best value receivers?

ehayde

Hi all
After 4 years of constant use, my echostar DSB808 2ci finally packed its bags. I'm not even contemplating a repair job, as my b-i-law had the same problem with his, repaired for £60 and was never the same, and was then sold a 2nd hand 808 for £50 not much better, but he's £110 out of pocket.
I want to buy from your experiences.
I used mine for Films from Hotbird, Astra 19.2, and Hispasat. Prem Footie from Hotbird or Astra 19.2 with a dragon cam.
I hear that there are recs that do not need cams or cards, and can be auto updating etc etc.
I will buy what you guys can honestly recommend, based on your own experiences, and is what you believe to be good value for money.
No bank busters, but reliable, fast, high spec.
thanks for your help (I miss my SAT )
regards
EJH

wod

the technomate 1500 ci+ is an excellent reciever, theres a few on here with them. they are excellent as they can be patched to view scambled channels or use a dragon cam in the ci slot

rolfw

I'm not a great fan of the Technomate receiver, feel it has a somewhat hyped rep, but as wod says, a lot of members have them and swear by them. I would personally recommend one of the smaller Dreamboxes, have a look in the Dreambox section, they are very versatile and can be networked to your PC.

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Artist 2004

I use two receivers bought in Turkey. They both have Kaon boards inside. The Sunny, bought last month cost £60, has no slots, has huge support on forums, patches, key files, key editors, channel editors etc. BUT you probably can't find one in UK. So jump on a last minute charter to Turkey and have a week here for a hundred quid, and pick one up! Currently I'm decoding about 40 english language movie channels on Hispasat, Hotbird and Turksat, plus a number of sports channels showing Premier league matches...

ehayde

Soooooooo tempting, just for the hols!!!!!!!!

keep em coming, What are the benefits of networking to the pc?
cheers
EJH

rolfw

Well apart from being able to watch the satellite channel on any PC in the network, change channel from any PC in the network, record films to any hard disk on any PC in the network, transfer films via the network and write them to DVD, upload files using FTP, upload Keys and change images via the network, update your keys direct from the internet by pressing the blue button on the Dreambox, use card sharing, so that you can benefit from several legit cards at the same time and finally send a message via the screen to your other half to bring up a beer or cup of tea, there are none whatsoever.

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ams13

well Rolf i was thinking about a technomate but never realised i could do all that with a dreambox. so do i get the 500 or 700 series and whats the difference apart from price!!! many thanks

rolfw

Well the main difference used to be the hard drive, but of course now the 500 can have one. But the 7000 has a USB connection and a Compact Flash connection, plus more room for a hard drive.

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ams13

thanks Rolf
very fast very helpfull guess i should save a few pounds more.

Tracey

Just jumping on your thread as I'm also looking to replace my DSB-808. Been trying to read up all weekend but I'm so confused and have eventually found my way here! I use my system to access French/German/Spanish/Italian mainstream TV channels (in particular TPS). The dreambox looks interesting so that I could link to my network and record to hard drive but if I buy one of these will it pick up the channels without me needing a card? ok so you can tell how confused I am now!!

thanks in advance if anyone can help

silvernet

Kaon 230 in Spain for 55 Euro's, Comag 55 from Lidl's Uk etc. or fleabay..all very flexible and cheap, work as well as a Technomate ( in my opinion ).

The best receiver of many that I have used is the M Vision 7000, quite dated, but still very well supported.

Personally I don't like the menu system on the Technomates, not the worst, but not the best.