Any help with choosing sat box (UK) ?

[Blaze]

There are so many forum sections I am not sure where I should post this, so hope here is okay. I am ditching Sky TV to go the freesat route. I am looking to spend under £200 for a satellite box that works with Freesat channels (Sky UK dish) and has as good a GUI as Sky. I originally thought a Zgemma H9 Twin SE would be good, but then I saw people saying these are clones and dangerous or something. But clones of what ?? I am very new to all this. There is also the Technomate TM-Twin 4K, that also looks good. What I want is 2x satellite inputs, 4K, and GUI that looks closest to Sky (even older Sky HD is fine). I know nothing about how to get add ons or IPTV but the option to add them would be useful. If Kodi comes with it then all the better as then I don't need to use my Pi4 for it.

Any help ? Thanks.

[ronand]

The zgemma H9 is not a clone. These are completely different from the old models they made several years ago.

[Blaze]

Ah thanks, yes it was an old post from 2015 that I was reading. I didn't even know what they meant by "clone". I want to use ViX with the box as I hear that has the closest looking GUI to Sky, do you suggest the Zgemma H9 Twin SE ? Or maybe the Technomate ? I have up to £200 to spend.

[spevs]

Hi there, I can highly recommend VU+ Uno4K SE which are readily available from our Forum Sponsors, although its a bit above your £200 price point. I have two of these and a Duo 4K, which all give me Free to Air Sat and Streaming, also with an internal HDD I can also record from all sources. Many years ago I bought a Technomate Twin and I regretted it from day one. VU kit is very good you won't be disappointed......................Spevs

[dubrov]

I've found there is very little between the receivers if you stick to the big brands (ZGemma, Octagon, Formuler, Edision etc.).
The higher end boxes might be fractionally faster but in general the functionality is the same when running OpenVix.

I'd work out the specs you need (number of sat/terrestrial tuners, Wifi, 4k, Netflix, IPTV, Kodi etc.) and that will limit your selection.
Price-wise they are all very similar.

Something like the Octagon SF8008 ticks most boxes for £105 with twin sat tuners and Wifi
The Zgemma H9 Twin SE is very similar and cheaper albeit with slightly lower specs. However, it seems to be OOS at the moment in most places.

[cactikid]

I went for a Zgemma H7S over the H9S Twin sat and Saorview.

If you want twin sat Octagon getting great reviews

[Blaze]

Thanks guys. So the Octagon sounds like the one perhaps to go for, is there any negatives for that compared with the Zgemma's ?

[twol]

Thanks guys. So the Octagon sounds like the one perhaps to go for, is there any negatives for that compared with the Zgemma's ?

Trying to not be too biased, I would suggest the AX HD61, its a better quality box(in my view) than the Octagon, can have an internal HDD, and is a really nice box to play with….. and yes I have both. If you really want the sf8008, then I would choose the gbtrio4k alternative(basically same box), again better quality box casing and display.

[mrchannel007]

Trying to not be too biased, I would suggest the AX HD61, its a better quality box(in my view) than the Octagon, can have an internal HDD, and is a really nice box to play with….. and yes I have both. If you really want the sf8008, then I would choose the gbtrio4k alternative(basically same box), again better quality box casing and display.

I need advise as well. They are saying AXHD61 is actually Mutant HD51. I have Mutant HD51 a really nice box.
I have a sound system at home and Mutant HD51 sound signals are stereo not 5.1 or 7.1
Is any there any box it can produce higher quality of sound?

Thank you guys in advance

[twol]

I need advise as well. They are saying AXHD61 is actually Mutant HD51. I have Mutant HD51 a really nice box.
I have a sound system at home and Mutant HD51 sound signals are stereo not 5.1 or 7.1
Is any there any box it can produce higher quality of sound?

Thank you guys in advance

Well there are idiots around……HD51 is a broadcom box, the hd61 is a hisilicon box … and I had a hd51 several years ago, so I do know the difference between the 2 receivers.

[mrchannel007]

Thank you for your reply. Any suggestion regarding sound quality?

[adm]

I need advise as well. They are saying AXHD61 is actually Mutant HD51. I have Mutant HD51 a really nice box.
I have a sound system at home and Mutant HD51 sound signals are stereo not 5.1 or 7.1
Is any there any box it can produce higher quality of sound?

Thank you guys in advance

Are you referring to broadcast audio? The vast majority of broadcasts in the UK are stereo (or surround encoded on stereo). There are relatively few broadcast in DD 5.1 on satellite and ACC 5.1 on terrestrial. If you have your HD51 set to pass through and your sound system can handle DD5.1. and PCM for terrestrial your AV should be switching between the various formats as the broadcaster outputs them. You will probably see your amp detecting, say, Dolby Pro Logic 2.0 (stereo) most of the time and only an occasionally DD5.1/ACC5.1 program on some of the major UK HD channels. You are unlikely to see any surround sound on any of the lesser channels.