TiVo Series 3 coming to Australia next month

Great news, Aussies -- you too can enjoy the same box Americans have been using for eons starting next month. Yep, as of July, the TiVo Series 3 will go on sale via Seven for $700, and while Harvey Norman will sell the device exclusively for three months, it'll filter into "all major electronics chains" shortly after that window of time closes. Of note, Seven claims that it is not attempting to compete with Foxtel and its newly announced iQ2 box, and that it is instead aiming for subscribers who want the functionality of a DVR without the costly Foxtel subscription fees. If whispers prove true, you folks can expect to see this on sale in late July following a July 1st media launch.

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 24th 2008 10:18AM]

That's strange. Why sell the series3 and not the TivoHD? I'm sure the TivoHD is much cheaper for Tivo to manufacturer. They must have a stock pile of Series3 box them sitting in a warehouse somewhere that they want to unload.

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 25th 2008 3:04AM]

It *is* a TiVo HD. Well, it is a box *based* on the TiVo HD, since it has been re-engineered to tune DVB-T, not have CableCARDs, etc. But it is based on the same platform.

Technically the TiVo HD is part of the 'Series 3' family, but the use of that picture for this post is misleading. The box looks very much like a US TiVo HD.

[gsaj Posted Jun 24th 2008 2:05PM]

Uh, the linked story has a TiVoHD on it. So this headline is misleading and/or inaccurate... TiVoHD is technically a "Series 3" DVR anyway, they have a very similar feature set (except for different harddrive, case-design, and remote).

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 24th 2008 7:34PM]

From all the several articles about TiVo's great features, they're all failing to mention the one that will probably annoy everyone to pieces...

Now I don't have the full details. Most PVRs allow you to skip commercials, but Channel 7's TiVo skip feature plays you a commercial when you press the skip button. Imagine this, you're watching a recording, the ads come on, you press skip, and voila, the complete opposite happens - a commercial PLAYS!

The whole PVR category is about giving the user control over their viewing experience. This small feature Channel 7 have implemented, could be the blemish that frustrates its users, generate bad reviews and word of mouth, and possibly see the TiVo struggle.

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 25th 2008 3:06AM]

From what I've read it sounds like the same thing US TiVo's have had for a while - if you FF through a commercial you can get a static ad that displays for that product while you zip through the video ad. Whoopdedoo. TiVo has done this in the US for a couple of years now and the world didn't end, most people haven't even noticed it.

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 25th 2008 8:06AM]

It's such a god damn ugly looking sucker, i wouldn't want that "uglying" up my AV rack!