Xtrend ET 9200 or Vu+ Ultimo what to buy?

[CyberCrime]

Hi i want to upgrade my Blade 7000s, missing linux fun.
Whats the pros and cons out of the et9200 and the ultimo?

Both look very close on specs, so whats the pros and cons, as anyone tried both boxes, support etc?

[tsx]

I've got the ET-9200, its a great box. Ideally I would have bought the Ultimo, but for the price difference I couldn't justify it.

[digi247]

I have had an ET9000 and now have an ultimo too be honest if you want 1gb of flash ram to store more plugins and maybe the possibility to have 3 tuners then go for the Ultimo if not stick with the Xtrend 9200 they both have the same Broadcom Chipset and processor so perform equally the only difference is what i mentioned above.

Regards

[Sicilian]

Dont forget the forum discount http://www.world-of-satellite.com/showthread.php?12662-%A35-discount-off-any-satellite-receiver-we-stock-to-forum-members-only!&p=91591#post91591

[pooface]

I have had an ET9000 and now have an ultimo too be honest if you want 1gb of flash ram to store more plugins and maybe the possibility to have 3 tuners then go for the Ultimo if not stick with the Xtrend 9200 they both have the same Broadcom Chipset and processor so perform equally the only difference is what i mentioned above.

Regards

Also, don't forget the different remote controls, different vfd's etc... All a personal preference...

[CyberCrime]

Some question people may know

What about tuners, my friend told me the ET9200 silver line edition (last version i think) as better tuners than the Ultimo, fixed the sr bug and then some?

As the Ultimo got a universal remote?

As the Ultimo as 1gb flash and the et9200 got 256meg can any of them use a fast usb stick to boost the memory? a bit like you can do in windows

[tsx]

Further to my previous comment on the ET9200, which may help!

I now use a Logitech 650 as my remote, although it could be a little quicker it much nicer to use than even my oem from other manufacturers.
Also very shortly there may be the option of a 3rd tuner via usb.

[digi247]

Well to be honest i cant tell the difference on signal quality between my old ET9000 and the Ultimo as far as i can recall they are both giving me similar readouts on the SNR but take this with a pinch of salt they are not 100% accurate, As for the SR30000 bug as i understand it from the Clarke-Tech/Xtrend support forum it is not a tuner issue but something to do with a crystal on the main board and i am not sure if tjis issue got resolved on the new 9200 you would have to ask your friend to try a TP with SR30000 on tunerB to find out.

As for the 1GB Flash V 256MB no you cant its the Flash memory for storing both machines have 512MB DDR memory

[Sicilian]

Tuner B SR30000 issue is resolved in the new ET9200 Silverline Edition.

[CyberCrime]

Ask my friend to test his et9200 he as the new silver line edition, he said the bug is still there!
Only this time the sr30000 channels just do not show up on tuner b, no pixelated pic just no pic on any sr30000 chan

So does the Ultimo have this bug on only of its tuners?

[Sicilian]

The Ultimo does not have any SR30000 issues. Regards the ET9200, I very much doubt that your friend has the latest Silverline Edition. Our sponsor only received them end of last week.

[Rob van der Does]

So does the Ultimo have this bug on only of its tuners?
Nope. The reason is that the Ultimo (and the UNO) make use of a FPGA (Field Programmable Field Array) allowing for more firmware solutions/flexibility; whereas on the ET's all is fixed in hardware components.

[CyberCrime]

He had the box on tuesday this week after sending the his old one back 2 weeks ago because of the sr bug.
Said where he got it from said it was the new silver line and sr bug free.
He said the channels just do not show up all blank and on his last one (that he sent back) was all pixelated. He is not a happy chappy lol
But like the old model tuner a is ok

[Sicilian]

He had the box on tuesday this week after sending the his old one back 2 weeks ago because of the sr bug.
Said where he got it from said it was the new silver line and sr bug free.
He said the channels just do not show up all blank and on his last one (that he sent back) was all pixelated. He is not a happy chappy lol
But like the old model tuner a is ok

Tell him to check the barcode label on the box, it should state silverline edition, if it doesn't, then its NOT silverline edition.

[CyberCrime]

Told him about the silverline on the barcode label and his box as not got it, he is so p*ssed as he was told its 100% a bug free silver line edition

[Sicilian]

Told him about the silverline on the barcode label and his box as not got it, he is so p*ssed as he was told its 100% a bug free silver line edition

Should have purchased from our sponsor ;)

[CyberCrime]

Well thats where i'm buying my box from today.
I like the Ultimo but think it will be the et9200 as its £200 cheaper for almost the some spec if you take away the extra tuner and the fancy display.
Only thing that makes me want to go for the Ultimo is FPGA and the 1GB, but isn't the 1GB just for image data? as both have 512MB ddr?
Can a user take advantage of the extra flash space?

[Sicilian]

Ultimo has 1GB Flash/512 ram. ET9200 has 256mb Flash/515mb ram. In all honesty not quite sure why VU+ made the flash larger than the ram, would have been better the other way round imo. You would need to have an awful lot of plugins installed just to fill the ET9200's amount of flash!

You could always turn a ET9200 into a triple tuner. For instance you can buy a DVB-T2 tuner for £55 here
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/pctv-nanostick-t2-290e-hdtv-usb-tv-tuner-card-10962120-pdt.html?srcid=867&cmpid=comp~Google~~10962120&istCompanyId=9a35962d-802d-4e67-9721-0a3328ca1f02&istItemId=wqllalmr&istBid=t So then you would have 2x DVB-S/S2 & 1x DVB-T2 for freeview HD.

[Rob van der Does]

Half of the 1GB flash of the Ultimo is reserved for later use. So 512MB is available atm.

[Johev]

Hi everybody, as this is my first post here I have many questions. I have been wanting to buy a box and to set up satellite TV from scratch for a long time. My friend already has a Vu+ duo with a rotating satellite and he is very happy with it. Nevertheless some 1080p mkv do not run as smoothly all the times.

I was thinking of getting the ET9100, but a few months ago I found out about the ET9200 and I thought I buy it as soon as I decided about all the components (satellite needed). Today I found out about the VU+ ultimo, it looks nice but as someone pointed out it has a 200GBP difference and I would be lucky if I get use of both tuner cards, let alone 3.

I have also learned today about the ET9200 silverline edition (SE), and I was wondering if there was a justifiable argument to go straight to the VU+ ultimo instead of the ET9200 SE.

My questions are:
1) Do they have the same CPU? I know the 400Mhz is the same, but is the architecture different, sometimes clock speeds are not everything?
2) Do you think that ET9200 will benefit from the community support (firmwares and updates) for some time, or will most developers just work on the VU+ ultimo?
3) Are the tuners in VU+ ultimo much better than the ones in the ET 9200 SE?
4) I did not understand the 1gb ROM, but only 512Mb are available so far, can someone explain it?
5) Is the FPGA worth upgrading? What kind of functionalities might that bring to the box that ET 9200 SE will not have?
6) Does VU+ ultimo have a built in Wifi or do we need a USB dodge for it?

Sorry for all these questions, but in order to take my decision I would like to have as much information as possible.

Thank you in advance for all your help

[CyberCrime]

good questions Johev
2) you have the work of the vix team so got the best ;)
6) usb dodge going by the support page
thats me done lol

[Stanman]

Hi everybody, as this is my first post here I have many questions. I have been wanting to buy a box and to set up satellite TV from scratch for a long time. My friend already has a Vu+ duo with a rotating satellite and he is very happy with it. Nevertheless some 1080p mkv do not run as smoothly all the times.

I was thinking of getting the ET9100, but a few months ago I found out about the ET9200 and I thought I buy it as soon as I decided about all the components (satellite needed). Today I found out about the VU+ ultimo, it looks nice but as someone pointed out it has a 200GBP difference and I would be lucky if I get use of both tuner cards, let alone 3.

I have also learned today about the ET9200 silverline edition (SE), and I was wondering if there was a justifiable argument to go straight to the VU+ ultimo instead of the ET9200 SE.

My questions are:
1) Do they have the same CPU? I know the 400Mhz is the same, but is the architecture different, sometimes clock speeds are not everything? Not sure if there 100% identical but more than enough for the job
2) Do you think that ET9200 will benefit from the community support (firmwares and updates) for some time, or will most developers just work on the VU+ ultimo? VIX is supporting the ET range and we will continue to so as are other teams as for what they will do long term only they can say but I see no reason why they will not be support for the ET for long time to come

3) Are the tuners in VU+ ultimo much better than the ones in the ET 9200 SE? Not got either so cant say but have a ET9K and VU and really no difference between the two but no doubt some one with eagle eyes will see a difference

4) I did not understand the 1gb ROM, but only 512Mb are available so far, can someone explain it? 1GB is flash so you can stick things like PICON there rather than using USB etc.

5) Is the FPGA worth upgrading? What kind of functionalities might that bring to the box that ET 9200 SE will not have? Not sure, its more image driven, obvisoulsy things like PIP are box dependent ala VU+.

6) Does VU+ ultimo have a built in Wifi or do we need a USB dodge for it? USB dongle aAFAIK no box has built in WIFI at this price point.

Sorry for all these questions, but in order to take my decision I would like to have as much information as possible.

Thank you in advance for all your help

Please always start your own thread with questions rather than injecting into someone elses as its good eitquette. I have aswered next to your questions

[Rob van der Does]

Hi everybody, as this is my first post here I have many questions. I have been wanting to buy a box and to set up satellite TV from scratch for a long time. My friend already has a Vu+ duo with a rotating satellite and he is very happy with it. Nevertheless some 1080p mkv do not run as smoothly all the times.

I was thinking of getting the ET9100, but a few months ago I found out about the ET9200 and I thought I buy it as soon as I decided about all the components (satellite needed). Today I found out about the VU+ ultimo, it looks nice but as someone pointed out it has a 200GBP difference and I would be lucky if I get use of both tuner cards, let alone 3.

I have also learned today about the ET9200 silverline edition (SE), and I was wondering if there was a justifiable argument to go straight to the VU+ ultimo instead of the ET9200 SE.

My questions are:
1) Do they have the same CPU? I know the 400Mhz is the same, but is the architecture different, sometimes clock speeds are not everything?
2) Do you think that ET9200 will benefit from the community support (firmwares and updates) for some time, or will most developers just work on the VU+ ultimo?
3) Are the tuners in VU+ ultimo much better than the ones in the ET 9200 SE?
4) I did not understand the 1gb ROM, but only 512Mb are available so far, can someone explain it?
5) Is the FPGA worth upgrading? What kind of functionalities might that bring to the box that ET 9200 SE will not have?
6) Does VU+ ultimo have a built in Wifi or do we need a USB dodge for it?


ad 2: no worry s there mate
ad 3: No
ad 4: atm only 512MB of flash is available; the other 512MB has been reserved for possible future use.
ad 5: One MUST always use the latest FPGA.
FPGA is the firmware in a chipset, that can be upgraded, allowing for better communications with the tuner-boards. Only UNO & Ultimo have this: other makes depend on a fixed-hardware config.
As an example: the recent SR30,000 problems for the UNO could be resolved witj a FPGA upgrade; the same problem on ET's lead to hardware modifications.
ad 6: The Ultimo comes with a dongle

BTW: Please be aware that NO STB will ever be as good in plying all kinds of mediafiles as a "real" mediaplayer. All video decoding is done in hardware, so the results will depend on the way the files are coded.
MKV (and AVI and several other) are "containers", so the term in itself means nothing: they can be coded by all kinds of codecs. If coding has been done up-to-standard playback will be fine. You might consider re-coding using a PC.

[Johev]

First I want to thank you all for your replies and answers to my questions. I know I am a new guy here, but the world of forums is not something I am new to.


Please always start your own thread with questions rather than injecting into someone elses as its good eitquette. I have aswered next to your questions

I am not sure how things work in this particular forum, but I think I had pertinent questions regarding the topic that is being discussed in here. If everybody opened a thread with different questions about the same equipment it would be a mess (my personal opinion). I don't think I hijacked the post, I only complied what for me (and I think that for other people too) are the most important questions when deciding which box to buy. Hopefully the OP did not mind, as that is what I interpret from his post.

Rob van der Does thanks for the FPGA explanation, I have read about it on the wikip before posting, but I could not see a practical example of how the end user could benefit from it. Now I do :)

Regarding the dedicated media player, for my needs I think any of these two boxes would be more than enough. I understand the codec thing, as I have studied IT for a while, but in my opinion the CPU in the vu+ duo might need a bit more power (333mhz) to play all the current formats perfectly. Hopefully the one in the ET9200 and in the Vu+ Ultimo meet the minimum requirements for smooth playback of most files :)

[Rob van der Does]

Regarding the dedicated media player, for my needs I think any of these two boxes would be more than enough. I understand the codec thing, as I have studied IT for a while, but in my opinion the CPU in the vu+ duo might need a bit more power (333mhz) to play all the current formats perfectly. Hopefully the one in the ET9200 and in the Vu+ Ultimo meet the minimum requirements for smooth playback of most files :)
No STB-CPU's is capable of any video decoding, in spite of having dual core CPU's @ 405MHz.
For that reason video-decoding is done in hardware; hence the files must comply with the codecs that are in that hardware. If that is the case, playback is just fine. If not (as is often the case with files 'found' on the internet), re-doing is required.

[Johev]

Are they really dual core CPU's? I have never read that in any place, and I think it would be worth marketing. Could you confirm it?

[Rob van der Does]

UNO, DUO, Ultimo and ET9x00 are; not sure about the rest.

[Sicilian]

Are they really dual core CPU's? I have never read that in any place, and I think it would be worth marketing. Could you confirm it?

Spec sheet for the BCM7405 ;)


http://www.avs.org.cn/fruits/Doc/%E5%8D%9A%E9%80%9AAVS%E8%8A%AF%E7%89%877405-PB04-R.pdf

Dont forget forum members discount ;) http://www.world-of-satellite.com/showthread.php?12662-%A35-discount-off-any-satellite-receiver-we-stock-to-forum-members-only!&p=91591#post91591

[Rob van der Does]

Link doesn't work: file attached.

[Larry-G]

downloaded fine for me this morning and just now too. but not to worry it's a very small file

[Johev]

Thanks for the information, the link worked perfectly for me. It is just strange that they would not advertise that, I would have thought that it would be in the main title, dual core and dual tuner :) (only thing missing is dual channel RAM, hehe). Thanks once again for the info and as to the discount with world-of-satellite, how much is it (%)?

[Stanman]

Its here, will need to PM the sponsor to get it http://www.world-of-satellite.com/showthread.php?12662-%A35-discount-off-any-satellite-receiver-we-stock-to-forum-members-only!

Also don't forget this http://www.world-of-satellite.com/showthread.php?4065-PRICE-MATCH-PROMISE-For-all-forum-members!* but not sure if you will be able to get the discount if you ask for PM.

[Johev]

Hi everybody,

I am updating the information and I would like to correct some things that were said in this thread about the Silverline edition of the ET 9200.

1) I have ordered one from your sponsor as advised by some of the members. Stef was very nice and I got a pleasant small discount by contacting him through this forum, which was nice.

2) Regarding the statement that talks about a reference to the Silverline Edition (SE) in the bar code on the box or the ET 9200, it is false. I have a confirmation from your sponsor saying that there is no way to check if I have a Silverline edition of the tuner just by checking it physically.

Direct quote by Stef:

What is posted on the forum about the barcode is wrong.

Tune to any SR30000 channel, start recording then switch to another forcing Tuner B.

The HD discouvery channels are good ones to test on 1deg Thor.

Dont worry though, your unit is 100% New stock silver line edition.

So far I am very happy with the performance, the only thing that I wasn't expecting was that when I tried the PIP function on a HD channel the other small window became extremely choppy and lagged a lot.
Which brings up some questions:

1) Is it just my unit or does that happen to all of them?
2) Can I record one HD channel and watch another HD channel without suffering from lag and missed frames? I still don't have the hard drive installed so I could not test it myself.

Thank you all for your contributions and help.

[Sicilian]

PIP works with one HD and one SD, you cant have two HD when using PIP. Its a broadcom chip limitation.

You can record one HD and watch another HD channel fine.

[Rob van der Does]

And to overcome the stuttering PiP, you can install PiP-services relation (it's available from the feeds). You can set it up to use a SD-equivalent of the chosen HD channel.

[Johev]

Thank you both, really helpful. I thought that this CPU was capable of processing the 2 HD channels at once, but then again with that plug-in I hope I can solve the issue. There is no need to have 2 HD feeds, if one is in a small window :p

It is good to know that when recording I will not have any problems, which is the most important thing anyway.

Have a nice day :)

[Rob van der Does]

The whole system is quite capable of handling multiple HD-streams/recordings. The thing is that the chipset has only one videodecoder, so only one stream can actually be made visual. The 'stuttering' picture is a software work-around: only i-frames are shown.