VU+ Duo 2

[manutd4life]

Any one here have anyideas if this is still going to be available this month (November)?

Cheers

[Larry-G]

rumors are the solo2 is but the duo2 could be another month or two away.

[manutd4life]

rumors are the solo2 is but the duo2 could be another month or two away.

hope its not longer, suppose you havnt heard the price range? im thinking about £450?

[Conaxthewarrior]

I intend is to keep my present VU+ Duo but is there a chance it would eventually become obselete with respect to future image upgrades being only availiable for the Duo 2? Also, any ideas what enhancements the Duo 2 will likely have?

[Larry-G]

I intend is to keep my present VU+ Duo but is there a chance it would eventually become obselete with respect to future image upgrades being only availiable for the Duo 2? Also, any ideas what enhancements the Duo 2 will likely have?

no image support wont cease ( at least not from us it wont ), as for driver support from Vu them selves i cant answer that one but i would not worry too much personally, I have a Duo and a Duo LE my self and have no plans of getting rid of them.

[Larry-G]

nothing as of yet mate.

[swedish cook]

Hoping that when they do come WOS will have a VERY healthy stock, with the that processor and transcoding feature they're going to fly out as soon as they are posted on the site. Tempted by GB quad but transcoding and dislike of square LCD displays keeping me from flashing the cash (yes I know the duo2 has an LCD, but I'll probably get the solo2, and if I do get the duo2 at least theres a VFD on it - if LCD cannot be disabled in config then I'll pop the top and disconnect the LCD if at all possible).

[Larry-G]

as far as i know the solo2 will have the exact same CPU as the GigaBlue quad.

[swedish cook]

as far as i know the solo2 will have the exact same CPU as the GigaBlue quad.

I read speculation that the transcoding capability is not via cpu but a separate chip, possibly a Magnum dx6225.

[Trial]

Hi,
speculation was from me. Chip might be different because I took the name from a 2 year old spec sheet of a different STB.

ciao

[bluepeter]

Neither the solo 2 or GB quad are capable of transcoding on the fly (bcm 7356) and neither contain a separate chipset to do this. The duo 2 is a totally different beast, it will be able to transcode on the fly due to it using the broadcom bcm 7424 which has that capability and will not need a second processor. Lots of speculation on the www, but all three rx's will only run E2 (broadcom chipset remember) tho who knows, someone could do a port of xmbc but somehow I don't think that will happen. (Would loved to be proved wrong on this)

We need to remember what is driving the market, forget the quad & solo 2 for a moment (just sat rx upgrades) the duo 2 takes us in a different direction with the advent of hbbtv the rx's we use at the moment don't do it justice

www.youtube.com/watch?v=53sCPei3o7E

We need processors with a lot more grunt, and eprom space. hence the duo2

Regards
Peter

[bluepeter]

Duo 2 chipset :

http://www.broadcom.com/products/Satellite/Satellite-Set-Top-Box-Solutions/BCM7424

Quad/solo 2 chipset :

http://www.broadcom.com/products/Satellite/Satellite-Set-Top-Box-Solutions/BCM7356

Regards
Peter

[Trial]

Hi blupeter,
what about this? Solo2

ciao

[bluepeter]

Hi blupeter,
what about this? Solo2

ciao

First of all, apologies for the live links must remember to reread the rules.

As I previously mentioned, the Solo 2 will run the r chipset as the quad (broadcom
BCM 7356) check out my link to the Broadcom site to see it's specs..... no second processor in either. Think about it, why would Vu undermine the Duo 2 which is due to be their flagship model.

There is a fly in the ointment for the Solo 2, the GB quad appears to be a very well spec'd, they up'd the flash size at the last moment, could this have delayed the Solo 2, if you check the Vu site for the Solo 2 spec it mentions 1GB of ram, 128 MB flash. 128MB of flash doesn't cut the mustard does it, where is the room for apps?. Now take a look at the spec for the Duo 2, 2GB ram, 1GB flash..... lots of smoke and mirrors going on here don't you think?

If sat rx enthusiasts have followed Vu history there was mention over a year ago that they would develop a box (released end 2012) that runs XBMC4stb..... Xbox media center for set top boxes.. ... (Marusys - Prismcube) appears to be that rx. The Duo 2 & Solo 2 run Broadcom cpu's so it E2 unless Vu decide to change the chip set @ the last moment, that's not going to happen.

The fta satellite market in the UK is comparitively small, not so on the continent, we've adopted 'freesat 2' standard, Europe, hbbtv and that's where the sat market is going, oh and streaming to other net workable devices. Do we need anymore streamers? That's my dilemma. I already own 2 Netgear Neo 550's + a Dune that play blue ray rips, music (flacs gapless) from my NAS.... they access YouTube, radio, so do my Demon amps, my bloody TV's do as well.

I like the look of the Duo 2 (spec) but will it just be doubling up with other black boxes I own..... will the Duo developers be able to get their heads around all the HD audio formats that need HDMI passthru + FPS handling.... I know for chipset manufacturers (Sigma, Realtek, Arm, etc) it's been a minefield, will broadcom be any better with their microcode. You have to admit Vu haven't been the quickest in updating their drivers.... My now long in the tooth Duo is a great piece of hardware but the driver leaves a lot to be desired (memory leaks)

I think I'm going to wait to see what the Solo 2 is like, cheaper, better spec'd than the GB quad, if not then it's going to be the quad.... I want a satellite receiver first a foremost. I think the Duo 2 will end up being a jack of all trades master of none.... love to be wrong on that one tho.

Regards
Peter

[Rob van der Does]

I agree with you that the 'recoding' in the Solo2 flyer is probably a mistake.

What intrigues me: what would the extra CPU-power of the Quad/Solo2 be good for? For 'normal' STB-operations the standard (dual core) 400MHz chips are quite OK.
So if not used for something like recoding: what's the use of extra CPU-power?