I am Thinking of Buying a Dreambox?

zanders

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Hi All,

I am thinking of buying the dreambox 7000 but thought I should ask some questions first.

Firstly would I need to buy additional Cams & cards to decrypt some of the riskier)(-red channels on hotbird or can I download the codes into the dreambox eliminating the need for cards?

Also,

Do you only need the hard disk if you intend to use the PVR options on the dreambox?

Does the dreambox use SATA or IDE as its interface and is there a limitation on the RPM and disk size that can be installed?:)

Wow - quite a few questions for you there. Thanks for your input.

cheers.
 

rolfw

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Some channels you will always need a card for, but at the moment there is more than enough available without.

You don't need a hard disk at all, as you can mount any network drive and use it to record. Don't know the answer to the type of drive, but I believe that it is IDE, speed of access is not a big factor.
 

BGonaSTICK

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HDD is also good for storing images prior to flashing, as there is less chance of errors being introduced during the flash itself, and leaving your box in a hung state (as opposed to null-modem cable or Ethernet-LAN based flashing). You can also 'pause' live TV which I thought was a bit of a gimmick, but I've since been converted. FTP can also be used to ship data around your network.

Th DB uses the IDE ATA66 bus standard, and the manufacturers recommend 5400RPM disks, as there are quieter (WRT an ST:cool: and tend to use less power, which is the overall determining factor. Check out the DB's power limits (I can't remember what they are offhand, but they are low...).

Manufacturers state that the disk size limit is 120GB (which is what they come from the factory with...) but I have seen boxes fitted with 160GB drives. Don't know what the spec of those was.

Hope this helps too.

STICK
 

zanders

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Thanks Guys - I wil order the dreambox 7000 from Germany tomorrow.

Thanks.
 

MacAddict

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zanders said:
Thanks Guys - I wil order the dreambox 7000 from Germany tomorrow.

Thanks.

all of your questions have been answered, and you can get the db from the UK. Unless you think you are getting a good deal. I got mine for £270 with no hard disk. I have chosen to do so because I knew that the power supply was a bit of an issue and wanted to choose the disk I put in. I got a revision 4 dream box with an amber LCD, which is the latest you can get now. I have been so far been well happy with it and I wish I found aboout it sooner.
 

zanders

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What issue is there with the German supply versus the UK power supply of a Dreambox 7000?

I am concerned now?

The maximum supply of the Dreambox 7000 is 35watts @230v is that different for a German suppplied model??

thanks guys.
 

MacAddict

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zanders said:
What issue is there with the German supply versus the UK power supply of a Dreambox 7000?

I am concerned now?

The maximum supply of the Dreambox 7000 is 35watts @230v is that different for a German suppplied model??

thanks guys.

No no. It is the same unit and is directly importedby uk dealers.I was saying that earlier revisions of the dream box had weaker power supply. That is why I saif ensure you get the latest revision.
 

BGonaSTICK

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The Dreambox from Germany is completely compatable with the UK power supply, but you will need to change the mains lead for one with a UK 3 pin 13A plug (still the standard 'figure 8' power lead).

The power consumption issue I was reffering to was that of the hard disk, not the Dbox itself.

This from Dream...

"In fact any harddisk with a power consumption below 500mA on both the 5V and 12V should work just fine.
We advise you to use a 5400RPM disk since they produce less noise"

Have a look here for compatable HDD's :-

h**p://www.dreamsatsoft.tv/howtodream/HowToDream_en.htm

As MacAddict said, I believe there was a problem with the Dreambox PSU in early versions. The later orange-LCD versions should be fine.
 
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