Technomate TM-Nano-SE Quick Review

digi247

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A few Thoughts on TM's latest Linux Enigma2 offering:

First Impressions:

The Nano-SE arrived in a very colourful packaging, Very striking with a detailed layout of the receiver and its specifications.
I especially liked the 'Made in Korea' marking assuring prospective buyers of its origin of manufacture ( You cant be to careful these days with those Chinese clone Guy's :)).
Opening the Box you are greeted a very well laid out contents with everything in protective bags etc..
Everything you need is here from the power lead to remote and HDMI lead even Batteries.
The Nano-SE is small and i mean small but feels really well built in a solid metal case with a brushed aluminium front which is a very nice touch.

Setting Up:

The Nano-SE is very easy to set up all rear terminals are clearly marked and the front panel has a very nice blue lit power button with a green ACT light for remote control response check
and a Red light for the recording feature of the receiver.
The Power unit is a Laptop style so if you need a longer lead you basically just order a longer Figure 8 style power lead.

Image flashing on the Technomate is a doddle similar to the Vu's switch off on the rear and then insert USB stick and switch back on,The Screen shows a very good graphical representation when the image is being flashed and tells you exactly what to do when the image flashing procedure has finished, Great idea for newbies just to give them a little guiding hand if needed.

Daily Usage:

I tested all 3 available images for the Nano-SE (Sadly there is only 3 at the moment) and all compared admirably with each other, Channel Change is fast as well as setting timer recordings and browsing through menus and EPG, All done very quickly with no sense of lag between commands, Boot time is Fantastic on the original flashed Vix image boot time from Cold was a very impressive 34 seconds for a dual core 750mhz processor that is very quick in fact on day to day usage of the receiver compared to my Gigablue Quad + with dual 1300mhz processor i could not tell a difference it was that good.

Using the 4D image gave similar results to the OpenVix image, i then went onto my usual image OpenATV flashed the receiver and setup as usual and still from a cold boot or even full restart the Nano-SE still brought in a respectable boot time to clearing a channel of around 38 seconds pretty impressive. Also worth considering is with the OpenATV image it has the FHD option on the Metrix Skin which the Nano-SE handled beautifully.

Using Plugins such as TSmedia, Kodi Direct, Arabic Entertainment, IPTV handler etc... all worked fine.

7-Day Soak Test:

After installing the OpenATV image and doing on-line update to make sure the image had the latest revision updates the Nano-SE was left on a channel and switched on for 24 hours a day and then briefly used throughout the day to test, No problems here at all the remote response to channel change and even EPG Update as well as browsing IPTV channels did not slow the receiver down at all. In Fact it worked exactly the same even if i left it for a complete 24 hours non stop just switched on.

Heat dissipation from the receiver vents is excellent the top-side-bottom of the case was checked for any extreme hot points from being switched on and used displayed none at all in fact the receiver maintained a steady temperature throughout the whole 7 days even being used for a few hours or left alone there was no extreme heat coming from either the receiver or the PSU unit. A very good sign indeed

The Receiver experienced no lockups on the image installed even by installing new plugins or skins or watching a recording it reacted as if it had just been switched on from cold and was being used for just a few minutes.


Tuner Sensitivity Test:

The Nano-SE was installed on a Motorised system with twin black ultra LNB tested against its closed source counterpart the TM5402M3 version.
Satellites Tested included 26° east, 4.8° east Nordic & Nordic BSS beams, 7.0° west Nilesat, 10° east Feeds.

The Nano-SE performed to a similar degree to its counterpart the 5402M3 both locked weak transponders/Channels on every satellite.
The only one where the 5402HD beat the nano's tuner was the Nordic beam on 4.8° east where the 5402 managed a lock on the Viasat HD channels the Nano-SE showed zero lock with 0% figure showing on the display, Still for a Linux Based Machine it did admirably well when placed head to head with the 5402HD, Tested also with a Gigablue Quad similar to the Vu Solo2 on the fixed tuners the Quad edged it slightly with fringe reception although we are talking about a £240 receiver compared to a £90 one, So no complaints there.

Good Points: - Looks Good, Well made, Separate LED lights for Power- REC - ACT, 'Brick' style PSU with the advantage of using a longer figure 8 power lead if needed, Remote Control feels Nice in the hand and most common used buttons are well within finger reach added bonus of being a Multi function remote for other devices, Boot times are Very fast especially for a dual core and only increase when image has Plugins etc... installed.

Bad Points: - No rear ON/OFF switch which would help in flashing images at the moment you have to physically pull either the power adaptor out of the back or the mains plug, Limited range of images only 3 at present so not much choice.


I hope this helps anyone who may be in the market for something slightly different especially a cheap spare room/bedroom receiver, It does lack Images where as Vu's have support in abundance but for the price point especially if its your first dip into Linux its not half bad. Purchased for the Kids spare room so i will see how long it lasts LOL.
 
Thx digi for interesting summary
Can I ask your opinion on its use to replace my old machine.
I have a TM6800HD with motorised sys which usually rests on Astra2 for family use - including HDD for recording programs, and is attached to Samsung Smart TV (useless for its small range of apps and a crap browser).

TV is connected via Ether to elec circuit to broadband which is only 2Mb in this rural area, with little chance of higher speed in foreseeable future.

I use TM softcam to watch Prem Lge footie on 39E when my team is playing, otherwise any internet rebroadcast has to do, so anything that gives me greater chance to watch them is a must.

I am not a Linux man (managed to avoid it while still working!), but have always been able to follow detailed instructions, and I know there are plenty of guides and advice here, and if the Nano allows a better browser that would be a big plus.

Thkx in advance for any advice you can give
 
You will receive far more Softcam/Biss channels on the Nano-SE than your 6900 especially when used in combination with Oscam-Emu
 
Hi digi,

A quick extra question

You mention Oscam-Emu. Does this not depend on having a good internet speed, and given my very poor 2M max speed, I believe that I have to depend on the Softcam and Biss for what I want.

Is this correct?

Cheers
 
Hi digi,

A quick extra question

You mention Oscam-Emu. Does this not depend on having a good internet speed, and given my very poor 2M max speed, I believe that I have to depend on the Softcam and Biss for what I want.

Is this correct?

Cheers

Has nothing to do with Internet speed as i was referring to the 'EMU' part used in combination with softcam keys, totally separate from C/S
 
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