Best receiver for satellite dish

Forums › Freeview (DVB-T/DVB-S) › Best receiver for satellite dish

bbunnys

321 posts

Ultimate Geek

#77684 20-Feb-2011 17:25

After some advise

We currently have MySky but due to costs and most things we watch are on free to air anyway want to get Freeview.

Where we live cant get reception via aerial so want to use current Sky Dish if I can. What would people recommend as best receiver currently on market which I can just hopefully plug in and play off the sky dish. Dont need a recorder just a receiver is fine.

semigeek

1606 posts

Uber Geek

#441706 20-Feb-2011 18:43

For the price, I would recommend the Ultraplus 700HDMI. It has PVR functions( though you could ignore that feature seeing as you don't need a recorder), but it is only $139.95
http://www.freeviewshop.co.nz/ultraplus-700hdmi-digital-satellite-receiver-p-633.html

Other receivers are here http://www.freeviewshop.co.nz/satellite-receivers-c-2.html

xarqi

727 posts

Ultimate Geek

#441723 20-Feb-2011 19:23

In my opinion, the best receiver on the market is the Vu+ Duo; it is also the best recorder on the market.

injuised

256 posts

Ultimate Geek

#441804 21-Feb-2011 08:01

In my opinion , if your after just a user friendly set top box, you cant go past the DTVS-1b, these will update software automatically and update new channels automatically. ive installed hundreds of these and havnt had a faulty one yet

bbunnys

321 posts

Ultimate Geek

#441965 21-Feb-2011 15:48

Cheers for the help. Think the DTVS-1b looks like what im after.

LookingUp

411 posts

Ultimate Geek

#442003 21-Feb-2011 17:10

xarqi: In my opinion, the best receiver on the market is the Vu+ Duo; it is also the best recorder on the market.

If money's no object then I totally second this advice - especially good if you keep your Sky subscription, as it's pretty much everything that MySkyHDI users wish they had :-)

Things are LookingUp.... A photo from my back yard :-)

bfginger

1271 posts

Uber Geek

#442012 21-Feb-2011 17:31

I think it is worthwhile going for a receiver with HDMI if your TV has it. The satellite quality is so limited that the little extra image quality won't hurt.

injuised

256 posts

Ultimate Geek

#442033 21-Feb-2011 18:03

bfginger: I think it is worthwhile going for a receiver with HDMI if your TV has it. The satellite quality is so limited that the little extra image quality won't hurt.

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

injuised

256 posts

Ultimate Geek

#442034 21-Feb-2011 18:03

bfginger: I think it is worthwhile going for a receiver with HDMI if your TV has it. The satellite quality is so limited that the little extra image quality won't hurt.

In my opinion HDMI is not any better than component, especially if your upscaling a picture

Jaxson

8044 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#442244 22-Feb-2011 09:38

Yeah hdmi is just another connection type, it doesn't mean it's going to look any better unfortunately.

I agree with all above as it's all valid. If you can afford it the Vu+ Duo is getting very good reviews.

Remember that only some sky cards work in it though, no supplier is going to advertise that part too much. If you have a standard sky subscription you can use the Vu+ Duo to do the recording etc like mysky does.

If you are just after any form of satellite freeview then there are plenty of boxes to chose. The official ones have the clear MHEG5 EPG and auto tune channels for you and will retune automatically if there are any channel changes.

The non approved ones allow for other features that are blocked on the official ones, like being able to record to a usb drive etc.

Any of the units mentioned above should be good. I'm personally ordering an Ultraplus 700hdmi PVR today but can't say what it's like just now, just the price is right for the features I need.

xarqi

727 posts

Ultimate Geek

#442252 22-Feb-2011 09:52

Jaxson: I'm personally ordering an Ultraplus 700hdmi PVR today but can't say what it's like just now, just the price is right for the features I need.

Please post a review of the 700HDMI once you've had a chance to explore its strengths and weaknesses.

Jaxson

8044 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#442271 22-Feb-2011 10:29

xarqi: Please post a review of the 700HDMI once you've had a chance to explore its strengths and weaknesses.

Will do but if there's any behaviour you specifically want to check then please let me know in advance.

xarqi

727 posts

Ultimate Geek

#442274 22-Feb-2011 10:35

Jaxson:
xarqi: Please post a review of the 700HDMI once you've had a chance to explore its strengths and weaknesses.

Will do but if there's any behaviour you specifically want to check then please let me know in advance.

I guess to be specific: how well and how reliably does it do what it is claimed to do?

Jaxson

8044 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#443354 25-Feb-2011 11:35

xarqi: Please post a review of the 700HDMI once you've had a chance to explore its strengths and weaknesses.

Mine arrived and I've set it up but haven't really used it at all. First F1 race is now cancelled so I don't need this for another month now. Anyway, put a few photos up on this other thread.

Nothing too detailed about reliability etc sorry yet, haven't permanently set it up and rearranged the harmony remote etc.

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=83&topicid=76440&page_no=4#443350

dipkiwi

51 posts

Master Geek

#443379 25-Feb-2011 12:54

Yeah hdmi is just another connection type, it doesn't mean it's going to look any better unfortunately.

I noticed an improvement from going from my old decoder with component to the Ultraplus 700 with HDMI.

How much was the decoder or the HDMI - I don't know. But it seems to handle color and contrast and sharpness better. Found I didn't need to apply color correction to get skintones right like I had to previously.