Getting Back In

[DrProzac]

Have been out of the Hobby for a while now.

Was thinking of dabbling again.
The VU+ Duo I had got the red ring light of death (2nd time) and I never got round to fixing it.

I'm guessing that box is very old now, and not worth the soldering again?

Anyway....

What would be a good box to go for, and is the hobby still any good, for a FTA Set-up with a motorized dish?

(not that I;m sure that still works either)

[Emulated]

Yes I think it is worth the effort. i gave up 3 years ago after a big op, lost interest in everything and the dish on the gable end came adrift. Just about to get it put back and dug out my Atemio Nemesis, barely used. I have been struggling to get to grips with it all, it seems as if everything has changed but its probably me, must have lost 90% of my grey cells. Unable to suggest a box, depends how keen you are and the amount of cash. There are some good s/h boxes as some upgrade? to 4K. Good luck.

[DrProzac]

Just looking back to when I last posted and it was 2013.
Wow.

I'm amazed how long it's been.

Still need to jump up to a 4K TV yet, so might be overkill for me at the moment.
S/H may be the way to go to test the water again though

[Comfysofa]

Anything vu based imo....i deviated a couple of years back and bought a gigabyte box and it was crap....essentially the more you spend the faster it goes and the more you can plug in...

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[Larry-G]

I'd personally wait a few weeks mate before buying a receiver. With the illegal viewing side going tits up on 28.2 east there will no doubt be a rash of people selling up, when they realise that satellite tv is not a cheap hobby.

You may just grab your self a real bargain.

[Larry-G]

Anything vu based imo....i deviated a couple of years back and bought a gigabyte box and it was crap....essentially the more you spend the faster it goes and the more you can plug in...

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

Theres so much wrong with that comment it's hard to know just where to start. VuPlus may be a market leader but they are no in way immune to shoddy drivers and putting out kit with known bugs just to get to market first. There are still bugs in their drivers now that we're there five years ago. As for the you get what you pay for bit, that is true to a point but VuPlus boxes are way over priced to begin with.

[Comfysofa]

Compared to dreamboxes they're they're a snip.

Just to add... My experience is

1. They're well supported (on here especially)
2. Well constructed. The gigabyte was very flimsy.
3. The higher end ones with displays are of a good quality. (I have zero's, se, duo, duo2 and a 4k.
4. Nice accessories range... Tuners, alternative remotes etc etc.
5. Can't say for other makes but I like the Android app that connects to the spare tuner on the higher ended ones. Very handy.

At the timecthe reason I sold the 150 quid gigabyte was that over the hardwired network in my house the zero outperformed the gigabyte in every aspect playing 1080p video from a Windows share in that it could and the gigabyte was essentially a sideshow.

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[Larry-G]

Compared to dreamboxes they're they're a snip.

Just to add... My experience is

1. They're well supported (on here especially)
2. Well constructed. The gigabyte was very flimsy.
3. The higher end ones with displays are of a good quality. (I have zero's, se, duo, duo2 and a 4k.

At the timecthe reason I sold the 150 quid gigabyte was that over the hardwired network in my house the zero outperformed the gigabyte in every aspect playing 1080p video from a Windows share in that it could and the gigabyte was essentially a sideshow.

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

i have seen it from the other side (as a former dev on this forum and ViX for 5 years). I can say whole heartedly that the vuplus driver support and dev support is at times atrocious, especially now they have a wide base of images supporting them, their attitude has become extremely sour in my opinion.

I have had numerous examples to compare. X2 vuplus duo (including the rare (only 300 were made) white duo), vuplus ultimo, vuplus uno and the vuplus solo2. Those were the last properly tested boxes, now they are released with almost no imput from independent testers or image teams prior to launch.

and while sky uk may not be the be and end all for satellite viewing it was a major money earner throughout Europe, one that will in my opinion see a massive drop in receiver sales and as a result new satellite boxes. Like it or not people like vuplus depend on sales, without sky uk they will have to seriously look else where to gain a new market foothold. Possibly by resurrecting their prism line ?.

[Comfysofa]

Strange as I bought my 4k not long after it came out and apart from having to learn oscam it's not missed a beat..... In fact all the other run vix and have been problem free. The only issue I've had is with the original duo (now roughly 6 years old) that's had the psu failiure which I fixed with 10 a min soldering job. If i needed another receiver I'd not hesitate buying another one.

My only criticism is you can't run Barry Allen like on the dreamboxes (a nice easy way of multibooting) but that's note the end of the world.

Sent from my SM-P900 using Tapatalk

[Emulated]

VU+ boxes are overpriced, no doubt it but they spend vast amounts on promoting their products. I do not consider them as the best but among the best and defining best depends what type of receiver you want and how much you will pay. DM were considered the best and charged accordingly, now they are run of the mill, technomate were very good but now nothing special. As for no Sky maybe there will be a way around that in time but buying a box just to get Sky is pointless, may as well pay the monthly fee. On Fleabay there are about 500 VU boxes for sale, its a buyers market.

[DrProzac]

Well I've still got the Original VU+ Duo in the Garage.
It's already had the red light failure once, fixed by the soldering Job.

It's now got the same again, and I think it may need a bit more that just the cap done, but think it may be a bit old and slow now anyway?
At the moment I've used the bedroom LG TV to spin the disk back to 13E, and just using an Old Sky Italia box, as the DM500s won't seem to run the motor.

Also seem to have now bricked it doing a FTP Update, and I can't find any of the null modem cables either
Didn't really have a good day yesterday playing....

So for the moment it looks like just using the Sky Italia box, as the LG TV is a Bedroom one, and involved moving downstairs.

Looks like it may be a good idea to troll though ebay in a few weeks time then.

I've briefly looked at the TM Nano, as I think I only need a single tuner, but still not really sure what to go for to test the waters?