a little advice please

[dazzlet]

hi i an mew to the sat side of things really i have done loads of reading over the past couple of weeks and i have opted to try the sat side of things.

can anybody help me out here i was looking at getting the dreambox 8000 for sat and i was wondering what would be the best way for me to get most channels or at least as many english channels as possible.
i know about the setup and that side of it and having my dreambox connected to my router all the time which is not a problem i also know about the images for the box and all that as i have been a memeber on the cable side of things for a long time.

i would like maybe to be able to pick up the free sat channels and also the sly uk channels but i am not sure what the best way would be for me to go down that road that is why i want the info and advice from some of you on here to help me get started out i am a fast learner and have excellent pc skills and networking skills but just some help advice and pointers would be really good to get me off and running.

or would i be as well off just getting the humax foxsat hd reciever to get the freesat channels or would i have alot more potential if i get a dreambox as this is linux based.
i would just get a dreambox but i am not sure how i would get the most from it this is the main eason why i am posting here thanks for any help

[catseye]

Hiya & welcome

It depends on what you want from your box m8

Do you just want to watch & maybe record as many tv progs as possible or do you want something similar to a pc that you can play around with etc

Is HD a must, do you want HDD functions to record, twin or triple tuners, maybe sat, cable or terrestial

All sat boxes should be capable of receiving Freesat & Sly uk channels

Most linux boxes have bugs, Dream probably have best software support by 3rd parties

There are other linux Hd boxes around which are cheaper than the HD8000 but 3rd party software is still being delevoped so be prepared for problems

If its c/s your looking to move into then you will need a linux box to go down this route

[dazzlet]

really i think i would like the hd feature but i dont suppose it is a must mate just thaught that it may be nice to be prepared for the future because i know not just at the min but at some time they will release all channels in hd as thee is a growing popularity for it i guess this day and age. and also with what i can gatherthe hd boxes upscale the picture quality from the sd channels as well which better picture quality is always good i suppose as my tv is a 42 inch hd ready tv.
the box i have and use at the min is a itgate 220 i have use dreamboxes before the 500c and the 600c. i loike the itgate 220 because i have been able to connect an external hard drive by usb and can record flwalessly which is great and i think i would like the same feature with the usb hard drive support for recording.
i think i would like the twin tuner for cable and sat as then i can get the best of both worlds i suppose.
as for recieving the freesat and the free to air sly channels i think i like the idea of because it give more choice of what to watch when there seems to be nothing on, i know that i cant decrypt any channels at all without c/s but i was thinking that maybe in time with a little more experiance and help it is something i may look into but i dont think i will be jumping strait in to the c/s at the min because as i said i am new to the sat side of things from the cable side.

i did toy with the idea of getting a freesat foxsat hd reciever because i can pick up all the free sat channels with this and also the free to air sly channels when i change the mode of the box to non freesat mode, but i am now thinking that the dreambox or any other you can recomend will allow me more future proof things and the option to try different roads as time progresses.
i also thaught about a motorised dish but i think this could also come at a later date because i am not sure how to find out or where from how many extra channels and things i could get with a motorised dish.

thanks for your help so far mate any further help or advice will be much appreciated

[catseye]

Hiya

Have a read through the Dream 800Hd sections & have a look at the Cuberevo box too

I think alot of folk were considering the 8000 box but were put off by the price bracket & issues with the 800

However the cuberevo is far from perfect -can c/s as client only so far & loads of other software bugs, etc -hoping these will be fixed in 2009 but who knows?

Dont think there are any HD Linux boxes that are perfect yet -also the QHD box & Az Hd box should be on sale fairly soon might be worth looking at those?

If youve any further questions ask away we're here to help:respect-048:

[dazzlet]

can the cuberevo support usb external hard drive recording via usb port?

[kegnkiwi]

The cuberevo may support usb recording but maybe like a lot linux boxs its a little tricky to get going. Thats why most of us opt for sata external or internal drives. The cuberevo may well not support the easiest cam to share with ie. cccam. Think its only running via enigma 2 incabus. This is maybe more than someone new wants to try.

ki

[dazzlet]

so in your opinion what would be the best box for me to look at getting for all i want it to do then thanks