Read this, maybe?
http://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/thr...-dvbs2-stb-photos-and-initial-testing.351697/
I don't know how all the latest firmwares have made the HDVR3500 now, if there's been improvements or not, because I'm running a modified 872? firmware and bailed a long time ago on waiting for fixes/upgrades from SatAV.
It's a decent receiver, I like it quite a bit, but I also fixed all my problems with it myself. I have no idea if any of the issues I was having with the receiver have been fixed in the later firmware releases, my guess would be no, but I could be wrong. Not worth the $160 or so, in my opinion. And if you have problems, be prepared to fix them yourself or live with them.
To my knowledge, my issues with it haven't been fixed in firmware releases, so I'd be screwed if I was the average user. The editor is still not working either, which is silly, I have a working editor, it wasn't hard to fix.
I like the HDVR3500 a lot, but if I wasn't able to fix the issues I had on it myself, it would have gone back for a refund, or in the garbage.
The thread is real looong, but read through the thread on the HDVR3500 before you buy one. Lots of opinions there.
The Linux aspect of it may have some attraction and bearing on your decision, reading some of your past posts, it seems that you use and are pretty comfortable with Linux.