how good is the Linkbox 8000Hd local?

[lamothefitz]

I’m looking to get a new receiver and after reading hours and hours of posts, I’m down to a Linkbox and Dreamlink. I’ve made a list of all the good and bad features of the Dreamlink. Now I would like to hear some dislikes on the Linkbox. I know all boxes have pluses and minuses, but could I get some input on the points of the Linkbox 8000Hd local? It seems that the more I read the more confused I get.

[Loomis]

well I luv my linkbox. it has been running flawlessly since setup. the picture quality is really good, the guide is easy to maneuver around and has populated no problems. it was fairly simple to setup, took updates no problem. I really like its wireless capabilities. it connected first time to server and haven't had any issues with it since. All that bein said it is a descent box im thinking of getting another one for the bedroom. I don't know anything about dreamlink but have heard good reviews about it too.

[TurboPirate]

It all depends on what you want from the receiver, both receivers are good maybe looking at differences between them can help you choose, what can 1 do that the other can't...........Turbo

[redemption]

Linkbox in general (i.e. local, plus and hd) didn't do too well with 1000.2 dishes meaning it can't power it and then would blow a certain circuit as per link box's fix listed on it's website. To simply not go there installing the receiver with a dp44 power inserter circumvented the issue or you could try your luck blow the resistor and do some soldering for the jump like the factory repair diagram shows. Either way the receiver is very good and yes the sister Ilink unit is the same. I did see the new ilinks now have a freshly soldered capacitor not flush mounted coming from the factory as of last week so it seems the factory is making the iffy step of repairing this issue from them and not going through the nightmare of having end users trying their luck at soldering and then sending in their units after finding out "it looked easier than it was!"

as for dream links I used them prior to going with the link boxes and they were ok but if I bought 5 of them one or two of them had signal issues.. never really got to the bottom of the problem but it seemed like the 8psk chip was part of the issue for when they got hot they chipped and never aligned correctly and if you had the luck of it working and you pulled it just to see it never worked again PERIOD.. a lot of people swear by the dream links and for some time I was one of them but they never fixed some of their long term issues so I left them for something better and I am very happy with the link boxes for even with the capacitor issue I don't have any units that are just "sitting here" as a trophy

[redemption]

the down side of locals or Linkboxes in general:

One of the biggest problems with Linkboxes are their guides and they do a pretty good job of sucking

another big problem is the box doesn't exactly make software updates easy when you try it loses all your private server info and you need to either find it out again from your own records but don't think you can simply look at the private server info in the box then write it down for it doesn't show you this info it's x out... so in essense upgrading can be a time consuming mess

what I do and this seems to save time for me is one put stickers on the boxes and their corresponding private server info that way I never loose that info

second I make backup of all my channel lists and backup of the box in general that way I can simply do an update add my channel list and add my server info and then do a backup of all of it so I have a backup that I can do new boxes or simply redo my own with the back up files it really is easy and all of the new boxes support this method entirely

[sunrise]

The Linkbox is a solid box. If you want built in wifi it is the way to go. The T5 dream does not have that but it does have optical out for your home theater. (Linkbox does not have) When you turn the linkbox on it will say you dhcp failed and it will appear not to work - HOLD ON for a minute and a picture will come up and show the wifi right before it does. One other drawback is sometimes when exiting the EPG it may take the sound 10-15 seconds to come on. The "8282" code to enter the "hidden menu" to enter the server infro is a little strange but once you know it is there - everything is easy. Some operations are a little different but mostly just different. Once in a while you will have an EPG loading problem but going to channel 239 and turning the unit off with the REMOTE for a minute or two will usually solve that. From what I have seen of the Linkbox it is a good buy and the box to have if you want wifi

[lamothefitz]

Maybe I should update as I’ve been reading all the reply’s. I bought my linkbox about a month ago. I like the fact that I don’t have the freezing problem that I had with me CNX, but not too happy with the 10-30 second lag when existing the EPM and sometimes the EPG and the info program display give different info. Ex: EPG ,will say DYI “house hunters” and the info display will say “doing your backyard”. Also I was playing with the SAT button where you can change from all satellites’ to echo 7, Etc. – now my EPG shows all listing in alphabetical order rather the numerical order, I went into sort and tired different settings but can’t seem to correct it. I don’t want to, but I guess I will have to do a factory reboot and start from scratch when I get the time.

[linkboxsatman]

Maybe I should update as I’ve been reading all the reply’s. I bought my linkbox about a month ago. I like the fact that I don’t have the freezing problem that I had with me CNX, but not too happy with the 10-30 second lag when existing the EPM and sometimes the EPG and the info program display give different info. Ex: EPG ,will say DYI “house hunters” and the info display will say “doing your backyard”. Also I was playing with the SAT button where you can change from all satellites’ to echo 7, Etc. – now my EPG shows all listing in alphabetical order rather the numerical order, I went into sort and tired different settings but can’t seem to correct it. I don’t want to, but I guess I will have to do a factory reboot and start from scratch when I get the time.

i am sure you have already remedied this issue by now, but press "ok" on remote to bring up sat , right/left directional buttons toggle the different sat packages, choose one then exit out of menu to channel, then hit epg and test to see if it has changed.. hope this helps..