Amiko Mini HD vs Spiderbox

[pashek]

Right, my Icecrypt is currently being a bit 'painful' and I intend to eventually resurrect it with Titannit but that looks like it'll be a while off as I need to take small steps at a time. Meanwhile I want a small, cheap receiver which will eventually be repurposed for spare room viewing. However, Goldwafers offers me 2 options and I'm not sure which way to go. Spiderbox seems to be well respected and often recommended but the Amiko just looks small and great but there's little reference to it (I could just be searching badly). Can anyone offer any advice as to which to buy and why?

[EXTRAFACTO]

My choice of the 2 stated boxes would be spider.
this is based on ...out of the box,i found it to be plug and play
load latest patch etc..scan your sats...away you go
i have a 1tb usb hard drive connected...which formatted in fat32 it recognised it instantly
i was given a amiko micro box...which when purchased was not from lee(goldwafers)
it was very small...(fitted by stickers to back of tv)but proved to be nice box
only problem i had with it,it only read usb memory sticks upto 32g
just realised you are asking about amiko mini...i was given by a friend amiko micro

[renibacterium]

No contest.......Spider all the way

[Lavaman]

I would say it depends on what you intend using the receiver for viewing wise, if it's going with a motorised dish then perhaps a Spiderbox but if it's fixed 28.2E or perhaps a more involved setup then Amiko makes far more sense.

It's important we know which Amiko you mean though to fully advise, are we talking the Amiko Mini Combo as sold by Goldwafers.com or another of the Mini range?
Whichever the model rest assured help is at hand, they are one of the most popular and well supported brands in Europe and the USA right now.

[pashek]

are we talking the Amiko Mini Combo as sold by Goldwafers.com or another of the Mini range?

Yep, the Amiko Mini HD Combo as sold by goldwafers. Looking at fixed 28.2E just now, have no real need to motorise at the moment but that could change but this would not be the primary box in such a setup. Having seen some video of the Amiko in action I quite liked it but as can be seen from the posts so far the Spiderbox gets the backing at the moment. I'm going to order tomorrow I think so any feedback before then would be appreciated.

[Lavaman]

If it's fixed 28.2 East then the Amiko makes far better sense, it's got pre-made channel lists for 28.2 East with daily (when required) updates and they can be updated direct to the receiver online with just a few clicks of the remote control. Head to the thread HERE (https://www.satpimps.co.uk/showthread.php?168373-Amiko-Mini-HD-Combo-Firmware-and-Channel-List&p=913181#post913181) and download the firmware and guides, once you have the Combo flash it first time round with USB (choose SW+Bootloader as the update method) and once that's done you'll have the firmware and channel list for 28.2 East on there and you can update online for both firmware and channel lists as and when you need, full information on how to go about that is in the thread just linked to.

[stevethejack]

I'd go with Lavaman - if it's just 28E, Amiko is really good - absolutely tiny, smaller than an iPhone and sticky pads to fix it to the TV, with a remote sensor on a lead. Program it via USB, really easy to input line of coding via the remote and updates easily as detailed. Only possible benefit of Spiderbox would be the gift, but unsure of what it entails as never owned one.