Best Combo box to compliment a media streaming box?

iba

Followed the instructions:

Install it from feeds and then open Plugins-MyMetrix-Save Skin. Then reboot and select the skin from settings.

The box then tried to reboot but kept crashing. Endless loop of trying to start and then software fail. Spinning Vix symbol.

Have had to reflash.

corks finest

BenThere wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm looking for some help to choose the right UK FTA satellite and Saorview combo box.

At the moment I have UPC and an Android media streaming box (Minix X7) serving all my tv/video content needs but I want to ditch UPC and replace it with the free to air Irish/UK channels as we're using the media streaming box more and more and the UPC service less and less.

The Minix X7 does all the YouTube type streaming (I have 100mb fibre broadband from UPC) so I really just need standard TV channels from the Combo box, I know some of them can connect to WiFi and stream YouTube etc but I won't need it to do any of that stuff.

I've read a lot of the Ariva 150/250 and Triax TSC114 threads and they all seem to have their strengths and weaknesses/quirks but I honestly cannot suss out which one suits my needs best so I'm hoping if I post my requirement and feature preferences I'll get a good steer!! Here are my preferences in order of importance:-

1. High quality box with well sorted firmware and good user community support

2. Hackable (if that's the right term) to somehow provide a 7 day EPG for the UK FTA channels. Can it connect to the internet (either via WiFi or Ethernet) and somehow continuously auto load a 7 day EPG??

3. Easy to use menu for standard channel surfing etc and a remote control which can learn how to turn the TV on and off and perhaps switch AV source also so the rest of the family have a "one remote" type experience.

4. PVR functionality with EPG driven recording. I understand Combo boxes don't typically come with a built in HDD but do allow one to be connected via USB port so recommendations on what HDD to purchase would also be appreciated. A 500mb or 1TB drive powered directly via the Combo box USB port would be ideal but if powering the HDD separately is a better option that's not an issue, I have plenty of power supply at the TV location.

5. I read that most of these boxes are view Saorview/record Satellite or vice versa but you cannot watch one satellite channel and record another or watch one Saorview channel and record another. Is this true? Is there a workaround for that if double the amount of cables are run to the box?

I hope the above are clear and that you guys can give me a decent steer on this. If my expectations of what these Combo boxes can do is unrealistic please feel free to let me know in no uncertain terms, I can take it!!!

Ben

hi ive a humax hd box last 2 yrs,7 day epg,updates via satellite,record 2,watch recording at same time,live pause etc,looks v well,no faults so far,bought mine via amazon,12 months warranty etc,i tb hard drive,great for recording,hope this helps.

corks finest

BenThere wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm looking for some help to choose the right UK FTA satellite and Saorview combo box.

At the moment I have UPC and an Android media streaming box (Minix X7) serving all my tv/video content needs but I want to ditch UPC and replace it with the free to air Irish/UK channels as we're using the media streaming box more and more and the UPC service less and less.

The Minix X7 does all the YouTube type streaming (I have 100mb fibre broadband from UPC) so I really just need standard TV channels from the Combo box, I know some of them can connect to WiFi and stream YouTube etc but I won't need it to do any of that stuff.

I've read a lot of the Ariva 150/250 and Triax TSC114 threads and they all seem to have their strengths and weaknesses/quirks but I honestly cannot suss out which one suits my needs best so I'm hoping if I post my requirement and feature preferences I'll get a good steer!! Here are my preferences in order of importance:-

1. High quality box with well sorted firmware and good user community support

2. Hackable (if that's the right term) to somehow provide a 7 day EPG for the UK FTA channels. Can it connect to the internet (either via WiFi or Ethernet) and somehow continuously auto load a 7 day EPG??

3. Easy to use menu for standard channel surfing etc and a remote control which can learn how to turn the TV on and off and perhaps switch AV source also so the rest of the family have a "one remote" type experience.

4. PVR functionality with EPG driven recording. I understand Combo boxes don't typically come with a built in HDD but do allow one to be connected via USB port so recommendations on what HDD to purchase would also be appreciated. A 500mb or 1TB drive powered directly via the Combo box USB port would be ideal but if powering the HDD separately is a better option that's not an issue, I have plenty of power supply at the TV location.

5. I read that most of these boxes are view Saorview/record Satellite or vice versa but you cannot watch one satellite channel and record another or watch one Saorview channel and record another. Is this true? Is there a workaround for that if double the amount of cables are run to the box?

I hope the above are clear and that you guys can give me a decent steer on this. If my expectations of what these Combo boxes can do is unrealistic please feel free to let me know in no uncertain terms, I can take it!!!

Ben

neglected to mention in my previous post,i use ferguson arivia 120 to watch the terrestrial channels,rte etc,and if getting humax or similar put in a north of ireland post code at setting up stage to receive utv,bbc northern ireland etc

BenEadir

corks finest wrote: »

neglected to mention in my previous post,i use ferguson arivia 120 to watch the terrestrial channels,rte etc,and if getting humax or similar put in a north of ireland post code at setting up stage to receive utv,bbc northern ireland etc

Thanks CF but I'm looking for a single combo box which will blend the Freesat/FTA channels with the Saorview channels onto a single 7 day EPG.

Ben

same ol sh1te

corks finest wrote: »

hi ive a humax hd box last 2 yrs,7 day epg,updates via satellite,record 2,watch recording at same time,live pause etc,looks v well,no faults so far,bought mine via amazon,12 months warranty etc,i tb hard drive,great for recording,hope this helps.

Not a combo, people opt for combos so that they have combined channels on a single box with one remote. As already posted a decent Linux box can give you the same Freesat features in a combo.

corks finest

BenThere wrote: »

Thanks CF but I'm looking for a single combo box which will blend the Freesat/FTA channels with the Saorview channels onto a single 7 day EPG.

Ben

yeah thats the way to go if the bobs are available,for now the huma is ok 4 me,good luck with it,pls let us know what you get,and how youre getting on with it.:)

fbradyirl

iba wrote: »

Followed the instructions:

Install it from feeds and then open Plugins-MyMetrix-Save Skin. Then reboot and select the skin from settings.

The box then tried to reboot but kept crashing. Endless loop of trying to start and then software fail. Spinning Vix symbol.

Have had to reflash.

Which box are you using? If you are using a box with low RAM (like a Duo), then you will need to also have an active swap file on usb when using the MyMetrix skin.

iba

fbradyirl wrote: »

Which box are you using? If you are using a box with low RAM (like a Duo), then you will need to also have an active swap file on usb when using the MyMetrix skin.

Thanks Man,

Have a look here:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057235286

(if u want) don't want to ruin Ben There's thread.

Regards

fat-tony

@BenThere - I'm using the Quad Plus since April and it hasn't quite made it to the living room as the replacement for my Humax Foxsat receiver just yet! If you are purchasing one you will need two DVB-T (or T2 for future "proofness") plug and play tuners to add to the two built-in DVB-S2 tuners. I got a 1TB disk also - internal disk is 2.5" and there is no fan so it's quiet. This will allow you to watch and record anything from the Saorview line-up in addition to Freesat. I've been using the OpenATV image and various others while waiting for the ViX image to be made ready. Hardware-wise, the Quad Plus works well for me. The earlier OpenATV and OpenMIPS images were a bit flaky, but are now pretty good. The ViX image has the edge on the others, I think, as it is localised to the UK and Irish environment and there is good support on the WoS forum. That said, any of the images are VERY configurable and you could spend your life tweaking. Out of the box the ViX image will not give you a blended Saorview/Freesat bouquet (list of channels) and EPG. You will have to run a terrestrial scan to get the Saorview channels and then run AutoBouquetMaker or E2 Autobouquets to get the Freesat line-up. You will then have to do a bit of copy/pasting to get a combined channel line-up. I'm still messing about with this so I'm undecided, but others may be able to give advice. The in-built EPG from ViX should work fine for Saorview and Freesat without any further tweaking. However, if you want to use a SKY line-up and a SKY card (SD only!) you can configure crossepg to pull the SKY listings. If you're not linux savvy, you may have a bit of a learning curve, so I would suggest some time to play with the box first. I would suggest hard wiring the box to your home network rather than using wi-fi, particularly if you want to stream HD around the house to other devices or from NAS etc. Wi-Fi is ok if you have gear with the latest standards, but good old CAT5 or CAT6 is the best option for shifting around large bandwidth.

BenEadir

fat-tony wrote: »

@BenThere - I'm using the Quad Plus since April and it hasn't quite made it to the living room as the replacement for my Humax Foxsat receiver just yet! If you are purchasing one you will need two DVB-T (or T2 for future "proofness") plug and play tuners to add to the two built-in DVB-S2 tuners. I got a 1TB disk also - internal disk is 2.5" and there is no fan so it's quiet.

Hi FT, it's great to hear from you. I know you've been putting a lot of time into this box. I'll be ordering a box with 2 x DVB-T2's and a 1TB drive also.

fat-tony wrote: »

I would suggest hard wiring the box to your home network rather than using wi-fi, particularly if you want to stream HD around the house to other devices or from NAS etc. Wi-Fi is ok if you have gear with the latest standards, but good old CAT5 or CAT6 is the best option for shifting around large bandwidth.

I do have a very modern and high standard WiFi router throwing 100MB UPC fiber BB around the house. It's good enough to stream online HD content flawlessly to a Minix X7 media box right beside where the Quad Plus will go but I agree cable is better and if I can get a couple of cables routed to there I will. I'm thinking about getting a couple of CCTV security cameras installed shortly so I might get whoever does that job for me to run an extra couple of cables while they're at it.

Thanks again for the help, it is very much appreciated. I hope that one day I can go from being an info leech to being a contributor on here!!

Ben

iba

@ Ben There

I know off topic but I use CCTV cams from here:

http://www.tenvis.com/

They work very well with a UPC modem and are well priced - check out Ali Baba

STB

iba wrote: »

@ Ben There

I know off topic but I use CCTV cams from here:

http://www.tenvis.com/

They work very well with a UPC modem and are well priced - check out Ali Baba

I have a IP391W-HD to hook up.

Tried CamoFS ? Its in the plugins, under extensions

But perhaps you knew that already........

iba

STB wrote: »

I have a IP391W-HD to hook up.

Tried CamoFS ? Its in the plugins, under extensions

But perhaps you knew that already........

I have that one too, or maybe an earlier version. Also have an IPRobot 3

No, I did not know, I will check it out.

I use IP Cam Viewer and Tenvis P2P on my phone.

Sorry Ben

STB

iba wrote: »

I have that one too, or maybe an earlier version. Also have an IPRobot 3

No, I did not know, I will check it out.

I use IP Cam Viewer and Tenvis P2P on my phone.

Sorry Ben

.

Its an E2 plugin for the gigablue to view your tenvis camera on the box. Its in the feeds (download plugins) under extensions.

BenEadir

iba wrote: »

Sorry Ben

No need for apologies at all iba, it's good info to know.

Ben

corks finest

BenThere wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm looking for some help to choose the right UK FTA satellite and Saorview combo box.

At the moment I have UPC and an Android media streaming box (Minix X7) serving all my tv/video content needs but I want to ditch UPC and replace it with the free to air Irish/UK channels as we're using the media streaming box more and more and the UPC service less and less.

The Minix X7 does all the YouTube type streaming (I have 100mb fibre broadband from UPC) so I really just need standard TV channels from the Combo box, I know some of them can connect to WiFi and stream YouTube etc but I won't need it to do any of that stuff.

I've read a lot of the Ariva 150/250 and Triax TSC114 threads and they all seem to have their strengths and weaknesses/quirks but I honestly cannot suss out which one suits my needs best so I'm hoping if I post my requirement and feature preferences I'll get a good steer!! Here are my preferences in order of importance:-

1. High quality box with well sorted firmware and good user community support

2. Hackable (if that's the right term) to somehow provide a 7 day EPG for the UK FTA channels. Can it connect to the internet (either via WiFi or Ethernet) and somehow continuously auto load a 7 day EPG??

3. Easy to use menu for standard channel surfing etc and a remote control which can learn how to turn the TV on and off and perhaps switch AV source also so the rest of the family have a "one remote" type experience.

4. PVR functionality with EPG driven recording. I understand Combo boxes don't typically come with a built in HDD but do allow one to be connected via USB port so recommendations on what HDD to purchase would also be appreciated. A 500mb or 1TB drive powered directly via the Combo box USB port would be ideal but if powering the HDD separately is a better option that's not an issue, I have plenty of power supply at the TV location.

5. I read that most of these boxes are view Saorview/record Satellite or vice versa but you cannot watch one satellite channel and record another or watch one Saorview channel and record another. Is this true? Is there a workaround for that if double the amount of cables are run to the box?

I hope the above are clear and that you guys can give me a decent steer on this. If my expectations of what these Combo boxes can do is unrealistic please feel free to let me know in no uncertain terms, I can take it!!!

Ben

hi i use a humax hd box,itb hard drive,record ,live pause,epg etc etc,nort a saorcview combo though

Technofobe

BenThere wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm looking for some help to choose the right UK FTA satellite and Saorview combo box.

At the moment I have UPC and an Android media streaming box (Minix X7) serving all my tv/video content needs but I want to ditch UPC and replace it with the free to air Irish/UK channels as we're using the media streaming box more and more and the UPC service less and less.

The Minix X7 does all the YouTube type streaming (I have 100mb fibre broadband from UPC) so I really just need standard TV channels from the Combo box, I know some of them can connect to WiFi and stream YouTube etc but I won't need it to do any of that stuff.

I've read a lot of the Ariva 150/250 and Triax TSC114 threads and they all seem to have their strengths and weaknesses/quirks but I honestly cannot suss out which one suits my needs best so I'm hoping if I post my requirement and feature preferences I'll get a good steer!! Here are my preferences in order of importance:-

1. High quality box with well sorted firmware and good user community support

2. Hackable (if that's the right term) to somehow provide a 7 day EPG for the UK FTA channels. Can it connect to the internet (either via WiFi or Ethernet) and somehow continuously auto load a 7 day EPG??

3. Easy to use menu for standard channel surfing etc and a remote control which can learn how to turn the TV on and off and perhaps switch AV source also so the rest of the family have a "one remote" type experience.

4. PVR functionality with EPG driven recording. I understand Combo boxes don't typically come with a built in HDD but do allow one to be connected via USB port so recommendations on what HDD to purchase would also be appreciated. A 500mb or 1TB drive powered directly via the Combo box USB port would be ideal but if powering the HDD separately is a better option that's not an issue, I have plenty of power supply at the TV location.

5. I read that most of these boxes are view Saorview/record Satellite or vice versa but you cannot watch one satellite channel and record another or watch one Saorview channel and record another. Is this true? Is there a workaround for that if double the amount of cables are run to the box?

I hope the above are clear and that you guys can give me a decent steer on this. If my expectations of what these Combo boxes can do is unrealistic please feel free to let me know in no uncertain terms, I can take it!!!

Ben

I have been using Amiko Alien 2+ for 6 months or so
Ditched Sky and got this as a direct replacement as you probably know by now its a steep learning curve alright
Anyway just posting to let you know how I got around recording and watching saorview at same time
the AA2 has 3 tuners 2 sat + 1 terrestial it also has an antenna passthrough so a fly lead from the passthrough back to the ant in on the saorview ready tv meant im able to record saorview on the AA2 and watch a different saorview channel on the tv

gerryp2000

fbradyirl wrote: »

I use a Vu Duo² and it checks all those boxes that you mentioned. I have full 7 day integrated EPG and use it with a Sky dish and a Saorview aerial in the attic. Can record, etc to a 1TB built in hard drive. I use the OpenVix image, which has great community support.

For Saorview, as the box doesn't have a built in DVB-T tuner, I use a cheap Sony PlayTV tuner plugged into the Vu box, and that is a dual tuner, so recording 2 things at once is fine.

For FreeSat, I run 2 cables from the dish directly to the box, so recording 2 sat channels at once is fine.

It's an expensive box, but it rocks compared to all those cheapo closed source combos out there...

Any questions, let me know.

Sorry to highjack this thread - Would the above / or any other receiver, record live Internet streaming - or should I just crawl back under my non-techy rock????

corks finest

corks finest wrote: »

hi i use a humax hd box,itb hard drive,record ,live pause,epg etc etc,nort a saorcview combo though

i also use the humax hd itb box,execellent ,no probs whatsoever,full epg,live pause etc,but cant run saorview through it

BenEadir

I don't suppose a combo Freesat/Saorview box has been launched in the last few months by any chance?

Hackery

BenEadir wrote: »

I don't suppose a combo Freesat/Saorview box has been launched in the last few months by any chance?

Edision Optimuss OS 3 Plus looks interesting as it can have an internal HDD added. Freetv.ie are selling them.

amdaley28

BenEadir wrote: »

I don't suppose a combo Freesat/Saorview box has been launched in the last few months by any chance?

Hackery wrote: »

Edision Optimuss OS 3 Plus looks interesting as it can have an internal HDD added. Freetv.ie are selling them.

Looks exactly the same as the Technomate Nano T3.
http://www.technomate.com/store/products/TM%252dNano-3T.html
http://www.freetv.ie/edision-optimuss-os-3-plus.html

hadit2here

i have the edision argus mini 2in 1 IP

I cant say I was happy with their support from Edision, when i did have issues a couple of years ago

I think i will try the Alien Amika 2 this time.
http://www.amikostb.com/?q=product&id=153

My Edision still works but I would really like the 7 day EPG

Hackery

Does the Technomate Nano T3 have a DVB-T2 tuner?

amdaley28

Hackery wrote: »

Does the Technomate Nano T3 have a DVB-T2 tuner?

Yes it can do T & T2.
It also has 2 Satellite S2 tuners.
You can read about it here.
http://www.technomate.com/store/products/TM%252dNano-3T.html