MultiChoice has launched the third in its line of Explora digital video recorder (DVR) decoders - the boxy Explora 3A - the smallest one yet, oddly doing away with the front-facing info-faceplate and dumping its sleek soft-pebble look that won prizes and designer acclaim, but that comes with the same number of recording hours as the Explora 2A.
MultiChoice launched the original Explora in mid-2013, followed by the Explora 2A in October 2016 with half the recording capacity of the original.
Now the Explora 3A, still made in East London in South Africa, has been pushed to market, with a recommended retail price of R999 without installation and R1699 with installation, to replace the Explora 2A which will no longer be manufactured.
Similar to the Explora 2A, the Explora 3A can record 110 hours of content on a TB Seagate hard drive, and comes with a A7 DStv remote control with batteries and an HDMI cable.
The Explora 3A doesn't have the front panel display where DStv subscribers would normally see the channel number displayed. Also different is that the decoder makes use of a mini-smartcard that is already inserted into the decoder.
MultiChoice says the Explora 3A requires less cabling into a house when using a DStv Smart LNB (low-noise block), is smaller, and is built using mostly recyclable components.
According to MultiChoice the Explora 3A is now available at all DStv agencies, service centres and participating retail stores and is sold alongside the DStv HD5 Series decoder, which can be used in XtraView.
