combo box buying advice needed

gooner99

Hi, I want to get myself a hd combo box for my birthday later this month., but unsure which one to buy. Can you guys in the know give me an idea of what the top boxes are, which boxes I should be considering, which I should be avoiding and what limitations each has. I have only looked a little at 3 really , argos mini , ferguson and q-box. I like the idea of the future proof qbox, but it is that bit more expensive. Any way all advice, experiences good or bad and alternatives welcome. Basically it will just be hooked up to one hd ready lcd tv. I have a fta receiver and a picnic box at present.picnic box has freezing and remote problems, but I do get clear pictures on both saorview and freesat. Wife hates having to go from one box to the other, hence the need for the combo. Also should I maybe hold out for a bit longer to see what develops? Thanks in advance.

P.S. - i think I read that uk will change from dvb-s to dvb-s2, is that correct and will it have any bearing on equipment choice?

rlogue

Technomate make a good quality combo box - the TM 6902 - which can be connected to a USB or eSATA disk to allow simple PVR (recording) functionality.

Don't expect MHEG 5 digital text on Saorview or the UK Freesat channels and you won't get much more than a now and next EPG.

The Technomates support DVB-S2 and HD DVB-T so you will get RTE 2 HD and the UK FTA HD channels.

gooner99

thanks rlogue,will check that one out.i suppose 7 day epg will probably not be a feature of combo boxes in the short to medium term anyway.what is mheg 5 used for,is that simply the text feature?

rlogue

MHEG 5 is lot more than just Digital Aertel, it's widely thought that the EPG for Saorview will be delivered by MHEG 5 and it also provides access to the Freesat red button and interactive services.

As I said earlier, if you want a handy box that will deliver you the Irish and UK FTA channels by terrestrial and satellite and you're not fussed about a full 7 day EPG then a combo box will deliver the goods, including FTA HD.

If a 7 day EPG is important and you want access to red button functionality and digital Aertel and interactive streams then right now a HTPC will give you access to an EPG if configured correctly or use a Linux satellite box. The DVBViewer software team will be releasing an MHEG 5 capable engine shortly.

But if you want a simple out of the box solution then a combo box will give you a good choice of channels for free with limited functionality.

gooner99

Thanks for that explaination of mheg5. Is it likely that a linux box like the qbox will support mheg5 with future software updates,or is this highly unlikely?

I think I can live without the 7 day epg and probably the mheg5 also. hey i do at the minute on freesat, as the box i have is not a frreview box.myself and the wife just watch whats on and are not huge tv addicts. but isn't the same when you buy something be it a phone, car whatever you start off looking for a basic one and by the time your finished you buy the extras "cause i might use that, or that would be handy" and end up using the basic features only,haha. Like we have a dvd recoder and only used it once. pvr will be handy although and i guess most do that now.

again thanks for your replies. keep them recommendations for combos coming. also any i should avoid.

Apogee

gooner99 wrote: »

Thanks for that explaination of mheg5. Is it likely that a linux box like the qbox will support mheg5 with future software updates,or is this highly unlikely?

Highly unlikely.

gooner99 wrote: »

I think I can live without the 7 day epg and probably the mheg5 also. hey i do at the minute on freesat, as the box i have is not a frreview box.myself and the wife just watch whats on and are not huge tv addicts.

To my mind, the 7-day epg is far more important in terms of everyday use than MHEG5 will ever be.

rurs

Also, AAC audio decoding is in the Saorview spec, and whatever about MHEG-5, loss of audio on Irish channels would be disastrous.

You mentioned the Qbox mini, I was researching it a while back. A user in Israel asked why there was no audio on his terrestrial channels. Reason was AAC is not implemented in Qbox (though it's mentioned in the specs). I can't find the thread, it was on another forum.

If you're considering a linux box, maybe the Vu+ solo would do the job. It only has a single DVB-S2 tuner as standard, but you can plug in a USB DVB-T tuner for Saorview.

gooner99

Hmmm thats interesting on the sound issue. So would it best best to wait a number of months to see how things pan out before buying a combo, or are there combo boxes that have all the sound issues already sorted?

I suppose it's unlikely that any combo boxes will be approved in the short to medium term anyway?

I suppose what I'm saying is that I like the idea of a combo box, but want to be sure that any box I buy will have good hd pictures and last a few years without loss of picture and sound.Maybe is worth waiting a bit longer.

Thanks for all replies so far.very imformative.

rurs

gooner99 wrote: »

Hmmm thats interesting on the sound issue. So would it best best to wait a number of months to see how things pan out before buying a combo, or are there combo boxes that have all the sound issues already sorted?

I suppose it's unlikely that any combo boxes will be approved in the short to medium term anyway?

I suppose what I'm saying is that I like the idea of a combo box, but want to be sure that any box I buy will have good hd pictures and last a few years without loss of picture and sound.Maybe is worth waiting a bit longer.

Thanks for all replies so far.very imformative.

More info here

You can add vu+ duo and solo, also probably Ariva 200 combo.

Also probably Technomate mentioned earlier. (similar to Clarke-Tech 5100, I believe).

Triax have HD-537 combo, includes MHEG-5, supposed to be certified, but it's pricey for what you get, and has had issues, new firmware is supposed to have sorted it.

It's a minefield of issues, I suppose waiting is no harm, see what issues people have with various boxes.

The AAC audio is not a problem at the moment, as RTE aren't using it yet, but if they do, it's as well to be future proofed.

Tony

+ 1 on the vu duo if your budget can stretch that far. It needs a USB stick for DTT so allow another 30 to 35 euro for that. Be prepared to spend time customising it but when you have it the way you want its worth th time taken.

gooner99

vu duo does look the biz alright.but i'm afraid its price puts it out of my league.anyone know if the triax 537 issues are finally sorted yet?

it looks like might be the way to go,does it tick all the boxes. i'm sure they have the aac audio sorted on this box or else it wouldn't have been certified?

or does being certified only mean for a certain timeframe and not really cover all of rte's future short to medium term plans for saorview?

Apogee

Certified means it should tick all the boxes. Though given the amount of 'issues' with the Walker boxes, there seems to be a difference between what's written down on paper and how it actually works in reality.

Out of interest, what is the maximum you're willing to spend?

gooner99

Id say max €250, but would prefer under €200, but sure wouldn't we all like cheaper,haha

gooner99

Just a quick update. Bought this one from this German Trader Today, hopefully all will go well. Cost €142 total. I need to move now, as my freesat box is fecked, but didn't want to sepnd a fortune as things may change.But should get a couple of years out of this and hopefully more as a standby box. They rang within an hour to confirm that I had no postcode and said that they would be shipping it Today. Will let you know how it goes.

http://www.satboerse24.de/edision-argus-mini-2in1-silber-hdtv-p-20596.html?language=en

JCB1

Seems like a very good price on a Combo gooner, please keep us posted on delivery time how the setup goes.

slegs

gooner99 wrote: »

Just a quick update. Bought this one from this German Trader Today, hopefully all will go well. Cost €142 total. I need to move now, as my freesat box is fecked, but didn't want to sepnd a fortune as things may change.But should get a couple of years out of this and hopefully more as a standby box. They rang within an hour to confirm that I had no postcode and said that they would be shipping it Today. Will let you know how it goes.

http://www.satboerse24.de/edision-argus-mini-2in1-silber-hdtv-p-20596.html?language=en

That is the old version of the Edision mini which they stopped making about a year ago. The Mini IP 2 in 1 can be bought in Ireland for for 160-170 eur

gooner99

slegs wrote: »

That is the old version of the Edision mini which they stopped making about a year ago. The Mini IP 2 in 1 can be bought in Ireland for for 160-170 eur

Hi,Didn't realise that.Ah well too late to cry over spilt milk now.I'm sure it'll work ok,hopefully.Not sure what extra this new IP version would have given me over this one,anyone know?

gooner99

slegs wrote: »

That is the old version of the Edision mini which they stopped making about a year ago. The Mini IP 2 in 1 can be bought in Ireland for for 160-170 eur

Hi,Didn't realise that.Ah well too late to cry over spilt mIlk now.I'm sure it'll work ok,hopfully.Not sure what extra this new IP version would have given me over this one,anyone know?