Skybox f5s newbie needs help for pensioner mother

Ok I have only just discovered these beauties and have seen several with a "free gift" at around £130 mark yet I have also seen them without at around £50 my question is this, if I was to buy the cheaper could I myself set it up to receive all the sky channels uk and then purchase a sea lion? And if so what would I need to install on it? This is all theory of course. I'm just curious as to why 1 is a lot dearer than the other except for the free gift which is obviously the sea lion. I just don't want my mum spending more on something I could do for her. Thanks for any help sand sorry if this has been answered before I couldn't find it.

 

http://forums.afterdawn.com/t.cfm/f-59/how_to_set_up_skybox_f3-951686/
dont get a 12 month gift, find one and pay a month at a time, maybe quartly but not a year, who knows when it will go tits up

 

Ok but if I buy a standard box for my mum will it have the firmware I need like the cccam programme? Or will I have to install that myself to use it? Very confused as a lot of sites say that it can not be used to descramble? So I'm guessing that you need to modify it in some way. Sorry total newbie to this

 

Its all in the tutorial. Read it follow it enter ya line. Full sly package unscrambled

 

what worries me is the cheap build and problems that come with this box simply because no one researches before you buy.

 

Which is what I'm trying to do. So which box would you say is good

 

All depends on budget. I have the dm800 hd never had a problem with it. But more expensive than the f5. Also comes down to requirements do you want to record something while watching something else? I haven't heard many bad things about the f series of boxes but cacti knows a lot more than i do so you are probably better listening to him. I have a few friends i set the f5 up for and they all seem happy. But take advise especially when parting with monies

 

you will be running back and forth doing upgrades when channels move,clone boxes,no signal issues,box getting bricked needing a null modem fix,many many forums have multiple post problems with these boxes and have moved to better ones,even doing a google search will bring up many things,remember buying cheap has no safety built in .

i saved up and bought vu original boxes,only work i do on them is change channel.

 

the box u mention how much are they and were do u get them from pal ?

 

world of satellite .com or you could get the cheaper octagon sf8 higher specs than a vu solo runs vix firmware/image ,all original units no clones and massive support.box sells at £119 or if a member you get a discount.