Sunray DM800SE Clone First Impressions

I now have a DM800SE clone. First impressions build quality looks very good definitely look a cut above by current DM800HD PRO clones overall finish is better looking on the SE Blue flashing LED on bootup, Piano Black Glossy front plate matches most new TV's . The 800SE is a larger unit by about 1/2 inch or so length wise. Colour OLED is a nice touch.

The branding has changed on the clone I have, no Dreambox logos on packaging or the reciever itself, it is labelled Sunray SUN800SE. Also the remote has the DREAM logo at the bootom covered with black tape. Maybe this is to avoid customs issues.

So far I have flashed the DreamboxUK V.1.1 Image fairly painless via wb browser exactly the same as method as a standard non SE clone. Bootup times are defiinitely faster so is channel zapping times. Overall responsiveness in menus etc is also improved. I havent installed the internal hard disk yet, will do this later in the week when I have a chance (move the Samsung 500Gb drive from my 800HD PRO).

Larger central Fan is completely silent and the unit is cool to the touch when operating, which again is an improvement over the standard 800 non SE clones, which are quite warm when running, and have poor fans as standard. Picture quiality is very good, no issues with any HD channels I have tested all the usual suspects Dicscovery HD, ESPN HD, Nat Geo HD etc..

Couple of little annoyances although i've only yet had the uniot setup for under 1 hour so havent really played with all the settings, the Colour OLED although very nice, has a larger font, the complete channel name doesnt fit on the OLED. The fan didnt seem to switch off in standby, but I havent installed the fabcontrol Enigma 2 plugin yet, thats probably why aopparently you canm configure the fan with the plugin. Theres a LED on the tuner which is visible through the vents on top of the box so if the reciever is in a bedroom it glowa at night, a small bit of black tape will fix this though.

I'll post updates as I mess around with more features once I get the internal hard disc installed I will test timeshift, PVR etc.. So far EPG and Picons to USB all working fine, no issues wioth USB detection etc. I was up and running in under 20 mins, inclusing image flash, bouquets, picons, softcam config files.


Looks a good piece of kit so far, certainly no major issues on initial overview.

how much was it ?
Can you pm me the supplier please.
Been waiting for someone to buy one to see what they are like before buying one.

ellie1998 said:

how much was it ?
Can you pm me the supplier please.
Been waiting for someone to buy one to see what they are like before buying one.

Click to expand...

would be great if you could pm that info to me too m8
thanks

pls could you pm me the details thanks in advance

Prices are fairly consistent across China based sellers. I paid 250 US dollars including DHL Shipping. Around 153 pounds this obviously fluctuates depending on dollar to pound exchange rate.
Maybe theres slightly lower prices to be found, but I just used the same China supplier I used for my previous 800HD non SE clones because i've dealt with them in the past and they have been reliable.
I will PM the people who have asked me the supplier name as dont think im allowed to post on open forum. I have the SIM 2.1 version of the 800SE, the new August factory priduction units, not the original first production batch. So these are new the early production run from late June had card reader issue which has now been fixed.

Obviously be aware that buying from China Sellers can carry risk of customs duty, possibility of having items seazed by customs....having to send back to China for warranty issues etc. Personally this is a risk that I was preapred to take because the savings are good compared to UK sellers and I have purchaded over the years at least 5 clones of various flavours from China sellers (DM500, 600, 800HD, 800HD PRO), without any real issues worst case I had to pay some customs duty but less than 9 quid on 3 recievers...was still a huge saving...with each unit at least 50 quid cheaper than UK sellers.

No customs duty on the 800SE I recieved it was marked as a multimedia player value 25$

I will post some pictures as well, if I can be bothered !

Small update, taken some pics side by side with a DM800HD PRO for comparison. Also some pics of the hard disk install. All fairly painless. (Samsung 2.5" SATA Spinpoint 5400 RPM, 500Gb)

- Timeshift to internal hard disc tested, working fine.
- tested instant recording and playback to internal SATA all works fine.
- Installed Fan control plugin and tested fan voltages, RPM etc can all be modified from software. Fan can be switched off in standby from software tested workign fine.

Next I will schedule a recording and test to see if it records as expected. Will also see if i can test the media player supposed to be much improved from the standard DM800HD. I'll post updates on what im testing.

well i've ordered one so it's the start of a long learning curve for me

jenreban said:

well i've ordered one so it's the start of a long learning curve for me

Click to expand...

You'll be fine mate, I would highly recommend doing some reading beforehand. Get your head around things like bootloader, image flashing etc.
Highly important that any image you flash has the integrated bootloader SSL82, or if not that you manually flash it after the image. Otherwise the box wont boot. It doesnt mean the box is dead...just means you will have to restore it with Sunray FlashUp tool and USB.
So make sure your clued up before attempting flash, ask any questions you need on the forum, theres loads of people willing to help.

Can you please check if it plays DivX files directly from H/D or USB media? You ould only stream them via VLC from a computer on a standard DM800 - wonder if the SE model playes them directly?

KhuramG said:

Can you please check if it plays DivX files directly from H/D or USB media? You ould only stream them via VLC from a computer on a standard DM800 - wonder if the SE model playes them directly?

Click to expand...

In addition to the above does it play .mkv directly from usb

Guys are they serious, no serial port!!!!

Stay well away. You mess this baby up with a bad flash their is no way to fix it.

Am I wrong?

gersrt said:

Guys are they serious, no serial port!!!!

Stay well away. You mess this baby up with a bad flash their is no way to fix it.

Am I wrong?

Click to expand...

Yes, you are wrong roud: There is a Mini USB connector bottom right hand corner at the rear of the reciever labelled "SERVICE" you use a USB cable with a software utility called Sunray FlashUP (essentially a modified DreamUP) to recover from bad flashes.
Basically exactly the same as recovering a Normal DM800HD with DreamUP expect the serial null modem has been repalced by a USB lead.

- Guys I will test the USB DivX playback when I get a chance and MKV.

Ok Divx playback directly from USB is working fine, I have just tested it by transferring a 717 meg divx movie to USB and playing it back with the built in media player in the Dreambox UK v1.1 image (OpenPLI). I dont have a MKV file to test at the minute I will download one and test that as well.

Cool that's interesting gsm thanks.

I would also like to know if it plays mkv hd files.

Keep us posted

Thanks

gsmtech would you be kind enough to pm the details of your contact as i want to order dm800se clone
cheers

Could I have a PM with a link as well please & any links for images for these boxes too?

Thanks
Calisto

Ok, I have stuck on a 720p HD BluRay rip onto the hard disk in MKV format, video plays fine im not getting audio though... I will check to see if im missing some required plugins.

An earkier post from belmando who has an original DM800SE has confirmed MKV works see below for a quote from belmando

" Mediaplayer on DM800 SE

Hi m8s

i have been tested dm800 se very hard on mediaplayer and found that all these formats work ok on it:
(Avi,xvid,divx,dvd,vcd,mp4,flv,mpeg,720p mkv,1080p mkv and m2ts) "

Specifically looks like an issue with DTS audio/downmix.

Could you pop me a PM about the seller too.

Many thanxs

gsmtech said:

Specifically looks like an issue with DTS audio/downmix.

Click to expand...

Been updated in openpli and rossi2000 is including it in the next release of dreamboxuk image, says hes enabled menus but not tested yet!