DreamBox

[2old4this]

well call me old-fashioned but I don't see how a receiver without a built-in positioiner and power-unit for a proper motorized dish can be considered a "dream" box.
Oh, and there's also no scart for an external analogue decoder.
And there's no hint that it can process analogue signals at all.

So even with all those new fangled goodies, fact is I still won't be able to throw away my current dream box (the Echostar 7000)... (unless I'm prepared to trade in the motor for a DiSEqC pretender, get a smaller dish, and abandon D2MAC, and indeed abandon all analogue signals...)

2old

 

[rolfw]

Points taken 2old, but compared to what a lot of people are driving, if it does what it says, then it is a desirable piece of kit, I'd swap my Hyundai for one in an instant.

 

[2old4this]

The other interesting thing is this connectivity/networking with a PC. The Dbox2 running Linux offers the same. Yet how many people actually have a computer in the same place as their sat receiver? Such things will only ever be of interest to a tiny minority of hardened hobbyists.
Puts me in mind of some posts on sanother board recently where a whole thread of enthusiastic messages followed the announcement that some PC package had a built-in alarm timer. Can't remember the details, but the point was this: there was apparently a whole bunch of people sleeping with their computers!
So I beleive that the market these people are aiming at is the 14 to 18 year olds still living at home with all their toys scattered within arms reach of their bed and too much time on their hands for buggering about with all those connections.


2old

 

[rolfw]

I do wish you wouldn't talk about me like that 2old

Strangely enough, my computer and sat receiver are quite close together, but I would guess that having an ethernet connection would mean that they wouldn't have to be. I certainly like the idea.

 

[Channel Hopper]

Oh dear

The ideal system is one that fits the user !

Nothing else

A mikeey type respnse I know but at least its accurate

Many prople have a system that comes into conflict with the family or the TV viewing

Let it be

 

[2old4this]

and the colour doesn't match my telly.
Dream machine?
Ha!

 

[Channel Hopper]

It does come with a free set of rose tinted spectacles, so the olduns think it matches the curtains

 

[ernie]

I've been looking at the dreambox too, found this message board http://www.dream-multimedia-tv.de/board/index.php some of the reports coming back are not as good as the hype. A case of to good to be true?

 

[rolfw]

Hi Ernie, unfortunately most of the discussion appears to be on the German language forum, most of the English content is unanswered questions. Until some dealers get hold of them and put them on test, we will all have to wait.

 

[ernie]

That's what i'm waiting for, seems to be people are believing every little rumour about the box before any hard facts are known.
Like you say, there are too many unanswered questions on that forum which tends to set alarm bells ringing for me.
I hope it does live up to the hype though, because i'm saving my money to buy one !

 

[rolfw]

Latest update, Andy from Astratech has taken delivery of a batch but reports that the unit is far from ready as many features do not work, particularly the DiseqC switching . Although he suggests that the unit when fully perfected should set a benchmark for new receivers, it is far from being so at the moment and Astratech will not offer support at this stage and recommends that you buy at your peril.

 

[lowdown]

I am thinking of replacing my vendor supplied decoder (with a fix dish of course).

Will this be an overkill ?

 

[alabadi]

Did i hear 2Old4this say that the Dreambox 7000 will cost €499
well i have just been reading the latest what satellite TV and in there they have the Dreambox DM7000S and it is priced at £309

it seems the right one you can see it at the following website

http://www.dream-multimedia-tv.com .

it looks like a good thing but i have noticed quite a few boxes that are following the same trend, i suppose that its the future of satellite television.

....alabadi

 

[rolfw]

Should be the same thing alabadi, bear in mind that the original price was possibly with different exchange rates and before it was realised that the box was still effectively in Beta test. I would tend to agree though that more of them will apppear.

 

[evilbofh]

one thing to remember is that the software for the dreambox is very beta, as of the features most dont work as there is no driver for them it is up to the user to write his own drivers and a lot of the features you would expect from a box this price arent there it is up to you to program in these feature,

So if you want a dreambox and dont know what linux is, cant program, are expecting your wife to use it.......

DONT even think about it cause the dreambox will be a nightmare box!

And take the feature list with a pinch of salt as I said about there are there but dont work..

e.g.

2 card slot, yes but not for any cards avaliable anywhere dream will not pay the licence fee for via id or seca...

64M of memory, due to the way the hard ware is setup only 32M for userland. the rest if for "hardware" or just plain wasted.

CF slot, but not from your camera or any other device, and you cant have both a hard disk and a CF in at the same time. the CF is there in case you dont want to have a harddisk.

DVR, only record and then playback later, on timeshiting.

and not to mention it crashes all the time with the software avaliable today.

 

[boysie]

i have a dreambox, and have to say that the software nowadays is pretty stable, run it for over 2 weeks without a single crash,

the updating is very easy, just download a softkey and drop it in dreambox via a lan and your done
you can also convert a hex to softcam and do it that way, and it also has co**x on it;)

the new software does allow timeshifting, and some support compact flash and dvr, and can play vcd and svcd, and recorded dvr can be written to vcd/ dvd on your pc, which is nice

setting it up with the pc and learning how to flash the software on it was a bit of a pain, but when you have done that it is a nice box

 

[rolfw]

Good to hear that you've got it all up and working Boysie. When I first heard of the Dreambox, I was looking forward to having the LAN connection, if not only for the time saving element.

 

[F1Mike]

Can the box position the dish on it's own?

 

[rolfw]

Yes F1Mike, I believe that it has DiseqC 1.2.

 

[F1Mike]

Thought so, just needed to check after reading the early speculation in this topic that it didn't have a built in positioner.
I'm getting one you see