Icon S550 Receiver Review.

[arboristman]

Icon S550 Receiver Review.

you have seen the incredible support.
now to see the receiver.
first off,we have a great platform for an fta receiver here,it has up to date hardware with a fast 200mhz possessor and 32 mbs of ram.
It has all the nice video/audio connections found on standard definition stbs today.
USB loading of course for fast,easy flashing of updated software.
this stb iv found has a nice assortment of features common on most fta receivers today,providing the user and overall smooth and enjoyable tv experience.
These fta receivers are standard definition,non pvr units.
High quality Korean made units,with a nice remote with fair,to above average button placement for ease of use.guide/info are used commonly,but placed a bit to low.i hope manufactures will learn someday to toss the menu button down and out of the way rather than tv viewing buttons for example.far to common the menu button hogs priority placement on fta receiver remotes,as is the case with this one.makes no sense as its not used often once setup.tho overall,the remote still ranks high over others used,and seems to have a nice ir sender.
the pic quality of this receiver ranks very high as well.very sharp and clean.one of the best sd pics available on the market today for sure.

lets take an inside look:

[arboristman]

split screen pip modes,with one active screen,others are selectable.a cool way to channel surf on fta channels that have no epg:



and the second mode with only 4 screen option:



"ok" button view while in tv mode:



themes.a great feature for any stb today.simply works wonderful.whats nice about how theme works with this stb is a few things.simply one button to enter theme mode,left/right to view other themes,and instant search results with no waiting time.each channel result displays duration of event,and each selectable to instant channel viewing mode:



comes with games:



has nice parental controls for those with children,with all the nice locks:



parental control per channel as well:



easy menu navigation.channel options:



great channel editing tools:



great favorite channel editing tools as well,and favorites work great in view tv mode.

[arboristman]

clean out channels fast and easy with powerful and easy to use channel delete menu:



has the very important event timer feature,a necessity for using external recording device,such as dvd burner,or tv tuner-pc multimedia setups
it also has on the fly in epg scheduling as well with push of a button while in epg mode(this not shown in screen below however):


addition features/user preferences can be found here,a nice assortment:


more user preferences:


this stb is equipped with blind scan.a very important scan method not needed for dn/bev birds,but all you fta fans looking for wild feeds:


nice manual entering of tps to scan those missing channels,or enter a tp manually that you is often hot:


a nice powerful sat scan,with easy to navigate and understand scan method,VERY fast sat scans.fastest scans iv seen with any stb to date.seconds only.no waiting around for a minute or more with this super fast scanner:


nice easy to understand motor controls.
works wonderful with emp 8x1 via diseqc 1.2 as well:


easy to navigate antenna setup menu.nothing fancy here however,simply enter your settings manually and ready to scan:
a disappointment for diseqc 1.1 fans,though the unit supports 1.1 via factory files,this support was removed with 3rd party support at this time.though not many users who need 1.1,its a huge issue for those who do.we can only hope for the return of 1.1 from the d1 group:

[arboristman]

optional channel surfing methods:



additional stream info.a much appreciated feature for us fta fans:



one button signal menu screen with status bars and audio tone.a great feature:



not much in the way for music fans here.a nice background pic and nice screen saver,but no artist/song title etc to be found,like most stbs:



the main menu.as you can see,its very nice and easy to navigate:



ah,one of the best searching tools,if not the best searching method available in an fta receiver.the mighty search by event,onscreen key pad.
and a total thumbs up in the way this one works as well.
first of all,the searches are instant,still not sure how they make this unit go so fast.but there is no delay at all.whats better,the event names are saved,and each search is seamed into the regular themes menu,with complete status time bar and all.very nice! there is simply no better way to find that football game, that favorite movie,or other event than this convenient feature.enter event name,press ok,find the event,select it,and watching it, all within literally 10 seconds or less!



example of setting the menu bar transparency to solid.but window transparency to completely 100%.nice little touch for user prefs.we love these additional user settings:




great support.
great hardware.
great overall software.
great features.
user friendly,but has enough advanced tools for even the most advanced fta tester.
support by the famous bl team,but on a modern system.that's a great combo.
a great stb for the entertainment system for sure.
if your looking for an upgrade,or another stb to expand your entertainment system.this one comes highly recommended from your buddy arboristman.

[arboristman]

specs for us fta gearheads.

[arboristman]

usb under front cover:

[arboristman]

great jpg viewer too!
fast and smooth.