Scuzzle
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| posted on 8/2/15 at 05:56 PM |
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Linux Satellite TV Boxes
Anyone know anything about these?, going to ditch the freeview in my bedroom for Freesat but do these cheap Linux boxes have any advantages or
disadvantages over a standard mainstream Freesat box like a Sky or a Humax.
This kind of thing
Amiko Mini Combo HD Digital DVB-S/S2+T/T2/C Satellite/Terrestrial/Cable Receiver
Does anyone have any experience of these type of things and know what the benefits/drawbacks are? 
[Edited on 8/2/15 by Scuzzle]
[Edited on 8/2/15 by Scuzzle]
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SteveWalker
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| posted on 8/2/15 at 07:39 PM |
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I don't know about the cheaper boxes, but my somewhat more expensive Technomate TM-Twin OE can have its operation tweaked in all sorts of ways.
It can store to its internal disk or over the network to a home sever or NAS box; it can access channels over the internet; it can even take a SKY
card and receive SKY channels. There are add-ons for everything - from web browsers to reminders for birthdays and even alarms for Muslim calls to
prayer! Except for the network use, I don't use any of those though.
A few of other features that may or may not be available on other boxes are the ability to plug in a USB tuner and receive Freeview channels as well
as Freesat; recording multiple channels, while watching one (or a recorded programme) and simultaneously streaming another to a PC on your network -
theoretically it could record six or seven programmes simultaneously where each tuner is recording multiple channels from the same multiplex; remote
access - for streaming and even SSH for configuration; acting as a DLNA server for all your media files, etc.
I must admit though, the simplicity and reliability of SKY boxes is great.
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Scuzzle
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| posted on 8/2/15 at 08:37 PM |
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Thanks mate, I don't mind paying whatever it takes for something decent, I don't want to be paying for any TV subscriptions so do these
boxes just give you the standard Freesat offerings or do you get all the weird and wonderful channels from all over the place.
Had a look at these Technomate boxes and it's just adding more confusion into the mix as there's loads of these as well.
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britishtrident
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| posted on 8/2/15 at 09:55 PM |
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When haven't used our dish for more than a year better to pay the £7.99 a month for Netflix or Amazon via Internet it is worth it for
decent films and TV series when you want them rather than 6000 channels 99% of which are junk.
[I] “ What use our work, Bennet, if we cannot care for those we love? .”
― From BBC TV/Amazon's Ripper Street.
[/I]
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coozer
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| posted on 8/2/15 at 10:45 PM |
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Ive got a android tv box that has reduced my sky from £78/month to £28.. all the movies on demand and all the sports live you need..
1972 V8 Jago
1980 Z750
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Slimy38
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| posted on 8/2/15 at 11:04 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by coozer
Ive got a android tv box that has reduced my sky from £78/month to £28.. all the movies on demand and all the sports live you need..
Can I ask what apps you use? I have plenty of hdmi capable android devices, but never found any decent apps.
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SteveWalker
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| posted on 8/2/15 at 11:06 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Scuzzle
Thanks mate, I don't mind paying whatever it takes for something decent, I don't want to be paying for any TV subscriptions so do these
boxes just give you the standard Freesat offerings or do you get all the weird and wonderful channels from all over the place.
Had a look at these Technomate boxes and it's just adding more confusion into the mix as there's loads of these as well.
It all depends what setup you use and what you want. You get Freesat. Adding an LNB that is designed to give you two satellites at once gets you a bit
more. Adding a motorised dish, gives more. Lots of these channels will be in foreign languages though. There are also many packages of channels that
are encrypted and need subscriptions too.
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Scuzzle
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| posted on 9/2/15 at 12:01 AM |
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Thanks for the replies guys, I ditched paying for Sky years ago and I don't miss it, I certainly don't miss the monthly payments. I got a
freesat card for the living room and I've been using this in the Sky box but I've just changed the LNB from a single output to a 4x
output so I figured I would switch to Freesat in all the upstairs TVs which are all Freeview at the moment. This will give me more channels plus less
likely to suffer picture break up in bad weather.
I just have the one fixed dish which was set for Sky so I think it's the Astra satellite it's set for. If I can get more worthwhile
channels from something like the Technomate or an Android box then I will go with that but if there's not much benefit and just more hassle to
operate I will probably stick with a standard Freesat box, I certainly don't want to be scrolling though hundreds on non English speaking
channels.
Sorry for all the long spiel but I've been reading up reviews and watching Youtube videos on umpteen products and I'm still none the wiser
as to what to go for.
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 9/2/15 at 08:36 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Scuzzle
I just have the one fixed dish which was set for Sky so I think it's the Astra satellite it's set for.
Astra satellites - there's dozens of them, all in (approximately) the same patch of sky.
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coozer
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| posted on 9/2/15 at 12:08 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Slimy38
quote:
Originally posted by coozer
Ive got a android tv box that has reduced my sky from £78/month to £28.. all the movies on demand and all the sports live you need..
Can I ask what apps you use? I have plenty of hdmi capable android devices, but never found any decent apps.
Kodi (the new xbmc it is)
Showbox
Modbro.
They all work on my tablet and PC too.
[Edited on 9/2/15 by coozer]
1972 V8 Jago
1980 Z750
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Johneturbo
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| posted on 9/2/15 at 12:33 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by coozer
Ive got a android tv box that has reduced my sky from £78/month to £28.. all the movies on demand and all the sports live you need..
is that with xbmc which droid box are you using
i had a play with rasberryPi for a bit but i don't think it has the power to stream HD
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coozer
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| posted on 9/2/15 at 01:20 PM |
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Yes, its an OTT M8 I got off eBay.
To be honest its been a pain in as it keeps crashing and doing strange things, however my lad has the same one and his works no problem. I would say
buy one with a support package, i went for one without any software to be very cheap, i think it may be a chinese copy.. Its like having a tablet
without a touch screen, the remote is useless and the remote keyboard and fly mouse are just as crap.
Oh, and make sure you have an unlimited broadband, it gobbled the 40gb limit I had in 3 days. I now have an unlimited infinity 2 account that runs at
80mb.
So now I'm thinking of getting one of these:
http://www.minix.com.hk/Products/NEO-X8-H-Plus-Android-TV.html
These things are well supported in the US, but here the best US channels are geoblocked, but if your very clever you can mask your ISP and get then.
1972 V8 Jago
1980 Z750
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Johneturbo
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| posted on 9/2/15 at 06:26 PM |
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Coozer, that was the one i've been looking at after i posted my comment, as i wanted to see how it had moved on from whan i started using the
Pi
that one does have good reviews and i think comes with a a free air mouse!? from reading a thread on here
https://www.avforums.com/threads/best-android-tv-box.1887479/page-3
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coozer
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| posted on 9/2/15 at 08:44 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Johneturbo
Coozer, that was the one i've been looking at after i posted my comment, as i wanted to see how it had moved on from whan i started using the
Pi
that one does have good reviews and i think comes with a a free air mouse!? from reading a thread on here
https://www.avforums.com/threads/best-android-tv-box.1887479/page-3
Yep, that's the exact page that got me on the X8.
Thing is been in the house all day and my m8 has behaved quite good today. Reason I think its a dud copy now is the memory is supposed to be 16gb but
the settings indicate 6gb and its full!
If you get one before me let's know what its like.
Steve
1972 V8 Jago
1980 Z750
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geoff shep
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| posted on 9/2/15 at 08:54 PM |
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I have only ever had good results from Humax boxes - both freeview and Freesat. I have found they have very reliable setups and the firmware is
easily updated. Mostly, I like the EPG.
There are basic boxes (which can be used to record with a USB hard drive) but it is probably worth the extra for a twin tuner/hard drive box which
gives you all the recording, series link, watch one record another, time slip etc (a la Sky+).
eg:
Humax Freesat box
Humax Freesat Recorder
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coozer
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| posted on 9/2/15 at 08:59 PM |
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Had another look round and come across the CuBox...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/CuBox-i2eX-from-New-IT/dp/B00L8VW70G/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1422440016&sr=8-2&keywords=cubox&tag=av0c-21
/>
Mind boggling....
1972 V8 Jago
1980 Z750
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coozer
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| posted on 25/2/15 at 03:17 PM |
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I am now using a MINIX neo x8-h plus..
Well impressed so far, much heavier out of the box, runs stable, doesn't crash, stick or freeze. Kodi works well, supports the live TV good with
much better picture quality than the m8 . Watched a good few hours of that train crash in California yesterday...
MINIX has a 1gb Ethernet over the m8 on 100mb..
Expanysis have them in at the best price, got mine from geekbuyers, another Chinese company trying very hard to pretend they are in the UK... Although
it took a while came post office special delivery.
Now looking for a box for the bairn with loads of cartoon channels.. Currently there's a sky box there without a card that behaves like a
freeway box, but need more cartoons! Need to work out what satellites feed the sky minidish....
1972 V8 Jago
1980 Z750
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Johneturbo
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| posted on 25/2/15 at 05:48 PM |
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i've just dusted down the raspberry pi and updated it to kodi, it seems to work better than i remember, also the robin hood peoples list addon
works well and also the movies HD addon, it's just a bit slow to start up but once it's playing content it's fine.
i'm tempted with the pi 2 which has 1g ram and quad core processor for £35
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 25/2/15 at 06:11 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Johneturbo
i'm tempted with the pi 2 which has 1g ram and quad core processor for £35
Just got a Pi 2 - it is a HUGE amount faster! Start-up is just 10 or 15 seconds (if that) and general responsiveness is much better than the old Pi.
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coozer
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| posted on 25/2/15 at 11:12 PM |
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Plenty of movies on the cartoon hd and cartoon2 addons. Also use the pheonix addon for movies.
1972 V8 Jago
1980 Z750
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