Visionsat IV200 or Fortec Mercury II?

[Radioguy41]

I'm a long time BUD guy who's just now getting into FTA. I am somewhat constrained by a fixed income so my options are limited. After reading several reviews and doing some comparisons I've narrowed it to the Visionsat IV200 PVR and the Fortec Star Mercury II. They are both available right now for around $100.00 give or take. Anybody have an opinion on which would be the better choice and why? Or is there a better option out there that I'm not seeing?

 

[phlatwound]

I have the Visionsat and am very happy with it, if those 2 choices were the same price I would take the Visionsat for the PVR capabilities, if nothing else. Lots of people here have one or the other, and I have heard very little bad about either box.

 

[Mr Tony]

I have the Visionsat and am very happy with it, if those 2 choices were the same price I would take the Visionsat for the PVR capabilities, if nothing else. Lots of people here have one or the other, and I have heard very little bad about either box.

+1

The Visionsat has PVR so even those thumb drives work. I had a 2GB for a while but upgraded to a 320GB drive

 

[avg1joe]

The visionsat has been my main box for about a year now. I looked at the mercury but had to go with the pvr. I rarely watch live tv now. I record my favorite shows, watch them later and fast forward through the movies. Firmware updates with the usb stick are very easy. The visionsat blind scans painfully slow compared to my traxis but I'm not sure how fast the mercury scans.

 

[brentb636]

Well, I have both receivers ( 2 Merc II's actually ) and prefer the Merc II for blindscanning and general "investigative" work . I prefer the IV200 for actually watching TV . Not only does the IV200 have PVR capability, but you can adjust the video contrast, brightness, and color at the receiver, which gives you a nice quality video image.
My vote is for the Merc II as a single receiver. It has never failed me on blindscanning, while the IV200 has refused on occasion to deal with some apparently innocuous transponders.

 

[TRG]

I picked up a Merc II when SatAV ran a sale at Christmas. I really like it. I also have a PVR unit called a Viewsat VS PRO. Although I have it working now it gave me lots and lots of grief when I first got it. I DO NOT recommend the Viewsat VS PRO. From what I've read the Visionsat IV200 is MUCH MUCH better and easier to use.

I don't think you could go wrong with either unit. Review the features and pick the one that's right for you.

 

[gabshere]

and doing some comparisons I've narrowed it to the Visionsat IV200 PVR and the Fortec Star Mercury II

I know you said you've narrowed the choices down to these two listed above
I don't have either box but i'm sure both are very good . but i did want to toss a good blind scanner into the mix, the coolsat 5000.... and it currently going for 1/2 the price you listed above on ebay ( if you can find a seller your comfortable to deal with) . it doesn't have PVR abilities and i'm sure the merc II is equal or better in many ways but it is a great little blind scanner, has a easy to use menu and the price alone sets it up to be a bargain (since all the dvb-s2 stuff hitting the market and probably lost a lot of it luster in the hacking area). i have two 5000's and one 6000 and the only thing i wish was that every box was as easy to setup, maintain, download channel list ,edit them and upload them back to the box. moves a big dish via v-box/g-box very well ( well enough that i disconnected my analog box so the coolsat can move the big dish with a v-box) .... i love it.. another area it lacks is control of a corotor ( i think some pansats can do this )

one thing if we can get the guys to answer ( if any have tried) .... how well does the merc II or the Visionsat IV200 PVR do controling a v-box/g-box type setup (via diesqc 1.2 commands)



just a thought

 

[Tron]

The Visionsat is a great receiver, I love the PVR function (and am spoiled by it ). The only problem I've had with it is that the PC-based channel editing software has a bug which causes it to crash when an attempt is made to save changes to the channel list. This problem also exists in the Coolsat 7000 series (which are basically the same receiver). If this problem would ever be solved, I'd consider the Visionsat the perfect SD DVB box.

 

[Radioguy41]

Great!

Results so far:

Visionsat IV200 = 4
Fortec Star Merc II = 1
Coolsat 5000 = 1
Equal V or F = 1

I read the reviews on the Coolsat 5000 and got the impression there were some scanning issues where channels were missed on blind scans. Currently I would weigh in favor of accuracy over speed. I do like the AC3 audio outputs as well as component outputs though. Thanks for putting it in the mix.

Anybody else?

 

[brentb636]

Me again ! You're not going to go wrong with any of those boxes. They have their individual characteristics, and probably so do you. If you expect to spend more time searching for feeds, etc than watching TV, I still recommend the Merc II. If you expect to watch TV more than search for it, then my vote goes to the IV200 . The Coolsat 5000/6000 , highly competent, is probably the least expensive these days. How can you make a choice ? Buy one of each, then you can chime in on the next thread like this !!

 

[Radioguy41]

Buy one of each !!

I don't think I'd be watching much TV from the doghouse (if I had one) or the shed! No....wait...if I ran a cable through the conduit to the shed and................hum, gotta think about this...

 

[concord]

I've had the Merc II for almost 2 years and I just picked up the Visionsat from a famous auction place.

The Merc was easier to set up, more intuitive and seem to perform blindscan better than the Visionsat (as mentioned by brent636). So for hunting, I prefer the Merc.

I do like the Visionsat channel menus, better colors/contrast and of course the PVR functions. Would be nice if someone came out with a receiver that would allow downloading guide information from the internet (like from Titan) so that the recorded programs have a name other than the channel name on them...

 

[rv1pop]

I just purchased two more Mercury II. I really like them. The only pvr/dvr I have is the new Glorystar rig and that is awesome! But it is designed for Glorystar - Plug and Play. As far as anyother unit, I have no opinion. BUT between the two, Mercury II gets my vote.
POP

 

[Radioguy41]

Not to go too far afield but on the subject of PVR/DVR, I have a Polaroid DRM-2100G DVR. If you can find one, buy it! It is unbelievably robust. Be aware the manual was probably the worst manual ever issued with an electronic piece of equipment. Virtually everything you need to know is incorrect, misleading, or missing all together. However, there is ample documentation on the Internet and a little hands-on will go a long way. I love this thing! By the way, you'll probably see refurbed ones for sale. Don't be afraid to buy one. Most refurbs were sent back to Wal-Mart because people couldn't figure out, based on the manual, how to work it. :up

 

[Mr Tony]

I have the 2001G DVD recorder/dvr

works decent but my 2 Radio Shack ones blow the Poloroid away. Much easier to edit and remove commercials (or intermissions during a hockey game)

 

[Anole]

nix R/S

Radio Shack changes models a couple of times a year, obsoleting what went before it.
Without more info on the R/S, I wouldn't know where to look.

I got a DVD recorder a while back, marked down to pocket change (around $40).
It's the most disgusting thing to use - the menu and operations are completely illogical.
Only by reading the manual time after time, was I able to label and close out discs.
If you don't use it most every day, it's a mystery again! -

I will usually say something good about R/S, 'cause one of my long-time buddies is a manager of one.
And he's actually got a brain, too!

edit: oh, sorry. Was way off topic, there.
See my signature for FTA receiver choices I've made (and kept).