amiko ALien 2+ driving me nuts - thinking of going with hybrid android box

mjquinno

i have an amiko alien 2+
Number of times i have put enigma on it and reverted back to spark - i spend more time looking up tutorials and trying to get the box to work properly more than anything. its always crashing and bugging out on me. I just want an easy life... Im tired of it being slow not very good at really anything.

I have irish FTA channels and FTA English channels. I was looking at this box it seems to have everything i need

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

thoughts? will this work with IRISH SAORVIEW AND ENGLISH FTA?

i am ok loosing recording capability the triple tuner offered (never worked anyways)

Gerry Wicklow

The Zgemma H7S is a far better box IMO for similar money and is available from UK instead of China.

mjquinno

Gerry Wicklow wrote: »

The Zgemma H7S is a far better box IMO for similar money and is available from UK instead of China.

Thank you for the link. ill have a rummage around that site.

however the box you suggested isnt android - android box gives a far better experience IMO. ( if Nvidea shield had tuners it would be my first choice)

linux based systems are great and everything but i really dont want to spend the next two years flashing it and updating it.

Android in my simple mind is the best solution for hassle free life.... or am i wrong.

Gerry Wicklow

There we'll agree to differ. My (limited) experience of android stuff is a clunky very restrictive user interface. You do what they want not what you want. Google have enough info on me already without giving them more. Paranoid? Who? Me?
Definitely biased though.

DopeTech

I'd go with the zgemma also. The android box looks clunky and not official Android TV. The zgemma may not have Netflix or now TV but it'll give you a smooth experience watching satellite, terrestrial with all the features you'd expect from a satellite box. It does have some good plugins available too. Besides most TVs have netflix, rte player and YouTube etc installed on them. I know it's each to their own but from them two I think the zgemma is the clear winner.

daphil

I have a zgamma and an Android box.
The zgamma wins hands down for stability. The Amiko A5 Combo Android, has to b e rebooted regularly, the zgamma almost never. having said that, there are things I can do on the Android that I can not do on the zgamma, AND visa-versa.
The bottom line line is if you are "teccie", it will not matter, if not go with zgamma.

Randyleprechaun

mjquinno wrote:

linux based systems are great and everything but i really dont want to spend the next two years flashing it and updating it.

A new Linux based receiver, if set up properly, should give very little trouble and would be much better and nicer to use

Zilog

Randyleprechaun wrote: »

A new Linux based receiver, if set up properly, should give very little trouble and would be much better and nicer to use

To add to the chorus here, I've played over the years with many OTA TV solutions:

• Mediaportal server and client (on PC) with tuner card
• Mediaportal TV Server + Kodi clients
• Wetek Play (Android sat dual tuner) running android
• The Wetek running Libreeelec (Linux based Kodi + TVheadend) with additional USB DVB-T tuner
• VBox @TV gateway (satellite + terrestrial network TV tuner - crap by the way)
• Finally an enigma2 box (older Formuler F1, found through these forums several years ago)

By far and away the best, most reliable, most flexible, cheapest, easiest to use has been the Formuler and other enigma2 boxes.
Have bought and set up a few Tiviars for my folks and friends to escape from $ky, using 'Blue HD' skin for an easy to use and $ky like experience. If I was buying today it would be the Zgemma.

Enigma2 boxes also can share their tuners and recordings over your network, so I can watch TV in the bedroom or upstairs, on Fire TV and nVidia Shield devices, using the enigma2 tuners from the living room. This is using a paid for app called dream Player which is also very reliable and easy to use.

Think of it like a hifi system (remember those ?) or multi-tools. All-in-ones never work as good as separates!
Personally I use the Formuler for TV and recordings and an nVidia Shield for other media (Netflix, Disney+, Prime, Plex etc.) with a Harmony remote to control everything.

Had to chime in, go the enigma2 route for satellite and terrestrial, you won't regret it!