Dreambox product development?

F

fintannl

Regular Member
My Satellite Setup
Single Sat Dish and DM800
My Location
Ireland
Some time back Shumifan posted information on the differences between the different models of Dreambox. I would just like to get feedback from members of where things are with the Dreambox. I do not count myself a total expert but I would like to share some ideas and see what members think in return
- DM500: a basic box that I still use but with little to no memory its essentially useless unless you have a network share memory to store EPG. However it works fine if you are working with an MHW provider that is supplying a limited amount of channels with a limited amount of EPG, one internal card reader
- DM600 I have no experience of but my understanding is that it was brought out to correct a lack of memory via an internal hard disk, still no USB? and still a single tuner, one internal card reader
- DM7020 had internal hard disk and USB and still single tuner, one interbal card reader
- DM7025+ had internal hard disk, USB and dual tuner, one internal card reader

Now up to this point I can understand a development strategy. After this I get a bit lost

- DM800: hard disk, USB, Esata, HD, but back to single tuner, one internal card reader, where is the dual tuner gone which was a great idea
- DM8000: hard disk, USB, Esata, HD, 4 tuners, 2 card readers, 2? CI modules, DVD drive, the ultimate machine
- DM500HD: hard disk, Esata, HD, no USB, single tuner, one internal card reader

So the DM800 is missing a dual tuner, and from my user experience not much else. The only other problems with the DM800 are all I/O port issues where while you may have two USB ports it is physically impossible to put two USB devices into these ports as they are too close together. Also it is impossible to put a USB card reader in one of these ports if you have a network cable in the adjoining slot. Also it is impossible to use the DVI cable if you need to use the serial cable to flash the box.

So no dual tuner and loads of IO issues with the DM800

The DM8000 on the other hand seems to be complete overkill. Now I don't knock the idea but I do look on this game as being an amateur. I honestly would have no idea how I could possibly fill all the tuner slots and CI slots available in the DM8000. My house would have to be invisible behind all the sat dishes I would need to completely use this box.

And then the DM500HD comes out. Back to single tuner and suddenly the USB is gone, though it does alow you to externally connect to USB.

So I'm lost. Now I appreciate many of the forum members have far more knowlledge than me on these matters, and can probably explain all this stuff easily, but it really wrecks my head.

I simply would like to buy a basic Dreambox with dual tuner, HD, USB, Esata, internal card reader (maybe two). I like the idea of being able to record while watching something else (and I am aware that I can do this if it is on the same transponder)

I do know there are CI users but maybe there could be a box aimed at this market too.

I don't want to sound like a whinge, I just have no idea where Dreambox are going with their products. I consider myself an average user and as such would represent a large percentage (I Hope :-)) of users.

Based on my requirements there is not one model that meets the overall needs other than the DM8000 which I think is over the top.

So please shout and scream and say I am wrong. Its just my impression of where Dreambox Multimedia is at
 
The nature of dreamboxes are such that you can create all the intermediate configurations with multiple STBs. Because you can map network drives and therefore play the recordings of any dreambox on any other dreambox, you can create the effect of a dual tuner with 2 x DM800 or 2 x DM500HD and the space taken will be no more than a dual tuner box would take. The advantage is that the 2 boxes don't even have to be in the same location. As processor power and memory is still at a premium, even on the newest boxes, having 2 boxes eliminates that problem to some extent. I agree that the DM8000 is over the top, especially as it still only has a 400MHz processor. The main advantage dual tuner boxes had with things like Sky+ is the fact that you could receive 2 encrypted channels with one cqard. This is not a problem on multiple dreamboxes. By using multiple dreamboxes and creating the configuration you need is much more flexible than dual tuner boxes can provide.
 
I take your point shumifan. I just find it hard to understand that if you look at the development from 500 to 600 to 7020 to 7025 you see incremental improvements in functionality. As such the 7025 with dual tuner, hard disk, usb is great. Then the 800 skips the dual tuner, puts in HD, adds eSata. Good improvements but why not hold on to the dual tuner. If I were to use the two box approach I would use the dm800*2 approach simply for always having HD. But that becomes an expensive config. Otherwise I could use a dm800HD and DM500HD, but once again expensive. So I would have really liked a box similar to the DM800 just with dual tuner. I think such a box would generate huge interest for the dreambox fan. The Dm8000 just took it totally to the extreme with no box sitting in the middle for the casual user
 
The cost of a 7025 was double that of a 600, so logically it fowllows that a dual tuner 800 would be double the price of a single tuner 800. And the 8000 is 3 times the price of a 500HD(with only 2 tuners). So it doesn't make a big difference to the cost and in the case of multiple boxes, you can spread the cost. I would recommend the 500HD over the 800 as a matter of interest - USB has very little use if you don't do multi-boot (which is not a good idea anyway) and the external eSata disk with an internal fan on the 500HD means it stays cool.
 
The 7020 doesn't have a hdd fitted as standard. Its basically a 7000 with an rf modulator fitted, and 7000 images happily run on 7020's (with the loss of the rf functionality)

7020's have 2 card slots plus a cam slot, but only have one tuner. They have a compact flash slot plus usb - both of which can be used for multi-booting, setting up swap files etc
 
Vu+ DUO Twin Tuner HD PVR DVB-S2 Satellite Receiver

This IS the Linux receiver we've all been waiting for! A real contender to the Dreambox DM8000 that (legally) runs the Enigma2 open source firmware. There is the choice of the manufacturers firmware, VTI firmware PLi firmware and now the Dream-Elite team.

Its like dm8000 for half the price made by a different company with their own bootloader and drivers and all plugins work...

i think its the closest thing to what your looking for without the extreme price

£399.00
 
From the comments Ive seen the Vu+ is rarer than hens teeth atm due to chip shortages.
 
what i did is take shumifans advice and use both my dm800 and dm500. really impressed. its great to be able to tape and watch at the same time. and the cost is still not as much as the VU+, the inconvenience is minimal, and the EPG can be shared from the dm800 to the dm500. Nifty, thanks shumifan. I know I have whinged about this for some time and in both cases you gave me the same advice. This time I took it and the results I'm really happy with
 
@jonboy52
this the DREAMBOX forum, so can we stick to it.
 
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