The Newest Model

Rick Caylor says that the Ultra has been discontinued.

That makes no sense to me. Why force people to spend that much more money for a Premium Plus when it hardly has enough extra features to justify the difference? It's just going to annoy customers.
 
Jim, that's why I've stuck with the SSO receiver so far, the Az is just too expensive for what I'd gain. For me personally if the price came down to $175-190 bucks I might consider it. I wonder what the markup is on these units? I'm guessing its more than we think...Blind
 
Hadn't heard the Ultra was discontinued but as he is the regional distributor, he'd probably know. Wireless is nice but never saw much value in 2nd tuner option or VFD of the + so went with Ultra. Sorry to hear its discontinued. Hopefully firmware support won't be an issue in the future.
 
Blindowl, yes, the markup is probably huge. I've seen people say that the Openbox is ridiculously cheap wholesale.

MrFTAman, I haven't heard why it was discontinued.

Billyboy, I have a feeling that all those new models showing up on ebay probably aren't even the same lineage as the AZboxes we know, otherwise we'd have heard about them from other sources. It wouldn't surprise me if they were more similar to the Openbox, though that's just a guess.

And yes, I think the AZbox is the only current box that does 4:2:2. Brian from SatelliteAV has said that he's working on one, but it's slow going because he doesn't want to release something buggy like everybody else.

mr3p, it was on his own forum.
 
I found the thread form that forum:

rickcaylor said:
I do also know that the Ultra is no longer going to be produced, so once the current inventory is gone, I will be down to just the Premium PLUS, unless they come out with something else that they have not told me about. I still have quite a few of them for now though.
 
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Blindowl, yes, the markup is probably huge. I've seen people say that the Openbox is ridiculously cheap wholesale.

MrFTAman, I haven't heard why it was discontinued.

Billyboy, I have a feeling that all those new models showing up on ebay probably aren't even the same lineage as the AZboxes we know, otherwise we'd have heard about them from other sources. It wouldn't surprise me if they were more similar to the Openbox, though that's just a guess.

And yes, I think the AZbox is the only current box that does 4:2:2. Brian from SatelliteAV has said that he's working on one, but it's slow going because he doesn't want to release something buggy like everybody else.

mr3p, it was on his own forum.
Ok..That answers my question. Much thanks.
 
Advantages of the plus:
Front panel display (good to know if the receiver is recording/ can't tell on the Ultra)
2 USB slots, one in front one in back versus only 1 in back of the Ultra.
Menu/ power buttons on front of the premium plus receiver
WiFi
Dual tuner capability
Scart connection on back of Premium Plus
Remote is much better not as cheap appearing as the Ultra remote.

I'd pick up the Premium Plus over the Ultra any day but that is just my opinion.
 
Advantages of the plus:
Front panel display (good to know if the receiver is recording/ can't tell on the Ultra)
2 USB slots, one in front one in back versus only 1 in back of the Ultra.
Menu/ power buttons on front of the premium plus receiver
WiFi
Dual tuner capability
Scart connection on back of Premium Plus
Remote is much better not as cheap appearing as the Ultra remote.

I'd pick up the Premium Plus over the Ultra any day but that is just my opinion.

I agree with most of what you've said except,
SCART connector isn't significant for most in NA
Ultra has power button on front
Ultra also has a USB in front and in back.
Haven't done any recording with factory firmware in a while but from my recollection I thought the LED color changes to amber when recording. E2 currently gives no indication.
If money was no object, I'd too would prefer the Premium+, I just didn't think the extra features were worth it.
 
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