I may be coming in a bit late on this thread but having just joined the forums and got my TiVo working I also just read it.

I spent several weeks reading all the FAQ's and browsing this and other forums before making the jump and ordering my TiVo from the US.

While the FAQ's contain a LOT of information, sometimes it is not ordered in a way that a complete novice/beginner can easily comprehend.

I know I myself got a bad case of INFORMATON OVERLOAD. There was just to much information available on so many different subjects that I just didn't really know where to start. (even after going through the beginners FAQ)

I had never used mailing lists before, or searched in them either, so was not sure what to do there.

By asking a few easily answered questions on this forum, as well as reading through the stickied links threads I eventually felt confident enough to order my TiVo.

I agree with tenty that these forums are a great way (far superior to the mailing lists, as beginers tend to get a bit snubbed and just told to go off and read the FAQ's) for beginners to get the confidence to make that first move, as I did.

I will be helping people out on these forums where possible, by answering quetions that are within the scope of my currently limited knowledge and as that knowledge grows I will be able to help out more people.

Gary Giles