TiVos from JustDeals-au - Are they really PAL?

[RobB]

G'day All,

I've noticed a regular seller of TiVos on Ebay, called Justdeals-au, has advertised that their TiVos are PAL, not NTSC. Surprised by this, I e-mailed them. My question, and their response (in reverse order) are quoted below.

Can anyone advise of their first-hand experience with this company? Are their TiVos PAL compatible and if not, has anyone taken these people to task?

RobB

Hi Rob,

Thank you for your interesting in our product.
Please kindly be informed that this product is PAL system and it comes with
full-functional remote control
Thanks for your inquiry. Hope we have chance to serve you soon.

Regards,

Diana Cao
Customer Service Department
JustDeals Australia
customerservice@justdeals-au.com
<customerservice@justdeals-au.com>


-----Original Message-----
From: <<deleted>>
Sent: Wednesday, August 16, 2006 3:34 AM
To: customerservice@justdeals-au.com
Subject: Item number: 280018288711 Philips Series 1 TiVo Digital Video
Recorder PTV100 DVR

Hi,

Your company has offered many TiVos such as the recent subject listing.
I have a good understanding of these items, already own a few and am
looking to purchase and set some up for family members. I am surprised
to see that you claim the subject item TV system is “PAL”. I have copied
some of the text from the item to the bottom of this e-mail - "PAL"
appears twice. If these are 2nd hand imports from the US, this is
unlikely. Before I bid, please confirm the tuner is indeed PAL, not NTSC
as this significantly affects the final cost of setting up a TiVo in
Australia (it either needs a tuner mod or the addition of a digital STB
or VCR for TV signal).

Cheers,

Rob

Technical data:

Instant replay: Yes
TV System: PAL
User-defined video-quality: Yes
Onscreen channel guide: Yes
Automated nightly clock set: Yes
Compatible with cable and satellite broadcasting: Yes
Phone line input: 1
Control outputs: 1 serial, 1 infrared
Audio inputs: 1 pair
Composite-video inputs: 1
S-Video inputs: 1
RF antenna inputs: 1
RF antenna outputs: 1
Audio-video outputs: 2 pair
Composite-video outputs: 2
S-Video outputs: 1
AC power cord: Detachable
Remote control: Full function
Package Includes:

TiVo Digital Video Recorder - PAL
User's Guide
1 Remote Control
1 Stereo analog audio/video interconnect
1 RJ-11 telephone cable
1 AC power cord
1 S-Video cable
1 Coaxial cable

[Darren King]

Can anyone advise of their first-hand experience with this company? Are their TiVos PAL compatible and if not, has anyone taken these people to task?

Hi Rob

Yes, I have both directly via contacting them (with no reply, probably because they know who I am) and indirectly via comments on my website in the "TiVo's For Sale in Oz" area.

I have had several of these TiVo's shipped direct to me for modifications and I can tell you that these TiVo's are only PAL by virtue of them being so only if you run the OzTiVo (or nzTiVo) image.

Other things I can tell you is that they are obviously imported direct from the USA and the JustDeals Australia people have no idea what needs to be done to get a TiVo working here as the package contains a photocopied useless set of hookup instructions that are not relevant for use here (they say it is as easy as hooking up to the phone line and away you go - correct only in a proper TiVo serviced area but not here), contains a CD that has "utilities" not even relevant for use here in Australia (contents looks suspiciously like the same utilities CD I got a long time ago when I first got into TiVo with a book I bought about "Hacking TiVo" from the USA), has no IR Blaster cable, has a serial cable which is not a "null modem" type for accessing the TiVo via serial means, has an "RF Cable" supplied which is the threaded "F connector" type to match the incompatible NTSC tuner, and has a USA power cord which will not plug into our power outlets.

The TiVo's do not come with a network card and out of the several I have had shipped to me, two have had obvious damage to the internal modem (the most common fault in a TiVo). While this is not an issue if a network card is added, for anyone wanting to attempt the painful exercise of getting a TiVo working via modem it would be impossible with some of these units.

If none of that fazes you and you have some knowlede of what is required to get TiVo running then they are an "OK" basic unit. $189 Buy It Now is a little steep however as I would sell such a thing for the same price with IR Blaster cable, A/V lead, remote and the correct power cable and a 60 day warranty for $175. Or fully modified with stereo PAL tuner, 2nd A/V and even a small tested hard disk set up for your area for $275 (or arrange to supply a large hard disk of your choosing).

Hope that helps.

[RobB]

G'Day Darren,

Thanks for the reply. I'm surprised someone hasn't asked the same question, but others probably looked on your website - doh! I had a quick look there previously, but only for spares. I didn't see the good advice about where to buy - or not, as the case may be! I'm not surprised to find out the TiVos on JustDeals-au aren't PAL (in terms of the tuner anyway) and that their repeated us of 'PAL' (four times) in the description is a cheap attempt to flog the items here. Sure, setting them up can be done; I've bought mine direct from the US and it can be tedious buying the bits separately - my sig block shows I've got a few unfinished yet. Oh well, that's what hobbies are for, aren't they!!????

Thanks again,

Rob

[Darren King]

I've bought mine direct from the US and it can be tedious buying the bits separately - my sig block shows I've got a few unfinished yet. Oh well, that's what hobbies are for, aren't they!!????

Yep! Hobbies are great, and money pits too! My side of TiVo is helping people like you find the missing bits, repairing any that do turn up less than perfect and of course my original venture into TiVo - PAL tuners and other hardware mods.

Still, I don't mind sinking funds into this hobby. I don't think I have ever made anything on it by the time the spare parts are purchased and the electricity bills to run the test equipment, soldering station and TiVo's on test (generally two of them at any one time) are paid, but it is rewarding knowing I give back hardware wise what others have done on a software level.

Cheers

[daggo]

Complain to EBAY that their adds are misleading and incorrect. That should fix it up.

[geoffo]

Hi all,

Dang! Wish I'd seen this thread before I bought one of these from Just Deals (or should it be Unjust Deals). Paid $149 for it including delivery and it arrived yesterday. Looks OK, fairly clean although it is obviously second hand.

Darren's comments on the package contents are spot-on although my unit is in fact a PTV300 box, not the PTV100 as advertised-don't know what the difference is except there is an RJ 45 socket above the phoneline socket that doesn't appear in the photos on Ebay.

Fully expected from my readings on this site that I would need to load an image to my brand new 80 GB Seagate HDD and would eventually have to add a network card but hoped to struggle by using the internal modem until I could buy the add-ons.

Things went pretty well, image loaded, TiVo booted up, GS progressed well until the Setup Call needed to be made when I got a "No Dialtone" error.
Tried everything, tested the extension cable that came with the TiVo, tried all permutations of modem settings-no result. Guess the modem is cactus.
So much for "Refurbished" by Just Deals, plug it in, if the lights come on its fully refurbished-no further testing necessary.

So I have a few questions which are probably pretty basic and probably slightly off-topic but are beyond me at this stage:

1. Am I doing something wrong with the modem settings and is there a sure-fire way to test the modem or will I need to send it to Darren?

2. Can the Setup Call be made over the internet once I have setup the network since I won't need a modem then. That way I can leave the modem as is? (Current set up is two way satellite service 512 Kb down 128Kb up with 3 comps networked thru a TP-Link 108Mb wireless router)

3. The TiVo is running from a dedicated Standard Def STB receiving FTA from Mackay Qld, our nearest town 120 Km away so don't think PAL (or non-PAL) tuner is an issue for me. Have no intention at this stage to buy Austar or similar, so can get programme guides from newspaper. Can TiVo be used as a sort of high quality VCR until I get all the other problems sorted out?

Apologies for the long post but I, like many others love the concept of TiVo and would love to get it working properly, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Geoff

[geoffo]

Hello again,
Wow! What fantastic advice! Thanks to both Woz and Darren for your help. I have a much clearer picture on the direction I must now follow.
Cheers
Geoff

[geoffo]

Update!

Just heard from JD, they have agreed to replace the unit! Apologies for what I was thinking of them.

G

[Darren King]

Update!

Just heard from JD, they have agreed to replace the unit! Apologies for what I was thinking of them.

G

Well that is good news. But then again if you HAD bought from George (or asked me if I had any, as per my webpage regarding where to get one from) then it would not have to be such a painful excercise. Afterall I am George's authorised repairer in this part of the world

FWIW I have repaired plenty of green line TiVo's too. Wonder what JD will do with this one... Probably just bin it I'd imagine.

[geoffo]

Ouch! Sorry Darren. Realised when I re-read my post late last night that I had neglected to mention your excellent service! Apologies. Will post again when JD have done their thing.

Thanks to T1voZA for suggestion on screen width but, since I'm getting my signal from a standard STB and not the tuner it probably won't make a difference.

Cheers