To buy or not to buy!!

[Zipper]

Has anyone got any experiances of the "Triple Dragon" linux based reciever? are there any dealers in the UK?.

 

[gameboy]

I did consider this myself but ended up with a DreamBox 7000s due to the amount of support and help you can find on the web.

Would love to know, like yourself, more about this box.

 

[Zipper]

I did consider this myself but ended up with a DreamBox 7000s due to the amount of support and help you can find on the web.

Would love to know, like yourself, more about this box.

ok thanks gameboy seems that this reciever has far less support at present than a dreambox,i think i might buy a dreambox instead.

 

[Rob]

but ended up with a DreamBox 7000s

Hi gameboy
If I where to be thinking of buying a new receiver what would be the Dreambox's best selling points.

 

[gameboy]

Only ordered yesterday from Germany.

What made me buy it was my renewed interest in digital satellite. I still have an old Astra, Hotbird analogue set up but have always wanted digital.

I have been into computers for as long as I can remember. That's Macs and I know a lot of people wouldn't call that a computer but I honestly don't want to open that debate.

The DreamBox is basically a Linux computer that has loads of scope being open source has a lot of support across Europe. I just wish I could speak German and Italian!

Look out for lots of questions when it arrives and if my past is anything to go buy it will need to be re-set a lot of times.

You seem a friendly bunch and any/all help will be gratefully accepted.

Hope to advance the Mac/DreamBox knowledge and don't really care what I receive. I can spend hours flicking through the many FTA channels as it is, so no specific interest in Football etc.

If pushed I am interested in the News channels and feeds that I once received on Hotbird.

Anyway that's enough of a rant for now.

 

[BGonaSTICK]

Hi gameboy
If I where to be thinking of buying a new receiver what would be the Dreambox's best selling points.

I would say that it's a fun technical challenge (although nowhere near as hard as I thought it was gonna be, which is a shame actually!) and it opens virtually everything under the sun (only things I found it didn't, was obviously when 1W was on MII-only and like yesterday for a few hours on SI, when only knotcard was working).

CI slot, card slots, internet connectivity, compactflash slot, USB, loopthough, great LCD, remote control over an Ethernet IP network, flexibility and future-proofing (as much as you can 'futureproof in this game...)

Fantastic picture quality, great sound. Really.

Great networking (FTP server), sweet PVR on the HDD version, slick, small, sexy and just kind of logically 'right'.

You know when some things are just 'right'?

Oh,.... and all the big-boys have one...;)

 

[BonceChops]

A very good point is :

No more money to spend on cams and cards and programmers every few months when encryptions change.

No more messing about to update keys - just a few buttons to press on the remote if the Dreambox is connected to the internet that is.


The only bad points I can add are :

Poor PSU ( current output wise not reliability, I have installed an extra small PSU - less than £10 on ebay from Germany)

Does not like all hard drives ( mainly due to lack of current from PSU )

Gets hot ( very ) when hard drive installed. ( I have fitted a small fan, a little noisey but box cool now. Next mod is to fit a 9 volt regulator to run the fan slower, used to work well in my Pace MSI500 )

And a small point - no RF modulator so you cant watch TV upstairs without passing the scart to the video. ( RF mod from old VCR waiting to be fitted )

As far as I know all these bad points will be resolved in the new Dreambox 7020 - when it is released.

 

[BGonaSTICK]

Some good points. The only one that bothers me slightly is the heat build up.

I've got a new silent 12V 8cm fan from a PC sitting here, and have been thinking about trying to fit it to my Dreambox.

I guess you've fitted it inside the case if you have more power supply options?
Did you use it as an exhaust fan under the grill on the top cover?

I was thinking of sticking mine on the outside of that grill, and power it from it's own external power supply.

I'm very wary of heat build up in such confined spaces! Got my digibox and DVD player underneath it, but always have them in standy when not in use.

Any chance you could do a little write-up on your mods, with maybe some pics for the forum? Sure it would be of interest to lots of folks...

STICK

 

[BonceChops]

I will try yes.

I used cable ties to fasten the fan inside the grill. The first one I used was a variable speed 8cm one - it won't fit with the extra PSU in. It was very quiet because it adjusted its speed depending on the heat - also slower means less current used.

Give me a clue on how to post picyures on this site will you - and what sort of size is best.

 

[Llew]

Has anyone got any experiances of the "Triple Dragon" linux based reciever? are there any dealers in the UK?.

The "Triple Dragon" as I understand it will eventually comprise of three boxes. I daren't guess at the total price of these, but the first box, the 3000 CNCIE, apparently has most of the features of the Dreambox plus extras like TV out and YUV.
Second box - DVR 3000. CD/SCVD/PhotoCD/DVD/MP3/DVD+/-.
Third up - AC3/DTS Decoder.
Can't think of anything else you'd need except an understanding bank manager.

Llew

 

[BGonaSTICK]

I will try yes.

I used cable ties to fasten the fan inside the grill. The first one I used was a variable speed 8cm one - it won't fit with the extra PSU in. It was very quiet because it adjusted its speed depending on the heat - also slower means less current used.

Give me a clue on how to post picyures on this site will you - and what sort of size is best.

No probs. When you post, just under the 'Reply to Thread' panel, (scroll down) you will find an 'Attach Files' box with a 'Manage Attachments' button.

If you prepare your photos and text first somewhere else you can then just cut and paste the text, and add the picture attachments (which you have to do one at a time). If the pictures are too big, it won't let you post them, but a sensible max would be say 50K. You can get some pretty decent pics at that size.

Best picture format is probably .jpg.

:-cheers

 

[Rob]

Thanks for all your answer's, will keep a look out in the "Dreambox Section" in the coming months and if the wife gives me enough pocket-money I might well invest in one of these receivers. :-righton

 

[BGonaSTICK]

LOL, and I though it was just me that had that problem...

It cost me a week of cosy chats about girly-nothing-in-particular-cr@p and a set of garden furniture, which was more than the bloomin' DB!!!

How does THAT work?!?!?!