Are you happy with this box?

[dizz]

I'm thinking of getting one of these and was wondering what your thoughts on the picture/audio quality and pvr functions are. It certainly looks great and on paper the specs look impressive, but this is not the same as hearing what somebody who actually owns and uses one thinks and I would be interested to know if you would still buy after having one for a couple of weeks.

I see that you are saying that it is a reseller octagon 1018, does that mean you can use octagon keys and plugins directly, or do you need to change the box software first?

[drahcirk]

yes, id like too know as well, was keeping an eye on it, and spiderbox as well, the sp, box is winning on price, for me,.

[Friendly-Face]

have got one here, cant complain in fact.
Now i must say that this is not the box i use everyday, but when i use it is pleasure to use it.

I have no HDD in my box so cannot ask for the PVR part,
One thing i must say about this box is, Briliant OSD, very very quick menu change, very very quick channel change, and one importend thing is that is unbelivebly fast in all you can think off.

Picture quality, well that is one of the best with this box, it is just fantastic, and with the last software is even beter.
You can use Mgcamd, newcs, Camd3, CCcam come out for Octagon.

I settup mine, with Incubuscamd and is runing very nice with my local server, very pleased with it, when i use it.

One thing i must say, that the box is very new on the marked, is not more then 2-3 months on the marked if i remmeber right, and if you see a bitt a round you will find out that software are released almost with in 2 weeks, there are still bugs with this box, there are still some problems to solve like adding a web interface, but that is on the way to, i have info that will be released in end of december.

Enigma2 is being developed to

[dizz]

Thanks for that mate, I appreciate your comments.

I think i'm going to go for this one. You can get it for £242 with a 320gb hard drive if you know someone working in a uni. I think that so many people concentrate on the marginal features of receivers, while I just want something with a good picture and a reliable pvr. Twin tuners, hd with a quality picture. That has got to be worth it at that price.

[Friendly-Face]

As i said, i have not tested the PVR yet with HDD, i have used an USB 32 GB to make few tests and i can only say that this box is marvelus, can see a channel and record from another with no problems.
but the tuner it self is very good, and with 320 GB disk tghen must be worth it mate.

I can only say, that the box is easy to use, the box give the best picture so far i have seen, the box is quick on the channle change and very quick to navigate on the menu, and as long as you do not need more things that you say then all i can say is Buy it,

But Please do not hang me later on, all i say is from my experience with the box.

Now we even can use CCcam with this box, so why not

[dizz]

I never blame anyone else for my mistakes, unless i'm married to them of course.... :)

I just want something that looks good, is reliable and has good functionality. I just want it too watch and record TV and to give me a decent channel choice. Simple as that really. I'll order one when I see my mate at the weekend and let you know how I get on. I need to put a new dish up as well, so I may have a couple of new toys.

[leoalex]

I have tested HDD and its running wonderful. The timeshift function is working properly, but the best on the box is the picture quality.

[lloydarkell]

I also have this box with 1TB drive fitted and my major complaint has to be the lack of programme data in the EPG - for UK FTA channels you only get now and next which makes it impossible to schedule recordings unless you want to set a manual timer. The EPG is very nice where there is data and easy to record, if I could get all the channel data the SKY HD box would be gone but at the moment I cant so its consigned to the bedroom!

**update**

Tested the new CCCam for all fortis box's thats posted on this forum and it worked first time, I just added my C line to the config and then ftp'd the files to my receiver, oh and to save time rebooting the box instead of turning the receiver off at the back I have found it much easier to telnet in and just type reboot at the prompt - saves a lot of legwork running up and down the stairs each time I change a config.

[dizz]

Thanks for all the info people. I'm ordering one this weekend for sure.

[drahcirk]

have u used the cam slots yet, and are they easy too use,.

[Friendly-Face]

You mena the CI CAM slots ?

Yes i have testt it with Old magic cam, Conax cam , irdeto cam, viaccess cam, Diablo cam rev 2.3 and the WIFI all work very good


have u used the cam slots yet, and are they easy too use,.

[steford1]

Any further feedback on this receiver? I like the look of it and the price is good. My particular need is to record 1 SD channel via CI CAM and official card regularly (2 or 3 programmes a day) on a fixed dish on 1 receiver and utilise the 2nd receiver and motorised for football and the odd film. Very occasionally 2 programs would be recorded at the same time. Has anyone come across specific CAM or recording conflicts so far? I've had various receivers that will hang or switch channels etc when a 2nd recording starts or on playback of a recorded programme at the point where another recording started or another CAM was inserted/removed.

Any help very much appreciated before I take the plunge.

EDIT: A further question. How reliable is the share of the files on the box? I see it's a simple SMB share - ideally I'd like to pull these straight into XBMC for viewing in the bedroom. Anyone had any issues?

EDIT: Apart from size and the eSATA socket this box looks the same as the Fortis 9000 and 9200 models and firmwares seem to be similarly numbered. Is there any advantage other than size of box to the 9200? Any low prices seen appreciated (UK buyer).

Thanks.

[Friendly-Face]

i have just come back from holidays yesterday, will cheek more on this issiues as soon as i have time, i hope some one else can help to.

if i do remeber right then i think record and see works OK , but cannot remeber if it is from each tuner or separetly, will have to cheek agein

[joshjess]

Price is currenty £339 for 320GB or £299 w/o HDD delivered

[PowerfulP]

I have just purchased one. Used to TM software so stumbling around at the moment. My life in Linux ended some time back so iffy about going there until there is more support to call on. Looks nice. Picture is good.

[steford1]

I've also taken the plunge on a 320GB model - looks like a fun box to play with. I'm OK with Linux and this looks realtively simple to get sorted and offers just the kind of stuff I need right now.

EDIT: Got the box today and am impressed so far. Very simple to set up and looks solid from what I've seen. Network access to files is a doddle (XBMC handled the path easily) as is firmware upgrade. Menus are fast and it seems logically laid out. Service List searching and ordering is very nice with a lot of options. Tried recording with/without card and it handled that fine. PiP is nicely done and the 2 channels side by side at same size is nice - had no problem watching 2 FTA channels and recording an encrypted 3rd on the same transponder. Internal 320GB Seagate is quiet enough and the unit is light.

A couple of minuses. My Cryptoworks card didn't work in the card slot - it's detected and entitlements can be viewed but doesn't want to decode anything - in CAM in lower slot it's fine - I see 2 card slots are now available in latest firmware so will try in the other slot as soon as I remove the blocker. I've noticed it doesn't have an "Auto" resolution option so native resolution of the received channel isn't output it seems - so it will need to be manually chosen if I watch anything in HD I guess or I let the box do upscaling permanently. It also seems to have lost my settings on power down - once before I'd set "Standby Power" to on and one after firmware upgrade - which reset everything to default - looks like a backup and reload of settings is required - no biggie just different.

Couple more questions:-

1) Do you have your HDD formatted to FAT32? Any better options? It doesn't look like it.
2) Would timeshift be better via a 16/32GB large USB drive allowing the HDD to spin down - I use it very rarely but it's nice to have just in case
3) Anyone tried the network recording/timeshift options? Sounds interesting particularly as I have an always on HTPC on my network
4) Are any of the manufacturer firmwares any better than others?
5) What's the current favourite CS/EMU setup?

All in all a thumbs up so far. Thanks to all for the help.

[steford1]

So a couple of week later and more opinions of the box - generally positive although there are a couple of niggles. I can't get Newcs/Mgcamd to work exactly how I'd like although Softcam works perfectly so far - very frustrating with internal card readers and Smargo. Have settled on 720P as my standard output to avoid changing each time - so that's good. The biggest annoyance is that the HDD keeps disappearing preventing timed recordings from happening - hoping to solve this by keeping the box switched on but very annoying.

I wrote a small script to download the Minicat keys, unzip them and copy the softcam to the box every day - so for the 1st time ever I have reliable and up to date keys!!

So all in all, apart from the HDD, the box is working adequately for me. Assuming it will only get better I'm happy so far.

@dizz - can't seem to send PM currently.

[lloydarkell]

Well i've already replaced this box now with a Foxsat HDR - it does what I want, gets all free to view channels and has the all important EPG.

[cantfish]

So a couple of week later and more opinions of the box - generally positive although there are a couple of niggles. I can't get Newcs/Mgcamd to work exactly how I'd like although Softcam works perfectly so far - very frustrating with internal card readers and Smargo. Have settled on 720P as my standard output to avoid changing each time - so that's good. The biggest annoyance is that the HDD keeps disappearing preventing timed recordings from happening - hoping to solve this by keeping the box switched on but very annoying.

I wrote a small script to download the Minicat keys, unzip them and copy the softcam to the box every day - so for the 1st time ever I have reliable and up to date keys!!

So all in all, apart from the HDD, the box is working adequately for me. Assuming it will only get better I'm happy so far.

@dizz - can't seem to send PM currently.
You are doing a lot better than me newcs/mgcamd runs but that is all, when I check my entitlments on both card readers for my nds card I get not found. As for softcam it has only worked with two channels with mincats latest keys and then only one has sound. I am new to linux boxes so it might be me. I am starting to think I have got the wrong box but then what is the right box as I do not want a dreambox. I have searched the net for more info on this box but with very little luck.

[dizz]

Try http://www.fortisusers.com/forum/index.php. Most stuff there applies to Icecrypt.