Getting a TiVo
From TivoZA
After having read about TiVo South Africa and deciding that you would like to make the life changing experience that is TiVo, let me continue on to explain the best way in which this can be done.
What to get
There are plenty of TiVo units available on eBay (http://search.ebay.com/ws/search/SaleSearch?satitle=tivo&fls=2&saatc=185) as well as fully setup units sold locally by TiVo Shop (http://www.tivoshop.co.za) and TiVo Resellers (http://www.tivosales.co.za), don't rush off just yet though as there are still a few things we need to explain. Firstly, not all TiVo units will work in South Africa. Currently only Series 1 standalone units are supported, Series 2 and DirecTiVo units are not supported. For more on this and an up to-date list of currently supported units have a look at Which TiVo to get.
The following Series 1 standalone units are currently the best options:
| Type | Harddisk |
|---|---|
| Philips 14hr HDR112 | Single 13.6GB A drive |
| Philips 20hr HDR212 | Single 22GB A drive |
| Philips 30hr HDR312 | Dual 13.6GB A + 13.6GB B drive |
| Philips 30hr HDR31201/2/3/4 | Single 30GB A drive |
| Philips 60hr HDR612 | Dual 30GB A + 30GB B drive or Dual 40GB A + 20GB B drive |
| Sony 30hr SVR2000 | Single 30GB or 40GB A drive |
| Thompson PVR10UK (UK model) | Single 40GB A drive |
| TiVo PTV100 | Single 13.6GB A drive |
| TiVo PTV300 | Dual 13.6GB A + 13.6GB B drive |
As you can see the units above come with varying hard drives sizes, the only other difference between them (except for the UK model) is the operating system that is installed. We will be upgrading the operating system in the next couple of steps so feel free to choose your TiVo based on its hard drive size or colour and styling (http://customersupport.tivo.com/userGuides.aspx). The hard drives that come with the TiVo are adequate but by spending a bit extra on a new hard drive you can greatly increase the recording capacity, for a breakdown of how much recording time is available based on the hard disk size see Recording Time. It is not necessary to get a new hard drive but getting a 160GB drive can be reasonably priced and will give you 56 Hours of BEST quality recording allowing you to go on that two week vacation without missing any of your favorite shows ;-) If you are going to purchase a new hard drive you may be able to save some money by buying a Series 1 unit with one of the smaller drives or no drive at all. Also bare in mind that TiVo's place a great strain on the drives and some TiVo's are now around 5 years old, so there may not be much life left in the original drives.
Buying a unit locally
From time to time some of the forum members bring in extra unit which they then resell, check the TivoZA "Trading Post (http://tivoza.nanfo.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=19)" to see what on offer. TiVo Shop (http://www.tivoshop.co.za) also have units on offer but it's best to check there is stock avaialble before placing an order.
Some of the local sellers offer fully setup units whereby all you have to do is connect it to your home system and away you go, no mounting drives, fiddling with Linux, etc. The other big advantages of buying a unit locally are that the units sold locally are tested, you know what you are paying upfront as it's not an auction, you don't pay any extra customs fees, you don't have to wait weeks for the unit to ship or pay as much in shipping as you did for the unit.
Tips for buying off eBay
Buying off eBay (http://search.ebay.com/ws/search/SaleSearch?satitle=tivo&fls=2&saatc=185) means you won't be getting much in the way of guarantees but you may get some great deals. Don't be discouraged if there is nothing currently on offer or if what is on offer is already selling at a high price, new Series 1 units get added to eBay's listings daily and a bit of patience will mean you can get a great price.
Most eBay (http://search.ebay.com/ws/search/SaleSearch?satitle=tivo&fls=2&saatc=185) auctions will require payment via PayPal (https://www.paypal.com). PayPal now supports South African buyers so to prevent delays in completing an auction it's probably best to sign up for a PayPal account now and complete the verification process.
One of the problems with bidding on eBay is that allot of buyers use what is known as a sniper, this is a program that sits on a users PC and watches the bid. The user enters the maximum amount they are prepared to pay into the sniper and in the last few seconds before an auction closes the sniper bids on the users behalf, frequently securing the winning bid. It can be quite disheartening to be the leading bidder on an auction and as is often the case in the just before the auction closes you get outbid (probably by a sniper). So if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Using a sniper is fairly easy and there are plenty available with free trial periods. I have had great success using HarvEX / Turbo-Sniper (http://www.xellsoft.com/HarvEX.htm), one thing worth mentioning is that lowering the "snipe time margin" can also increase you chances of success. The "snipe time margin" is the amount of time before an auction closes that the sniper will bid on your behalf, somewhere between 10 - 12 seconds should be fine, any lower and your bid may not get through before the auction closes.
Series 1 units usually sell for between $60 and $120, anything more and you are paying too much. Some of the auctions have the "Buy It Now" option which allows you to purchase the unit at a set price and not have to worry about being outbid. Another thing to look out for is units that ship without hard drives, although you will need a hard drive purchasing a unit without a drive will save on the shipping costs due to the lower weight and if you were planning on purchasing a bigger hard drive this may be the better option to go for.
Shipping and Customs
Shipping a TiVo to South Africa will cost almost as much as buying the unit itself, expect shipping to cost between US$60 and US$90 if you go for USPS Airmail Parcel Post, Global Express Mail is a little faster but not necessarily worth the extra cost. TiVo's can weigh anything from 12 pounds to 19 pounds depending on how they are packaged as well as what's included (e.g. hard drive), shipping charges will range from this (http://ircalc.usps.gov/intl_speed.asp?CID=10386&MailType=package&Pounds=12&Ounces=0) to this (http://ircalc.usps.gov/intl_speed.asp?CID=10386&MailType=package&Pounds=19&Ounces=0).
USPS Airmail Parcel Post should take approximately two weeks from the time the seller ships the item to the time it reaches South Africa. South African customs usually takes about another week to clear the item and may charge you anywhere up to R100 in taxes, its sometimes free depending what they classify it as. If you item hasn't arrived within 3 weeks of shipping give customs a call, even if you didn't pay for tracking customs will be able to tell you if their is any international packages in the country for you.
Accessories
There are a couple of accessories for your TiVo, they are:
The IR blaster and serial cable should be included with your purchase but often are not, this is not a problem as you can get them relatively cheaply. You will definitely want the IR blaster as it provides far more accurate channel changing, the serial cable will only be needed if you are wanting network access and are not planning on getting a network card. TiVo Shop (http://www.tivoshop.co.za) and TiVo Resellers (http://www.tivosales.co.za) sell IR blaster cables, Eklectic Systems (http://stores.ebay.com/id=52965907&ssPageName=VI:SIB:StoreView) sells both the IR blaster and the serial cable, all prices are very good and the shipping costs are low.
The TiVo offers some really great features such as streaming recorded shows to PC, XBox or another TiVo, downloading and uploading recorded shows as well as backing them up to DVD, a full featured web based interface allowing for such things as remote scheduling of recordings via the internet plus much much more. For many of these extended features you will require a network card for the TiVo. If you have broadband then getting a TiVo network card will also save you the cost of the call charges for the downloading of the guide data. There are a couple of different network cards available. For information on what cards are available, their costs and how to get them have a look at the "Tivo Network Cards" guide.
