SATNUX HD+ SC PVR Review

Posted May 30, 2011 by Linux-TV

From the Danish Linux TV specialist TV Radio Shoppen we have the subject of this review the Linux satellite television receiver SATNUX HD+ SC PVR. Priced around €200 / £150 makes a affordable single DVB-S2 tuner PVR ready box.

Design and connectivity

The SATNUX HD+ SC PVR is in stylish black design which is broken on the front by a curving gold/yellowish line. On the front we the single built in card reader which offers the option of viewing encrypted channels using a viewing card, providing you install a softcam plugin of course. Out of the box with factory firmware the card reader is not activated.

Apart from the card reader the front offers diode indicator which tells you if the box is on or not and blinks if there is recording going on. Beside that indicator you find the only button on the front which is the standby button.

To control the box you need the included remote control

The back includes these connections:

LNB in and LNB out
RS232 port
DVI out (A DVI-HDMI cable is supplied)
Ethernet connection
e-Sata port
2 X USB ports
Scart
S/pdif out optical audio out
Modem port

Included in the box:

Remote control
DVI – HDMI cable
Cables and screws for mounting an internal hard drive
Scart adapter
Power supply

In many ways this model is an alternative to the original DM 800 model, which is no longer being produced. Some of the points the reseller TV Radio Shoppen mentions regarding the Satnux model is that it has more ram, better cooling and a faster chipset. When talking cooling there is no need to worry about noise, the Satnux is a passive cooled box. Only noise you will hear will be depending on what noise your internally mounted hard drive makes. You could also just choose to use an external hard drive via the e-Sata port.

Using DVI me seem a bit old school but it does not really pose a problem in usability. The supplied DVI / HDMI cable offers both sound and video as if you had a regular HDMI cable.

[stextbox id=”info” caption=”Power usage”]Powerwise we measured the box to 15,9 W in use and 10 W in standby. There was no Deep Standby option in the installed image. If we have installed a deep standby supported image we probably could have a lower standby use.[/stextbox]

Installation

Accompanying our review sample was a 500 GB 2.5 ” hard drive which we installed inside the box. Installing is quite easy. The Satnux use a hard drive cage which you first remove. Then it is just a matter of mounting the drive to the hard drive cage, placing it inside the box and screws back in and connecting the cables.

One thing to note that if you choose to use an internal hard drive you cannot use the external e-Sata port at the same time since they share the same port inside the box.

The box comes with Linux software pre installed but you will properly want to install something else. You can download images from the site www.satnux.com or use the e-Star image converter to convert DM 800 images for use in the box.

Software updating is done via the RS-232 port so if you do not have a computer with a serial communication port you will need a USB – RS232 cable.

Like with Enigma2 images most there is a start up guide on first intallation of the box regarding tuner and LNB settings, language and more. The LNB and tuner setup is pretty straight forward and scanning found all channels on our installed positions 1 West, 19,2 East and 28,2 East.

Daily use

The SATNUX HD+ SC PVR is impressive when it comes to zapping speed. There is really no wait for pictures even when zapping through HD channels. In the box menus the controls seemed a bit slower but perhaps that was specific for the image installed.

The supplied remote does not have direct buttons for the PVR. You have to make use of the color buttons or use the shift button on the remote. Which seems to depend on the image you install.

In general the SATNUX HD+ SC PVR offers all what you expect from Enigma2 software receivers. Teletext, subtitle support, EPG which includes Freesat support if you enable it in the settings. There is really no limit to what you can tweak and of course changing the look of the on screen menus is easily done via installing additional skins.

PVR and media playback

After formatting the installed hard drive and making sure the recording paths are set up correctly you can record or pause live tv. Recording can be done manually, via the EPG or even via web interface. Should you wish to record more than 1 program simultaneously that is no problem as long a the other program is on a channel on the same transponder as the one you are recording from. The SATNUX HD+ SC PVR will even highlight which channels you are able to zap to when recording.

Rewind and fast forwarding can be done using the buttons on the remote or you can jump using the numeric keys on the remote. Of course recordings are saved on the hard drive as .ts files and can easily be transfered out of the box if you wish.

The SATNUX HD+ SC PVR is able to playback most of your media content like movies, music and pictures on the internal or network or USB connected media.

Addtional media support like YouTube etc. can be installed via plugins.

SATNUX HD+ SC PVR Product Video

TV Radio Shoppen offers this product video about the SATNUX HD+ SC PVR

Final words

The SATNUX HD+ SC PVR is a great option for those who want a cheap but fast Enigma2 Linux box which offering the freedom of choice when it comes to images, installing addons and general control of all settings. TV Radio Shoppen has a 2 year warranty on this model which is an indication of how much they believe in their product.

The SATNUX HD+ SC PVR has been working great for us and especially the fast zapping speed impressed us. Installing a hard drive and making use if the PVR support is easy. So to sum it up you get a lot and for a competitive price.

TV Radio Shoppen is also looking for resellers for the Satnux. Click here for contact details