Little help needed, cancelling sky, need advice what next?

reaper12

Hi All,

I am not sure if this is in the right section. But I have decided to cancel my sky subscription and return to freesat and saorview.

I thought I knew what I needed but I am a little lost in the world of Satellite recievers

So far I have looked at 3 receivers that I think will do what I need, from cheapest to most expensive.

Golden Media Sparks Triplex,
Technomate TM Twin HD again with USB tuner for Saorview.
Vu+ Solo2 with USB tuner for saorview,

What do I want? Well here are some things.
1. Easy to use after setup, I can do the setup and all just want it easy to use other less technicial people in the family.

2. Record function, series link? is that even possible with these? Can they record and timeshift etc to a network drive or do they have to have an internal drive for these functions to work.

3. This is not really a requirement, but, is it possible to connect it to a second TV and watch a different channel on each tv? Or do I need a second box? CAn I use the skybox for that? Like that the main box sends the signal to the skybox to play?

That's all really. So here are my questions:-

:- Are the three boxes listed good enough for what I need? Or are they overkill?

:- Is there another box I should consider?

:- If not is it worth paying the extra for the solo2 over, say, the golden media sparks box?

Thanks for any advice you can give me

The Cush

reaper12 wrote: »

:- Is there another box I should consider?

I have never used any of the boxes you mention, so can't really give you advice on them.

You should also consider the Saorview approved Walker PVR for the Saorview channels and a Freesat+ receiver for the satellite channels.

Both receivers will give you 7 day epg, built-in HDD, series link, auto channel/frequency update, text and red button services and wil be easy to use for non-technical members of the family when moving over from a Sky setup.

Series link will only work on the receivers I mention above.

A separate box will be required at each TV point to watch different channels.

reaper12

Thanks for the reply, but, I really don't want to get two boxes at each TV. I want to be able to get freeview and saorview all on the same box.

uck51js9zml2yt

reaper12 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply, but, I really don't want to get two boxes at each TV. I want to be able to get freeview and saorview all on the same box.

Ferguson 250 combo box. see the thread on it.

reaper12

Allison Ashy Sarcasm wrote: »

Ferguson 250 combo box. see the thread on it.

I looked at that box, but couldn't find out if you can record to a network drive.

uck51js9zml2yt

reaper12 wrote: »

I looked at that box, but couldn't find out if you can record to a network drive.

its possible to plus a hard drive in. not done it myself but others have.

reaper12

Allison Ashy Sarcasm wrote: »

its possible to plus a hard drive in. not done it myself but others have.

Thanks, but are you saying it's possible to record to a network drive and do pause, timeshift etc to a network drive? Or are you saying it's possible to put in a hard drive??

I was under the impression that some of the Dual/triple tuner receivers can output to two TVs. And that you can watch a different channel on each TV. You just need two remotes, one infrared and one using RF.

That's why I was considering the more expensive boxes that I listed already. Rather than buying one receiver for each room, buy one good receiver that can do the two rooms.

bappelbe

I have the Golden Media Triplex -it is the same as the Amiko Alien2 which there is a large thread about in the terrestrial forum.

I use it with Enigma2, it takes some setting up (some technical know how) but then is easy for the rest of the family to use.
It has a plugin Autotimer which is the same as series link and a permanent timeshift plugin which has rewind of live TV - this can be done using a network drive.

It allows streaming of a second (or third) channel across the network to a laptop/phone/pc though I am not sure about connecting a second TV to it

I don't know the other boxes that you mention but this has 7day epg for all channels (satellite as well) and an easy to use epg (Cooltv)
I (and my wife) are happy with it and there are many others happy with it -see the thread in the terrestrial forum

reaper12

Yeah, thanks for the info. I have gone through a lot of that thread you mentioned.

I don't know why, but something is holding me back from getting the Goldenmedia box. Maybe because it's a great box and a good price, but there are lots of little issues that people don't mind about because of the price and how well it does everything else.

And after doing a lot of reading, I am really liking the look of the Technomate HD twin. Another Box that has come to light is the Humax Freesat box, it seems to get great reviews as well.

LOL I am just spinning in circles here!