HD Receiver Recommendation

[lezwez]

Well recently i decided to replace my well served chunky 30" TV For a new samsung 6 series which caught my eye I'm quite happy with the TV but that's all i have at the moment as i have been quite a bit behind with the tech stuff and sats i was wondering if any kind soul could please recommend which reciever i could use to go with my new tv.

It's a little confusing at the moment i have no idea which and what has lots of good reliable support and, is quite popular for that reason including quality there's so much to choose from as compared to a long while ago.


Thank you

Lezwez

[calic0]

Im looking for a HD box that can also record! Also in English would help and is not a Beta or a clone.

[bigglesk]

You can't go far wrong with the Technomate 6800HD or 6900HD. They don't come with a HDD recorder, but, one can be connected to the USB and works well. Both are well suppported. The 6900HD has Terestrial Free View if required. New HD chan's are showing up almost every day....A good buy.

Best of luck

[joshjess]

This is very much an open question as everyone has their own preference! So some may say Technomate others Golden Interstar or Octagon, it all depends on the features you want? and the price you are willing to pay? as the more the item is the better the performance and features.

[mrbleu500]

As joshjess says, for many it is all about the price/performance ratio, however, for me it is also about usability. I want a receiver that is not just a hobbyists special, rough and ready round the edges, and difficult to setup and use.

This is because I have just cancelled Sky and intend to swap my current Sky digibox/echostar ad3000 combo for a single unit that is usable by everyone in the house, from my 5 year old son to my technophobe wife...

This rules out the likes of the Dreambox 800, and other Linux based systems. It also rules out the many korean clone boxes that on paper look very capable, but are low on sophistication and usability. And it rules out receivers which are released onto the market well before the product has been fully developed, my kids are not beta testers, and my wife would give me too much grief if I buy a flakey bit of kit...

So while the Technomate 6900 does not have the best picture quality, or some of the advanced features available in other boxes, it is well built, easy to use and enjoys a good level of support.

So that's what I'm buying next week :)

[centaur]

So you have not been tempted by the topfield 7710. I'm pondering over which would be the best buy and am leaning towards the topfield at this point.

[paul01609]

very happy with dreambox 800hd you can do great thing with theese boxes :),takes some getting use too but there is great support on theese forums

[tunnel]

If anyone could point me in the direction of a receiver with a built-in hdd,my other half has a liking to sly+ so owt that makes life easy would be ace

[xanadu]

Fortec Passion is very good HD receiver and cheap too!

[joshjess]

If anyone could point me in the direction of a receiver with a built-in hdd,my other half has a liking to sly+ so owt that makes life easy would be ace

Topfield TF7710 or Humax iCord

[DARKMAN]

SuperDarkbox HD ..


Here on Whatsatellite Magazine is Darkbox ,but i recomande the Super or Combo.

[joshjess]

SuperDarkbox HD ..


Here on Whatsatellite Magazine is Darkbox ,but i recomande the Super or Combo.

You would do! You are the ones that supply it! Very bias! Also the Darkbox does not have built in HDD, is it even recording to an external HDD?

[TonyO]

it runs far to hot and cuts out a lot with a diablo, as soon as the receiver or cam cool down it works ok again.

I've read on other boards of people with the same probs with this model, I think the s/w is still evolving for the passion.

This box wont last long running at this tempreture.

[terry l]

joshjess m8,You couldn't say that on his site you would be banned and have your post removed.. lol..

[bobothebear]

With any of the current HD Receivers are we able to put just a standard Free To View Sly card in them and be able to watch Channel 4 HD? As we can with Channel 4 SD?

[mrbleu500]

C4 HD works fine on my patched TM6900 with my old sly card.

Should also work with dragon, trex and diablo cams in most HD receivers.

[calic0]

You would do! You are the ones that supply it! Very bias! Also the Darkbox does not have built in HDD, is it even recording to an external HDD?

Seems most of your posts seem to be hyping Octagon SF918 - So he is doing what your doing - dont see anything wrong with that.

With HD reciever's A fast CPU and being able to store many channels, softcam , open sauce (HP). One that seems to do all that is the DM 800. You get what you pay for, the cheapest ones being crap and high like Reel being excellent.

[psykix]

DM800 for me all the way... And I've had Triple Dragon, Hivion Ultima 9090X, and an AB IP 9000HD all within the space of 2 months. I'm now onto the DM800, and wouldn't change...

Once the DM800 is set up, it's a dream to use.. (excuse the pun!)

[satpaul]

whats the Hivion Ultima 9090X like Tony from H*s*t praises them a lot

[bobbyboil]

cant beleive no one has mentioned the clarke tech combo

hd sat and uk terrestrial as well,and you can edit pids for red button channels

bbc hd, itv hd free to air

channel 4 hd with sly card in card slot with latest patch, nice epg

record to hdd via sata (i think)

usb port for updating firmware, keys, channel lists.

very happy with this box, since upgrading from my old hummy 5400

[FBOY]

cant beleive no one has mentioned the clarke tech combo


Above, mrbleu500 recommends the TechnomateTM6900. I guess you know the CT5000C is the same machine.

[terry l]

Seems most of your posts seem to be hyping Octagon SF918 - So he is doing what your doing - dont see anything wrong with that.

With HD reciever's A fast CPU and being able to store many channels, softcam , open sauce (HP). One that seems to do all that is the DM 800. You get what you pay for, the cheapest ones being crap and high like Reel being excellent.

Do it on your own site m8 not here..[you know wot i mean]..

[doubleudee]

What we really need here to clear things up for everyone is a table listing recievers down one column with functions across the top.
We could then put an 'x' next to each feature/function that any reciever has, this would give us an 'at a glance' view of how each reciever compares against it's rivals.

wd

[mrbleu500]

What we really need here to clear things up for everyone is a table listing recievers down one column with functions across the top.
We could then put an 'x' next to each feature/function that any reciever has, this would give us an 'at a glance' view of how each reciever compares against it's rivals.

wd

Good idea dd :)

But features and functions aren't the whole picture. Reliability, usability, speed, response, compatibility with various cams, support, updates, picture and sound quality, cost, availability, and build quality are all equally important in making comparisons. The problem is that many of these are subjective and rely on a users prior experience with other receivers. The way to make this less random (and to avoid pimps with a vested interest skewing the results) would be to average out the feedback from each user, much in the same way as Amazon and other sites do.

Would make a nice little project I think ...:)

[bobbyboil]

technically yes clarke tech and technomate are the same inside, but not on the outside.

not everyone knows they are the same, maybe not even the person who started the thread

[doubleudee]

Good idea dd :)

But features and functions aren't the whole picture. Reliability, usability, speed, response, compatibility with various cams, support, updates, picture and sound quality, cost, availability, and build quality are all equally important in making comparisons. The problem is that many of these are subjective and rely on a users prior experience with other receivers. The way to make this less random (and to avoid pimps with a vested interest skewing the results) would be to average out the feedback from each user, much in the same way as Amazon and other sites do.

Would make a nice little project I think ...:)

The other factors you state could still be rated on a % basis
based on number of users replied to points etc, e.g. 6 out of 10 users state picture quality as excellent 3 out of 10 state good, 1 out of 10 state poor, where excellent = 3 points, good = 2 points and poor = 1 point, would give :-
max score for 10 users replying would be 30 points.
score for this reciever = 18 + 6 + 1 = 25
100% = 30 points
therefore 25 points scored for this reciever = 25/30 * 100 = 83.3%
)


I agree, a nice little project in excel or whatever.

wd

[AndyX]

A really good idea. Anyone with the skills to set this up out there?

[doubleudee]

yeah if there was enough interest in the project,
but then we'd have to arrange polls on the different recievers to get the users feedback for the points stated above.
Not too dificult but there would have to be more than one person managing it to keep it updated.

[mrbleu500]

One way to do it would be to setup a shared spreadsheet on google, open for all pimps to contribute.

Open to some abuse, but may work, I will set something up as a test.

[crabber]

Would we get owners unbiased opinions? It is hard to admit that the receiver you have just spent several hundred pounds on may not be as good as you hoped and perhaps you were mistaken in buying it.
I have a Kathrein which has a brilliant picture (although I have seen very few others) but software support is slow verging on crap.
I have also been building a media centre with a skystar HD2 card. I thought this would be the dog's bollocks but so far it is a nightmare with poor HD picture, high processor use, diseqc hit and miss and driver issues and crashing with several programs. All in all complete shyte!:smilielol5:

[Zeke]

Would we get owners unbiased opinions? It is hard to admit that the receiver you have just spent several hundred pounds on may not be as good as you hoped and perhaps you were mistaken in buying it.


The opposite happens to. People trash what they have grown used to. Not knowing it's good until they try something else.

Bigger issue is many of these things are subjective. It's not like you can stick a meter on things and say 8.3.

[borderfox]

I have a Kathrein which has a brilliant picture (although I have seen very few others) but software support is slow verging on crap.
Yeah - I would have bought one of these if it had the software support - particularly cccam. But apparently this may never happen..

[carolina]

I have 4 receivers-- Octagon 918, Interstar 890, Vantage 7100 and Nanoxx 9500 and considering that picture quality from all of them show no visible differences among them in both SD and HD mode ( I have all of them connect to TV so can compare the picture with the gaps 1-1.5 s required for switching off channel in HDMI divider) I would suggest either Vantage or Octagon mainly because of excellent support they offer. Nanoxx is clone of Vantage and firmware appears later ( unless you change header od load it through RS232 ( info from other forum-- havem't tried it yet), Interstar is the clone of Octagon but so far I haven't been able to find a way to use Octagon's firmware in Interstar. Personally I prefer Vantage because it reads SR from 1000 when Octagon and Interstar from 1500 and menu looks more elegant and offers some more options plus it does record on external hard drive when Octagon/ Interstar just promise it. Octagon has problems with DVBS-2 8PSK. Who believes in global warming should buy Octagon/ Interstar as they run warm or hot ( in standby mode their temperature is above 40 degreec C when Nanoxx and Vantage have 29 C) so can help in bit colder day without turning on central heating.

[WML]

With all discussions, don't forgett DVB-undertitles! I bought both a Kathrein 910 and an Ezy-Box 8000 and was greatly disappointed that they could not manage the optional untertitles in the DVB-stream, though mentioned in the specifications. In the Canal+ Nordic package many film channels contain titles which can easily be chosen with the old Humax 5400. But not so with the new expensive HD-machines. Both Kathrein and Ezy-Box talk vaguely about later updates. What I hear, undertitles are also an option with the BBC-channels. The Topfield 7700 can manage undertitles what I heard but don't have it confirmed. Anyone has more information about this issue and about other receivers that can.
Many thanks,
WML
Gothenburg, Sweden

[Device]

guys i'm new here, and i'm impressed by this forum! I'm sick and tired of "sponsored" forums that are just bias and any question or criticism of specific product is declared "competitor trying to start the trouble and lies" .. and then you get flamed or banned. This forum is very refreshing. Well done !

[SPX]

whats the Hivion Ultima 9090X like Tony from H*s*t praises them a lot

was thinking about one of these ?

any good