In this article, I will try to make a brief comparison between one of the best selling digital satellite receivers that are on the market today, and to see the difference between the Dreambox DM800 HD, Dreambox DM500 and the Openbox S9 receivers.
The most obvious difference between these 3 receivers is their dimensions. The Dreambox DM800 and DM500 have relatively the same size, 195 mm (W) x 140 mm (D) x 40 mm (H) for DM800 and 195 mm (W) x 130 mm (D) x 40 (H) mm for DM500. Much bigger dimensions has the S9 receiver. It has 300 (W) mm x 220 (D) mm x 56 (H) mm. As we can see, the Dreambox receivers are much smaller compared to the Openbox S9 receiver.
Now let's compare the external interface of the receivers. Dreambox DM800 HD has one S/PDIF optical output, one scart connector, one Ethernet and modem port, two USB and one eSata ports, one Dvi and one RS 232 port. The Dreambox 500 S receiver has much fewer ports. It has only one scart and one Ethernet port, one S/PDIF and one RS232 port and 2 analog audio out ports and one analog video out port. The Openbox S9 receiver has 2 scart ports, 6 analog video out and audio out ports, one Ethernet and one HDMI port, one RS 232 and one usb port and no S/PDIF port.
The third point of our comparative analysis is the internal components comparison. The DM 800 HD has a high quality 300Mhz processor and is equipped with the Alps 801A M Tuner, which delivers very clear HD video and sound. It also has an OLED display and one smartcard reader. The DM 500 on the other hand, has a weaker processor, with only 250 MHZ, and an older version of the Alps tuner. It also has only one smartcard reader. The Openbox S9 receiver has a standard tuner and a regular LCD display and 3 smartcard readers. Just like the Dreambox 800 receiver, the Openbox has a fast 300Mhz cpu.
All three receivers are running Linux Operating System, all support multiple LNB-Switching (DiseqC), all have teletext, OSD and EGP support and the frequency range on all three models is 950 to 2150 MHz.
Now let us compare the price of these receivers. According to CRVC11 Store, the price of DM800 HD is $193 in United States and £121 in the UK [1]. The price of 500 S is $89 in USA and £57 in UK, and the price of S9 is $118 in United States of America and £77 in United Kingdom [2].
In conclusion, the cheapest model Dreambox 500S also has the poorest performance, while the higher priced model Openbox S9 receiver has somewhat medium to high performances and the highest priced model Dreambox 800 has the best performances.
