Looking for HD box for motorised system

[Channel Hopper]

Hi.

An elderly customer is looking to replace his Echostar 3000IP receiver in the near future as he is now the owner of an HD TV.

The replacment should have the same functionality as the 3000, though I can sacrifice the positioner assembly and use a VBox2, CI slot would be required, IP addressing / connection to a PC is not so important.

One of the essentials is a larter than usual remote control so the buttons are not mis-pressed. All the boxes I have looked at to date are of the smaller remote type which is not easy for him to use

Last thisn, the menus should be logical and with the possibility of setting up a favourite list or two, special EPGs or internal/recording drive interfaces can also be dismissed as unneccessary.

Any ideas ?

Thanks in advance

 

[CROSSBONES]

maybe the ip box 900 or 9000?

 

[Channel Hopper]

Have you got spec of either to hand ?

Does it have large(ish) remote control ?

IP is not important, customer has a modern PC that has never sniffed the internet(even dialup).

 

[Llew]

Hi.

An elderly customer is looking to replace his Echostar 3000IP receiver in the near future as he is now the owner of an HD TV.

The replacment should have the same functionality as the 3000, though I can sacrifice the positioner assembly and use a VBox2, CI slot would be required, IP addressing / connection to a PC is not so important.

One of the essentials is a larter than usual remote control so the buttons are not mis-pressed. All the boxes I have looked at to date are of the smaller remote type which is not easy for him to use

Last thisn, the menus should be logical and with the possibility of setting up a favourite list or two, special EPGs or internal/recording drive interfaces can also be dismissed as unneccessary.

Any ideas ?

Thanks in advance

The Humax HDCI-2000 might fit the bill CH. No frills, CI slot and nice largish remote.

Llew

 

[Channel Hopper]

Thanks, I had considered this model following its firmware upgrade last year.

Is it still *ahem* relatively futureproof ?

 

[Llew]

Not really, it's one Humax have left behind since Freeview became the dish (sorry) of the day.

Nevertheless, it still gives good service here at Llew Towers.

 

[Channel Hopper]

Thanks, the remote size may still be the clincher though

Any other redeeming features ? Humax after the 5400 is like Pace pacemakers in my books.

 

[chavo]

Just a thought but i have seen universal remote controls designed for people with trouble seeing. buttons like a mature content stars nipples in her best scene ever.

Get one of them and you wont have to worry about which box to get. In terms of boxes the Ip900 is very good value for money, and future proof.

 

[Llew]

Thanks, the remote size may still be the clincher though

Any other redeeming features ? Humax after the 5400 is like Pace pacemakers in my books.

Loads of stuff in the Humax HD section here. I recommend uploading the Formula Editor from Humax to add ITV HD to the box, as you can't do it via the box itself. Details in the aforementioned section.

A pdf for the user manual attached, as the one on the Humax site refuses to complete the download for some reason at present.

Llew

 

[Channel Hopper]

Well, after a biit of deliberating with aforementioned client, I have gone for the Technomate 6800HD (Super?). The 2000 was a good fifty quid cheaper but after seeing the number of sites dealing with aftermarket help, customer said 'go for it'.

The remotes of the 2000 and the 6800 are pretty similar in size, but the number of buttons on the 6800 actually turned out to be more impressive than daunting. Customer even said he was willing to sacrifice some accuracy when 'channel hopping' just to see how far he could 'muck it up' , and would pay for the time(s) clearing up the mess - result!.

The embedded CAM was also a sales point, now I need to know where to look/register for some help on the machine.
Does this box have support via a loader as per the 1500CI, or a site dealing with useful embedded files beyond the CI interface (customer is already using a Dragon CAM which has given him uninterrupted viewing of his favourite channels on 13 East - Mezzo/W9, and 5 East - Romantica ? - for yonks).

Thanks for the help so far.

 

[hooterthehatter]

Hi the technomate 6800 is a good box, I owned one for a few months only reason i got rid of it was the PVR function which sucks! but if your not gonna use that you will be fine, One other thing to consider if you have not changed your stb in a while you might need to change your LNB as well as the older ones are not great with the HD signal

 

[Channel Hopper]

Thanks. Set it all up today with no need to change the LNB ( I did that a couple of years ago).

The 6800 worked perfectly faultlessly with the VBox II over all satellites from 28E to 30W, about 5700 channels in total from their 1m dish.

The USB PVR system is not necessary as customer bought the Panasonic DVD/HDD with the TV, along with both HDMI leads there is a connection by SCART to both machines.

Everything works faultlessly (for now), and I got the 3000IP as a freebie in return - another result.