what box is best / easyier

[dotcom]

Hi ppl i after several moths of messing about with two d-boxes i have now from what i have heard is that the dreambox is the Bogs Dollocks to have, but after spending several hours here reading cant make a choice.

So i will ask as a personal preference.
ok,, what would be better to use from a 500s or the 7020.
what i want to do is have 1 upstairs with my paid subscription and the other sharing downstairs.

i no i am gona get a slagging and ppl say read and read etc, but as a boost can someone point me in the dirrection etc to give me a good start.

many thanx and i hope that makes sence.

ohh p.s. and on my 1st post etc, a warm welcome to all.

dotcom.

[dotcom]

Hi again gents.
well after a hell of a lot more reading and reading, av made my mind up and it looks like it's gona b the 500s.
dont ask my why as a newbie but it looks the more favorable.
the next step is when i have them, what to do next.
av had a quick look at a tutorial, but not sure to get what from where.
can anyone assist on this part.

many thanx

dotcom

[Analoguesat]

Be aware that sky will be changing their encryption algorithms in the near future to reduce / eliminate card sharing. We dont know exactly whats happening yet, or how successful it will be, but might be worth holding off for a few weeks and see what happens.

Oh and many 500's are basically crap!

[dotcom]

Hi analoguesat, thanx for the reply back. well i realy wana give it a go myself and see whats what.
I did this with the d-box but what a total "F" on.
from what i here is that the dreambox is the way forward yeah.
But anyway your saying that many 500's are poor should you say.

well, is there a way of telling tham apart, i.e. like a slightly different style or of a particular serial number range for instance.
I dunno you lot are the experts.lol, or i am an expert but i dont know it yet.

lol.. thanx m8y

dotcom

[Analoguesat]

All 500's are now clones (apart from the brand new 500HD) as 500's havent been made by DB for a couple of years. Some clones are made cheaply in Chinese factories using sub standard components, and suffer anything from tuner to power supply problems.

Oh and newer Gemini images tend to trash them by wiping the bootloaders!

You want my advice? - avoid them.

[waqasahmed]

lol. Mine aint bad-neither are the TM 500's. If you want an easy setup, then theres a receiver in Maplins for £40 for purely FTA use. Not sure how good it is though

I did have one OM 500CS that had a faulty PSU yes. I gave that one to a cousin, who placed it on top of a VM box. The VM box gave quite a shock(not just to that box, but to other bits of metal as well) The STB was placed right on top, and you can guess what happened! Now, theres a laptop mat on top of it, as an insulator.

The PSU has became faulty after 1 year because of idiotic-ness. On the other hand, I bought a used OM 500CS about a year ago, and thats working perfectly to this day!

The receiver's already paid for itself. In total, over a 2 year period, £362 has been spent on TV equipment, and everything has paid for itself!

[dotcom]

Thanx for that gents, so if i go get 2 500's and set one as a server upstairs using a paid for subscription and put the other in another room etc it will work but not 100%
is there any truth in when sharing that there is pixalation or drop out

or should i say is how reliable are these 500's, or like would they come with a warranty etc.
thanx once again gents.

dotcom

[Rick]

Forget DM500's, unless you buy second hand it will be a clone, even then it can be hit and miss to get a genuine one.

If you want cheap linux boxes that work well, go for the TM500, Ian at Southern Satellite supplies them £89.99http://www.southernsat.co.uk/cart/index.php?l=product_detail&p=425

[waqasahmed]

Well, Im now thinking of making a HTPC and getting channels streamed. See here:
Screw card sharing!

[nanochickin]

If your going down that road aviod the Dm500s as with what analoguesat says they are crap, no doubt about it

If your going for a Dreambox either a new DM600 from an approved retailer or a second hand DM7000 would be your best bet.

DM7020 is a good box but unfortunately the market is also flooded with clones of this receiver so you can't guarentee your going to get a genuine one.

You may also end up witha clone 600 if you don't buy from an approved retailer.

The other boxes to look at are the Technomate range, TM9100, TM600 & TM500.

The TM9100 is the best of the three as its got more images available for it and more support than the relatively new TM600/500 boxes. Its also got a memory card reader, 2 subscriber card slots and a CI interface if you need to use a Cam.

It also has a proper IDE interace for the HDD, not a USB one like the TM600

There is also the IPBox/Cubecafe range which i have played with, and in all honesty i found them to be quite good little boxes.

Its just a case of looking around and buying what you think is the best

Nano