dm800 hd dm500 clones...

[punisher]

I have read through a few posts on this forum in regards to clones, the ups and downs or so to speak, but are the newer clones any good? i just want to play around with a few boxes so was thinking about dm500 or dm800 hd. can anyone recommend a seller or where i can buy one. Also other than the obviously quality of parts, are there any other known issues and have these been fixed by the new revision tuners and boxes. I am looking for a uk supplier.

I have nothing better to do with spare time lol

[bassethound]

No one is allowed to recommend a satellite retailer please read rule 4

http://www.world-of-satellite.com/showthread.php?2-Please-read-the-rules-here

As for clone boxes there are plenty of good genuine Linux boxes for out there for around the same price as clone ones

[punisher]

ma bad, no retailers then lol but the reason i asked about clones is cost, and the fact im only going to be using it to play around with images and settings etc and i dont fancy doing that on the vu duo lol hence why i was just looking for a cheaper box thats able to do all those things. I was looking at the Qbox mini hd but i wouldnt want to spend so much to only either damage it and for it to not be used to its full potential as i already have the duo and virgin media v+ lol

[Sicilian]

Take a look at this http://www.world-of-satellite.co.uk/Digital-Satellite-Receivers/Blade-Media/Blade-Media-BM500s

[punisher]

oooo thats not bad at all, but its not a hd reciever is it? i will be getting the big brother hd version of the blade anyway but thats going to be for a family member so will get a chance to mess around with those. any other similar hd boxes? i know for a hd box im going to be looking for £150+ but ill keep lookin around. cheers Sicilian

[Sicilian]

I'd sooner buy the Qbox mini HD than a DM800 clone ;) At least its genuine and has a full UK warranty. You could also add an extra tuner for £27.95, so thats £206.95 for a Linux dual tuner, not bad imo.

[punisher]

yeh its a complete bargain when you compare it to others similar in the market. I have tried looking for an addition DVB-C tuner, but i cant seem to find one. any idea if there is one for this box?

[Sicilian]

Duolabs have saith that DVB-T tuners and cable tuners are coming, but haven't confirmed when.

[niteman1969]

Personally I think the clones are ok, but different chinese factories produce
them in wildly differing qualities, some good some bad.

I have luckily bought a faulty original and 2 malfunctioning clones recently
from ebay and managed to get them all back to life.

Main thing to look out for is crappy tuner and bad capacitors.
The best tuner in terms of reception on the clones is a rev M,
but it as well as the L3 tuner does not have overload protection
so if anything goes wrong with tuner it can also kill the motherboard.

One of the clone boxes I had had crappy cheap capacitors
and luckily i have a mate at work who is electronics tech and
he swapped them all for me for panasonic capacitors and box
works very well now.

Images for the clone boxes do need patches for the specific
sim card you are using in the box, so do be careful.

Regards

Niteman1969

[sivhead]

I am not going to get into the whole clone debate over the original.. If I could afford £400 I would buy an orignal. As I cant, and If I wanted a single tuner I would rather pay £189.99 on a DM800 Clone.

Having said that I would also rather pay £179.99 for a DuoLabs HD mini than a £189.99 for a clone.

IF you are going to get a clone search for a dm800 pro, this has the revision M tuner supports symbol rate 295000 (which some HD channels use) the older tuners do not and will not play the HD channels properly. People who currently own clones are having to buy updated tuners just so they can watch TV. And who's to say in the future that they find out that another symbol rate which is not supported. yes you got it you will have to buy another replacement tuner, N, O, P, Q etc.... You hear people complaining of noisy fans, and is it no suprise that the reputable sites in the uk that sell clone dreambox's also sell replacement power supplies, replacement motherboards, replacement fans, replacement tuners. The reason for this is these parts sell. You dont see replacement parts being sold for orginal dreamboxes on other sites. I dont even believe the original Dreambox 800 even has a fan.

Also many moons ago, I brought what I thought was an original dreambox 500 from fleabay and had issues with lipsync (the users mouth speaking and the sound not aligning up). It would be ok for a bit but if I left it on the same channel for a while the persons voice would be out of sync with the sound. I repeatedly emailed the seller who advised me to try loads of different settings, all which did not fix the issue, having a nuetrino build did fix the issue so I was limited to what images I could use, All enigma images had the fault.

I emailed dream-mulitmedia and they said that I have lipsync issues with the latest gemini image. THey said it was a known issue, they new what component it was and would RMA my box. When they asked for the serial number they told me that it was a clone, so I was stuck with the box.

The point I am trying to make here is that just because an original image installs does not mean that it will 100% be fully like the original. IF you purchased an original box then at least you can give feedback to the supplier who can either swap your box for free or supply firmware updates.

Just my two pence worth.

If its support and images you are after then save a few more pennies and go for the VU duo. (twin tuner) with loads of support for £350.00. I know thats not what you wanted to hear. I would rather spend £350 on a Duo than spend £259.00 on a solo. (I think the solo is too expensive).. but for a budget of £200 I would go for the Duloabs HD mini.

[punisher]

i already have a vu duo and ive just brought a blade media bm700 HD so will give this a twirl and then maybe ill go after the xbox mini hd because that looks quite nifty too. just thought id save myself any trouble and stress from any issues im going to get from clones. brought the blade media via sponsor so hope to see that soon

[sivhead]

Ahh it would appear that your loaded then buying all these boxes just to have a play... Then I can recommend Dreambox DM8000 HD PVR for £859.99

[punisher]

i was tempted before i purchase the vu duo but i couldnt really understand the functional difference between the 2 other than plug and play tuners on the dm8000. who knows... maybe next time ill give the dm8000 a swirl lol

[Larry-G]

personally when i buy a receiver i expect it to be working for me for at least 7 to 10 years and no clone i have encountered yet even comes close to that. the dm7020 i am using now is almost 9 years old and it's as rock solid now as they day i bought and installed it.

[Sicilian]

I've got to admit the Original DM7020 was a rock solid receiver, probably the best that ever came out of Dream-Multimedia.

[bigup7]

as good as the Blade 7000s are, its not linux so not much to "play" with, just flash it with latest firmware and watch TV, does a very good job too.

but if you want to start playing with cams, scripts etc etc then id go for a Linux receiver, the one that gets recommended is the qbox mini hd, for the price i don't think it can be beaten.

news on the grape vine is blade are making a new combo receiver, cable and satellite, but not sure if the tuners are swappable.

[Sicilian]

as good as the Blade 7000s are, its not linux so not much to "play" with, just flash it with latest firmware and watch TV, does a very good job too.

The Blade is a good stable well built plug and play receiver for people who just wanna watch tv.


news on the grape vine is blade are making a new combo receiver, cable and satellite, but not sure if the tuners are swappable.

I honestly don't think this is going be a very big hit for the UK market.

[punisher]

yeh i think i will go for the xbox mini hd and see what that is like. i realised the blade 700 isnt a linux box and its pretty much just a plug in and watch. the blade 500s as far as i have been told is the same as the dm500s so that should be pretty customizable but i think the qbox mini hd will be my next investment lol can someone actually tell me what is so good about the DM8000 HD compared to the vu duo. i mean i love my duo and it wont be going nowhere but just curious about the dream media one

[Sicilian]

yeh i think i will go for the xbox mini hd and see what that is like. i realised the blade 700 isnt a linux box and its pretty much just a plug in and watch. the blade 500s as far as i have been told is the same as the dm500s so that should be pretty customizable but i think the qbox mini hd will be my next investment lol can someone actually tell me what is so good about the DM8000 HD compared to the vu duo. i mean i love my duo and it wont be going nowhere but just curious about the dream media one

Here's some comparison's

http://www.world-of-satellite.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=4341&d=1291904658

[punisher]

wow when looking at hardware the clark-tech comes out quite well, didnt expect that. is it as good as its says though?

[Sicilian]

wow when looking at hardware the clark-tech comes out quite well, didnt expect that. is it as good as its says though?

I've used both, support is currently not that great, but i'm sure that will change in the future. If I'm honest right now I wouldn't sell my Duo to buy a ET9000 and if I was in the market for a Dual tuner right now I think I'd still choose the Duo because of all the support and good reputation it has. Also the Duo is now only £349 ;)

[punisher]

yeh ive got no intention of selling my duo, fantastic piece of kit and will be even better with more usb tuner support coming out soon so its only getting better. will try out the bm700 and bm500 and take it from there for a second reciever. the bm500 supports exactly the same as the dm500 doesnt it?

[Sicilian]

Yes BM500 uses DM500 images.

[punisher]

so they support all the same bouqets plugins etc? i just wish they did the same for the bm700 too based it on maybe dm800 lol

[Sicilian]

so they support all the same bouqets plugins etc? i just wish they did the same for the bm700 too based it on maybe dm800 lol

Yes same Enigma1 bouquets etc...