Dreambox Question???

twig

Anyone know where to get either clone dreamboxs or real dreamboxs online or in ireland?

Also which one would be better clone or real one? Im interested in a HD box too? Any Ideas?

Thanks

redout

If you want a HD box then either the Dream 500, 800 or 8000.

Satworld in Dublin do clones and original boxes though can be had for cheaper online.

In my opinion real boxes are always better than clones though everyone to their own.

UKdreamshop have a good rep.

twig

Thanks redout!

Im totally new to them and i was thinking of buying a real one tbh. Whats the deal with images and stuff like that been reading about them??

redout

twig wrote: »

Thanks redout!

Im totally new to them and i was thinking of buying a real one tbh. Whats the deal with images and stuff like that been reading about them??

The image is basically the software that runs your box - plenty of them freely available to download.

Just a word to the wise - dreamboxes are not like Sky receivers.

They run on linux and can be quite technical so if you are not much good at that sort of stuff or are not willing to put in the reading time (there is a lot of that!) then I wouldnt recommend one.

twig

redout wrote: »

The image is basically the software that runs your box - plenty of them freely available to download.

Just a word to the wise - dreamboxes are not like Sky receivers.

They run on linux and can be quite technical so if you are not much good at that sort of stuff or are not willing to put in the reading time (there is a lot of that!) then I wouldnt recommend one.

Im willing to spend time tbh. I enjoy fiddling with them i have a tm7100hd atm which i never really like tbh and i was thinking of getting sky hd but i hate there new box layout so im gonna stick with the fta stuff i think.

ukdreamshop are clones and i was looking at satworld they seem expensive as u said. ill keep googling and try find one i found german site http://www.hm-sat-shop.de/dreambox.html looks expensive aswell!

Is there much difference in getting a dm800hd or a dm500hd besides the price?

Oat23

The DM800HD is just fantastic. I doubt there is much difference between it and the 500HD. Maybe the 500HD is faster but that's all I'd say.

Also, on the image.
It's really simple to flash the DM800. All you need is the box connected to your internet and you can do it through your web browser. Simples.

redout

twig wrote: »

Im willing to spend time tbh. I enjoy fiddling with them i have a tm7100hd atm which i never really like tbh and i was thinking of getting sky hd but i hate there new box layout so im gonna stick with the fta stuff i think.

ukdreamshop are clones and i was looking at satworld they seem expensive as u said. ill keep googling and try find one i found german site http://www.hm-sat-shop.de/dreambox.html looks expensive aswell!

Is there much difference in getting a dm800hd or a dm500hd besides the price?

All genuine dreamboxes are quite expensive - one of the main reasons that there exists a thriving clone market. A DM800 will cost about €400, the new DM500 will be about €300.

The 500 has a faster processor 400mhz as opposed to 300mhz on the 800 and the 500 can only take eSATA whereas the 800 can take both an internal SATA and an eSATA though not both simultaneously. 500 has HDMI as opposed to DVI. The 800 has two USB as opposed to only one mini USB on the 500 and the 800 has an OLED display. There is a new 800se suppose to be out in september that will have 2 card readers and a 400mhz processor.

twig

Wierd that post one minute before me :P
on reading your post im going to buy a dm800hd

This look ok.... http://www.hm-sat-shop.de/en/hdd-receiver-hdtv-dreambox/dreambox-dm800-s-hd-pvr-80-500-gb.html

glic83

go for a vu+ duo, 400 quid and specs are better then that of the dm 800

tomslick

glic83 wrote: »

go for a vu+ duo, 400 quid and specs are better then that of the dm 800

I second that. The DM800 clone I had was a piece of crap. They all are if people are honest. Every forum that deals in clones have pages and pages of problems. With the DM800 clone the tuner is worse than useless. You have to buy an in-line amp to watch some HD channels and remove it to watch others. The heating problem was so bad I had to install a 4inch PC fan to keep it cool. And the remote is pretty weak. And all this for a bargain of £250.
Use your head and buy a VU+ for €420ish it has two tuners and runs all the same software as a 500 and 8000 and a far superior built quality. Have mine for over 6 weeks and no problems.

keithclancy

Actually I've found the best system out of everything is a cheap PC, 2 combo DVB-T and DVB-S2 cards + a 700gb drive +Windows 7 Media Center.

Took about 30 minutes to scan and updated the EPG itself.

Kicks the pants off any Dreambox.

redout

keithclancy wrote: »

Actually I've found the best system out of everything is a cheap PC, 2 combo DVB-T and DVB-S2 cards + a 700gb drive +Windows 7 Media Center.

Took about 30 minutes to scan and updated the EPG itself.

Kicks the pants off any Dreambox.

I would take the Dreambox any day over the pc option but thats just me.

carbsy

redout wrote: »

I would take the Dreambox any day over the pc option but thats just me.

Ditto.

Barr

I have tne DM800 hd clone for nealy a year. Can't fault it for €180. Done a lot of research before I bought it and found a good clone is better than the overpriced original.

azzeretti

keithclancy wrote: »

Actually I've found the best system out of everything is a cheap PC, 2 combo DVB-T and DVB-S2 cards + a 700gb drive +Windows 7 Media Center.

Took about 30 minutes to scan and updated the EPG itself.

Kicks the pants off any Dreambox.

I had/have a similar setup. Although the PC is a quad core i7 with 16GB RAM and a serious video card. I still had many issues with codecs and WMP getting to work correctly with the DVB cards. I have also tried nearly every other DVB software you can think of. I even have a Mythbuntu PC which, while close, doesn't come near a Dreambox.

The things you can do with a Dreambox just can't be done with a PC without a lot of fiddling.

I would take my DM800 over any PC setup I have seen in a second!

Nehaxak

It all depends really how far you're willing to go with the PC end of things. Get yourself a copy of openSUSE 11.3 installed and start from there, can't go wrong really and there's a ton of Linux stuff already been out there tried and tested for years.
I wouldn't even bother with using any version of windows if setting up a PC as a sat receiver when there's so much more available and for free, on Linux.

Even a basic bit of software like http://kaffeine.kde.org/ on Linux is excellent for a start.

Don't knock the PC being used as a satellite receiver until you've really spent a good bit of time messing about with it all, especially via Linux rather than windows

keithclancy

azzeretti wrote: »

I had/have a similar setup. Although the PC is a quad core i7 with 16GB RAM and a serious video card. I still had many issues with codecs and WMP getting to work correctly with the DVB cards. I have also tried nearly every other DVB software you can think of. I even have a Mythbuntu PC which, while close, doesn't come near a Dreambox.

The things you can do with a Dreambox just can't be done with a PC without a lot of fiddling.

I would take my DM800 over any PC setup I have seen in a second!

Any particular reason why ?

I aligned my Dish, installed Windows 7, ran through the wizard and had all the Freesat Channels in about 30 minutes from inserting the disk.

Plus now I have iPlayer, ITV Player, Channel 4 OD and Five player all running in the same interface.

The EPG was already populated and the PVR functions work fine.

Also supports a motorised dish with DisEQC.

Plus the whole setup inc dish cost was about 350 euros.

What extra 'cant' you do with Windows Media Center 7 that you can't do on a Dreambox ?

Tried out MythTV, its not bad, only thing i couldn't get to work properly was the Remote.

I made a rubbish video for a mate in the UK to have a look.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdznb5NIjrs

IMO The interface on the Dreambox is pants in comparison.