Still thinking about the ET8500 - now the UV+ Solo SE is 169 which is better

[irishbiker]

Hi All

STILL thinking about the ET8500 (seen it on amazon for 150 quid) but now the Solo SE is 169. Which is a better all rounder?

I mainly want it as a second box to stream to my Shield.

Also thought WOS did free postage?

Paul

[twol]

So if a 2nd box why not an Edision or Vu zero?

Ref the Q. For me :) the ET8500 is better engineered ... slide in hdd, 5 secs to remove the top and get into the box, multiboot feature and a big useable colour display .... but others hate the shape, don,t understand the multiboot capabilities and hate the big display - so it is really your decision :)

[Andy_Hazza]

For VFM it has to be the Xtrend ET8500. But it is like marmite, you'll either love it or hate it. WoS don't do free delivery, but the service is second to none. If you order by 3pm will be delivered the next day (excluding weekends) and free choice of image installation.


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[irishbiker]

Thanks guys, yeah its the pure processing power of the ET8500 that leans me to it, I've got a xtrend 10K as the main family box.

[Sicilian]

I would not take too much notice of that price in Amazon, its wrong and no shipping option to UK. If you look at that German sellers main website you'll see the price converts to approx £185 GBP + shipping to UK.

[twol]

Thanks guys, yeah its the pure processing power of the ET8500 that leans me to it, I've got a xtrend 10K as the main family box.

I hate to say this but I have had both ET8000 & ET10000 and for me the ET8500 (although no transcoding) is by far the better deal .... and you can use the same remote:)
Just taken my new Mutant HD51 apart to install a hdd and the Xtrend build quality is far far better as is the remote:)

[Joe_90]

I hate to say this but I have had both ET8000 & ET10000 and for me the ET8500 (although no transcoding) is by far the better deal .... and you can use the same remote:)
Just taken my new Mutant HD51 apart to install a hdd and the Xtrend build quality is far far better as is the remote:)

As you've opened the HD51, can you tell if it will actually take a 3.5" HDD? I've been told it's 2.5" only.

[Sicilian]

As you've opened the HD51, can you tell if it will actually take a 3.5" HDD? I've been told it's 2.5" only.

2.5" only.

[irishbiker]

Yeah I really like Xtends remote and being able to program the TV with the same remote is handy. OK which is better, HD51 or the ET8500? I know the HD51 supports H265 and it has large nand along with 4K support.

[Andy_Hazza]

Yeah I really like Xtends remote and being able to program the TV with the same remote is handy. OK which is better, HD51 or the ET8500? I know the HD51 supports H265 and it has large nand along with 4K support.

HD51 is always going to be better. [emoji4]
The Xtrend ET8500 can't do 4K n HVEC H.265 for starters so can't compare.


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[twol]

Yeah I really like Xtends remote and being able to program the TV with the same remote is handy. OK which is better, HD51 or the ET8500? I know the HD51 supports H265 and it has large nand along with 4K support.

Its an Apple and Oranges question ..... but at the moment the HD51 is a great toy, super fast restart, nice picture but need to get some added functionality working in ViX and the HD51 stabilised (they are still tweaking the boxes driver e.g. just added Pip ) before I would say its better than the ET8500 for normal, everyday use.

As said, quality wise the Xtrend's (ET8000/10000/8500) are far better, and depending on what/if Xtrend dish up in 4Q2016 I might put the HD51 on ebay as a super Xmas present for someone and acquire another toy :)

Lets say the technology inside seems OK, but not best impressed with the quality:)

[twol]

As you've opened the HD51, can you tell if it will actually take a 3.5" HDD? I've been told it's 2.5" only.

As Sicilian has said 2.5, but you have to do the usual 5 screws and then remove the (non) sliding box lid, then of course its not too bad to fit once you unscrew 2 screws and yank the hdd support frame off (its a crossed fingers job, does this really come off????)... putting the casing back is the usual brute force and ignorance :)
At least I initialised the new hdd to EXT4 on my PC, so that saved time.

[irishbiker]

Its an Apple and Oranges question ..... but at the moment the HD51 is a great toy, super fast restart, nice picture but need to get some added functionality working in ViX and the HD51 stabilised (they are still tweaking the boxes driver e.g. just added Pip ) before I would say its better than the ET8500 for normal, everyday

For me the price difference between a box that is what 2 years old and a brand new one is 25 quid. I'm also looking at long term. Quick question regarding the HD51, the free tuner, is it a dual fed unit?

[Andy_Hazza]

Specs can be found here >> http://www.world-of-satellite.co.uk/satellite-and-terrestrial/digital-receivers/mutant/mut@nt-mutant-hd51


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[irishbiker]

Thanks - Tuners: 1x satellite (DVB-S2), the two connectors on the card, is one a loopback?

[Sicilian]

Mutant tuner modules are single tuners. Input and output connections.

[irishbiker]

Mutant tuner modules are single tuners. Input and output connections.

Thanks, OK it adds an additional 30 quid :)

[Rob van der Does]

At least I initialised the new hdd to EXT4 on my PC, so that saved time.
Meaning the HDD hasn't been optimised for PVR use, which would be the case if the box initialised it.

[twol]

Meaning the HDD hasn't been optimised for PVR use, which would be the case if the box initialised it.

Tell me more, thought it just formatted the disk partition as ext4?:) or are you saying it uses a special format?
E2 sets up the folders.

[Rob van der Does]

E2 uses indeed specific parameters for the initialisation of a HDD/stick. It has to do with the difference in using a device: a PC handles (mostly) many small files, and must be as quick as possible in (random) reading them, while PVR-usage is basically about large files.

For your information: this is what the bo does (Harddisk.py) when initialising an HDD:

mkfs.ext4 -C 65536 -T largefile -m0 -O sparse_super,bigalloc,dir_index /dev/sda

[twol]

Thanks Rob, you learn a little more every day:)

[Rob van der Does]

Thanks Rob, you learn a little more every day:)
Yeah, same here. Tiring and no idea when that ends :(