Vu+ Ultimo - mini review

There are 18 replies in this Thread which was already clicked 8,556 times. The last Post () by master G.

    My Vu+ Ultimo arrived today and while I'm not sad enough to do an unboxing video, I am sad enough to take a few pics and write a few words!


    I ordered mine from one of the UK suppliers - It came well packed and they kindly installed the 3rd S2 tuner for me





    First thing to note is its very shiny! The finish is a finger print magnet but looks great...it sits under my TV so I don't really see it but it sure looks pretty!




    Accessories are plentiful - SATA cable & anti-vibration & fixing screws for HDD, power cable with UK plug/converter, HDMI cable & USB wireless LAN




    I decided against the wireless LAN as I've read it transmits and receives a lot of data causing disruption in other areas of your network - How true this is, I don't know but I'm wired for GigE so I've left the card out for the minute


    The remote is a fair bit different to the standard Duo remote...I really don't find it easier to use as the buttons are harder to press. The keyboard on the back will definitely be handy if you use the web browser feature - buttons are enabled by hitting a lock button and are disabled if you press a key on the regular remote side





    The HDD is as easy to install as the Duo, theres plenty of space inside so hopefully heat is as well controlled.


    I've loaded BlackHole 1.6.7 Beta 2 on as my image. Obviously its going to be a bit faster and the increased RAM and flash will certainly be a welcome addition! I frequently found my flash and RAM at dangerously high levels on the Duo...even when saving most addons to the HDD so it will be interesting to see how this fairs.


    After uninstalling a few stock addons and installing a few of my own, I'm only using 20% flash and 60% RAM. I have noticed my HDD is running 20 degrees hotter so will have to keep an eye on it. The fan on the Ultimo is automatic and I'm using a non eco drive at the minute so thats likely got something to do with it.




    The rest of the setup is pretty much the same as my Duo...one thing I have noticed is I'm getting a higher Snr on a lot of channels so the quality of the S2 modules may have improved (it may however be related to the latest BH image as I have only just upgraded)


    I'm still playing with the VFD picons and theres some work to do there to ensure the panel isn't swamped with too much info but it looks the part!



    I'll add to this during the week when I get a proper play with network recording and streaming as well as customising the VFD and recording on all 3 tuners at once! (this will be the big test for me as I'm using a NAS to save programs to)


    Overall I'm very happy with the purchase...its exactly what I expected and while its certainly not cheap, it will hopefully handle everything I throw at it - time will tell!!

    Hi Sandman,


    It is a couple of weeks you have had the box now. How do you find it? How about the picture quality? I am not sure if you have used the TM800HD but they do have some pretty decent picture quality. Can the Vu+ Ultimo match? Do you find the remote control key sticky (as the TM800HD is). How responsive is the box?


    Thanks,
    Mathias

    Quote from mathiaskt

    Hi Sandman,


    It is a couple of weeks you have had the box now. How do you find it? How about the picture quality? I am not sure if you have used the TM800HD but they do have some pretty decent picture quality. Can the Vu+ Ultimo match? Do you find the remote control key sticky (as the TM800HD is). How responsive is the box?


    Thanks,
    Mathias


    Mathias,


    The box is going great! Unfortunately I have only ever had a Vu+ Duo and this Ultimo so can't tell you if the picture is comparable!


    I have my box plugged into a 50" Pioneer Kuro screen and the quality is superb!


    I would say the overall responsiveness is similar to the Duo, I don't use any 3rd party plugins like YouTube, Project Valerie etc so I probably don't put the box under much load!


    The remote was put back in the box after a few hours...I didn't like the responsiveness of the buttons but apparently they soften with use...I use various Harmony remotes so it wasn't really needed!


    I really have no complaints, other than the fact the Duo now 'looks' so pale in comparison :snicker:

    hi sorry to hijack the thread but i have had a duo and now have a ultimo and the picture is better on hd and sd plus the pip works spot on and very fast throught the menus ? but on the down side way over priced and i dont see £200 differnce ? this is just my view

    Quote from pem1

    hi sorry to hijack the thread but i have had a duo and now have a ultimo and the picture is better on hd and sd plus the pip works spot on and very fast throught the menus ? but on the down side way over priced and i dont see £200 differnce ? this is just my view


    Hijack away! The more opinion the better :)


    My PIP just stutters and flashes and plays in slooooowwwwmmmmooooo when watching HD channels - does yours work fine on both SD & HD channels?

    Quote from mathiaskt

    Hi Sandman,


    It is a couple of weeks you have had the box now. How do you find it? How about the picture quality? I am not sure if you have used the TM800HD but they do have some pretty decent picture quality. Can the Vu+ Ultimo match? Do you find the remote control key sticky (as the TM800HD is). How responsive is the box?


    Thanks,
    Mathias


    Getting to grips with my Ultimo very hard to find a clear guide but i suppose there is so many different way's you can go with it ,it's hard to get a clear guide to set up for it .Very helpfull members here so we are lucky with that:40_002:
    I've been using non linux technomate's for the last few years and they were very easy to setup and use .
    I find that the HD quality on the tm's was a bit more crisp and clear then the Ultimo but happy with the Ultimo too
    I installed a hdd drive iside the ultimo on wich i had loads of movies already but finding it hard to get them played.
    But i'm sure there is a way to play them
    Overall it looks like a good reciever that will keep me busy on the rainy days.
    Looks like a good buy to me.

    It still early days for the Ultimo im sure when more people get the box me included there will be more support and tutorials about


    if you are a seasoned E2 linux box owner it should not be to hard to find your way round

    Help asked via PM will be ignored.
    The forum is there for help and all will benefit from your questions.

    Quote from phonix

    It still early days for the Ultimo im sure when more people get the box me included there will be more support and tutorials about


    if you are a seasoned E2 linux box owner it should not be to hard to find your way round


    VFD aside, the Ultimo is essentially the same as the Duo thijss so you can follow any of those tutorials!


    It'll be nice to have a VIX expert (is that you phonix? ;p) get theirs setup as there are a fair few difference and a lot of VFD issues (with my picons & VIX lol)

    Yes im part of the Vix beta team (bassethound) as soon as more of the beta team get the Ultimo,s support and tutorials will start flowing

    Help asked via PM will be ignored.
    The forum is there for help and all will benefit from your questions.

    still a bit confused with the picons and VFD picons can they be used at the same time or not because everytime i download the one from TS panel
    the other one stops working. or do we need a file that update's the two kind of picon's at the same time ? (great job on them Sandman)

    Quote from thijss

    still a bit confused with the picons and VFD picons can they be used at the same time or not because everytime i download the one from TS panel
    the other one stops working. or do we need a file that update's the two kind of picon's at the same time ? (great job on them Sandman)


    Strange! The regular picons go in your 'picon' directory...the VFD ones go in your 'piconlcd' directory!


    It should be that simple...I'll get one of the guys to check the download in TSpanel...the directory may be incorrectly named!


    Do you know how to FTP? You could download the VFD picons from my thread (about to update it actually!) and upload the content over FTP!

    i'll give that a go and see how that works out could just be me messing things up too but i'm slowly cracking it all.
    What's the best channel editor for the vu+ because i'm trying DBE at the moment and there is no sign of the HD channels in it.

    Quote from thijss

    i'll give that a go and see how that works out could just be me messing things up too but i'm slowly cracking it all.
    What's the best channel editor for the vu+ because i'm trying DBE at the moment and there is no sign of the HD channels in it.


    I'm on a Mac during the day so I use iDreamX...you could give Vu+ Control Centre a go!

    Quote from Sandman

    Strange! The regular picons go in your 'picon' directory...the VFD ones go in your 'piconlcd' directory!


    It should be that simple...I'll get one of the guys to check the download in TSpanel...the directory may be incorrectly named!


    Do you know how to FTP? You could download the VFD picons from my thread (about to update it actually!) and upload the content over FTP!


    I think i've sorted it somehow the 'piconlcd' directory ended up in the 'picon' directory so i gave them each their own directory now
    and after manualy loading the latest picons 28e file i have a picon and a picons file wich should it be ?

    • Official Post

    Another review, found online





    Il contient :
    - Le Vu+ Ultimo
    - Une télécommande universelle réversible
    - Un câble HDMI
    - Un câble d'alimentation
    - Un câble de rebouclage
    - Un stick wifi
    - Câble de connexion pour HDD
    - Visserie et tampons pour HDD 2.5 & 3.5
    - 1 Quick start guide
    - 1 manuel d'utilisation













    The facade is beautiful with a screen even bigger than the 8000.
    It supports animations, etc ... picons it will take a bit to be able to fully exploit but it's promising.


    Digression: The blue LED strip Jacky's my side, I like it when flash
    For those interested in this detail is supplied on the 12v outlet of the fan so it shuts off when I put the device in standby.
    With fancontrol2 I can even adjust the intensity of light through the parameters of voltage



    The buttons are tactile and light the most beautiful effect!
    (With a more integrated plugin to manage)



    the remote



    Nothing to say on the grip, it also fits comfortably in the hand and leaves an impression of robustness.
    For cons, the flexibility of the keys is poor, sometimes you need to repeatedly press a button to send a command.
    Large fingers will also be in trouble because the keys are relatively close and small, especially in the upper part of the remote.


    Inn***tion is the reverse side and again nothing to say this is useful for certain extensions: epg search, web browser, mail etc ...
    anything that asks typing.


    The manufacturer has thought of everything since the keypad locks automatically when you press a key on the other side of the telco.
    Alternatively, you can lock / unlock by pressing for this purpose, so no risk of incorrect manipulation
    SOFTWARE LISTING:


    Not too much interest to test anything with the official image so we used the blackhole and VTI.
    Clearly, blackhole has a device for longer because we have not encountered any trouble unlike the VTI 4.0 that did not allow for example to loop back satellite tuners, mismanagement vfd ...


    The imperfections of the first image will surely be corrected but in the meantime, the blackhole is much better.




    First point, the boot is fast despite the size of images that are almost 100 mo!


    After that, the rest is the same ilk, and zapping menu navigation very fast installation of extensions idem.
    In short the camera is very responsive at all levels.


    The internal memory is huge, capture after installing a ton of plugins:



    WEB BROWSER


    I must admit that so far I thought this plugin as a gimmick without much interest.
    I had the opportunity to test it on 8000 but bugait lot and had to use a keyboard to use it more.


    This extension is now integrated into many images to view + so I stopped a few minutes on it.
    The first benefit is obviously to have the keypad on the remote control but also to use a machine that has the resources to run the plugin pretty quickly.





    Records:


    Launched eight simultaneous recordings and no worries encountered.



    Reading all the records without problems






    Playback of multimedia content


    Reading test mp3 and photos on the internal HDD:




    Test video playback in the popcorn C-200 via the network:



    Not the slightest twitch observed.
    All files tested were read without problems (avi, mkv, mp4 and m2ts).


    External DVD drive:


    For those wishing to connect an external DVD drive, no worries.
    Nothing to install (the DVD player is integrated into the main image), connect the drive and reboot and it is directly recognized and functional.



    You slide your DVD playback is provided immediately:



    CONCLUSION:


    Cons:


    - We would have liked the wifi is built rather than having a stick wlan but ...
    - The remote control buttons that are sometimes a bit stubborn


    Goodies:


    - The quality and finish, the unit is lovely (although it is subjective).
    - The big screen VFD front
    - The power and speed of the machine
    - And as usual unbeatable value for money.



    That, I think I did a fairly comprehensive tour of the beast.
    After this test with three tuners sat, we followed a dual tuner sat config + tuner hybridization using TNT (ac3 + OK).
    Not a single problem.


    This machine should meet with a success at least as important as the DM 8000 to its output.
    In comparison with the latter, it lacks a tuner and the ability to add an internal drive.
    As against it is stronger and a much lower price.








    VU+ ULTIMO Triple Linux HDTV Receiver PVR ready


    The Vu+ Ultimo comes with 2 x DVB-S/S2 Satellite Tuners fitted as standard.


    The Vu+ Ultimo also has an additional 3rd plug and play tuner slot for a DVB-S2, DVB-C or DVB-T Tuner.


    Vu+ Ultimo Main features


    • 400 Mhz processor (BCM 7413)
    • 10/100 MBit compatible Ethernet Interface
    • HDMI Connection
    • 1 Fixed DVB-S/S2 tuner and 2 x Plug & Play tuner DVB-S2/C/T
    • WIFI USB dongle 300 Mb
    • Plug & Play support for 2.5" and 3.5" SATA hard drive
    • Big graphic display 256x64 pixel VFD



    Technical Data:



    400MHz MIPS processor (BCM7413)
    1GB Flash
    512MB Ram


    Front Panel2 x Smart Card slot
    2 x Common Interface
    1 x USB 2.0
    Key 5 buttons (standby, volume + / -, Ch + / -)
    Large Graphic VFD display type (256 × 64) pixels


    Rear Panel1 x Fixed Tuner, 2 x Pluggable Tuner Slots (DVB-S2/C/T)
    1 x TV Scart Connection
    1 x RCA Video output (composite)
    Video output (component) YPbPr
    1 x HDMI Video / Audio output (digital)
    2 x RCA Audio output (analogue)
    Audio output (digital) standard optical (SPDIF)
    2 x USB 2.0 goldwafers.com
    1 x Ethernet
    1 x RS 232
    FAN Control Automatic
    1 x e-SATA


    PowerMain range 100-250/50-60 V / HZ
    Power consumtion
    (Max / type. Operation / standby) 60/25/1 W


    RFRF range 47-864 MHz
    FEC, de-multiplexed DVB-S2 / DVB-C / DVB-T standard


    VideoCCIR 601 video resolution (720 × 576 lines), 576p, 720p, 1080i
    Video decoding MPEG-2, MPEG-4 compatible
    Input data rate 2-45 Msymb / s
    S / N> 53dB


    AudioDecoding AC3, MPEG-4 (AAC-HE), MPEG 1, Layer 1,2 and 3
    Sampling rate 32/4.1/48KHz
    S / N> 65dB


    LNBLNB supply (Hor / vert.) 14/18, max. 400 V / mA
    Control 22KHz signal, ToneBurst, DiSEqC 1.0/1.1/1.2, USAL


    GeneralDimensions (WxHxD) 380 x 60 x 290mm
    Weight 3.0 Kg
    Universal Remote Remote / QWERTY keyboard

VU+ ULTIMO PVR Ready Linux Enigma2 Receiver Full HD 1080p

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