What about a Sonicview 8000HD? I heard it was pretty stable. Does it scan? or is the pansat 9200HD better?
I have one. It does blind scan, and it will do MPEG-4 if you get the add on card for it. I'm currently using it for C and KU bands and it works really good for both.Can't get any analog C band with it though, but there are not very many of those left.
The satellite setting are somewhat outdated on a lot of the FTA satellites. However since it has the front USB port you can just download your channel and satellite informaion and edit it on Channel Master.
Things I like about this receiver:
1. Bllind scan
2. Tells you the resolution of programming on info screen
3. Channel search feature, great if you can't remember a channel number but do rember the name
4. Fairly easy to get going if you're familar with FTA equipment
5. Front USB port for easy channel back up/editing
6. Able to control motorized dish using DiseQc commands
Problems I've had:
1. Touchy remote, lots of double registers when you only meant to hit once
2. When receiver is turned off it randomly moves motorized dish to various satellites for no apparent reason (no timers turned on)
3. The PVR function (requires a external HDD) is more like a VCR, so you can set it to record something but not rewind live tv. Also splits large recordings into multiple files and doesn't always name things like you tell it to.
4. Outdated satellite listings from factory. They can be updated by downloading channel info and editing in Channel Master, but it can be time consuming depending on the number of sats you need to correct.