Best box for the job

tipdrinker

Hi All,

I'm planning on switching to the free options for receiving digital content with the aerial and satellite dish and I cant make up my mind what box to get.

I don't mind getting a good quality box as it's only a once off payment. Ideally (this is a wishlist and I know I mightn't be able to get everything) I would like a box that would combine saorview & freesat with the option to add other free to air channels conveniently. I would like to have the full epg and ability to record programmes also. It would be great if the box could connect to the internet also so maybe I could watch netflix youtube 4od etc on my tv. It would also be great to have a couple of slots for cards should I go for the likes of al jazeera in the future.

At the moment I'm planning on using my sky dish but may invest in better equipment like a motorised dish in the future some time.

any suggestions?

Ronnie Raygun

What about your Mongolian channels?

tipdrinker

well I found out with the previous thread that unfortunately the world isn't flat. the missus says she can stream them online though so it's ok ;-)

domel

go for VU+

tipdrinker

domel wrote: »

go for VU+

vu+ eh? what would be the reasons for and drawbacks for this particular system? what would be the alternatives?

t c

For simplicity a Freesat Box and a Saorview box. Also this may be of interest for the Foxsat if you want a web interface.

http://www.avforums.com/forums/freesat/1517610-media-file-server-bundle-foxsat-hdr-release-4-0-a.html

donegal.

do you live in an area that will pick up freeview after october? if so there'll be a wider range of boxes to choose from.
Theres a cheap saorview/freesat box that could tide you over for the time being, ferguson ariva 120.

STB

A Freesat Box is useless for other satellites. They dont have CAM slots and some are tied to 28.2. They are branded box for Astra 28.2 Freesat service.

The VU+ Duo is an option but is a linux box.... and is a learning curve for those who havent used one before. They are not plug and play.

Given your requirements, you are possibly looking at the

Technomate TM-7102HD T2 Super

dharn

i think the humax foxsat pvr ticks most of your boxes it has cam slot it will work in non freesat mode, has epg, automatically updates ,it wont do saorview but a small indoor aerial will pick that up for you or if you can an outdoor aerial would be better ,it has 2 tuners so can record 1 and watch another,supports diseq can be bought in richer-sounds for less than 300 euro

STB

dharn wrote: »

i think the humax foxsat pvr ticks most of your boxes it has cam slot it will work in non freesat mode, has epg, automatically updates ,it wont do saorview but a small indoor aerial will pick that up for you or if you can an outdoor aerial would be better ,it has 2 tuners so can record 1 and watch another,supports diseq can be bought in richer-sounds for less than 300 euro

No.

"combine saorview & freesat"

A Foxsat box is useless in this regard as it has no DVB-T tuner required for Saorview.

An aerial does not do Saorview alone. It requires a tuner. This means he would also have to buy another Saorview box on top of the 300euro box you have suggested.

dharn

STB wrote: »

No.

"combine saorview & freesat"

A Foxsat box is useless in this regard as it has no DVB-T tuner required for Saorview.

An aerial does not do Saorview alone. It requires a tuner. This means he would also have to buy another Saorview box on top of the 300euro box you have suggested.

i kinda presumed he had a saorview approved telly, said in my post humax ticks most of the boxes, but does not do saorview, i dont think any machine exists that will do all he is looking for, so i said it would tick most of the boxes

t c

STB wrote: »

A Freesat Box is useless for other satellites.

Rubbish. I have a Humax Foxsat HDR and am receiving 4 satellite. 28.2, 26. 19 and 13E and agree with dharn.

NewHillel

t c wrote: »

For simplicity a Freesat Box and a Saorview box. Also this may be of interest for the Foxsat if you want a web interface.

http://www.avforums.com/forums/freesat/1517610-media-file-server-bundle-foxsat-hdr-release-4-0-a.html

For a two box solution, this is as good as it gets. The Foxsat HDR, with the modified firmware is pretty good, it even allows limited Internet access. You can also add other channels, including those at other orbital positions to the Freesat EPG. This works fine for viewing, but not for recording non-Freesat ones.

It is not as user friendly as Sky, but is much more flexible, and FREE.

Personally, I'd be looking at a Combo box of some sort for general purpose viewing.

t c

@New Hellil
No problem recording non-freesat channels/satellites, but cannot watch Freesat while doing so, or watch non-freesat while recording Freesat.
Example, recording Sons of Anarchy now and cannot go to non-freesat and watch 26E.
Do love it though, and as you say all FREE..............

STB

t c wrote: »

@New Hellil
No problem recording non-freesat channels/satellites, but cannot watch Freesat while doing so, or watch non-freesat while recording Freesat.
Example, recording Sons of Anarchy now and cannot go to non-freesat and watch 26E.
Do love it though, and as you say all FREE..............

That is the whole of idea of using FTA boxes for multi satellite and terrestrial instead of getting Freesat branded boxes to do stuff they arent designed for. The world of non freesat and diseqc is a wonderful experience I would imagine! One is undoing the other.

t c wrote: »

Rubbish. I have a Humax Foxsat HDR and am receiving 4 satellite. 28.2, 26. 19 and 13E and agree with dharn.

Rubbish ?? Rubbish is it ?

Can people actually read what the OPs requirements are ?

I would like a box that would

1. combine saorview & freesat with the option to add other free to air channels conveniently.
2. have the full epg and ability to record programmes also.
3. could connect to the internet also so maybe I could watch netflix youtube 4od etc on my tv.
4. a couple of slots for cards should I go for the likes of al jazeera in the future
   

The Foxsat doesnt do ANY of the 4.

Lads you can "rubbish" all you like about the boxes you have and love, but it doesnt fulfill any of the OPs requirements.

I have already suggested the box that ticks all of the OPs requirements already.

I make no apologies for actually reading the question and knowing the answer.

oxo_

Could also get a Dreambox DM800se (original not clone) and then a cheap dreambox compatible (as in linux drivers available for same that work with dreambox) USB dvbT tuner for the Irish digital terrestrial channels.
Expensive enough boxes mind but they're feckin' amazing bits of kit.

bodonnell

Would'nt an 'Azbox premium hd +' tick a few of the boxes, I think they are available in a combo configuration. Apparentently official software support may be an issue though.

celtictiger32

oxo_ wrote: »

Could also get a Dreambox DM800se (original not clone) and then a cheap dreambox compatible (as in linux drivers available for same that work with dreambox) USB dvbT tuner for the Irish digital terrestrial channels.
Expensive enough boxes mind but they're feckin' amazing bits of kit.

they the ones you get channels from allaround the world and need broadband for??????

NewHillel

t c wrote: »

@New Hellil
No problem recording non-freesat channels/satellites, but cannot watch Freesat while doing so, or watch non-freesat while recording Freesat.
Example, recording Sons of Anarchy now and cannot go to non-freesat and watch 26E.
Do love it though, and as you say all FREE..............

Yeah, I know all that.

What I was talking about was using modified firmware and adding the non-Freesat channels to the Freesat EPG, so that you didn't need to go into non-Freesat mode to watch them.

NewHillel

STB wrote: »

That is the whole of idea of using FTA boxes for multi satellite and terrestrial instead of getting Freesat branded boxes to do stuff they arent designed for. The world of non freesat and diseqc is a wonderful experience I would imagine! One is undoing the other.

With the modified software you can have the Freesat EPG and DISEQ, all in one. It is a good solution where families want to watch a range of programmes, from different satellites. It's not perfect, particularly there are recording limitations, with this approach, but I know families who consider it a big step up, in terms of convienance.

STB wrote: »

Lads you can "rubbish" all you like about the boxes you have and love, but it doesnt fulfill any of the OPs requirements.

I agree.

oxo_

celtictiger32 wrote: »

they the ones you get channels from allaround the world and need broadband for??????

I don't think that type of discussion can take place here on these forums.
I don't use my own for that sort of stuff anyway, happy enough with a mix of freely available channels and legit subs when I need and can afford. Most of the time I end up just watching Russia Today and Al Jazeera anyway, which are both free.

bogtreader

I have seen sky plus boxes advertised that they record Freesat with a card and no subscription.Are they a waste of money what do the more expert than i think

FRIENDO

bogtreader wrote: »

I have seen sky plus boxes advertised that they record Freesat with a card and no subscription.Are they a waste of money what do the more expert than i think

Was it a Freesat+ box, I have a Freesat Humax HDR myself - (I find it an excellent piece of kit, very user friendly)

http://freesat.co.uk/what-you-get/freesat-plus#Pause-and-rewind-live-TV

http://www.satellite.ie/acatalog/Humax_Foxsat_HD_PVR_Freesat_.html

bogtreader

It was on adverts.ie from what i can see it is an actual sky plus box
http://www.adverts.ie/satellite/sky-box-that-records-without-subscription/1126977
How is it possible and if it is why is there not more of them available

FRIENDO

Sorry, I wont be talking about such items on boards

NUTZZ

bogtreader wrote: »

It was on adverts.ie from what i can see it is an actual sky plus box
http://www.adverts.ie/satellite/sky-box-that-records-without-subscription/1126977
How is it possible and if it is why is there not more of them available

It's a JTAG'd box, it's illegal that's why there are not more available.

tipdrinker

STB wrote: »

A Freesat Box is useless for other satellites. They dont have CAM slots and some are tied to 28.2. They are branded box for Astra 28.2 Freesat service.

The VU+ Duo is an option but is a linux box.... and is a learning curve for those who havent used one before. They are not plug and play.

Given your requirements, you are possibly looking at the

Technomate TM-7102HD T2 Super

cheers i think it's a toss up between these two all right. I'm not afraid of linux as I use it on one of my desktops so that's no problem though I've heard that the terrestrial tuner option can be tricky...

celtictiger32

oxo_ wrote: »

I don't think that type of discussion can take place here on these forums.
I don't use my own for that sort of stuff anyway, happy enough with a mix of freely available channels and legit subs when I need and can afford. Most of the time I end up just watching Russia Today and Al Jazeera anyway, which are both free.

**** me pink i only asked a question dont be going all legal eagle on me

tipdrinker

Well I think I'm going to go for the technomate due to the fact that it has the built in terrestrial tuner. Does anyone have any advice as of where's the best place to buy it?

I saw it on e-bay Here

Also I was wondering is the signal strong enough in Dublin that I can use an indoor aerial to pick up the digital terrestrial channels?

oxo_

tipdrinker wrote: »

Also I was wondering is the signal strong enough in Dublin that I can use an indoor aerial to pick up the digital terrestrial channels?

Yeah it is, you should be fine with an indoor aerial.

oxo_

celtictiger32 wrote: »

**** me pink i only asked a question dont be going all legal eagle on me

You asked a question which the rules of the forum state cannot even be touched upon here. I cannot answer you truthfully without subsequently being banned from the forum.

Was a time on these forums you were jumped all over just for even mentioning a dreambox, never mind discussing the possibilities of what it could potentially do.

There's plenty of other places, search on google, don't waste your time on Irish forums discussing same.

stevenf17

Don't know if your interested in going down this route, but you could always build yourself a HTPC or even us an existing PC and put this tuner card in it

http://shop.blackgold.tv/epages/BT3159.sf/en_AU/?ObjectPath=/Shops/BT3159/Products/BGT3600
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/blackgold-bgt3600-dual-dvb-t2-dvb-c-dual-dvb-s2-analogue-composite-s-video-component-video-pcie-prod

It's got dual digital terrestrial tuners (DVB-T and DVB-T2), dual digital satellite tuners (DVB-S and DVB-S2)
and a digital cable (DVB-C) tuner all on the one card. Which lets you record 4 HD streams at the same time. (even though I doubt anyone would need to)

You can put as much storage as you want into the PC and it Integrates into windows media center. With the PC then, it means you'll be able to watch all your netflix youtube 4od etc as well...

It requires a little more graft, but imo better in the long run and basically future proof aswell.

tipdrinker

stevenf17 wrote: »

Don't know if your interested in going down this route, but you could always build yourself a HTPC or even us an existing PC and put this tuner card in it

http://shop.blackgold.tv/epages/BT3159.sf/en_AU/?ObjectPath=/Shops/BT3159/Products/BGT3600
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/blackgold-bgt3600-dual-dvb-t2-dvb-c-dual-dvb-s2-analogue-composite-s-video-component-video-pcie-prod

It's got dual digital terrestrial tuners (DVB-T and DVB-T2), dual digital satellite tuners (DVB-S and DVB-S2)
and a digital cable (DVB-C) tuner all on the one card. Which lets you record 4 HD streams at the same time. (even though I doubt anyone would need to)

You can put as much storage as you want into the PC and it Integrates into windows media center. With the PC then, it means you'll be able to watch all your netflix youtube 4od etc as well...

It requires a little more graft, but imo better in the long run and basically future proof aswell.

now that sounds like a lot of fun :-) Would you be able to run this on linux?

stevenf17

tipdrinker wrote: »

now that sounds like a lot of fun :-) Would you be able to run this on linux?

Not 100% on how easy/fluid the experience would be but you can have a look here at the documentation on the drivers page http://shop.blackgold.tv/Support/Current-Drivers
It's been originally designed to work with Windows Media Center so I presume that would be the best way to use it! But if your handy with linux or you prefer it then it might be able to work.
You may look it up though because i'm not sure how it would work out!

tipdrinker

Hi I was thinking of the htpc option and was wondering if it's possible to get a card reader for them that you can add say al jazera for the sports etc?

also where would be the best place to buy the parts?

domel

Smargo usb card reader will do job it is bit of configuration but you can easly find some more info on mediaportal forum

steveon

You can always build a computer and run mythtv on it..its based on Linux...

http://www.mythtv.org/