Anyone try Dreambox DM800?

[gdavisloop]

Has anyone tried the Dreambox DM800 for DVB-S2 channels such as NBC?

Also, I notice many websites selling this unit are based in China. Since Dreambox is a German company, does this mean the Chinese companies are selling clones? (probably) So how good are the clones these days?

There is a dreamboxusa.com website that doesn't seems to be in business anymore, and a few people on Ebay selling them... but they probably get them from the Chinese, so...

Here is a link to a German website; at least it has a good picture of the rear. Apparently this incredibly tiny receiver lacks most U.S. style jacks. It appears to have DVI (not HDMI, although these are generally compatible with an adaptor) and SCART instead of all other analog jacks.

DVB-S/C/T Receiver

--Gary

 

[gdavisloop]

Here's the link again:

http://www.my-solution.de/DREAM-Dreambox-DM-800-DVB-S-weiss_12.0.0.2.html#showDetails

 

[updatelee]

I havent used mine for S2 yet, im told it works well though. Ive got to get a little larger dish up, im in the middle of moving so I'll put up my 39" at the new house.

It controls my motor with v1.2 and usals just fine though.

The dm800 comes with a dvi-hdmi adapter cable that is proprietary to the dm800, its non-standard. it will convert the dvi to a true hdmi output including audio. not sure why they didnt just include an hdmi port then, but this gets the same effect with a 6" dongle.

there are alot of dm800 clones out there, they wont include the dreambox dreamcrypt cam module that the bootloader looks for on bootup, without it you'll be forced to use incredibly old firmware and you dont want that. So make sure your buying genuine. There are some tricks you can use to get newer firmware with older kernel modules and older bootloaders, but the dreambox firmware wasnt designed to work this way and you'll be constantly fighting with getting it to work and never happy.

 

[guapoharry]

US based source for Dreambox -- I haven't done any business with this firm, so YMMV.

Dream Multimedia: Welcome

I Shop Dream::Find the best online shopping store.

IMO, they might sell more units if they got their website to appear higher up in search engine listings....

$500 for a DM800 seems high after considering an AZBox alternative. Maybe it would be worth it in order to avoid the AZBox flakiness. As for me, I am satisfied with a flaky but functional AZBox

These links came from Dream Multimedia's German domain website

Startseite | dream-multimedia-tv.de


EDIT:

Doesn't look good. There's no DM800 mentioned on the first website. On the second - store website, the DM800 is not available...

 

[gdavisloop]

So what you're saying, UDL, is that clone Dreamboxes are missing a piece of security software (or hardware) and this prevents them from running the new versions of factory-authorized software? That sounds like quite a drag! And it's probably really hard to tell, especially before you buy, if the unit is a clone... it's not like they stamp "CLONE" on the front panel!

 

[updatelee]

the genuine dm800 (and 8000 for that matter) have an onboard cam (conditional access module) module called the dreamcrypt. cam's are typically used for subscriber based tv services. the dreamcrypt is a proprietary cam that dream multimedia created and never really took off, no one uses it anymore. well dmm decided they could still use these insted of for proving you payed for a channel, prove you payed for a legit box. kinda ingenius actually.

so clones have copied everything but the cam, some clones even come with a cam that looks just like the real deal, except there are no guts in it haha. so from apearances it looks good, just in reality it dont.

some people dont mind using old firmware, others like the challenge of trying to modify the firmware to allow them to take partial advantage of newer features (even though some of the bug fix's and new features are in kernel modules and bootloaders which they cant take advantage of)

personally its way to much hassle, I paid a little extra and bought a genuine dm800. if someone gave me a clone dm800 for free I wouldnt turn it away I just dont have the extra money to be throwing away on something that doesnt work the way its intended to.

 

[gdavisloop]

What is the easiest way to test this? Ie, where can you download the latest firmware, and how easy to install it (USB-stick? easy or Null modem? annoying or...)
thanks
--Gary

 

[updatelee]

http://www.dream-multimedia-tv.de/download/verification-howto.pdf

firmware is easily loaded onto the box via the web interface,

plug the dm800 ethernet into your network
unplug the dm800 power,
hold the power button down while plugging the power back in
keep holding the power button until you see on the front display

** STOP **
192.168.1.11

your IP address might be different obviously as your network is different then mine.

type that IP into you favorite web browser and you can reflash the firmware from that screen.

 

[pro96]

Kinda pricey for just HD/DVB-S2 and no 4:2:2 like AZB does.

 

[updatelee]

I love my dm800, a big reason why is because its opensrc and I can fix firmware bugs myself. not a feature everyone needs or wants.

Ive been told the azbox's are really nice units though, Id love to pick one up myself one day.

on dreambox you can stream 4:2:2 to you PC via vlc and watch it there, not the same as onbox but it works.

 

[gdavisloop]

So to reload the firmware, the box displays an IP address, but then you go over to a computer and type HTTP://that IP address into a browser?
thanks
--Gary

 

[updatelee]

So to reload the firmware, the box displays an IP address, but then you go over to a computer and type HTTP://that IP address into a browser?
thanks
--Gary

yes exactly, it will give you the option to reflash the firmware