Amiko Allien 2 Vs AZ Box Mini Me

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Vondertrenk

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Aug 30, 2007
294
38
Canada
Has anyone tried both boxes and can supply some feedback?

I would like to have a single receiver to do IPTV and FTA and would like to be able to make a decision based on this comparison. At least that some one else knows another receiver that can do both and may be or equal or better quality than these two boxes.......
 
Alien 2 Hands down i have the Alien 2 and the me and the blind scan is very good on the alien 2 and not worth 2 cents on the me .the only thing the me is good for is 4.2.2. feeds. Iptv is very good on the Alien 2 also and you can run a c-band dish and a ku dish from the same box.
 
If you want IPTV the Alien 2 is the one to get.
Not a bad box for FTA, just won't do 4:2:2 and manual pid entry on one particular mux I wanted would not work but other then that it is a decent receiver.
The continued support for N.A. for this receiver is over and beyond most ALL other receivers out there.
 
A2 all the way. As mentioned blind scan is great,picture is fantastic and support is on going.New feature are added almost weekly it seems.Also if you are like me and use your TV as a monitor for the computer just stream those 4.2.2 feeds to your computer and now you have everthing.
 
I just order Alien2 today from Europe only two tuners+wifi stick+shipping became to $180.97 Euros .So the two azbox I have premium plus and minime don't go to last on my House for to long.Did you no in Canada the same receiver Price $315 and no wifi stick plus taxes.I pay only $278 taxes include
 
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After evaluating all the IPTV+ FTA boxes, I believe the Allien Amiko is probably the best alternative, however this is based only on specs and a couple of comments here an there.
I still would like to see a good comparison and analysis of this unit before jumping to the pool:eek:
 
Unless I'm mistaken, a European Alien2 will not connect to the Amiko Americas portal for IPTV, WebTV or VOD. The firmware and software-controlled features are different in the receivers. Americas versions for North and South America (as well as versions for Australia and New Zealand) have been customized for the specific areas where they are sold.

Ernie
 
Excellent point. I wonder if all the applications will be available in Canada: I bought in USA the Logitech Sony IPTV boxes; some if their apps are exclusively for USA residents and do not work in Canada; for example Hulu TV.....

Unless I'm mistaken, a European Alien2 will not connect to the Amiko Americas portal for IPTV, WebTV or VOD. The firmware and software-controlled features are different in the receivers. Americas versions for North and South America (as well as versions for Australia and New Zealand) have been customized for the specific areas where they are sold.

Ernie
 
did have Iptv in Europe .I have vantage vt1 from Europe and working good.I don't need the Canadian channels in Europe have more channels from england Spain France etc to me no problem.I have the Canadian channels I need.The receiver from Europe did have more choice on the Iptv
 
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Unless I'm mistaken, a European Alien2 will not connect to the Amiko Americas portal for IPTV, WebTV or VOD. The firmware and software-controlled features are different in the receivers. Americas versions for North and South America (as well as versions for Australia and New Zealand) have been customized for the specific areas where they are sold.

Ernie

I'm 100% sure this is the case as it is the same as with our AzBox miniMe American Edition where a model purchased from another continent won't be able to run the North American firmware. The reason for this is that there is a substantial expense to enable North American software development in terms of time invested along with financial compensation for developers so receiver sales is the only way to get a return on our investment.

At the current time, the AzBox miniMe American Edition already includes an online radio player capable of playing over 2500 local North American radio stations streaming online. However in the near future, we will be introducing IPTV and VOD services as well.

Please support the few companies who are willing to invest in North American based FTA receiver development and support.


Best regards,


PwrSurge
AzBox Canada
 
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I'm not sure if I am understanding this correctly. Please correct me if any of the following is wrong:

The Alien2
- is an overall better device
- has dual tuners that can be used independently with two separate dishes
- has the better blind scan
- CAN stream 4:2:2 signals to another computer on the network
- CANNOT play 4:2:2 signals in real time out of its own HDMI port
- CAN record 4:2:2 steams to be played back later, but only on another computer or device???

The Mini Me
- has only a single tuner
- has lousy blind scan
- CAN stream 4:2:2 signals to another computer on the network
- CAN play 4:2:2 signals in real time out of its own HDMI port
- CAN record 4:2:2 steams to be played back later, on itself via its own HDMI port or on another computer or device on the network
 
The Mini Me
- has only a single tuner
- has lousy blind scan
- CAN stream 4:2:2 signals to another computer on the network
- CAN play 4:2:2 signals in real time out of its own HDMI port
- CAN record 4:2:2 steams to be played back later, on itself via its own HDMI port or on another computer or device on the network

Blindscan issues on the AzBox miniMe American Edition were recently fixed for good with the current 1.70 firmware version so this is now a non-issue. Blindscan performance is now up to par or even better than other receivers, including the Amiko Alien.


Best regards,
 
Blindscan issues on the AzBox miniMe American Edition were recently fixed for good with the current 1.70 firmware version so this is now a non-issue. Blindscan performance is now up to par or even better than other receivers, including the Amiko Alien.


Best regards,

Can concur with PwrSurge with the blindscan on the MiniMe American edition, here in the UK it works perfectly now!!
 
Blindscan issues on the AzBox miniMe American Edition were recently fixed for good with the current 1.70 firmware version so this is now a non-issue. Blindscan performance is now up to par or even better than other receivers, including the Amiko Alien.

That's good to know, but it's hard to get past the fact that the Alien2 has two tuners and is about the same price (actually a few dollars less) than the miniMe. If the miniMe were about half the current price I could buy one and feel good about it, but not at the current price level. Also, there just seems to be something wrong about the way AzBox sells their products. if you go on the azbox.us site you can see a description of the miniMe but no prices are given, and there is no apparent way to make a purchase, except for a link at the bottom of the page that takes you to a list of the supposedly authorized dealers. If you click on that link, only TWO "authorized dealers" are shown, and if you follow the links to their respective sites, the first one only offers three lower-priced receivers (the high-end model is a TRAXIS DBS6000HD DVB-S2 Receiver at $135.00) and the other one appears to be some kind of programming service with no visible way to buy anything.

You don't need to be a marketing genius to know that anyone that wants to buy an AzBox would probably give up in frustration at that point - if it's that hard to buy one, how how would it be to get service or technical support? It is only by going to the Canadian site that you find links to dealers that actually sell the receivers, and there you discover that the price is $229 Canadian, which is definitely a hard sell when the Alien2 is only $214.99 from a U.S. dealer, meaning I don't have to worry about customs, high shipping charges, or possible import duties (assuming that one of the Canadian dealers would even ship across the border).

Sure, I'd like to have a receiver that I know is going to get CBS reliably, but when I look at the price, the lack of a second tuner, and the lack of any kind of a functional sales or support organization in the United States, the AzBox really doesn't cut it. And for those living in Europe who wonder why Americans are so reluctant to do business internationally, it's because shipments have this strange way of going into a black hole when they cross the border. I once had someone send me a DVD from the Toronto area, which was much too small of an item to incur duty, and yet it simply disappeared for about six months, until one day it finally mysteriously appeared in my mailbox. Of course, this was the Canadian and U.S. postal services we're talking about, so I probably should just be grateful it finally arrived!
 
Also, there just seems to be something wrong about the way AzBox sells their products. if you go on the azbox.us site you can see a description of the miniMe but no prices are given, and there is no apparent way to make a purchase, except for a link at the bottom of the page that takes you to a list of the supposedly authorized dealers. If you click on that link, only TWO "authorized dealers" are shown, and if you follow the links to their respective sites, the first one only offers three lower-priced receivers (the high-end model is a TRAXIS DBS6000HD DVB-S2 Receiver at $135.00) and the other one appears to be some kind of programming service with no visible way to buy anything.

You don't need to be a marketing genius to know that anyone that wants to buy an AzBox would probably give up in frustration at that point - if it's that hard to buy one, how how would it be to get service or technical support? It is only by going to the Canadian site that you find links to dealers that actually sell the receivers, and there you discover that the price is $229 Canadian, which is definitely a hard sell when the Alien2 is only $214.99 from a U.S. dealer, meaning I don't have to worry about customs, high shipping charges, or possible import duties (assuming that one of the Canadian dealers would even ship across the border).

Thank you for your feedback. Our azbox.us and azbox.ca websites will just list authorised AzBox dealers and include information along with support for our products. We don't sell receivers directly to the general public as we are only a distributor and don't want to compete with our dealers. This is why you don't see prices listed on our website as our dealers are free to sell at the price they prefer.

With that being said, our authorised AzBox U.S. dealers should have our products listed on their website by now, at the very least the AzBox miniMe American edition as they are both setup to order stock on our DealerCentral platform. I will have our sales manager follow up with these dealers to find out if there are any issues and rectify this situation as soon as possible.

Thank you for your interest in AzBox products and our apologies for any inconvenience this issue may have caused.


Best regards,
 
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Thank you for your feedback. Our azbox.us and azbox.ca websites will just list authorised AzBox dealers and include information along with support for our products. We don't sell receivers directly to the general public as we are only a distributor and don't want to compete with our dealers. This is why you don't see prices listed on our website as our dealers are free to sell at the price they prefer.

Far be it from me to tell you how to (not) do business, but it's not really competing with your dealers if they aren't even offering your products for sale, now is it?

Also, allowing dealers to set the price is fine as long as they don't set it so high that it seems ridiculous when compared to similar products on the market, even if yours has better quality as you seem to imply. Unless, of course, you don't really want to make any sales.

With that being said, our authorised AzBox U.S. dealers should have our products listed on their website by now, at the very least the AzBox miniMe American edition as they are both setup to order stock on our DealerCentral platform. I will have our sales manager follow up with these dealers to find out if there are any issues and rectify this situation as soon as possible.

As of today, Sepetember 19, 2013 at just a little after 7:00 PM Eastern Time, I cannot find ANY of your products listed on EITHER of those sites.

Really, I'm getting mixed signals from you. You act like you want to sell your products, and you take the time to answer questions (which I very much appreciate), and you seem quite knowledgeable about your products. And yet, you pick two dealers that won't even list your products on their web pages (in one case opting to list three less expensive models from other sources, and in the other case, no page that I can find where they sell products of any kind). :confused: And, although there are no US sources I can find that will even show me a price, it appears from your Canadian dealers that you may be pricing your receivers at an unsustainable level for today's marketplace, even if they are of higher quality than the competition's. If I were a consultant for your business, probably one of the things I would want to know is how many receivers have you sold to US customers in the past month, or the past three months. Obviously I would not expect you to answer that here, and maybe I'm mistaken, but I think if you would look at the situation objectively, I think you'd find that your current method of offering your equipment to potential customers just isn't working. It does you no good to have a great site to showcase your products if people can't actually BUY your products.

And even if you get those two dealers to actually show your products on their web pages now, will you have to strong-arm them every month or two to get them to continue featuring your products? :boxing: If so, something is VERY wrong.

Thank you for your interest in AzBox products and our apologies for any inconvenience this issue may have caused.

You're welcome, and I accept the apology. There is a part of me that actually would like to own an AzBox miniME, even with the single tuner, which is really my only objection. But right now it is just so easy to say "no", and so difficult to say "yes" to it.
 
Wish you could edit a post after you have made it so you could correct stupid errors like misspelling "September"! :mad:
 
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