Help with dual tuner choice

[strebord]

I've been running a blade bm5000s for a few months now but the lack of dual tuners causes me problems so I'm looking to upgrade to a dual tuner E2 box.

Ideally I'm looking to spend as little as possible but could spend more if there is a compelling enough reason.

I've bracketed my potential purchases into price brackets with my limited (and maybe wrong) knowledge of each box and would welcome some feedback from more knowledgeable posters on my opinions and maybe some recommendations?

Around £150

Miraclebox Premium Mini HD Twin - seems OK, not really seen any negatives on it - possibly the one I'm leaning towards
TM Nano 2T - Driver problems?
Gigablue HD800 SE+ Digital twin - Don't know much about this

Around £200

TM-Nano 2 Super - Again driver issues?
VU+ Duo - getting on a bit, slower processor and maybe power supply issues?
Miraclebox Premium Twin HD - not seen too much on this - good or bad?
Gigablue HD800 UE+ Digital twin - Don't know much about this

Sub £300

Gigablue HD Quad+ - quick processor, looks good
Golden Interstar XPEED LX3 - I know nothing about this box
VU+ Solo 2 - everyone's favourite and the one I suspect I will be recommended to buy.

Anything I've missed that I should consider?

So the real question is will a £149 miraclebox be a good enough choice and if I'm going to spend more is it another £50 or so or more or less double and what would I be getting for the extra £££'s?

My other concern over spending big is if the SD channels go the same way as HD and I'm left with an expensive doorstop.

Any help really gratefully received. Thanks for reading

 

[abu baniaz]

If you are going to buy a new receiver, best to buy newest generation. The 7335 CPU range is several years old. Still fine for normal viewing. Unfortunately, their price is holding and not really dropping which keeps the newer receivers priced higher.

The LX3 uses the same CPU as Duo2. It has two onboard sat tuners as well as two slots for pluggable tuners.

The Nano 2 super uses the same CPU as Solo2. They have not really had any significant driver issues. Transcoding missing is the only one worth mentioning. Second hand Solo2 units have been going at the sub 200 mark. Have a look in the for sale section.

 

[shuggy]

ive bought the lx3 and can tell you its a pretty nice build I have 2 cable tuners and 2 sat tuners and I am very impressed, very quick box coming from the vuduo I was at first missing the old remote but now im just as happy as I was with the other remote all in all a great box

 

[nsw9154]

Hello :wave: just like you I started of with a Blade Sat Receiver but mine was the 7000 combo and it served me well for about 4 years, but with it only having the one tuner it's limitations soon became apparent especially if I had set it to record and was watching something on another channel but with me also having a Tivo box was not really a problem as I had that to fall back on and the advantage of being able to record while watching something else swayed me to purchase a Solo2 (my 1st E2 receiver) in February and that was it, I soon realised that 2 sat feeds was not enough and purchased a LX3 as well
the Solo2 is a fantastic receiver and I was very happy with it but I needed the flexibility of plug in tuners and the LX3 fits the bill nicely,I also tried the Miraclebox HD Twin I bought it with 1 sat and 1 cable tuner and nice though it was it could not match the Solo2 for speed so I sold both the Solo2 and Miraclebox and purchased the Duo2 and fitted another twin sat tuner in it it is very fast very capable and some say very expensive but I have to say that it's build Quality is the best that you can get it ooozzess Quality, the LX3 has the same capabilities as the Duo2 but is probably more flexible with it having 2 fixed sat tuners and 2 pluggable tuners
I originally purchased mine with 3 sat and 1 cable but purchased another sat tuner so I am running it with 4 sat tuners the
LX3 is probably your best bet if you want the flexibility with tuners, I love mine but the Solo2 is also a excellent receiver and I would happily have another one
and like abu mentioned you are probably better going for the Newest Generation receivers

 

[nsw9154]

I had the same reservation about the remote on the LX3 as you shuggy, it uses the same remote as the miraclebox and it was so unresponsive with the miraclebox it was a joke
But no such problem with it operating the LX3 it's a breeze probably down to the superior processor and memory and now I rather like it :thumbsup:

 

[strebord]

Thanks for the responses. So the consensus is that the miraclebox would be OK but is a bit sluggish? Would it be quicker/better than my blade? I really only want the option to watch and record different channels.

If I do spend more then the Nano 2 uses the same chip as the LX3 and Solo2? Is it as good an option given the price? I don't envisage ever needing more than 2 tuners and don't live in an area that has cable or will ever have it I suspect so don't need that option so would the solo2 be pretty much the same as the LX3 at a lower price point?

Sorry for all the questions but I don;t want to be having to buy another box again in another few months if I can help it

 

[abu baniaz]

Solo2 and TM N2S use a 7356 CPU.

LX3, Duo2 and ET10000 use 7424 CPU. They use hardware transcoding, and I'm pretty sure they support more video formats.

If you are unlikely to use more than two tuners, don't need the front display and trust Dags not to mess the drivers, the TM N2S would be better value for money. I've not used a Solo 2 so can't give a direct comparison.

 

[bassethound]

I would not say the miraclebox is sluggish runs as good as my old solo2 in every day normal use the solo2 just boots up faster after that its hard to see any difference in normal use

 

[nsw9154]

I always found the remote control not as responsive on the miraclebox and that was the only problem really, as the same remote worked better on my LX3

 

[strebord]

Thanks for the input and advice. Still torn between the cheaper but older tech miraclebox, the newer chipset on the Technomate but potential driver issues and just going the whole hog and getting the VU+

 

[markshore123]

Got the miraclebox HD Mini seems ok boots quite quick plenty of flash remote seems ok. Seems to run openairplay without issues, many posts on here that audio etc will not work, streams ok using vlc player on a pc as a server while on the road. Plus 2 years hardware warranty.