Opinions, Please: Coolsat 7000 or 6000?

[stogie5150]

What should I pull the trigger on? I need a new box, I like the TIVO like buffer of the 7000, but for TRUE FTA use (motor,blind scan) precious little can I find on the 7000. Fron searching the "Eye Patch Gang" websites yesterday, I see that they are having trouble stealing with the 7000, so thats a good thing, but of course on those sites no one uses a motor or blindscan so anything you find is pretty much useless.

We know the 6000 is a known quantity. Getting harder to find one though.

Money is not an issue, inasmuch as I have the money for either. The Sonicview went bye-bye on ebay yesterday.

I am running out of reccommended boxes to try. I've had the SatPros, Captiveworks 600,Traxis 3500,Traxis 1500,Sonicview 4000, Visionsat IV-200.

I am beginning to think that they ALL are a crapshoot and just buy the newest, prettiest box.

 

[SatinKzo]

All I can add is my Conaxsat Trio works great with a motor, blind scan is very comparable to my Pansat 3500 and now the unit has a tivo like buffer to optional attached USB 2.0 drive.

So since the trio works well, I would have to believe the whole lineup works similar.

 

[stogie5150]

All I can add is my Conaxsat Trio works great with a motor, blind scan is very comparable to my Pansat 3500 and now the unit has a tivo like buffer to optional attached USB 2.0 drive.

So since the trio works well, I would have to believe the whole lineup works similar.

Wow, so THREE of the recivers look exactly the same. Your Trio, my Visonsat, and the Coolsat 7000 look almost identical except for minor cosmetic differences...The Trio looks nice, but just a little out of my price range. I need to keep it under 200.00 at all costs.
Thanks for the info, in any case. :up

 

[gabshere]

there is an advantage to keeping the receivers the same
one feature i like for my (2) coolsat 5000's is that i can scan and fix up the channel list for one and then push it to the other box then i have boxes fixed up the exactly the same.

 

[SatinKzo]

The visionsat and coolsat are very similar, the conaxsat uses different chips internally so I don't think they are related per se.

As for the Trio being pricey, yeah, it is, but I love the divx feature. You might wanna look at the Duo or even the mini, but I am not sure the mini has the buffer feature.

 

[Comptech]

What should I pull the trigger on? I need a new box, I like the TIVO like buffer of the 7000, but for TRUE FTA use (motor,blind scan) precious little can I find on the 7000. Fron searching the "Eye Patch Gang" websites yesterday, I see that they are having trouble stealing with the 7000, so thats a good thing, but of course on those sites no one uses a motor or blindscan so anything you find is pretty much useless.

We know the 6000 is a known quantity. Getting harder to find one though.

Money is not an issue, inasmuch as I have the money for either. The Sonicview went bye-bye on ebay yesterday.

I am running out of reccommended boxes to try. I've had the SatPros, Captiveworks 600,Traxis 3500,Traxis 1500,Sonicview 4000, Visionsat IV-200.

I am beginning to think that they ALL are a crapshoot and just buy the newest, prettiest box.

I run a 7000 on a 1.2 meter just fine with usals. The trick with this STB is finding a harddrive to work with it. I went through two new drives {W.D. and Maxtor} before I finally used my old original maxtor one touch wich works fine. Also a friend used a external enclosure with a 200 gig wd with no problems. The STB has very good picture quality and has zero problems with my HH120. I would recommend it to anyone.

 

[Anole]

looking forward

To respond to the original question, I think the 6000 would be a bad choice, today.
It has been reported as having reached EOL (end of life), not too long after its little brother 5000 went away.

As for the other choices, they are equally difficult.
Does anybody really make a solid 'n reliable box for the real FTA user?
Well, what about the Mercury II?
I'm sure it's got some shortcoming. (?)

But I would personally be looking forward to a receiver with a hard drive in it.
That's just where I am.
Kinda jaded with a Dish PVR 508, so anything less wouldn't satisfy.

If I were spending money today, I'd want to audition the CS 7000, Visionsat IV-200, and the Conaxsat Duo.
And I'm not aware of any other units that fall into that specific category.
None that have been reported on, at SatGuy's, that's for sure.

 

[tdti1]

I see the Coolsat 6100 has replaced the 6000, so you may want to look into that.

 

[Comptech]

I see the Coolsat 6100 has replaced the 6000, so you may want to look into that.

That is just a 6000 with a usb port added for loading bins only, no hardrive support.

 

[stogie5150]

The diference in price is negligible between the 6100 and 7000.

I think it says a WHOLE lot about the 'eye patch bunch" affecting the market ( which we all knew anyway),that all three of the receivers my lizard friend mentioned in his post look almost exactly the same. makes one wonder just how different some of these really are and whether or not they are coming out of the same factory.

Right now, the 7000 is in the lead.

 

[tdti1]

Actually most do come out of the same factory.

 

[Tron]

Out of curiosity, did you find the Visionsat IV-200 to be problematical in any way? I've been seriously considering purchasing one of these, especially since the price has dropped considerably and Visionsat seems to be offering adequate firmware updates to squash bugs. I don't need the buffering feature of the CS-7000, so that's a non-issue...

EDIT: Just read your post in the FTA Shack. Have you tried the new firmware that's out?

 

[Anole]

The last few pages of the IV200 review thread seem to suggest an unresolved bug.
As a result, I cannot currently recommend the unit.
I, too, had been impressed with their lowered price and willingness to resolve issues.

There was supposed to be an IV300 with buffering, but I don't know if/when that might come to market.
I take it that without the feature, you cannot pause live TV, unless you are actively recording?
It is not well documented in the review thread, and I certainly thought the -200 with its latest firmware and hard drive, did everything the Viewsat 7000 was capable of.

 

[stogie5150]

Out of curiosity, did you find the Visionsat IV-200 to be problematical in any way? I've been seriously considering purchasing one of these, especially since the price has dropped considerably and Visionsat seems to be offering adequate firmware updates to squash bugs. I don't need the buffering feature of the CS-7000, so that's a non-issue...

EDIT: Just read your post in the FTA Shack. Have you tried the new firmware that's out?

Bring your tail over here and I'll show you MY Visionsat.
And you can get your hardware kit for your motor.

 

[stogie5150]

The last few pages of the IV200 review thread seem to suggest an unresolved bug.
As a result, I cannot currently recommend the unit.
I, too, had been impressed with their lowered price and willingness to resolve issues.

There was supposed to be an IV300 with buffering, but I don't know if/when that might come to market.
I take it that without the feature, you cannot pause live TV, unless you are actively recording?
It is not well documented in the review thread, and I certainly thought the -200 with its latest firmware and hard drive, did everything the Viewsat 7000 was capable of.

Ice can tell us about the buffering issue with a hard drive.

I really don't have many issues with the Visionsat other than its blind scan is slow as Christmas, it locks up when you tune a 4:2:2 signal, I can't get USALS to work on mine, and the broken disecq switching issue. The rest of the box is nice, although let me say I don't have a HD hooked to mine, either.

And you can get them for a lot less than 150.00 too. a LOT less.


Now, all that being said, lemme get off my soap box here and order a new Coolsat 7000. Look for a mini review as soon as it gets here.

 

[Anole]

Viewsat VS Pro: bad news

Now, all that being said, lemme get off my soap box here and order a new Coolsat 7000.
Look for a mini review as soon as it gets here.

That sounds outstanding. - :up
I'd love to see one of the new breed of PVRs with a full ten thumb's up!
... even it it does take 5 reviewers to come up with that many thumbs!

This breed of receiver has been on the scene since about the first of the year, 2007.
Some of the other early boxes didn't quite work as required by FTAers.
It's amazing they had any sales at all.
SonicView is one name that comes to mind.
In just this year, some companies have brought out additional models, and I think they've pretty much abandon early units...
...unless they've been embraced by the the eye-patch gang...

Oh, and to the point of this post:
Our good friend and member, TRG, has some harsh words for his Viewsat VS Pro.
It seems to have come to market without the basic skills required to make an FTAer happy.
Read his comments, for a real eye opener.
And if this post is old when you read it, do your homework - a new firmware may have come out to fix all the problems.


ref:
http://www.satelliteguys.us/1089562-post18.html

 

[stogie5150]

175.00 Shipped on Fleabay from a Coolsat authorized dealer. They shipped it today.

 

[stogie5150]

.......and I got it today. Initial setup confirms what was already stated. The 7000 and the Visionsat are fraternal twins. Although so far the disecq switching WORKS on the Coolsat 7000.

All I have done is scan one satellite so far, but it worked just like the Visionsat, only difference is the OSD/channel info bar is different. but all the other menus are almost exactly the same.
I have it on the motor but I have not stored any sats other than the one it was sitting on, G10. It did fine, but the blind scan is slow as Christmas past.

I've only found one issue I do not like so far, but before I report it I have to do a little more research.

More coming tomorrow, along with pics. I have to go tomorrow morning and align a friend's D* dish, he has NO HD at all...so he called ME instead of D*...

 

[Mr Tony]

I really don't have many issues with the Visionsat other than its blind scan is slow as Christmas,

you need to set the parameters. It defaults to 10700-12900 on blind scan. Switch to 11700-12200 and it works fine

it locks up when you tune a 4:2:2 signal

agreed

I can't get USALS to work on mine,

eh? USALS on mine is bang on when I had it set up to the motor

and the broken disecq switching issue.

eh again? What do you mean? I have a 8x1 uncommitted switch and a 4x1 switch off port 2 of said uncommitted switch and it works just fine.

 

[stogie5150]

My Visionsat will not switch when I blindscan. It just won't. I had to take the switch out to get it to blindscan. If the switch is in there, and I blindscan, it goes through its scanning boogie screens, then reports 0 channels found. Tried three different switches. Someone else on here's does it too.

USALS is at least 10 degrees off. Overshoots every time. I tried to recalc but it doesn't work, either. I have to use 1.2 and store each one.

I'll check on the blindscan parameters, thanks for the tip.