VU+ or Gigablue - The Age old Question

[newbieraf]

Hey All

I know this subject has been covered before and or has been asked a lot but I wanted to ask for my particular use case. I've just left Sky (Yipee). I am currently running a 1.2m dish fixed to 28.2E (Freesat UK) with a Hybrid LNB. Since leaving Sky Ive been messing around with TVheadend on my RPI, HDHomeRun and Plex, all of which I have working but they all lack a half-decent EPG Grid and a decent interface that is wife friendly.

I am also running a NVidea Shield and Apple TV, Synology Plex, as you maybe able to tell I am a bit of an IT Geek that can get around linux but no expert just yet. Which leads me on to the main subject.

The IT geek in me is thinking about buying the Gigablue Quad 4k, but then I look at the specs of the Vu+ Duo 4k and its even more powerful with a Quad CPU and 4GB RAM and I presume does Hardware transcoding but I am left wondering if I really need all this power of the VU+, and I need to lash out on such an expensive box. The things that are important to me

- Good 7 day or more Grid EPG
- Fast and can handle transcoding if I install TVHeadend on it
- The ability to run apps such as plex, netflix, discovery plus etc - I may want to consolidate my boxes
- Expandable tuners - although this is not a must
- Reliable - although I like to tinker but at the same time I like it just to work if I don't
- Reasonable community support or just plenty of forum type stuff around the WWW.

So which do you guys/gals think would be a better fit. Of course, I'm willing to consider other brands

Thanks

 

[Huevos]

EPG will be the same on all models as that is provided by Enigma.

Also we have an HR plugin so the enigma box can emulate a HomeRun (for satellite and terrestrial channels using its own tuners).

Stuff like Kodi/stalker is manufacturer specific so I will leave that for others to answer.

 

[twol]

If you go for the Giga4K, choose the gbue4K unless you need the additional ports and larger LCD.
The Vu+ Duo 4K (SE) uses the older Ultimo 4K chipset , so actually not the absolute latest from Vu+, but I guess I am nitpicking!.

 

[abu baniaz]

USB tuners do not work on the Gigablue 4K receivers. PnP ones do.

 

[newbieraf]

Thank you all, so from a CPU standpoint which has the most power? I see the VU has a quad CPU as opposed to the Giga Dual Core. I only ask as I know the chipset models differ. Do they all do Hardware transcoding?

 

[newbieraf]

​I think I am settling on the Vu+ as although apparently an older Chipset to the Giga it seems to be more 20k MIPS Quad compared to 15



Any last pieces of advice?

 

[Huevos]

The current model is the SE and the chipset is not the same as the duo4k

 

[newbieraf]

ah yes, thank you, this is what I mean, I am settling on the SE. Can you expand on that? is it a new chipset? Ive been trying to compare to the Giga Quad UE

 

[Ev0]

ah yes, thank you, this is what I mean, I am settling on the SE. Can you expand on that? is it a new chipset? Ive been trying to compare to the Giga Quad UE

Same chipset as the Ultimo4K

 

[abu baniaz]

​Any last pieces of advice?

https://www.world-of-satellite.com/...in-FBC-DVB-S-S2-S2X-tuner-and-DVB-C-FBC-Tuner

 

[newbieraf]

How does it compare to the dual core chipset of the Giga