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First (VU+) Box For Beginner...

4

4QSky

Newbie
Hi and thank you for an excellent, well informed and friendly forum.

I'm about to end my somewhat overpriced Sly subscription and intend to get a VU+ box to continue with my satellite TV viewing. I've done a good deal of research on this site and also on WOS regarding VU+ boxes but have been swamped with 'tech-speak' that is pretty much meaningless to me at this stage;

For example: VU+ Duo 2 (1x DVB-S2 Single + 1x DVB-C/T/T2 Tuner) or VU+ Duo 2 (1x DVB-S2 Twin + 1x DVB-C/T/T2 Tuner)... The bits in the brackets have me lost. I spoke to a 'salesman' at WOS who seemed completely unable to convert my basic requirements into a model spec - thus the sale was lost and I was none the wiser. My hope is that you'll be able to translate what I need into a specific model... so here goes.

1, I like the VU+ reviews and although expensive they seem like good units. I would certainly consider an alternative but VU+ seems to make sense to me so far.
2, I have a Sly dish.
3, I have 100MB Broadband.
4, I need a box that will enable me to watch one satellite channel whilst recording another (internal or external HDD is fine either way).
5, Plenty of support or tutorials for set-up as this is completely new to me.

I'd be really appreciative if you could advise me of what model VU+ (or alternative) would suit my needs. If you could also let me know in 'WOS speak' what needs to go in the brackets I'll be able to put my order in.

Thank you in advance.
 
you have a lot of scope...zgemma H2S is around £74 & the best of the budget boxes but dont let the low price put you off as it meets most peoples needs (watch on & record another, 7 days epg, sly skins loads of support) its a decent little box for the money making it very popular. The Edision is a little more but very similar, the next step up are boxes like the Xtrend 8500 again a very good box at around £160, does the same as the budget boxes with the advantage of adding more tuners, top of the range are the VU+ boxes, super fast with loads of tuner options but at the end of the day all these Enigma 2 type boxes do the same thing so have a look around see what tickles your fancy but you do not need to spend a huge amount to get everything & more than you had with sly
 
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Okay mate to put it plainly...those bits in the brackets represent either Satellite or Cable tuners. DVB-C is cable so if you are UK based you would need a virgin media cable line into your house. If you solely want to use a satellite setup (which it sounds like you do above) then you want DVB-S2 (the 2 is just second generation) based tuners.

To answer what kind of box you want for your requirements. Theres a boatload you could choose from and it's all a matter of budget. VU are excellent and they are very well supported but you are looking at 200 quid +. I would suggest the VU solo 2 as that does all the above and more. I personally run a zgemma h2s which sets you back about 70 quid, does all the above and is very well supported in this forum.
 
what worries me with zgemma is all the issues that people are having with those boxes,vu once setup you can view box and not need to fiddle with problems.

vu duo2 excellent top of the range box.
equally good boxes are xtrend like 8500 or 10000.
what to look for.
dvb/s is a tuner for sat x2 means 2 sat tuners
dvb/ is a tuner for cable x3 means 3 cable tuners.
dvb/t is a tuner for aerial like terrestrial reception.

all these boxes are excellent but remember on 28.2 we have lost hd due to card pairing.dvb/s
if you have vm broadband then cable tuners will work dvb/c
boxes like xtrend 10000 can have 2 sat and 2 cable tuners or 4 sats as you can choose what you want.
any size internal hdd wos max size is 1tb up to 4+ i believe.

openvix have excellent support on original boxes and a guide here.
http://www.techkings.org/general-cable-tv/65283-guide-how-set-up-e2-combo-box-vix-image.html
 
i swear by vu+
to me great box never had a problem with them own 3 of them all running openvix

vu+solo 2
vu+solo4k
vu+zero

for you look at vu+solo2 twin tuners
there are other boxes but for me vu all the way
 
the vast majority of so called problem with the zgemma are not zgemma problems, they are people not preparing their usb's properly or knowledge issues that relate to all Enigma 2 boxes, the boxes themselves are pretty rock solid, as solid as any other box with only a handful of box failures out of many thousands sold, unfortunately the zgemma got the flack for things is wasn't responsible for just because the zgemma section was so busy.

---------- Post Merged at 10:19 PM ----------

Unfortunately I cant say the same for the Edision...as good a box as it can be at times it has more crashes & restarts than NASCAR
 
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cactikid said:
what worries me with zgemma is all the issues that people are having with those boxes,vu once setup you can view box and not need to fiddle with problems.
Click to expand...
??????? Issues - the magic word "issues", but doesn't actually mean anything. Any box below, if not setup properly will give issues and need fiddling with. Configure it correctly first time round and it just works.


I have all three boxes, H2S, ET8500 and VU+ Solo 4k

What Beaky said was spot on. If you want a sky box replacement then the zgemma H2S will do just that. If you want more speed than a sky box and more tuner options, the Xtrend 8500 would be next for price. The top dog would be the VU+ boxes. with the ablity to record a load of channels at once, stupidly fast, a really nice looking box and a huge price, this is the one to go for.

What do you get when you part with your money - £75, £180 or £350 (approx)?

Usually a satellite box which either has Vix or OpenATV on it. Both running Enigma2. Turn it on and what happens? Not a lot.

Put a pre-done backup on and you will be up and running quite quickly. Want to start from scratch and do it all yourself? You can and this forum is full of support. On a whole they all work the same and do the same, it is just the features that differ. The more you pay the more you get.

Don't misunderstand me, the VU+ Solo 4k is now pride and place in our front room with the VU+ Zero in the kitchen and yes the VU+ boxes are amazing. But, my zgemma still does it's job as a twin tuner sat sky replacement box and has done for 8 months trouble free. Point 4 would be met by the H2S with ease. Point 5, support is what I think cactikid calls issues and actually the 2S and H2S are the most supported boxes on the forum
 
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not fiddled with my vu solo at all always works ive tried them all extrend and vusolo 2 best so far but for price cant beat a zgemma
 
Zgemma's are not clones thats another incorrect statement that has been placed on the forum by members who should really know better & haven't used or owned a zgemma. Im not trying to big up the zgemma range but they have been wrongly made out to be a substandard box when this is simply not true, of cause there are spec, chipset & feature differences but Enigma 2 boxes work the same & IF setup correctly will be as stable as each other! If you have the money buy a top of the range VU (also made in China by the way) as they are very fast & look sleek but at the end of the day they are basically the same if you disregard a few extra features such a smoothness using iptv & multiple additional tuners. Its hard to stop rumors once started & this is what the zgemma have been caught up in. The zgemma (A budget box) has brought a huge number of NEW members to TK & thanks to the hard work of a few dedicated members resulted in many software advances that ALL Enigma 2 boxes now benefit from such as sly1HD, Q'skin, movie organizer plus many others all started as a result of the volume, support & demand created by the zgemma's popularity so anyone who want to pull them down really should try owning one first.
 
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when they first hit the market they said supported by openvix image,they were never supported by openvix and they called box a clone as was made in same factory as previous clones.

other images fully support this box with their image. why have they still got the wos logo on their boxes because their using a patched image.
yes plenty of great support and workers dabbling with images on tk.
 
cactikid we are going off topic but yes they were/are made by the same people who used to make clones & therefore not vix supported but this does not make them a clone box, VIX lovers dont appear to like zgemmas & that's a personal choice but to this I would simply say anyone with a zgemma should use supported firmware which is ATV, the boxes themselves represent very good value for money & work extremely well given they are an entry level budget box
 
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To give my two penne th as owner of zgemma and a duo 2 if you want a cheap option then go for zgemma but if you want a box with internal hard drive and plenty of speed when using the epg etc then the duo 2 is light years ahead. At the end of the day if you have the spare cash then pay the extra, to me the minimum I would be looking at would be et8500 having an internal hard drive is now a must have for me, as is Openvix but that's my personal opinion, which is the problem all your gonna get are people's own opinion and that may differ from your own.
 
cactikid said:
why have they still got the *** logo on their boxes because their using a patched image.
Click to expand...

They haven't got that logo on the box. These are from a box just received.

IMG_20160808_105825810.jpg IMG_20160808_105848888.jpg

I don't recall it being on my original 8 month old box either, or have I miss-understood what you meant?
 
You mean the boot screen? I suppose it does as they only patched what they needed to patch

Sent from my HTC One M8s using Tapatalk
 
cactikid said:
i meant on their openvix image does it still not say the other placenot box packaging?
Click to expand...

Oooh I don't know mate, it might do but I have never put it on since the very first day when I was learning so would not have known what I was looking at and went straight back to OpenATV. I know it is a patched version which is why I don't understand why it is so popular. I think I posted somewhere before about putting Mac OS on my laptop.... I can but I won't because it isn't the proper version, the same with the patched Vix, it isn't the proper version.


I have just downloaded the image and you are spot on. The spalsh.bin file is the other place logo. They shouldn't use this and it is not like it can't be changed. Whoever does the image should be slapped for it. It could be any image, even a sticky plaster on it to say it is patched lol.
 
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i was tempted to post vu boot screen but decided not to= misguidance on their part?

as long as people research a product and know what to suspect or not.

eg looking for a nice high end car radio/dab/cd/dvd/sat nav on ebay,plenty of very nice models made where- china-read the feedback-angry punters,
i agree plenty of users are happy with them.
 
gibbletts said:
To give my two penne th as owner of zgemma and a duo 2 if you want a cheap option then go for zgemma but if you want a box with internal hard drive and plenty of speed when using the epg etc then the duo 2 is light years ahead.
Click to expand...

can I ask what zgemma you are running? I had the 2s and upgraded to h2s and that's lightyears ahead in terms of speed so I cant imagine much of a difference between that and the duo 2 although I don't own a VU+. I know the hardware is better but is it really "light years ahead"?
 
Yes it is. But like I say that's my opinion if you like the zgemma then great be happy, the total package ie build quality etc is far superior and running twin sat and twin cable tuners in the same box are important to me but it comes at a price which I didn't mind paying.
 
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