive, likewise for sat recording. If it turns that the new dual-tuner support is not "yet working" with this, I'd advise you to start a posing a lot of questions to the manufacturers.. because when you add dual-tuner support, it would be madness for this to not be present unless there was a hardware limit in play.

    I was sort of forced to go the dm8000 route because I needed 3 tuners.. 2 sat tuners and 1 terrestrial.

    It seems likely we indeed only need ONE dtt tuner to view/record ALL our channels. Two is needed for Satellite, or else it's a toy PVR.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,340 ✭✭✭mullingar


    Sorry to hi-jack a little, does anybody know if the QBox HD with its tri-tuner (2xsat, 1xdtt) is going to be a runner for the Irish market? ie those who want a full PVR for both Sat AND DTT

    http://qboxhd.com/index.html

    rear.png

    front.png

    qbox3ne2.jpg


  • Moderators, Regional North West Moderators Posts: 19,159 Mod ✭✭✭✭byte
    byte


    How much is the QBox though? It lacks RF mod (easily got seperately).


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,340 ✭✭✭mullingar


    http://www.cellularcenter.it/2002/ing/index.jsp

    €450, including 2 tuners. 3rd tuner, wifi-(802.11N) & HDD extra.

    At a guess €600-700 when loaded. (getting close to DM8000 territory!)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 465 ✭✭cramp


    @slegs

    are u still looking good for your Premium delivery this week!

    cramp/philip


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,038 ✭✭✭slegs


    Yes, should be here Thu/Fri.


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