Skybox f3 or Eagle Box HD800? or similar model to buy under £100

[djdyna123]

Hello all, wanting some advice please.

I'm after buying a Receiver but need help in choosing one that has good support and not likely to let me down.
My brother has a DM800, which has treated him well for a long time and rarely hits a snag.

I know some people prefer "Open Source" firmware receivers, but lets be honest most don't require that, as-long as you get patches every now and then, fantastic!.

I would like the receiver to have at-least the option of:
Support newcmd/mgcamd
HD 1080p/i
Optical output (Dolby Digital 5.1)
USB Media Playback.

I live in a area where i get 100% signal simply by just having my Sky Digi dish at about 5 foot in the air . Although iv'e got it bolted in at about 12 foot on the brickwork.

Once I get a dreambox and it's working all hunky dory I will go out and purchase a motorized dish, the same or similar to what my brother uses.

So please, if you have any good advice on which are good receivers that are worth purchasing, then let me know.
Please don't just come out with "I herd this Cryptobox is good" etc... thanx!

From my understanding I can get a Skybox F3 or Eaglebox HD800 for just under £50 on ****, which do you think is the better receiver and why?
Do any of you have any info on how decent the USB Media playback is for video, HD content, H.264 MKV's etc.
What about PVR recording to a USB drive.

later in the year I may get a better receiver if need be.

[bibo_norway]

Octagon 1018 or the brabd new 918G is the box for you.
I have both and will never change.
also have an DM 500,600,800HD and NEVER more DM for me, DM=problem.
I will recomand the new 918G,very smoot, smooter than DM800.
Prise around €160

[mdt]

get yourself a vu solo or dm800 clone now and learn how to use it while on your fixed zone1 then when you know how to programme it ect then you could go with a motorised dish. unless you want 2 stb,s in the end you might aswell get a good box now than get a cheap one then upgrade a few months down the line... also the support for linux stb,s is superior to any closed source stb,regards mdt

[mikie8]

also the support for linux stb,s is superior to any closed source stb,regards mdt


you wont need as much support for a closed source box . not as much to support .

[joshjess]

Or a Amiko Alien for less £100

[voyager1972]

received the eaglebox 800hd on saturday,got it up and running in no time.set up was straight forward ,applied the latest patch entered my line and everything 100%
hd picture is good quality,,, and as for the price £49 ,,,,you can be bad to that........
beats the heel out of an openbox any day,,,
as for it being a closed source box ,i dont think it matters,,,,,,,,open source closed source ,,,tv is tv

[hechicero]

@ voyager - do you still get the radio channels when eaglebox is patched? i think i read somewhere that you loose the radio channels after patching.

[djdyna123]

Yes that's correct, there should be another patch that keeps them just incase...

[kuergun]

hi guys
I have a TM 5400 super c+ USB with a patch pointed to Astra 19.2 and it works fairly well. "But I want more...!!" So I see here some one saying the Eaglebox 800hd is a very good box to buy.
So can some one please explain what I can get,need to get or something better..!

many thanks

EDITED BY ADMIN TO REMOVE PERSONAL DETAILS

[voyager1972]

eaglebox is ok for watching tv........but if you want to tinker and muck about ,go for an open source " linux box " ,,,it will be well worth the extra few quid....
go for a clone dm800 as i have one now for a while and never any problems......theres better boxes out there,but they can be costly......

[pilsner]

Hi voyager you used the latest patch? which one april or jan? pilsner

[voyager1972]

I used the jan patch,,,,working fine here

[pilsner]

Hi again this box i got keeps breaking up tried rom.bin and resetting still no good worst piece of crap ive ever bought unless you can advise how to make it work? pilsner

[djdyna123]

what do you mean breaking up? works fine for me!

[pilsner]

picture start stop my L*** is good tested on other boxes

[bluenose50]

make sure your using an N line and not a Cline
i had similar issues with C line since i changed rock solid
takes a bit of time to manually set up your channel list but once done its a cracking
little box

[pilsner]

thanks will try that it is a cline im using.pilsner

[pilsner]

Hi all have put n line in box rock solid stable channel change very fast if you just want to watch tv and nothing else this box is as good linux machine lol £50 quid well spent

[joany]

make sure your using an N line and not a Cline
i had similar issues with C line since i changed rock solid
takes a bit of time to manually set up your channel list but once done its a cracking
little box

Doesn't this just depend on whether your server uses cccam or newcamd. If your server uses cccam then surely you must use a cline.

[robnclare2010]

***box F3 every time mate iv been fitting Motorised receivers for 20 years now and ive had them all from the very start from analogue digital to HD my first set-up was a uni-den very good at the time and I learned from that myself but with the F3 all the hassle is now gone out of trying to do everything to the box yourself they are great receivers and dont let people waffle you about if you pay more you get more go for the F3 from experience its far the best

[donki]

The limited channel list storage for these type boxes is just the 1st of many dreadful "features". They are ALL virtually impossible to use for multisat unless one spends hours deleting channels so as to fit others, one wants, in.

If you are just a click and play TV watcher then buy one but if you want media playback, timeshift, pvr then they will disappoint as just finding a compatible media device is quite a challenge. I have never got one to record a timed event yet!

Will not play media from a network share (NAS). EPG sucks as does the channel lists as does the general layout of the GUI. Will NOT play media recorded using a different firmware version. Ability to manage these boxes is extremely limited. There is absolutely no firmware support apart from some backups done by owners. Like Samsung, rather than provide improvements via firmware updates the manufactures prefer to release a new box instead. OK for single satellite but crap for multisat. Picture quality is fairly good for the price you pay but it does not compare well to a genuine Sly box. Known issues with running cam's, inablility to monitor CS traffic (which is why sh**ty pay servers love and promote these boxes), over heating, flakey tuners & unreliable PSU's.

Defininitely worth paying a bit extra for a decent box that is better supported, more flexible and will last longer than a few months before you get frustrated and take a hammer to it.

At the end of the day you get what you pay for and don't get me wrong, some people love them whilst others like me hate them. TBPH for £50 it's a handy box to have as a 2nd box or as a backup but for the tinkerer and true Sat enthusiast it's a pile of junk.




***box F3 every time mate iv been fitting Motorised receivers for 20 years now and ive had them all from the very start from analogue digital to HD my first set-up was a uni-den very good at the time and I learned from that myself but with the F3 all the hassle is now gone out of trying to do everything to the box yourself they are great receivers and dont let people waffle you about if you pay more you get more go for the F3 from experience its far the best

[echelon]

this is a very old thread and times have moved on since then !

they were and are cheap, poorly made and badly supported boxes and there are far better options for us in 2013 (one year after this topic was first opened)

I wouldnt have a slybox f3 or any of those similarly named openbox/slyboxes if you gave me one

I have moved the more recent eagle query to a new thread in the eagle section although its a long time since that had any new firmware updates too

consider this topic closed