Dreambox 600 or 800?

[mblake4u]

Hi I'm thinking about getting a dreambox to take to South Africa to pick up some of the FTA channels.

Can someone please tell me what the main difference between the 600 and the 800 is? Also, will the 800 work with non-HD TV's too?

Cheers, Michael

 

[mhku]

The 800 is hi-def, the 600 isn't. There's probably a big price difference as well.

Welcome to the forum

 

[mblake4u]

Hi, thanks for answering - do you think the 800 will work with a non-HD TV?

Cheers

 

[clubfoot]

the 800 will work with a non hd tv, through Scart (RG. it defies the the object a bit though!!

 

[mhku]

How many of the FTA channels will be hi-def? If they're SD is the extra cost of the 800 worth it?

 

[mblake4u]

I see what you mean about the extra cost etc.. I was thinking it would be a good idea to get one now.. and then wait until more channels become HD.. I could also use it with South Africa's multichoice/dstv presumably if I get one of their cards - I think they've got some HD channels..

 

[hashman99]

personally i feel that the picture quality, even on SD channels, are better out of the dm800 then the dm600 (having both)
maybe its psychological rather then reality

either way, i think the dm600 would be a cheaper option to begin with, and you HD chanenls do show up in the future in SA, then you can always sell the dm600 and buy a dm800

remmeber though, both boxes hd are not interchangable (one is sata(800) other is ide(600))

 

[mblake4u]

cheers for the advice. i'll have a look around and see what i can get for a good price. regards and happy 2010!

 

[shumifan50]

The following as a matter of interest:
1. Be aware that satellites have footprints on earth where they can be received. Not all transmissions can be received everywhere, even if the satellite is fully visible on your horison. Go to lyngsat website to see the footprints of the different satellites, the channels available from each and which are FTA and which are subscription channels.
2. Check that a CAM exists that can handle DSTV cards.
3. lyngsat will also indicate the dish size that you need to receive a specific satellite on in given area - these sizes are sometimes a little optimistic, so go for a little bit bigger dish if you can.

 

[mblake4u]

Hi shumifan50

Thanks for the info - there don't appear to be many FTA channels available in South Africa that interest me.. Being new to satellite, it looks like I'll be able to get Irdeto 2 emulation on the dreambox which should work with DSTV.. I'm thinking it might be a good idea to buy a dreambox rather than the dstv decoder (purely because of all the additional features of the dreambox)..

Regards,
Michael