View Full Version : My quick review of the VU+ Plus Duo receiver
Ok here's my review so far for the VU+ Duo.
I purchased mine from this UK supplier ********* (http://www.*********.co.uk/Digital-Receivers-Vu+/c46_84/p369/VU+-DUO-Twin-Tuner-HD-PVR-DVB-S2-Satellite-Receiver/product_info.html)
When I first received it I was already impressed with the packaging, instructions, the feel of the remote and the quality feel of the receiver.
Next step I connected to TV to test with the original factory image. All was good so I proceeded to flash the receiver with the latest OpenPLi nightly beta builds.
Flashing the receiver with a usb stick is an absolute doddle! See guide HERE (http://www.vuplus-support.co.uk/index.php?topic=5.0)
On-reboot the initial setup screens are just like a Dreambox, set your tv output, in my case DVI, set-up tuner configs, parental control etc..Eventually you get to a blank bouquet.
Once setup I ftp'ed standard Enigma 2 settings to the receiver and reloaded channel lists.
Picture quality of both SD & HD definition is fantastic! SD channels display better than my Sky+ HD receiver :)
Next I powered off and installed a 500GB HDD and tested recording, all worked great. I've got two satellite dishes hooked up to it, one on a rotor and one fixed to Astra2. To test I actually managed to get this baby to record two HD channels and one SD channel whilst watching a fourth channel!
In the PLi download menu you'll plenty of the usual standard Engima 2 downloads. CCcam can be installed from there and there's also a handy XMLTV EPG plugin for 7 day EPG. CCcam 2.1.3 works perfect :)
Overall I'm really pleased with the VU+ Duo, although there's a few bugs, beings as its new hardware. The worst bug I've found so far is not being able to get MGcamd 1.31 to work, for reason the box freezes when it's enabled.
I've also attached some photos of the receiver.
I'm simply wowed by this box and here is why:
1.Installation:
-don't know is it because reading boards all the time, or bcs had many stbs over the years but everything installed from first attempt.
-I put via USB latest VTI image, everthing went smooth, installed CCcam worked excellent, tried mgcamd that also worked like a charm, opened the box and installed 500GB HDD it was easy 8 screws in total, booted the box it recognized right away tried to record several channels from once (like one youtube video) it RECORDED it.... overall installation went as smooth as can be.
2.Speed:
-I did not measure with stopwatch but its my impression that it boots around 3 times faster(till channel opens with emu) than my dm800
-zap is so fast which is more noticeable on FTA HD channels, while with cccam depends on your peers, then I tried mgcamd with server near my geolocation and it worked like zapping fta channels. overall much faster than my dm800.
- plugin installation and reload settigs: plugins are being installed and work right away, what amazed me the most is the reload of channel settings this is being done by VU+duo for 1-2 seconds, while my dm800 needed 15-20 seconds.
-Remote: it reacts so fast that you get impression that it reads your mind, you get illusion that menu came up before you even hit the button. Also prior of arrival of the box, one of my main concern was how I'm gonna get use to new remote after so many years of using dreamremote, not that I get a hang of it right away I'm also liking it.
3. Tuner
-tried in weaker transponders and can freely say that is better, also I scanned entire 28.2-29 position, all transponders with network search and bat, it took around 10-15 minutes and there some transponders there that I cannot receive here so its thinker a little bit on those.
4. Artistic impression and design
-read on other boards some ppl claiming that VU+duo is ugly box etc... Not that they are wrong IMHPO, I personally like the look of this box very much and its very good looking reciver and more importantly it not box of matches (dm800-500), 3.5" HDD gets comfortably inside, fan is almost silent also this box runs very cold and you cannot use it during winter for heating.
5. Likability
-The best receiver I had till date, and unlike some other receivers that I had this one is my sweetheart
__________________
Best regards,
ALPA
Great little review there Alpa, nice to see another members review :)
Here's my bit....
Set up yesterday took approx 10 minutes to get settings, network right etc
Box design isnt as bad as i thought it would be -had impression in my mind of early vhs video instead its very similar to the Pace 508IP satellite receiver
Very fast machine when changing channels etc
HDD Hitachi Deskstar 500gb works perfect with no fuss -again very easy to install into bracket etc
Cams & emus-tried both cccam & mgcamd both very fast & no problems with stabilty
Have loaded DE image via usb stick -again its a piece of cake to install images to stick & to box -no more than couple of minutes
DE image have tons of goodies & downloads available -skins, picons etc to play with
Tuner -seems very sensitive so far but need to investigate further on some more remote sats
Bugs/Issues so far -
HDD is very quiet but fan can seem a wee bit noisey especially if room is quiet-my box is sat in open space on a glass stand
Could do with option of switching fan off (tried option via DE panel & got GS -1st one)
My box is used with Moteck vbox positioner -when receiver is on standby -positioner is still powered up-it goes off when box is sent to deep standby
There seems to be issue with commands sent to vbox -sometimes it does & on other occasions it does not
For example sats are stored at same positions on vu as vbox but when channel zapping the box doesnt always send command to vbox -maybe someone else can try this method
Overall very pleased for a new box. There are very few software bugs & would say it has very a big future
What option did you try to switch fan off?
What option did you try to switch fan off?
It was via the DE panel -fan control & disable i think
From what ive read it seems alot of folk are asking about the noisey fan so hopefully Vu will have option of switching off when in standy by
(as a comparison it's not as noisey as sly hd box)
My fan is near silent, I'm only sat 4 feet from my box.
Then again, maybe I just can't hear it over the whistle :D
ooooooh u still have the whistle monty :(
It's a lovely looking receiver, mine is on it's way now, will receive it tomorrow.
I received it today and at first it was loaded with the default image and the picture quality was decent not more, i knew it could deliver better with new image drivers and so on i loaded the latest DreamElite image and i must say the picture quality is excellent now.
Adjusting the Autoresolution settings to 576i for SD and 1080i for HD interlaced and 720p for HD progressive and turning off both options at the end for de-interlacing the image is much much better than my original DM800HD i had.
This is one really neat receiver, it's fast, great quality, nothing to complain about, it's the best receiver i ever owned and i wasted so much money on bad boxes like IPBOX9000, Azbox etc......
So thumbs up for great build quality.
I tested the tuner sensitivity as it's very important for me as i receive Astra2D with my Channel Master 120cm in Sweden, the tuner is much better than the one in my previous original DM800HD box i had and it's actually comparable to the old IPBOX9000HD with Sharp tuner i had, this time of day i get lots of pixelations with my original Sky HD DSI8215 receiver on the vertical transponders on Astra2D, but with Vu+ i have no pixelations at all so it's much better for sure, the DM800HD i had showed lots of pixelations as well.
So thumbs up for Vu+ Duo tuner sensitivity.
What i like also is the black remote control, the remote is much better feeling with the buttons than Dreambox own remotes, short stiffened feel of the buttons and the upgrade with USB is really great.
So thumbs up for the remote control and the excellent flashing options compared to Dreambox.
What more can you ask for? it's the best receiver on the market right now.
Likvid.
Nice review and I agree with most of what you wrote.
I've not had many boxes to compare with, but performance has been perfect for me.
Pity you got a black remote control though, no way you can be a member of the elite white remote club now :D
Thanks for the reviews guys, would be great if other members posted their reviews too :)
To be honest and i bet Dreambox people don't like me to say this, but Enigma2 works better on Vu+ than the Dreamboxes, it's true.
I have now used it intensively the last 24 hours and Enigma2 is working so good with Vu+, it's fast and i have nothing to complain about, it's the best receiver i ever had.
What surprised me was the tuner sensitivity, i didn't expect it to be this good.
Hi i am new one i found Vu+ Duo few month ago its wonderfull machine need some upgrades but it s different from DM7000s time need any month to get good firmwares . You buy it take Stick USB with new firm Plug it and all is easy to configured.
Today i have see a new original one version. http://www.vuplus-support.co.uk/showthread.php?1351-Official-original-image-Ver.-5.0 may be the same than DM800 / DM8000 all was modified and goes so wellllllll..Possibility read HD files from external Lan HDD also fast Lan config many new things
See u CHADAC
Well I have had my Vu Plus Duo a few months now so now, I think is a good time for a review (even though my motorised dish points to didly squat at the mo).
My budget for a complete setup was going to be around the £500 mark (slightly went over budget) It needed to be able to record one channel whilst watching another and must be able to support CCCAM and stream to PC. This box ticked all those boxes for me. Now there are other boxes out there that does all this for cheaper but the buzz around the forums regarding the VUplus Duo and the fact that every batch that came to the UK was selling out was a good sign that it delivered to its expectations. (the other thing that swung it for is that it legally runs enigma2).
Anyway I ordered the following
1.1m black Triax dish off 2nd hand ebay £20
Pole mount £25
Vu Plus Duo £349
1tb Samsung Spinpoint F2 Hard disk £45
Technomate TM-2600 motor
Cabling
LNB for Triax 0.2b
Zone2 dish and single lnb
Installation £120.00
Total £559.00
The satellite guy supplied me with motor and cabling, The motorised dish is still not set-up properley and, I don’t think he used amalgamating tape and he did not have a spirit level. So I wont be recommending him to anyone. (even if he was cheap). (the motor moves and it was pointing to a sat and peformed a channnel scan so I know it works its just not setup at zero pointing at 1w using USALS and I also don’t believe that the pole is 100% plumb, anyway drifting from the point of a review.
I managed to get £50 of the RRP for the reciever so placed my order. The receiver comes with a SATA cable and hard drive mounting screws etc..
Unscrewed the case
Simple just four to screw the hard disk into place attach the sata and power cable and screw the case.
The VU plus also came with a HDMI lead so used this to plug straight into my TV.
Didn’t bother even powering on with the default used. Used the PLI image downloaded from this site using the USB method.
Powered the box on and the display said updating image, then complete or something to that effect.
Box rebooted and menus displayed.
Connected a network cable to the back.
Went to the option networking from the menu and selected reset.
The box had an ip address so could then start to download plugins.
First thing I did was find a skin that jazzed it up a little. Brushed Aluminum willl do.
Really easy to setup a little to easy if you ask me from someone who has very little /no experience in linux.
Once I had it for a few months started to test the features.
Made a few mistakes such as downloading Picons to the local hard disk. (when the hard drive goes into standby and you change a channel you have to wait for the hard drive to spin up before the channel changes doh). It still does this for me when changing from SD to HD or vice versa (if the hard disk is in standby).
The other little annoyances of the box is the media player from options is different from the player that you watch your recordings. The media player when click re-wind or fast forward does not let know how fast you forwarding and also does not let you easily press play again to carry on.
The other media player which is launchable from the button at the bottom of the remote control near the play record forward rewind buttons, seems to have these functions. So I have since been watching my recorded films using this method.
When watching a streamed channel that uses CCCAM over the webinterface (via Streaming stutters), this could be that my Pc is is a low spec. (not sure).
I also don’t like it that you cannot delete channels from the root/master folder list using the remote control. (effects all enigma2 boxes).
I also find that Dreambox Edit can be flaky when editing lots of channels at once.
Sometimes my network card does not get an ip address when it comes out of deep standby so I switch it off at the wall now when I go to bed at night.
I also get the occasional green screen (which could be related to the skin I am using. Sometimes in the dark when I am trying to fast forward and press the help button instead my box green screens.)
I would also like the default epg to be the one like sky where you can see about 6 channels and see what is on in the next few hours. (the one where you hold down the EPG button for a few seconds and select graphical EPG. I would also like to be able to zap to a channel by pressing the enter button in this view.
A picon when playing a movie would be nice (movie player pic).
These are minor things and ultimately this box does everything I need it to do (granted the EPG is not as astetically pleasing than that of a sly box) but you do get is a fantastic piece of kit which has a lot of development teams working on images, endless skins media player playback. Streaming Recording one channel whilst watching another. Superb HD quality picture and endless support. I do not regret making the purchase of a vuplus and would recommend a duo to anyone wanting a great piece of satellite kit. The Remote feels of good quality (not like the cheap and nasty remotes of the dreambox).
One thing I might add don’t let the display on the front put you off. I am quite picky about lights and displays being on whilst watching films but the display does not even get noticed and is a great nice to have when selecting channels when you cant find the remote… ha-ha…
If some of my issues can be fixed please do not post how to fix them in this thread. At some point I will start a fresh with the latest image and see if some of these things have been ironed out. If I still have issues I will post them in the correct forum where they can be answered then. Thanks for reading my review Sivhead
To be honest and i bet Dreambox people don't like me to say this, but Enigma2 works better on Vu+ than the Dreamboxes, it's true.
I have now used it intensively the last 24 hours and Enigma2 is working so good with Vu+, it's fast and i have nothing to complain about, it's the best receiver i ever had.
What surprised me was the tuner sensitivity, i didn't expect it to be this good.
I agree with you Likvid. My Vu+ Duo is better than my DM800, for sure. I have always been a die hard fan of Dreambox, but they have got some serious competition with this receiver.
Of course the DM8000 may be even better, I don't know, it's just too expensive for me.
Regards
*******no
billybremner
23-09-12, 22:26
Hi all, I'm new to this, so this forum is a mine of information to me. My VU+ will be delivered in a couple of days, so I'll write a review from a novice perspective once I've got my head around it. Been reading the enigma2 ftp tutorial, looks pretty straight foreward. Just hope I don't brick it :o
Regards,
billybremner
basilyoung
23-09-12, 22:55
thanks for your post/offer, and hope you enjoy the forum, and your unit as well
the unit itself is well eastablished, and whilst your comments would be welcome, in the main, it would most likely be old news
in any event, it will take a time to really understand the unit, but plenty of willing help here, if you need it
billybremner
23-09-12, 23:32
Thanks basilyoung,
No doubt I'll need help. Figuring out the best image to use to start with. Openvix?, Blackhole? Can't wait to get started.
Regards,
billybremner
basilyoung
23-09-12, 23:36
well I am as most are here, very bias
VIX
where did you get the unit from? as normally, they come with the latest image pre installed
Hi all, I'm new to this, so this forum is a mine of information to me. My VU+ will be delivered in a couple of days, so I'll write a review from a novice perspective once I've got my head around it. Been reading the enigma2 ftp tutorial, looks pretty straight foreward. Just hope I don't brick it :o
Regards,
billybremner
If it's an original VU box, it's pretty hard to brick.
Everything is straight forward if you know what you are doing, but a basic knowledge of using ftp & telnet goes a long way on any E2 box.
Enjoy the box, try different images & settle on what you think is best... (VIX)
billybremner
24-09-12, 11:23
Hi basilyoung,
I ordered it from World of satellite, which brought me here. I've asked for the vix image pre installed, but there's enthusiastic blackhole users on here too. It's gonna be a steep learning curve.
Regards
billybremner
Hi basilyoung,
I ordered it from World of satellite, which brought me here. I've asked for the vix image pre installed, but there's enthusiastic blackhole users on here too. It's gonna be a steep learning curve.
Regards
billybremner
The best thing i can suggest is to setup the receiver with the ViX image it will ship with, then make a full set of backups and try a few other images.
once you fine the one you like you can stick with it or if need be return to your ViX backup.
The best thing i can suggest is to setup the receiver with the ViX image it will ship with, then make a full set of backups and try a few other images.
once you fine the one you like you can stick with it or if need be return to your ViX backup.
Thanks phoenix as a noob to all this as well, I too purchased a vu duo + from wos.com and I selected the ViX image and wasn't sure, you have just answered my question also :thumbsup:
robbiebox361
14-10-16, 13:25
hi all,iam almost v+ duo 2 owner.but had to delay.i was ordering with installed 1tb h.drive.etra sat tuners at the back.and terrestrial cable tuner at the other slot.but asked before i bought.reply was extra sat tuner and terr tuner would not work together,which i found bit silly..i fancy the terrestrial option,but what else can i plug into the spare bay..any ideas..this box from dealership ,so not clone...good reading up above..thank you..newbie green to linux..
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