BlackGold - Who wants one???

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blur

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Ultimate Geek
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#79336 16-Mar-2011 09:30

Hi there

I've had a BlackGold BG3595 dual digital satellite DVB-S/S2, dual digital terrestrial DVB-T card for some time now. I think it is an awesome card, and am in the position where I'd like to buy another.

I have bee in contact with BlackGold directly, and they tell me that if I buy 10 cards (I assume this can be mixed) that they will give a 19% reseller discount.

My question is, would 9 other people (or more) want to put in an order with me for this Rolls Royce DVB-S/DVB-T Quad tuner card? Here is the link:

http://shop.blackgold.tv/epages/BT3159.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/BT3159/Products/BGT3595

I'm picking that the final price per unit would be a little over $200 per card landed in NZ, but obviously this would depend on the exchange rate of the day.

Let me know if you are interested and we can see if we can work a deal out.

Blair.

My HTPC - Case Antec Fusion Remote, MOBO Intel DH67BLB3, CPU Intel Core i5-2400S 2.5 GHz, RAM 8GB DDR3 1333, HDD 120Gig Corsair Force Series 3 SSD system | WD Caviar Black 2TB data, Tuners Black Gold BGT3595 dual DVB-S/S2, dual DVB-T, Video nVIDIA GeForce GT 520, 1024MB, Sound Intel® High Definition Audio (onboard), OS Windows 7 x64

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#448786 16-Mar-2011 09:41

what tuners can be used simultaneously on this

Can you use 2x DVBT and 2x DVBS at same time or is it only one or the other.

blur

384 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#448792 16-Mar-2011 09:50

My understanding is that you can use all tuners at the same time, however I think we'd need to clarify this. I will do some investigate and post again...

dolsen

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#448805 16-Mar-2011 10:14

dan:
what tuners can be used simultaneously on this

Can you use 2x DVBT and 2x DVBS at same time or is it only one or the other.

A quote from the link given,

"The product has been architected to allow simultaneous management of four broadcast program streams – digital satellite and digital terrestrial. "

blur

384 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#448809 16-Mar-2011 10:17

Bingo! I thought that this was the case.

michaelt

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Ultimate Geek
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#448812 16-Mar-2011 10:26

I might be interested, but won't be able to give you a definite answer for 2-3 weeks, and would want to know what the final price will be before confirming.

Also, do you know if it comes with a remote control or any other accessories?

blur

384 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#448818 16-Mar-2011 10:49

Hmmm... I think I probably should have thought about this before I posted.

I'd like to firstly make the point that I am not reselling these cards, I am simply facilitating the purchase in order to get a 19% discount, and also to consolidate freight.

I purchased a single card about 6 - 8 months ago. The card was £109 plus freight. After the currency conversion on my credit card etc, I think the card worked out to be around $260 NZD

You will need to research the cards yourself, but there is enough written on this site to confirm that these cards are high quality and work well.

In essence, what I am offering is the ability to share the freight, and get a 19% discount off the overall price. You'd also need to understand that I am not able to give a definitive final figure as there are variables out of my control like the exchange rate - however we can get pretty close.

Is anybody interested on the above basis?

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JonnyCam

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#448861 16-Mar-2011 12:33

Don't forget the GST you will be charged for bringing that amount in at the same time (unless you have already included that in your calculations)

Customs don't chase for GST < $50 - but for 10 cards, I think you'll go over that - so there is 15% of your 19% gone. (well not quite, as the freight won't attract GST charges)

Hate for you to sell them all, then get a bill from customs (or worse, DHL - who charge a commission + disbersment fee)

Rollux

362 posts

Ultimate Geek

#448864 16-Mar-2011 12:50

No remote or pretty box, but does have an adaptor cable for its 15 pin input to accept composite, comonent and s video inputs.
And don't forget to plug in the floppy drive power connector!
Excellent card, I would take another if I had another PCIe slot

And yes, if total declared value is more than $400NZD then you will have to pay GST. (And yes that value includes freight costs! Don't ask how I know... Grrr)

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mm1352000

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#449015 16-Mar-2011 19:34

Hi blur

That is a great offer if you can make it work. For those who can't afford it (like me) or don't need DVB-S2: you can get Pinnacle 7010ix cards (which are basically the same as the older BGT3540 except they're not low profile) for very good prices from Ebay Germany. My two cost $180NZD including postage...

michaelt

425 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#449071 16-Mar-2011 23:36

mm1352000: Hi blur

That is a great offer if you can make it work. For those who can't afford it (like me) or don't need DVB-S2: you can get Pinnacle 7010ix cards (which are basically the same as the older BGT3540 except they're not low profile) for very good prices from Ebay Germany. My two cost $180NZD including postage...

Thanks for that, I might actually get one of those.

Do you know if you can use all 4 tuners simultaneously like the BlackGold?

mm1352000

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#449081 17-Mar-2011 00:46

Yup, 4 streams is the limit for the 7010ix too. The PCIe bridge chipset [which is what limits how many simultaneous streams can be received] on the the BGT3595 is the SAA7231 - the next generation from the SAA7162 on the BGT3540/7010ix. I'm not sure what the physical differences are...

One thing that I should say is that the SAA7231 may get better Linux support. Blackgold are promising to provide a Linux driver for the BGT3595, so if that is a factor then you need to be aware that there is no Linux driver for the SAA7162 yet. One is under development here, but progress has been *very* slow...

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blur

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Ultimate Geek
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#449114 17-Mar-2011 08:21

Well, I am going to have to concede that GST will more than likely be payable on this order, making the difference negligible to ordering a single card.

In order to do the exercise properly, I have gone back to BlackGold and asked the freight question and also if we can get the next tier discount of 24%

I will report back...

Rollux

362 posts

Ultimate Geek

#449542 18-Mar-2011 11:54

Or you could ask them to declare the value of the cards as EACH (but forgetting to write "each" on the form...)

hads

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#449763 18-Mar-2011 22:09

JonnyCam: Don't forget the GST you will be charged for bringing that amount in at the same time (unless you have already included that in your calculations)

Customs don't chase for GST < $50 - but for 10 cards, I think you'll go over that - so there is 15% of your 19% gone. (well not quite, as the freight won't attract GST charges)

Hate for you to sell them all, then get a bill from customs (or worse, DHL - who charge a commission + disbersment fee)

This isn't quite correct.

You'll be charged GST on a shipment of value over around NZ$400 ($50 GST as you said).

Freight does attract GST. The GST is charged on the price including shipping i.e. if your cards cost NZ$1000 and shipping cost NZ$100 you will be charged GST on NZ$1100.

You will also be charged customs clearance charges, a processing charge by the broker (NZ Post, DHL, Fedex, UPS, etc.) and disbersment charges. These charges will vary from around $50 up to $200 depending on the broker who does the clearance. DHL certainly aren't the most expensive in this area, NZ Post are getting up there.

Don't forget foreign exchange fees from your credit card (usually 2%) or wire transfer charges.

Importing isn't as cheap as many people think so make sure you don't get stung.

hads

nicegear.co.nz - VoIP, DVB and other Linux compatible hardware

blur

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#449792 19-Mar-2011 02:45

Hi all

Well, this is not looking as good as I thought it might, but I'll run the numbers past you all and see what you think. I bought my first BlackGold card in November last year. Back then, the NZD was buying 0.478 British pence so the landed cost on my Visa statement was $258.86 for one card.

Right now, the NZD is buying 0.447 British pence so the same single card landed would be $271.00 based on £121.25 for a single card including shipping.

So, with the above in mind, a 10 pack looks something like this:

BGT3595 10pk Including freight £980
Convert to NZD at 0.447 = $2,190.70
Add GST @ 15% = $2,519.31

Currency conversion fee of say $21

Total landed cost for 1 card - $254

The upshot of all of this is that you save a little less that $20 buying 10 cards (and paying GST) rather than buying a single card and not having to pay GST. If you could get around the GST by importing 10 cards, the landed cost would be around $225 per card - however it's just not worth the risk.

I trust you guys agree with the above?

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