Amiko Mini HD SE

[xf021209]

I went looking through the forums for what was considered the best deal in an HD receiver. Lots of opinions out there. Some stated it simply - there is no one best for everyone, only one best for each person. After reading through a bunch of reviews here and on other sites I decided to order the Amiko Mini HD SE. Yes some have bashed the (*$#* out of it, even going as far as saying it won't do 4:2:2 - and technically that's correct. However one of the work arounds that's been done that I didn't see for other receivers is the ALi Big2Small Android app. This seems to be pretty cool especially since I have an HDMI dongle for my Nexus 7/II. My take is the receiver itself won't decode the 4:2:2 but the Android app will decode it from the streaming signal from the receiver on the same network. Seems pretty cool if it'll work. Since the receiver has MPEG 2 and 4 capability, DVB-S and S2 capability, and USALS it has what I want to play around with next as I experiment more with FTA. I didn't feel the need to put out more cash for the other receivers for the option to get 4:2:2. Really I was heading for an HD box with DVB-S2, MPEG 4, and USALS. Comments about the Amiko Mini HD SE welcome, especially if you have one and can tell me the pros/cons of it. Thanks,

Todd

 

[chadg2]

Please come back after you play with it some and let us know what you like or don't like about it. I'm also in the market for a new box. Thanks.

 

[Wayneb123]

I have one, I think it is a great deal for about a $100. I am now just getting back into the FTA hobby after giving up on it due to medical problems. I only have experience with a few FTA receivers, a really old Traxis DBS3500 and now an Openbox S10 and the Amiko Mini HD SE. I had an X2 for less than a day and sent it back after reading about it on this forum, the Amiko has pretty fast blind scan compared to the Openbox S10, the streaming app is pretty cool but I rather stream to VLC on a PC, maybe someday that might happen.


I have not had any lock up problems with the Amiko receiver but my Openbox would lock up on me if it was on a long time, a fan might cure that problem. I have not tried recording with the Amiko but it can record to a usb drive, I would prefer an eSATA connection or internal drive slot but at this price point you can't have everything. Tuner sensitivity seems about the same as the Openbox. I have my Amiko connected to a Primestar 84e dish with 4 LNB's on it and it switches every time without issue,
The Openbox took a really long time to scan all 4 LNB's so the faster blind scan on the Amiko is much appreciated.


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[xf021209]

Please come back after you play with it some and let us know what you like or don't like about it. I'm also in the market for a new box. Thanks.

Sorry for the delay - I still haven't had much time to play with the new receiver. I did plug it in and quickly did a scan. It picked up G19 which is what I had the dish pointed to, so the receiver is working out of the box with no settings changed. Looking at the menu's is a bit confusing. It's not like other receivers I've used (Pansat 2500/2800, Conexsat, and X2 Mini). Those all had similar PIG menus. This unit does not. It appears to be more powerful, but it bit more confusing too. I've got to sit down and really spend some time with it to see just how well it's going to work. Hopefully I'll get to spend that time this coming weekend and will have more info to post.

Todd

 

[T134]

Mini SE almost entirely graphically driven rather than traditional menus. Takes a bit of getting used to when going from other STB's even from our own line. Here is a page full of videos going over everything but I'd guess you'll figure it all out by playing in less time than it takes to watch.

http://www.namini.tk/index_files/Page335.htm

 

[xf021209]

Yep, saw the videos and they look good. It's a matter of finding time to really play with it. The amount of features for the price is what I think will make this a really good deal.

Todd

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[xf021209]

Review of the users manual - it's the typical poorly written manual that most of these receivers have. Broken English and only the very basic of information. This is certainly not for a novice who knows nothing of satellite receivers. To be honest about these manuals though, I've not found one written even close to what I wrote in my college classes. Lots of information lacking, poor formatting, pictures are almost impossible to make out, the typical cheap manual. The cover is the only part that looks somewhat good. unfortunately a .pdf version does not seem to be available online from amikoalienusa.com, but they do have patches and updates available online along with the video guides. The video guides are ok, but are also lacking in information. They are certainly better than nothing. One thing a bit confusing to me though is the Amiko Mini HD/SE has Ethernet built in, and it works, except for updating the firmware. When I click on the update selection through the Internet, the mini HD/SE reports it can't connect to the server. There is an April 19th update. I would think it would be available, but no joy there. I'll have to do the update manually through the USB. This week I'll try and reset my dish to point directly south and use the Amiko's USALS setting to see if I can get the dish aligned so the Amiko can find more than just G19 which is what I have it currently locked to. Oh, one other issue I'm trying to figure out - on most receivers I've used, when editing the channels (getting rid of those you don't want) usually during the edit, the channel is playing in the background. I can hear and see it, select delete from the PIG, and the channel goes away. When I go to edit the channel list in the Amiko Mini HD/SE the playing of the channel completely quits. What I'm left with is a list of channels to edit, but I'm not sure if I'm deleting one I want to keep or not. This is making editing of the channels more difficult than it needs to be. My X2 Mini is much easier to edit channels on. There may be another way to edit channels on the Amiko Mini HD/SE but I haven't found it yet. Overall I'm still pleased with the receiver, but am slowly finding bits I don't care for. This is not uncommon, as there's always something we liked from some other receiver over the current one being used. More to come as time permits.

 

[KE4EST]

I am having no problem here upgrading via http over internet. I just went and tried again just a few minutes ago and it is working fine here.

 

[KE4EST]

As far as deleting, hit select to bring up your channel list, then:
Move to the channel and select it if you want so you can see it playing.
Press the orange/yellowish button to access the properties of that channel.
Go down and select delete.

 

[T134]

For online upgrade, check this video at the marked start time (5:02)

http://youtu.be/pQV9SPJFCyc?t=5m2s

You'll want to be sure you are using manual upgrade exactly as shown in the video. Also make sure the URL shown in the video is there and hasn't been tampered with. I just verified a minute ago all is working.

 

[xf021209]

I am having no problem here upgrading via http over internet. I just went and tried again just a few minutes ago and it is working fine here.

I'll give it a try again when I get home, but I've only gotten the same as what's shown in the demo online video's.



Todd

 

[KE4EST]

Yes like Joe said make sure you are doing manual and not automatic.

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[xf021209]

As far as deleting, hit select to bring up your channel list, then:
Move to the channel and select it if you want so you can see it playing.
Press the orange/yellowish button to access the properties of that channel.
Go down and select delete.

Still sort of a pain compared to other methods, but thank you - at least I'll be able to see what I'm deleting easier than the full channel edit method.

Thanks,

Todd

 

[xf021209]

For online upgrade, check this video at the marked start time (5:02)

http://youtu.be/pQV9SPJFCyc?t=5m2s

You'll want to be sure you are using manual upgrade exactly as shown in the video. Also make sure the URL shown in the video is there and hasn't been tampered with. I just verified a minute ago all is working.

Thanks Joe, I'll double check that URL. I think I tried both automatic as well as manual mode and couldn't get either to work at the time I tried. I'll report back if it's still a no go for some more ideas on what I could be doing wrong.

thanks,

Todd

 

[xf021209]

As far as deleting, hit select to bring up your channel list, then:
Move to the channel and select it if you want so you can see it playing.
Press the orange/yellowish button to access the properties of that channel.
Go down and select delete.

Well unfortunately your remote and the one that was provided with my Mini aren't the same. To bring up the channel list I have an EPG button. On my remote I have a red button (Group), green button (Options), and an orange/yellow button which controls the timer. The green options button are options for the EPG, nothing else. I'm thinking a better method will be to use one of the channel editors, remove what I don't want, then load the updated file back into the STB.

Todd

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[T134]

RCU for 8240, Mini Original, Nano HD & Mini HD SE are all the same.

I think ke4est means when watching TV press the OK key, that brings up your satellite list and allows you to sort, edit and do different things. EPG key is pretty worthless in NA since we don't have EPG for most things. Or maybe he is talking a different way to do it within the built in channel editor.

In the various videos I tried to highlight the little tricks like the OK key since some of the stuff is a bit different than other brands of STB in NA.

 

[xf021209]

For online upgrade, check this video at the marked start time (5:02)

http://youtu.be/pQV9SPJFCyc?t=5m2s

You'll want to be sure you are using manual upgrade exactly as shown in the video. Also make sure the URL shown in the video is there and hasn't been tampered with. I just verified a minute ago all is working.

Did the upgrade, no issues after correcting the URL. I must have fat fingered it when I was exploring the STB's menus and options.

I also got to learn how to restore the sat/channel list from my USB drive tonight. After getting my motor working and picking up both G19 and G16 I was thrilled. I went playing with other settings and screwed it all up. Finally I did a default restore and viola, as mentioned in the included note...all the sat information was gone. A simple plug in of the USB drive, update channels only and viola, back up and running after a quick scan of G19. I think my dish is slightly off because I have only been successful at locking onto those two birds. So far I'm still happy with the purchase. The learning curve has always been steep for FTA. More to come as time permits.

Thanks,

Todd

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[xf021209]

RCU for 8240, Mini Original, Nano HD & Mini HD SE are all the same.

I think ke4est means when watching TV press the OK key, that brings up your satellite list and allows you to sort, edit and do different things. EPG key is pretty worthless in NA since we don't have EPG for most things. Or maybe he is talking a different way to do it within the built in channel editor.

In the various videos I tried to highlight the little tricks like the OK key since some of the stuff is a bit different than other brands of STB in NA.

BINGO we have a winner! Yes the OK button did it and now the yellow key is for properties with one of those being delete. Still more difficult than my X2 Mini which allows me to see the channel, select it then move to the next channel and so on, once all marked, select delete and done. However this is certainly better than using the full channel edit. Thank you both!

Todd

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[KE4EST]

I think ke4est means when watching TV press the OK key, that brings up your satellite list and allows you to sort, edit and do different things.

Yep that is what I was talking about.

 

[xf021209]

Yep that is what I was talking about.

Cool and it does bring up the channel under the PIG. I just needed to be on a channel with a signal! Doh! Sometimes I feel like such a Homer.

Todd

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