I am tired of reading so....

[ticoman]

I want to know from the users......

It is time for me to upgrade to a HD receiver (MPEG4 DVB-S2 8PSK) so before I order one, I would like to know from the users that already have one of the many brands available.
I have always been, since back in the days of Hyundai... a Pansat guy but, more and more units have become now available so the question is...... Based on what sales now and based on performance.... What would you get/recommend me to get.....???

I am leaning towards the 9200HD but want to know if there is something else better available that you guys and gals know about...

Thanks in advance.

 

[Anole]

some questions:

Brand loyalty makes sense if everyone makes a good, competitive, equal-capability receiver.
That is not the case, today. Not for HD.

First, do you know what's available in HD, that you want to see?
That's the first step.

Do you need S2? Do you need to blind scan S2?
Do you want 4:2:2 ?
Do you want to record shows to a hard drive and play them back?
Do you want to be able to take that recorded video off your STB?

The Pansat 9200 with the -new- blind-scan S2 board might be a choice.
The AZbox HD Box Elite, Linux-based STB which does S2, and 4:2:2 might be a choice.
Even so, both these fine boxes have shortcomings.

We have reviews, and plenty of discussions of all the choices.

edit: Here's a thread with similar points. Worth a look.

 

[cracklincrotch]

I don't own and have not used either the Pansat or Azbox. Myself, with what I know of both the Pansat 9200 and Azbox Elite, I'd go with the Azbox. Here's why.

For one, there's enough people that provide info on feeds that I'm not terribly concerned with blind scanning S2. As for blind scanning DVB-S, I've got a CS5000 for that. And I don't really consider myself a feedhunter. My wife and I just want to watch TV.

The Azbox will display 4:2:2 in SD and HD. The Pansat will not. A couple of network channels I'm interested in getting are 4:2:2 HD, so this would be important to me.

Both will work as a PVR. How well seems to be debatable as not all the features are working on the Azbox. If they are, I'm sure to be corrected quickly by others.

A plus on the Pansat 9200 has been around longer could be considered a "stable" box. Firmware updates seem to come on a weekly basis for the AzBox.

Some people have posted that they find certain "features" annoying. Everybody posts that about every box.

For me, though, between these two boxes, it comes down to 4:2:2 and S2 capability. Blind scan is not that important to me. Azbox wins. If blind scan is a priority for you the answer should be obvious: Pansat.

 

[zamar23]

A plus on the Pansat 9200 has been around longer could be considered a "stable" box. Firmware updates seem to come on a weekly basis for the AzBox.

AZBox might have more rooms for firmware updates due to Linux OS, its not necessarily or always a sign of instability. When selectind areceiver, one should also look at signal broadcast trends, as various providers are switching more and more channels to 8psk and DVB-S2 HD.

 

[ticoman]

Brand loyalty makes sense if everyone makes a good, competitive, equal-capability receiver.
That is not the case, today. Not for HD.

First, do you know what's available in HD, that you want to see?
That's the first step.

Do you need S2? Do you need to blind scan S2?
Do you want 4:2:2 ?
Do you want to record shows to a hard drive and play them back?
Do you want to be able to take that recorded video off your STB?

The Pansat 9200 with the -new- blind-scan S2 board might be a choice.
The AZbox HD Box Elite, Linux-based STB which does S2, and 4:2:2 might be a choice.
Even so, both these fine boxes have shortcomings.

We have reviews, and plenty of discussions of all the choices.

edit: Here's a thread with similar points. Worth a look.

Excelent reply... thanks

What I want to see is a new feed that just went MPEG-4... Repretel on Intelsat805...

Yes I need S2 and blind scan will be a plus

4:2:2 will be nice

Record and play from the stb...yes

Grab recorded video off the STB....not really

Is an Azbox what I need....???? Honestly this is the first time I heard of it... I am begining to think that the box I want does not exist yet....

 

[brentb636]

The AZbox HD Elite will do everything you want EXCEPT Blindscan. The Pansat 9200 HD will do everything you want EXCEPT 4:2:2 .
You're right, they don't yet make a single box that does exactly what we want.

 

[Anole]

Check with a 9200 owner concerning the record/play ability.
I've not kept up, but they did have some problems.
Maybe the latest firmware up grade, to handle the new S2 Blind Scan board, may have addressed the matter.
If not, then beware.

 

[cracklincrotch]

AZBox might have more rooms for firmware updates due to Linux OS, its not necessarily or always a sign of instability.

I wasn't suggesting that weekly updates were bad. Just that whatever features the Pansat had were probably set in stone by now. The Azbox with all the updates are fixing/adding things. That's not something that would necessarily stop me from getting a particular STB.

 

[ticoman]

The AZbox HD Elite will do everything you want EXCEPT Blindscan. The Pansat 9200 HD will do everything you want EXCEPT 4:2:2 .
You're right, they don't yet make a single box that does exactly what we want.

Is there another box that does 4:2:2...??? Other than AzBox...

 

[brentb636]

The QualiTV 1080 does 4:2:2 and all PCI DVB ( computer based systems) can do 4:2:2 with the appropriate codecs. That's how I used to watch 4:2:2 until the AZbox can out. The QualiTV DOES NOT support DVB-S2 in any form, but has great video output, I've heard.

 

[brentb636]

On this forum, we've gotten excited over "vaporware" receivers that were going to be released, that had all our favorite features. We were always disappointed when those receivers never materialized, or their feature set was incomplete.
The AZbox is the closest thing to our perfect receiver ( only it's lack of Blindscan is a problem) and the AZbox exists now. I watched it's teething times on another forum, and pulled the trigger on buying one when it was obvious that this was a stable useable stb. I'm hoping for development of a new tuner for the AZbox that will blindscan DVB-S and DVB-S2, but if it never comes, my TV life is still much improved by the addition of this stb to my collection.