[nutsky73]

I have been testing the Captain 7100USB for a few weeks now. Here is a run down of my experiences and thoughts so far.

Upon opening the box I was happy to see a nicely styled STB. The 7000 and 7100 USB STB’s have in my opinion a nicer look to them than the 8000HD. The 7100USB is a bit larger in width and height than a Coolsat 5000. I know that many manufacturers are going for as small a form factor as possible. I’m not sure how small we all need these units to be actually. In my opinion, nothing looks more ridiculous than a very small piece of electronic equipment sitting on my AV rack next to larger items like a stereo receiver and a DVD player.

Out of the box and it’s time to update the software. A USB flash drive makes updates a simple task. You can still do things the old fashioned way if you want via a null modem cable.

The menu is quite nice, easy to navigate, and very intuitive. One can even change the colors of the menu screen, which I thought was a nice touch.

I set the 7100USB up on a STAB USALS HH motor, 33” dish, and an Invacom QPH-031 LNB using a standard 4in1 diseqc switch. This set up is a bit too complicated for the one touch set up however set up was quite easy. I used USALS mode inputting the LAT and LON for my location to locate several sats. As each sat was located I switched to diseqc 1.2 mode and stored its position. Motor control worked trouble free under this setting. I did experience a few issues under USALS mode, so I do recommend diseqc 1.2 mode for those with motors. Channel scanning was fast on each sat scanned.

EPG was good on this unit and the extended EPG function in the menu worked great, supplying guide for days. Picture quality is quite good and rivals any other unit I have tested. Channel changes are fast with the latest bin file. Earlier bins had a few seconds lag. It was very nice to see Team Captain working out the issues and they continue to do so. Constant improvement is the goal and I am happy to say things are looking up for the Captain brand. Support has been good and Team Captain is working to improve that further to become a leader in the industry.

All in all I have to give the Captain 7100USB high marks for ease of use, reliability, and value. It is a quality product at a great price.

Grab one today
nutsky73

[arboristman]

the captain 7100usb.


your going to love this one buddy.
this one is an excellent choice for the fta novice and advanced testers alike.
with its one button setup (OBS) it's simply a breeze to setup with little knowledge of satellite equipment.
simply follow along the few questions,and the unit finds your port settings and scans the satellites your pointed at.

the unit is based on new modern technology,
with a 200 mhz chip and 64 mbs of sdram.
it has a 9 day epg for dn and 2 day bev epg.
very nice and easy to use modern menu system.
runs smooth,and the remote is very nice.
you do not have to point directly at the receiver.
the unit has all the nice modern outputs such as Y Pb Pr & S-video & rca and optical output, along with basic coaxial out-ch3/4

with its nice menu system and fun filled features,its sure to provide the user with years of fta satellite tv.

all captain fta receivers are backed by a 5 year warranty.
this shows you the units are built to last for many years to come.

she has 8 favs.all work independently in the epg when selected.
they are limited to 50 channels each,but with 8 favs its no problem.

the pic quality is also above most others.simply INCREDIBLE crisp and clear picture with captains.

check out some screen shots:


the epg:





the info bar:




heres some more menu's and things:









here is the radio,and the pic changes depending on what color skin you slect:




you have four skin colors to pick from:















(scroll down to post #2 for more)

[arboristman]

you can set it to download:1day/2day/3day/5day/7day/9day.
this way,if you don't use that much epg,you can just load up for the day faster and get to tv.very nice.

see under it? i didn't have to set that tp or anything.but if they change where the extended epg is loaded from,you can change that to match.very nice and easy!
this way your 9 days will always be downloaded.they don't move that around to other tps often tho.but nice to have there if/when they do again.






installation screen:





nice channel editing options:





renaming favorites option:




nice channel fav's options:




can factory default channels only or user settings only or both:



nice parental controls:




the unit works great.has nice options.
very easy to setup.feature filled.
usb loading,so no taking to the pc to update.simply flip down a cover
on the front of the dark gray receiver and insert a small usb stick.
5 year warranty,and a small price tag at around $130.00 at time of this review.don't be fooled by the small price.this one is great quality.

i give this receiver a big thumbs up.try one out,i'm sure would also.

to see the list of menus/features this one has please look here:

http://www.abadss.com/forum/489-capt...tml#post165713

[arboristman]

this is a GREAT feature that i know the cw's and cnx's have.
but whats great about the way captain does its search results is very nice.

this feature is called "search by name"

first.you can get here 2 ways.from the epg screen by pressing the red button.
and it has a shortcut key from full tv mode simply by pressing the "input/select" button on the remote.




next select the search by name icon then press ok and you enter this screen:





type in the event your looking for to see if its on currently.if its not no results pop up.its great like this,so you don't have to weed through start/end times/dates.
example entering "saw" above(yeah,look close.they do need to highlight the text entered there in a nice bright bold red so it can be easily seen.)and here are selectable results:





and there you go.in just seconds,your watching that tv show or movie with no scanning through a list in the epg looking for start/end times.
perfect for football season!
the captains search by name or search by title feature is simply the best iv seen so far from the units iv tested.

[arboristman]

these great receivers are also now supported via IKS with a dongle.
its a small Ethernet adapter,you simply plug it in to power it,and it uses your home internet that your pc uses.
so when ecm's hit,the info to keep tv up is then sent through the net to your stb.
these items are sold separately.
sold as 100% legal devices because they are used for adding current weather broadcast right on your stb! and also will include games!

[arboristman]

Captain 7100 usb MAIN FEATURES/SPECS
(c/p will some info i gathered to fill in more)

- MPEG 2 Digital and DVB-S Fully Compliant
- On Screen Display with 256 Color
- Blind Search (Power Scan)
- Powerful Search Function: Automatic, Manual (PID) & NIT Search
- S-Video, Y Pb Pr
- DiSEqC 1.0 & 1.2 Compatible and USALS Supported
- Powerful EPG: Now/Next & 7 days Program Guide
- Multi-Language Supported (OSD & Menu)
- Total 5,000 Channels
- 8 favorite groups
- Multi-Picture Function (4-16 Pictures)
- True 16:9 Widescreen
- SDRAM (MPEG & Graphic): 64 MBytes
- Main Processor: STi-5105: 200 mhz
- SPDIF Digital Sound: optical
- 5 Year Warranty
- USB Host Interface (Only for Memory stick)

[arboristman]

the added feature of weather with the dongle files:

[restorerancient]

well this baby rocks!!! I am impressed to say the least.It required all of fifteen minutes from start to finish to get up and running also half that time was changing out a chieta 1041 4X1 diseqc.I didn't even try the one button setup , I did use the four page setup guide in the help section though.The quality is very nice after three hours no heat build up at all.I downloaded the EPG for five days on 1200 channels it took about twenty minutes.Yeah I know should have edited first but really wanted to see how fast it would load.Of course the front loading usb port is nice to have. I also like the ability to control the channel rating and not just the channel number as with most cheap units.This has the best picture quality of a non HD unit I have seen.The remote really pleased me as well , the tv responds to it as fast as any unit I have seen and from acroos the room.It did take a while to roll , not bad but I was at first concerned that maybe I did something wrong.After all nothing ever is supposed to be this easy. I have finally found a unit I can recommend to non computer savy folks. I am still waiting on a dongle to check out my local weather but this is fine until then.The setup screens and menu is straight and to the point.It even knows the most popular transponders to get your signal set to.The only dislike is the menu function on the remote is on the lower right hand corner , where most have the epg button so still getting used to that.I have owned alot less for a whole lot more , this is the best buy I have seen by far.Of course it comes with the generic diseqc switch and set of rca cables good for spares or friends in need.Also I have posted some low res pics in the member photo area to show the menu and setup screen.I am not going into all the features , like speed , 400 favorite in 8 groups so on and so forth.This has to be the best deal I have seen for $120.00