GEOSATpro Azbox MiniMe quick review

[LittleBob]

received my azbox mini me yesterday and have not had time to do a complete test but I thought I would post a quick review to let everyone know how the box worked. The body is made of plastic but seems solid and well constructed. Has inputs for HDMI and comes with breakout cables for componet and composite hookups.Also has S/PDIF, LAN, e-SATA, and 2 USB ports on back. No front display just illuminated power button. First the good- receiver has gorgeous picture and can be configured in a huge amount of ways. Just like a computer you can change background colors, font, menu size and setup. I've never seen so many settings.This is not a receiver for the novice.Took me a long time just to figure out how to scan sats.Comes with a wall wart power adapter with a large usa plug adapter.Now for the bad- firmware is full of bugs. Blindscan is slow (took 15 minutes to scan Galaxy 16 C) and during the scan it shows the transponders it is picking up but it only downloads one channel.So there was only that one to view. I tried again and this time it did not pick up any transponders while my openbox S9 got every transponder in 3 minutes. I tried with Galaxy 19 ku (very slow again) and this time it did better getting most transponders but would only download about half of the channels and when I tried to view these it would show only 5 channels from one transponder. It also does this with the preset automatic scan. It does work okay when you manually enter freq. and this is about the only way to view channels. Perhaps another member who is more experienced can post a more detailed review.

 

[Kraven]

IMO, the only advantage AZBOX has over the rest is the 4:2:2 capability. Did this alone justify the price of these units? In my book no.

Cheers, K

 

[Babadem]

So nothing has changed with the Opensat products. Good hardware, but very poor firmware design/implementation to bring out the best in the various versions of the receivers.

 

[LittleBob]

IMO, the only advantage AZBOX has over the rest is the 4:2:2 capability. Did this alone justify the price of these units? In my book no.

Cheers, K

Unfortunately it does not

 

[pwrsurge]

Blindscan is slow (took 15 minutes to scan Galaxy 16 C) and during the scan it shows the transponders it is picking up but it only downloads one channel.So there was only that one to view. I tried again and this time it did not pick up any transponders while my openbox S9 got every transponder in 3 minutes. I tried with Galaxy 19 ku (very slow again) and this time it did better getting most transponders but would only download about half of the channels and when I tried to view these it would show only 5 channels from one transponder. It also does this with the preset automatic scan. It does work okay when you manually enter freq. and this is about the only way to view channels. Perhaps another member who is more experienced can post a more detailed review.

Thank you for your feedback. Please note that the blindscan will initially detect any active transponders, including the ones that the tuner can't lock such as DCII and DVB-S 8PSK Turbo. During the second phase of the blind scan, each detected transponder is then scanned and available channels are added for each transponder that the receiver is able to lock. The blind scan in other receivers works in a similar way but they typically scan the transponders right away and only show the ones that the receiver is able to lock to the user.

We are aware of the slow blindscan speed which is due to the "detailed" blindscan mode currently being hardcoded in. We initially did not add the "quick" blindscan mode as the accuracy was too low in our initial testing. Once we are able to improve the accuracy of the "quick" blindscan mode to acceptable levels, we will add it as a option in a future firmware update which will offer the ability to perform a much faster blindscan.

As far as the channel list only showing the channels from one transponder, this is due to the channel list initially defaulting to the last scanned provider group name when you start using your receiver for the first time. In order to display all channels on the current satellite, press INFO then the yellow button on your remote control (or OK then the yellow button twice) and select your desired satellite and channel. From this point on, the list will then always show all channels on the current satellite and you simply have to repeat this in order to change satellites.

Just to briefly elaborate, the channel list can be filtered to only show channels in a Favorites channel group, Providers channels group, from a specific Satellite, or All channels (i.e. no filters as all). You may quickly change the current channel list filter simply by pressing OK to display the current channel list followed by the Yellow button. You may then select the desired filter mode by pressing the corresponding color button on your remote control.

Please note that this is version 1.0 of our firmware so there will be many future firmware updates which will fix reported issues and enhance receiver operation.


Best regards,


PwrSurge
AzBox Canada

 

[catamount]

received my azbox mini me yesterday and have not had time to do a complete test but I thought I would post a quick review to let everyone know how the box worked. The body is made of plastic but seems solid and well constructed. Has inputs for HDMI and comes with breakout cables for componet and composite hookups.Also has S/PDIF, LAN, e-SATA, and 2 USB ports on back. No front display just illuminated power button. First the good- receiver has gorgeous picture and can be configured in a huge amount of ways. Just like a computer you can change background colors, font, menu size and setup. I've never seen so many settings.This is not a receiver for the novice.Took me a long time just to figure out how to scan sats.Comes with a wall wart power adapter with a large usa plug adapter.Now for the bad- firmware is full of bugs. Blindscan is slow (took 15 minutes to scan Galaxy 16 C) and during the scan it shows the transponders it is picking up but it only downloads one channel.So there was only that one to view. I tried again and this time it did not pick up any transponders while my openbox S9 got every transponder in 3 minutes. I tried with Galaxy 19 ku (very slow again) and this time it did better getting most transponders but would only download about half of the channels and when I tried to view these it would show only 5 channels from one transponder. It also does this with the preset automatic scan. It does work okay when you manually enter freq. and this is about the only way to view channels. Perhaps another member who is more experienced can post a more detailed review.

I would have to mostly agree, Little Bob. My blindscan of 97 west found 31 TP's and from those it found 298 video and 92 radio. It seemed to lock on transponders where I would have no quality. This added to the blindscan time. I have a few duplicates channels. I think the step frequency is five, but it sometimes locked the TP both under and above the published frequency. Also, using bandstacked so there may be issues.

I would like to see a page up/down key and a last channel key. Also haven't seen a way to delete sat, tp, or a single channel, although I wasn't in the manual pid edit yet.

Haven't had a new box in six years, so happy to test this. Still costs less than my Pansat 1500 from 2004.

 

[LittleBob]

thanks for the info pwrsurge, I will give that a try and look forward to future updates. It would be nice to have page up/down feature that you mention Catamount

 

[pwrsurge]

I would have to mostly agree, Little Bob. My blindscan of 97 west found 31 TP's and from those it found 298 video and 92 radio. It seemed to lock on transponders where I would have no quality. This added to the blindscan time. I have a few duplicates channels. I think the step frequency is five, but it sometimes locked the TP both under and above the published frequency. Also, using bandstacked so there may be issues.

There's no official support for bandstacked LNBF's yet at this time but it is on our todo list of features to add. We first need to setup a dish with a bandstacked LNBF at our test facility however as we currently only have dishes with either standard or universal LNBF's at this time.

I would like to see a page up/down key

These functions have already been implemented for browsing the channel list but we forgot to assign valid default keys for the miniMe remote control in the keybinding setup. Fortunately, you may manually fix this easily by doing the following:

1. Press the MENU key on your remote
2. Select [1] Settings
3. Select [9] Key setup
4. Select [1] Keybinding setup
5. Select Channel list
6. Select "page up" and then "setup new key". You may now press the key you wish to use in order to page up such as the |<< key on your remote
7. Select back then "page down" and "select new key". Again, press the key you wish to use in order to page down such as the >>| key.
8. Exit out of the menus and press OK to show your channel list and your assigned keys should now be able to page up and page down your channel list.

We will fix this in the next firmware update by assigning valid remote control keys as the defaults for page up and page down.

and a last channel key.

This is already implemented. Simply press the 0 key to change to the last channel. You may also press the exit key when no menus are currently being displayed in order to get a history of your last 10 channels.

Also haven't seen a way to delete sat, tp, or a single channel

These functions will be added in a future firmware update. For now, you may manually edit your services.xml file using an external editor. The file can be transferred to and from your receiver via FTP and is located at /var/tuxbox/config/zapit/services.xml


Best regards,


PwrSurge
AzBox Canada

 

[stargaze]

Thank you for your feedback. Please note that the blindscan will initially detect any active transponders, including the ones that the tuner can't lock such as DCII and DVB-S 8PSK Turbo.

Question...
Why is the receiver placing DCII transponders in the receiver when it is not capable of picking up a DCII signal?

 

[pwrsurge]

IMO, the only advantage AZBOX has over the rest is the 4:2:2 capability. Did this alone justify the price of these units? In my book no.

Cheers, K

There are many other options the AzBox miniMe American Edition has over low budget STB receivers such as the Openbox. These currently include:

- Fully integrated media center providing you with the ability to view videos, audio and pictures directly on your TV from a local OR network disk.
- SATA connection for higher external disk performance v.s. USB. This is important as USB is a bottleneck when recording or playing high bitrate content.
- Online radio player capable of receiving over 2500 Canadian and US radio stations streaming on the Internet AND all channels streaming on Icecast.
- Web interface allowing you to remotely control the receiver from any computer on your network.
- Live streaming of the currently tuned channel on any computer in your network.
- Signal analyzer displaying technical details of currently tuned channel.
- Manual PID entry.
- Event timers in order to schedule future recordings, channel changes, custom message popup reminders, sleep mode or shutdown events.
- Safe mode feature capable of fully restoring your system if required.
- Ability to do firmware updates either online or via USB.
- Ability to connect to wireless networks by using the optional WaveFocus wireless USB adapter.
- Better quality hardware and components that won't break down after a few months!
- Ability to customize most remote control keys using the Keybindings option.
- Numerous GUI and other preferences can be customized.
- 2 year hardware warranty!
- North American support
- NTSC mode by default as opposed to PAL
- Oh and... no annoying V. FORMAT button!


And coming soon:
- Web browser
- Youtube player
- Free IPTV channels
- Subscription based IPTV channels
- Other new features which we will reveal over time ...

 

[pwrsurge]

Question...
Why is the receiver placing DCII transponders in the receiver when it is not capable of picking up a DCII signal?

It's not adding them as permanent transponders but in a temporary list of transponders stored in RAM which later gets scanned. At that point, only transponders with one or more channels actually get added permanently in the satellite's transponder list.


Regards,

PwrSurge
AzBox Canada

 

[tanka]

minime

I have the minime from saturday and the box are ok.If you do the setup from the started guide everithing working fine.Blind scan are better and fast then azbox premium plus.I like the box. For now I only have 55 west 58 west 61ku +c west 97ku+c west hispansat t12 and did one good job.Yes did have same problemes butt only one update.To delete channels did have to delete one by one but if you like to delete one full satellite don't see that.I have 12 satellites done by yesterday but I don't like the job I did I dicide to delete all and start one new scan.So now I only have 8 satellites done.

 

[scopus]

Mine has arrived from Canada. First off the blindscan works albeit a bit slow, but it has not hung the receiver so far, especially after deleting a satellite on the PC software the re-scanning with the bind scan. Connected a HDD via USB it formatted OK and recorded OK and played back OK but then you stop the playback a black screen appears then you need to reboot to restore the menu and operation. My biggest gripe is after a blindscan and when you come back out of Standby you sometimes get 'Channel not available' even though it was OK before standby and the signal and quality is OK on the meters, a real pain, I assume this might be something to do with the 3.5.5 kernel this receiver uses. Are there any plans to migrate back to 3.3.1 with this software? Overall though it's OK, fairly stable, the best AZtrino so far for me. Sort this Channel bug out and it will be fine

 

[pwrsurge]

Mine has arrived from Canada. First off the blindscan works albeit a bit slow, but it has not hung the receiver so far, especially after deleting a satellite on the PC software the re-scanning with the bind scan. Connected a HDD via USB it formatted OK and recorded OK and played back OK but then you stop the playback a black screen appears then you need to reboot to restore the menu and operation. My biggest gripe is after a blindscan and when you come back out of Standby you sometimes get 'Channel not available' even though it was OK before standby and the signal and quality is OK on the meters, a real pain, I assume this might be something to do with the 3.5.5 kernel this receiver uses. Are there any plans to migrate back to 3.3.1 with this software? Overall though it's OK, fairly stable, the best AZtrino so far for me. Sort this Channel bug out and it will be fine

We are aware of the blindscan issue and are currently working on a firmware update to improve its performance. If you get 'Channel not available' after blindscan, simply try changing to a channel that's on a different transponder and change back and it should come in fine. We will try to prevent this from happening in a future firmware update. As for the black screen after stopping playback, it does take a few seconds for the multimedia drivers to switch from playback back to regular viewing mode so you need to give it a bit of time after exiting the video player.

Please note that our firmware for the miniMe American edition is NOT based on AZtrino so most of the issues related to the 3.5.5 kernel don't apply here. With that being said, we may change to a different kernel version if it provides a better overall user experience.



Best regards,


PwrSurge

AzBox Canada

 

[scopus]

We are aware of the blindscan issue and are currently working on a firmware update to improve its performance. If you get 'Channel not available' after blindscan, simply try changing to a channel that's on a different transponder and change back and it should come in fine. We will try to prevent this from happening in a future firmware update. As for the black screen after stopping playback, it does take a few seconds for the multimedia drivers to switch from playback back to regular viewing mode so you need to give it a bit of time after exiting the video player.

Please note that our firmware for the miniMe American edition is NOT based on AZtrino so most of the issues related to the 3.5.5 kernel don't apply here. With that being said, we may change to a different kernel version if it provides a better overall user experience.



Best regards,


PwrSurge

AzBox Canada

The channel change works fine after blindscan, I will try giving the media player more time.
Thanks for clearing up that it is not based on AZtrino..thats why it works then!!

 

[madmadworld]

does it use the same remote as 1st & 2nd generation AZ boxes ?
thanks

 

[madmadworld]

First the good- receiver has gorgeous picture and can be configured in a huge amount of ways. .

what size screen you viewing ?
thanks

 

[pwrsurge]

does it use the same remote as 1st & 2nd generation AZ boxes ?
thanks

The remote key layout is different but as the same IR codes are used, any remote from an older AzBox HD model can also control the miniMe.


Regards,


PwrSurge
AzBox Canada

 

[LittleBob]

37" HD LCD

what size screen you viewing ?
thanks