Best sub £100 basic receiver?

[pdlee]

Hi, I have a friend who is looking to buy a basic linux receiver, single tuner, no need for HD, no need for the abilty to record / playback and doesn't want to spend more than £100.

I'd be grateful if anyone could give me a few options as to which receivers he should be looking at please?

[Larry-G]

your not going to get a linux based receiver for under £100 unless you go for a older E1 based receiver such as a TM500 or a second hand unit.

[pdlee]

Thanks Pheonix, think I'm showing my lack of knowledge here - I've assumed that all the boxes (including stuff like the Skybox) were linux based.

Sticking with the £100 budget (linux or not) is there anything that stands out that you'd recommend for the price?

[manicscrewdriver]

I would agree that a TM500 or TM600 would be a good bet for what you want. There is also the Dreambox DM500, although its unlikely you will find an original one now as the market is flooded with clones.

There is also the Dual boot Amiko Alien SHD-8900 boxes, although i would give them a wide berth as the Enigma software is flaky as you like and the Spark software isn't brilliant, although it is fairly useable and fairly idiot proof. The one warning though is that like the DM500 boxes, the market is full of clones of these boxes.

Yes cheap boxes made in China have been cloned by the Chinese :lol3:

Posts on other forums warning that the makers of these boxes could be planning some sort of countermeasure against the clone boxes, but what it is could be anyone's guess. Its pointless asking the manufacturer for advice on how to spot a clone as they don't seem to be too forthcoming with the info when asked.

I have had both the Alien 2 and the Alien SHD-8900, neither lasted more than 3 months before failing. They are definitely the worst boxes i have ever purchased and there is nobody i would recommend them to.


Nano

[Larry-G]

for a non linux box you cant go wrong with the ferguson ariva range, i have the 202e

http://www.world-of-satellite.co.uk/Ferguson-Ariva-202e-HD-Digital-Satellite-Receiver

its a fantastic little receiver, but as its non linux the EPG is poor ( now and next, where E2 linux boxes can have 7 to 10 days ), and the channel list is not as nice as linux boxes, other than that i'd highly recommend them.

[fast65]

My son has an openbox S10 which cost about £60. Runs cccam Mgcamd and Newcamd and seems to work quite well. It can also be used for recording, but there does not seem to be a great amount of support. How long it will last is another matter. I know there are some clones of these, but how you tell i've no idea.

[pdlee]

Thanks all.

[marty]

IMHO I'd save up an extra £50 and get a Linux box, plenty of good ones for the £150 mark :) GB 800SE
http://www.world-of-satellite.co.uk/Digital-Satellite-Receivers/Gigablue-HD-Linux-Enigma-2-Satellite-Receivers/GiGaBlue-HD-800-SE-HD800SE-Digital-Satellite-Receiver-Linux-Enigma-2-1x-DVB-S-S2 or the MAXDIGITAL XP1000
http://www.world-of-satellite.co.uk/Digital-Satellite-Receivers/MaxDigital-Linux-HD-Receivers/MK-MaxDigital-XP1000-Single-Tuner-DVB-S2-HD-Enigma2-Linux-Satellite-Receiver

They would be alot more versatile and there are loads of plugins to do all sorts of stuff :thumbsup:

[s1m0nw]

Some1 selling e1 sat box for £25 in sales section dont know if that would interest u

[manicscrewdriver]

I wouldn't buy that, the seller is well dodgy :D

I'm about £15 short for the receiver i'm looking to buy from WOS so i thought i'l let it go cheap. Its running Evolution 2.7 but there are images from SIF, ABCom and a few others that i can't remember.

It was a good box in its day that cost me about £120 when new. Its got a few knocks and scratches on it, but it works fine. Its about 5 years old, but its spend the last 18 months up the loft not doing much. I only kept it as a back up and had totally forgotten i still had it. I thought i'd given it away to a family member, or was that the old single SCART pre-production run Technomate TM500 i used to own :confused:

Nano