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EchoStar HDS-600RS June 2011
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n www.myechostar.com n 01535 659000 n £350
EchoStar HDS-600RS The Opposition Dreambox DM800 HD se n Much more expensive, with just one tuner and no Freesat ease of use, but more flexible, with CAM and CI, and plug-in expandability including internet streaming and control
Humax Foxsat HD-R n Much cheaper standard Freesat+ recorder – with the same PVR facilities and more flexible for enthusiast use but with no internet streaming
EchoStar returns with an exceptional hybrid Freesat+ HD PVR and Slingbox but fans with long memories may be left wanting EchoStar has a long history of producing pioneering satellite receivers, and the HDS600RS continues the trend. It’s the first receiver in Europe to be ‘Slingloaded’ – it includes a built-in Slingbox to stream the box’s output over your home network or over the internet to a PC or mobile device. This is also a Freesat receiver, so it’s not the most versatile of machines, but it’s Linux-based and has the potential for software plug-in upgrades – and, as it is, it’s an HD-capable twin-tuner 500GB PVR, so the HDS-600RS will both record TV for viewing anytime and stream TV for viewing anywhere.
Build and connectivity
Interface
The HDS-600RS looks unlike any other receiver. It has an entirely plastic outer casing (there’s metal inside) with
red-striped sloping sides, like stand-alone Slingbox streamers, only bigger, and the glossy front panel lends it a more sophisticated air. That front panel features a dot-matrix display to give the time or the name of the channel (always a nice touch), an illuminated SlingMedia ‘horseshoe’ logo that fulfils the same eye-candy function as the circle of lights on the Sky+ (this logo is also embossed on the box top), and a USB socket. Most of the front panel is taken up by red illuminated membrane switches – nine of them handle the power, navigation and menu control. It’s a little odd to see a box that is all about viewing and control from afar buck the trend and put more controls on the front panel, but in a more-lights-the-better kind of way, it does grab the attention.
The manual scan option can find non-Freesat channels but don’t expect advanced features such as DiSEqC support as on Humax’s Foxsat HD-R
The EPG layout is pretty much standard for a Freesat box. You can browse day-by day or in 2.5-hour increments and set series links
Recordings are accessed in the library menu listed with the titles and synopses. They can be locked and scheduled for automatic deletion
Test satellite ‘The Sling functionality enables you to watch and control the HDS-600RS from afar on a PC or mobile device’
That goes for the whole look. It takes a while to get used to such a different design under the TV, and it’s something of a ‘Marmite moment’ – you’ll either love it or hate it – but there’s no denying that EchoStar has made this receiver look different. It’s rather cool, and makes other boxes look distinctly lacklustre. The remote control is also unusual-verging-on-weird. The strange tapering triangular cross section means it tends to roll over on the coffee table, but the buttons and layout are pretty standard. It’s simple (and even reasonably comfortable) to use, and it acts as a preprogrammed URC for your TV. Around the back simplicity is the watchword. There are two F-connectors for the two tuners but no loopthrough sockets – no great loss but an unusual omission. HDMI output provides the high definition and upscaled content. There are the usual Scart sockets for an SD TV and audio is handled by phonos and an optical S/PDIF output. And that’s pretty much it. An Ethernet socket handles connection to your home network streaming, and there’s a second USB socket, which is a bit odd as there is little use for them. You can upgrade the software via USB but the HDS-600RS cannot record programmes to USB or play back video, music or photos from storage-connected via USB.
Setup The HDS-600RS is startlingly simple to set up – partly because there is relatively little to do. Being a Freesat box, it follows the Freesat setup process – you first enter your postcode, it searches for the signal, you set the
2x LNB inputs
TV and VCR Scarts
parental control, and it scans for Freesat channels. The scan is quite fast, taking under two minutes, and the receiver is then ready for viewing. If no signal is detected on one or both of the inputs you can access a signal level screen to aid dish alignment, or switch to single tuner mode (useful for communal dish systems with only one feed to each home). Channels can also be added to four renameable favourite channels lists. The only other channel setup is for non-Freesat channels if you want to receive these. This is in a separate menu, somewhat hidden away. You can scan a single transponder, entering the details for frequency, polarity, symbol rate, and broadcasting format (DVB-S or DVB-S2 for SD and HD). New nonFreesat channels are stored from 5000 and unwanted ones can be deleted. The internet connection is set up automatically, although a manual option is available.
Basic use In use the box is like most other Freesat receivers – channel selection is by number, from the channel list or EPG. Individual channels in the channel list can be deleted but not renamed or moved. You can sort the list alphabetically or by categories. The favourite channels lists also help you to find the service you want, limiting the channel list to the selected group. However, without any special button on the remote, the favourites are accessed from relatively deep in the menus so you’re not encouraged to dip in and out. The non-Freesat channels are also kept at arm’s length. These cannot be selected from the Freesat channel list nor added to the favourites lists, and are accessed only from within the non-Freesat mode, taking about 10 button-pushes to reach. The EPG also follows the Freesat norm, which is to say it’s excellent, with a grid of eight channels’ programmes across 2.5 hours, and details of the highlighted show. There are buttons to jump back and forward by 2.5 or 24 hours and you can also enter text to search for a programme name. Single button presses set the HDS-600RS to tune to, or record, a highlighted future programme when it starts, with a series link option. Optical S/PDIF
HDMI
Stereo phonos
Ethernet port
USB port
Tech Data Freesat scan, Astra 28.2°E: 1m 43s 0
Power consumption: 30W max (2W standby)
5 mins
Features No LNB inputs: 2 LNB loopthrough: No DiSEqC: No No. channels: 150+ (Freesat) Selectable FEC: No Symbol rate range: 1000-45000 Blind search: No Linux: Yes CAM: No Common interface: No Teletext: DVB decoded EPG support: DVB now-and-next, Freesat 7-day Timer: 32 events, 1 week Hard drive: 500GB internal UHF modulator tuning: N/A Software upgrade: OTA, internet, USB download Data ports: 2x USB, Ethernet AV outputs: SD out: TV Scart (composite, RGB), VCR Scart (composite video) HD out: HDMI Audio out: Stereo analogue audio, optical S/PDIF
Test satellite The remote (right) can also control certain brands of TV
Ratings PLUS
n Sling streaming n HD and PVR n Easy to use
Minus
n Expensive n Lack of enthusiast flexibility n Weird styling will upset some
Build Setup Searching Navigation Performance Features Value
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The HDS-600RS’s PVR functions follow the Freesat+ spec. The received broadcast is always buffered so you can instantly pause or rewind a live broadcast, back to the last channel change. You can also record the currently selected channel simply by pressing the record button, and as the reception is buffered this will record ‘back’ to the start of the programme if the channel has remained unchanged. You can start to watch a recording before it’s finished but you cannot change a paused programme into a permanent recording (if it’s past the end of the original show). The 500GB HDD gives room for about 300 hours of SD recordings or 120 hours of HD. With two tuners, the HDS-600RS can record two channels at once but it makes no attempt to extend this to further simultaneous recordings of other channels from the same transponders. A dedicated button on the remote displays the ‘library’ of recorded programmes and these can be flagged for automatic deletion after one or two weeks or months. Playback provides pause, slow-motion down to 1/8x speed, fast-forward and rewind at up to 64x speed, and a programmable jump forwards or back (5-40s), but no way to move directly to a point in a recording. There are no facilities to trim or edit a recording. The ‘Big screen’ version of BBC iPlayer is accessed like another channel and, although this is sadly lacking in full control, that’s not the fault of the receiver. The HDS-600RS’s coup de grace is its Sling facilities. This is built in as an ‘App’ – the only one included or available, although others may well be written for this Linux-based box in the future. Disarmingly simple in operation, the Sling functionality enables you to watch and control the HDS-600RS from afar on a PC or mobile device. The SlingPlayer software is downloaded for free from the website for a PC and bought as an app for an iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Android device, some BlackBerries, some Palms, and some Symbian devices. On a PC the TV output is shown full-screen or in a window with basic controls, and an onscreen remote
handset with which you can do anything you can do with the real remote (including disable the Sling connection). The mobile setup is similar, except you do not get the full remote control and the image is, of course, small so it’s hard to read onscreen menus. The connection is also less reliable to a mobile viewer. There are restrictions. You cannot watch remotely on two devices at once and, crucially, the remote user has the same experience as the user in front of the box, so you can’t have one person watching one channel ‘direct’ from the HDS-600RS while another watches another channel from the second tuner, or a recording, over the internet. Nevertheless, it’s a great system and works a treat.
Performance For both live TV and HDD recordings, the HDS600RS produces excellent pictures and sound. HD channels are of course, particularly impressive, with brilliantly vivid colours and crisp pictures, but SD programmes are upscaled well and using the HDMI can be hard to tell from HD. The streamed output is not quite so impressive. Mobile images are small, but pictures on a PC are also a bit fuzzy, and onscreen text in particular reveals the lower resolution used. However, it’s by no means poor, and certainly quite adequate for a ‘second set’ (whether at home or half way around the world) n Geoff Bains
Verdict EchoStar is not the first maker to produce a receiver that can stream output across a network or the internet, but the Sling technology means it’s the first to do it so easily. The downside is that the HDS-600RS doesn’t live up to this in other areas. With all this technological potential, it is a shame it cannot offer more for the enthusiast/advanced user. Better access and search for non-Freesat channels, DiSEqC, multimedia playback and more connected TV features would all be appreciated, and complement the PVR and Sling facilities as well as better justify the rather high price. Perhaps further apps will bring these facilities. But for those for whom ‘just’ Freesat, high definition, PVR and streaming are enough, and who don’t balk at £350, the HDS-600RS is a joy, and the first receiver to truly conquer both time and space.
Interface
86%
PVR and multimedia
Recordings can be fast-forwarded or rewound up to 64x speed or slowed down to 1/8. A time bar is displayed to aid navigation 86 What Satellite & Digital TV June 2011
The ‘Sling’ functionality can be set up via the menus and works much like a standard Slingbox. We hope other useful apps will be added soon
The Sling Player PC interface includes a virtual remote control. A show’s info can be called up but picture resolution appears inferior to the source