Extreme newbie questions...

[hopelessliar]

I've been reading around on this forum and I'm quite intrigued - enough to consider dipping a toe into the dreambox waters. It looks like I can pick up a 500c or 500s for less than £100 which is an attractive price obviously. Is this all I need to get going or do I need to buy more hardware? I'm fairly technically minded and basically proficient with linux so the idea of flashing images and using ftp etc doesn't wory me too much but I'm not clear on whether everything can be done in software or whether I need to buy a new card etc as well.

I have both satellite and cable connections so I can choose either route - is there a preference? Ideally I'd like to use it in addition to my existing receivers but obviously that means not using my existing viewing cards. Is that possible? I think it is but I'm being deliberately vague in asking about this...

My main interest is using it to get Setanta and then possibly streaming it. Will the 500 series suffice or is it getting so long in the tooth that it's not worth investing in any more?

In brief, what's the bare minimum I need to be able to watch setanta, and then to be able to stream from the dreambox?

Apologies for the extremely basic questions but any answers would be gratefully received by both myself and other prospective noobs as well I'm sure.

 

[Analoguesat]

We will help you with a 500s, but any discussion of use of cable receivers (the 500c) is forbidden on this forum.

You will need access to a valid subscription card to watch Setanta on the dreambox via satellite - there are no freebies where Sky Uk is concerned.