I would first once again like to thank the staff here, specifically Farmer1, Crazed 2.0 and CaptainKangaroo for the raffles of the Dreamlink DLites of which I was a lucky recipient. I mentioned that in return for the award of the prize I would write a review to help others who may be considering a new STB. While other reviews have been posted on initial impressions of this box and have provided good feedback I wanted to use it for a few weeks to get a feel for the unit and its performance. I also wanted to differentiate between the performance of the DLite and the performance of the services discussed on this forum. So this review may be a bit lengthy so apologies in advance but I wanted to provide something more than just to say it’s an awesome box for the purpose.
As already mentioned in other posts, the DLite is very easy to setup. I use hard wired for internet access (60mbps service) and so I did not attach the supplied usb wifi antennae. Also as previously mentioned by others, the box immediately autoupdated quickly. Since first setup a few weeks ago, I have updated the box to the latest S/W Revision r13015. The settings are pretty straight forward and there is not a whole lot to tweak the box. While adjusting the time zones are easy enough, there is no way to manually adjust the actual time (clock) on the unit. I use a micro SD card and can browse the files on the provided app and it seems to work well for recording live tv.
The box is preloaded with a several apps which currently are;
-YouTube
-File Browser
-Quick Support
-FreeTv Pro
-FlashVPN
-PIA VPN
-Installer
While I have looked at these apps, I really don’t use any of them. YouTube and File Browser speak for themselves and the FreeTv Pro offers a decent list of channels including US and other international channels however of the US ones, these are not really premium type channels and of the ones I’ve tested they are hit and miss if they actually connect. So I have not been using this for anything except scrolling if bored. I’m not a VPN user and as I understand it, VPN is not allowed for the IPTV services offered here so I’m not really sure of the value for having these preinstalled unless the box is being used for other providers who do permit VPN. The Installer app doesn’t seem to be functional on this box since you can’t manually add apk’s. So in summary, the provided apps are not really of benefit for my use so I can’t comment any further on their value to this box. It really doesn’t matter because the purpose of this box is primarily for IPTV
So, getting to the real intent of the DLite, the rest of this review is based on experience with the use of IPTV. While others may have a differing experience this review is in comparison to another setup in use for a couple of years. This other setup is on a MyGica android box using Perfect Player (paid version). Also tested over the past couple of years were STB emu and Kodi including Couch Potato but in the last 6 months or so have been exclusively PP for the reasons compared further on.
Once it is setup for server access, which again is straight forward, the DLite boots very quickly and connects to the service to bring up the last channel being watched with no other opening of programs or clicking around. The picture on the DLite is excellent. Switching inputs on the same tv between the MyGica and the DLite running the same channel there is slight but noticeable difference in picture quality. Channel changing is also very smooth and quick on the DLite. The interface with program information is very clean and offers details on what is showing. A press of the ‘enter’ button shows a long list of channels and what is currently playing. Other presses of the remote will allow users to view different levels of information including a future look at what is on a specific channel. The main EPG is also very clean and in a ‘grid’ format is able to provide the program name as well as a brief description. Again, scrolling through the EPG is smooth and quick to move through the list. Choosing a program from the guide switches programming promptly. It should be mentioned that the remote control seems to work very well with the unit and is not finicky on pointing it exactly at the box or having to push a button multiple times to respond. Powering off the unit (sleep mode) is quick and easy and when you want to watch TV again, a quick press of the power button and your back watching TV in 3 seconds. The other big thing that separates this box from the other setup being compared to is the ability to record as this isn’t currently available in PP. The recording of a future program is straight forward as is playback. You can also pause live tv and then continue watching – another awesome feature to love about this box. The fact that the DLite is intended primarily for IPTV and not to load all kinds of apps makes this box perform as the Dreamlink team intended – well done!
The unit also supports VOD and does this with a quick press of the remote. The listing of available videos launches quickly with thumbnails of the movies and shows. Pressing the left arrow button displays a listing by genre and type and you can also filter and search for a particular video. The picture quality of the videos has been excellent and there has been no buffering.
Now, the next part of the review is influenced by the use of this box with the services discussed on this forum and is not intended to be a bash on it but to ensure users are aware of how the box (or any of the boxes that rely on server data) is currently functioning. First, the box experiences freezing like others who report it on most other devices, but this is not a problem with the box. Again, comparing this to other setups reveals the same freezing so if you are thinking of this box to fix the issue, that can’t be guaranteed. Certainly new hardware will perform better as will a solid internet connection. Second, the data for the EPG is provided by the service provider so whether or not the EPG has data or not is not a function of the box but rather the IPTV service one uses. Currently, this provider provides program information for most US channels, some international but no UK. There is no way to allow the DLite to use another EPG source file such as /kens work which populates very nicely in PP, including UK channels. One issue that is unknown if it is a server or box issue is the speed at which the EPG populates. With PP the entire EPG loads when started and when you scroll through it the details are shown immediatly. With the DLite it seems that the EPG populates as you scroll through it for the first time since updating meaning you have to wait a few seconds for it to populate and dispaly rather than the info being immediately shown. Again, not sure if this is a server or box issue but once it does load the EPG scrolls very nicely on the DLite.
There is also currently a 2 hour difference in EPG timing, at least for ET zone and as mentioned earlier while you can’t manually adjust the time to trick the box into the right timeline you can change timezones but your clock will be off by 2 hours. With the other setup or any other android based box, Perfect Player can be used as an m3u player but as mentioned already you cant add apk’s to the DLite on your own and you only have what the DL team provides. You can use the m3u option in the FreeTv Pro app but there is no EPG interface with that app.
So, my final impression is that the DLite is it is an awesome box that is very simple yet powerful to use as a primary IPTV box. Preference would be to use this box over the other setup and when the service gets aligned with solid EPG data it will absolutely be the ‘goto’ device.
Great job DL team and all the mods here for the awesome support!
