Everything written in this article is also relevant to the Hungarian receiver Amiko SHD-8900 Alien, which is a complete analogue of Gi S-8120.
The receiver GI S 8120 (Galaxy Innovations S 8120) is currently one of the cheapest receivers that supports FULL HD format on an open Linux operating system. Thanks to the operating system, the tuner supports various plugins, significantly expanding its capabilities. The receiver can work on one of two shells, Spark and Enigma-2.
Linux at the heart of the system means that the device ceases to be just a receiver and, in fact, becomes a computer in the receiver's shell, allowing much more than just watching satellite channels (of course, including sh@ring, card emulation, etc.). Since network support and a network card are already built into the receiver, it can be connected to the Internet "directly", that is, without the need for a personal computer between the receiver and the Internet. This allows you to use such a receiver as a client (and even a server!) for sharing, using existing software for Linux.
In general, theoretically, any application that exists under Linux can be compiled and run for the receiver, provided that it has enough system resources. For example, the fact that the receiver has direct access to the network and the Linux kernel allows you to turn the receiver into a client for downloading torrents, and files using HTTP, FTP, SMB, NFS protocols, and so on. In fact, this allows you to use the receiver as a station for downloading movies without the participation of a computer.
The presence of Linux also allows you to play movies in Mpeg 2/DivX/XviD/MKV formats, which can be located both on the internal drive and "at the neighbor's in the local network" or on a USB flash drive.
The GI-8120 has a built-in media player with support for playing content from a network drive and a bunch of Internet services: Youtube, Shoutcast radio, Picasa resource, RSS, weather forecast and Opera browser, iptv Kartina.
As for IPVT, namely support for Kartina TV, the receiver implements EPG and VOD (ordering films with payment for viewing), the quality of the channels is very good. Given the popularity of Kartina TV in some regions, as well as the fact that the «official box» for «Kartina» costs more than 150 Euro — this is a chance for Kartina users to get a fully functional receiver plus a great media player, for a price much lower than the official offer.
The receiver is equipped with a VFD screen with Russian language support and displays various operating modes, such as recording, timeshift and connected external devices.
Under the folding front panel are control buttons, in case something happens to your remote.
On the back panel are the LNB in input for connecting the antenna, the loop output Loop, video and audio outputs: HDMI, component (RCA), SCART and coaxial SPDIF, there is also a LAN port for connecting to the network, RS- 232 and one USB, for connecting flash and external drives.
The presence of only one USB port is not a problem, because if you wish, you can connect a USB hub with the required number of ports to it, to which, in turn, you can connect an external 3G modem, USB keyboard or mouse for surfing the Internet or a Wifi adapter.
The Gi S-8120 comes with one HDMI cable, instructions and a convenient remote control. The receiver is equipped with one card reader (CA), which supports Conax encoding, which allows you to connect channels of paid providers, for example XTRA TB. By installing some plugins that can be downloaded from the network, you will get a full-fledged Multicas, i.e. work with various encodings of conditional access cards.
The receiver has a fairly clear main menu with the ability to configure various functions for viewing and displaying information. The blind search function is not implemented, but at the moment any parameters of operating frequencies can be found on the Internet, and the main frequencies of the most popular satellites can be viewed in the tables of open channels. The receiver copes perfectly with DiSEqC 1.0, 1.1, 1.2 or USALS protocols.
The image quality of the channels is excellent, especially on HD channels. As for the standard resolution (SD) — the same Tricolor shows much better than on the "native" receivers for this package.
The tuner implements a fairly convenient TV guide (EPG), where you can choose to record the program you are interested in or just see the program schedule.
Through the Spark menu, you can update the software if your receiver is connected to the Internet. The download and installation process takes about 10-15 minutes, but here everything will depend on your Internet channel, after all, the firmware itself weighs about 60 Mb plus the installation time. The software can be updated both online and via USB/RS 232 or from a network drive, the GI-8120 also implements the function of a client and an FTP server, and it plays content from the FTP server very well. It is also possible to save your settings, plugins, channel and satellite lists, make a backup of the entire system to an external device.
Usually built-in media players are not very good, but on GI it was implemented very well for playing video, audio and pictures. It coped perfectly with all the main and popular formats and containers: MKV,VOB, AVI,MP4,TS,MPG.
A small but pleasant addition is that when connected to the network, you can download subtitles for the movie and see information about it. While this function is not yet perfect, because it depends on how your file is named, if its name does not match the name of the movie, you will need to enter the name manually.
Program recording or delayed viewing (timeshift) are implemented, both on an external USB device and on a network drive, which is especially convenient.
Don't be afraid of the scary word Linux. With the Spark shell, the receiver is very easy to learn. The menu is very convenient and understandable without any instructions, and many basic functions are called from the remote control.
For those who like to spend time online, this device offers great opportunities and saves your budget, you won't need to buy a NAS or copy content to an external drive for viewing, many entertainment internet functions will become available not only on the computer or laptop screen, but also on the big screen.
Recall that everything written in this article is also relevant to the Hungarian receiver Amiko SHD-8900 Alien, which is a complete analogue of Gi S-8120.