Which 1 to Pick

[I_Know_What_U_Last_Week]

Ok i am having problem picking which FTA ird i should buy .... Some 1 help here are my choices

1 Coolsat 4000 pro
2 Pansat 2700a
3 " " 3500

I dont know i am so lost i am kinda new at this ..so if ne help or advice helps
I am willing to spend like 300 $ Us .... so ne help out there
Thanks Again

 

[maddawg]

I would wait until the prices drop. Current receivers are just overpriced.

 

[Mr Tony]

I'd get a Fortec right now...as maddawg said the above 3 are WAAAAYYY overpriced right now.

 

[Technojunky]

Lets just say that they all cost the same price, Which one is the best for for all around use. This is to say that someone put a freeride in your hand, you can have any receiver that is commonly available as a FTa receiver. Which one do you get, and why. I would like the answer to this one too. Joe

 

[Mr Tony]

Pansat 3500 to answer that question

The 3500 is a newer model of the 2700. And Ive tested both the 3500 and the Coolsat 4000 (see reviews)

 

[Shawn95GT]

I've had a Coolsat and someday I might actually get my Pansat 3500s (I'm waiting for it to ship).

Some people that have had both stuck with the CoolSat. Some went with the Pansat.

Basically, whichever receiver meets YOUR needs is the one you should go with.

I went with the PanSat 3500s because it has polarotor control for my big dish and it has component video output. If I didn't need the polarotor control now I'd be happy with my Coolsat.

The 2700 is just an older model but is otherwise similar to the 3500s.

Like Iceberg said, the Fortec is the best bang for the buck right now.

 

[raydio]

Shawn will the 3500 control the BUD actuator? And like eliminate the V-Box from my system? I have a Coolsat now and a bum V-Box.

 

[Shawn95GT]

Shawn will the 3500 control the BUD actuator? And like eliminate the V-Box from my system? I have a Coolsat now and a bum V-Box.

no - just the skew control. I have a VBOX DP710 to run the actuator. I'll hopefully get the actuator / VBOX setup this weekend.

 

[Technojunky]

So the Coolsat pro 4000 is as good as the 3500s, except for motor control features that only so many people care about. The most refined receiver, one that doesn't look like something someone put together in their garage, one with smooth good looking menus, and useful, powerful functions that help the FTA process along, this is what I am looking for. Maybe i am expecting too much for an FTA receiver.

 

[Mr Tony]

3500 has AC-3 output for the PBS stations...I dont know if the Coolsat does or not
3500 you can add a UHF remote to it

 

[Technojunky]

Yes it does have AC3 output for Dolby Digital.

 

[Mr Tony]

are you sure? I don't think it does

 

[Shawn95GT]

Yes it does have AC3 output for Dolby Digital.

There should be a Big 'ol asterix on that.

Up until the recent 1.3 firmware, AC3 was not working at all on the Coolsat.

Now, some of it works... and some channels need a little prodding to make it work. WTracy's Coolsat 1.3 firmware thread in the review section explains this pretty good.

Before I sold the Coolsat I had AC3 audio on the PBS channels as well as ImagineAsian on G10R.

 

[bigOleB]

The Coolsat 4000 Pro Shawn is speaking of was tuned last night to PBS with AC3 audio. It works, but I have to manually input audio ID's after blind scan.

 

[Shawn95GT]

The Coolsat 4000 Pro Shawn is speaking of was tuned last night to PBS with AC3 audio. It works, but I have to manually input audio ID's after blind scan.

The PBS channels were wierd... I deleted them and re-scanned them in... tune the channel, and had no sound... channel up and then back down... now it has sound and the APID took. All the PBS channels did that.

ImagineAsian I had to manaully do in NDFEdit.

I'm glad to hear that it's work'n out good for you!

Shawn

 

[Technojunky]

That is good to know.. I hope a new model comes with the latest firmware and lives up to these claims:

Feature Set

* Mpeg-2 Digital and Full DVB
* On-Screen Display with 256-Full Color Interface
* Blind Search (Power Scan)
* Extended EPG and Program Reservation through EPG
* Dual RCA
* S-Video
* SPDIF Digital Sound
* DiseqC Control Version 1.0, 1.2 and USALS
* Re-namable 8 Favorite Channel Groups
* Powerful Channel Control by Favorites, Loc, Skip, Move and Channel Sorting by Alphabet, Transponder
* 10 Languages (OSG and Menu): English, Spanish, Portuguese, French,
* German, Turkish, Arabic, Parsi
* Extended EPG and Program Reservation through EPG
* Tele-text Support (OSD and VBI Insertion)
* Last Channel Memory Function
* Total 4,000 Channels
* Pre-Installed Channels (Optional)
* Multi-Satellite
* Various Games Included (Tetris, Sokoban)
* Parental Lock/Installation Lock
* Zoom-In Function



*

 

[Shawn95GT]

See- it says nothing about AC3, just SPDIF .

Coolsat USA says SPDIF, many resellers say 'Dolby Digital / AC3 audio'.

Shawn

 

[Mr Tony]

Extended EPG and Program Reservation through EPG

that feature is useless in the US since most programs have no epg

 

[Technojunky]

This is right from the Coolsat site:

Coolsat 4000 Pro Digital FTA Receiver
-ALL NEW 2005 MODEL-

High Quality FTA Receiver with many features.

* 2mb Flash Rom for Fast GUI, channel changing and satellite search
* Blind Search (Power Scan)
* S-Video Out
* Dolby SPDIF Out
* Dual RCA out
* Universal Remote
* Easy-to-use Interface
* 4000 Channels Programmable

 

[Shawn95GT]

This is right from the Coolsat site:

Coolsat 4000 Pro Digital FTA Receiver
-ALL NEW 2005 MODEL-

High Quality FTA Receiver with many features.

* 2mb Flash Rom for Fast GUI, channel changing and satellite search
* Blind Search (Power Scan)
* S-Video Out
* Dolby SPDIF Out
* Dual RCA out
* Universal Remote
* Easy-to-use Interface
* 4000 Channels Programmable

Still doesn't say Dolbly Digital (I guess it's infered in Dolby SPDIF) or AC3. You can have digital audio and not support AC3 though. On the Pansat it says "S/PDIF (Digital Audio or Dolby AC3 Stream out)".

Potatos / Potatoes

I've verified that AC3 audio worked for me with a little prodding. It's wasn't seamless by any means .