So My PVR Just Died - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Russic · 08-26-2009, 11:11 AM

I have an old PVR. I'm a bit of an early adopter and I picked one up several years ago. Considering the harddrive is pretty much constantly spinning I'm impressed as hell it's lasted this long (about 5 years). I won't bore you with the details, I turned it on and it was flashing as I'd never seen before. I unplugged it for about 5 minutes, plugged it back in and the same thing happened. The power button appears to not even do anything. I called Shaw and all they said was that they were going to have to send a technician, but the guy was using words that lead me to expect the worst.

Let's assume my PVR is destined to be 6 feet under. Personally I'm not that enthusiastic to buy another HDPVR for $600 (ballpark) nor do I really want to up my cable bill by $15-$20 per month to rent one. I have an Apple TV and despite a general "meh" feeling in the tech community, I really like it. I could probably get by just fine without a PVR or cable for that matter ... do you think if I called shaw and said "cancel my cable outright" they might offer me something to stay on? What kind of offer do you think they might throw my way? What if I called Bell and said I was interested in switching?

If anybody has any experience with that I'd love to hear it. I'm just trying to weigh my options here. I'd love to go sans cable and just use itunes, but I'd be lying if I said the loss of NHL Centre Ice wouldn't be devastating. I've tried it online, but I don't know how I'd watch the games on my tv without buying another computer to hook up to the TV.

So if anybody has any stories about switching tv providers or knows of a solution to my NHL Centre Ice issue I'd dance at your wedding to hear them.

Bring_Back_Shantz · 08-26-2009, 11:16 AM

Any time I've had a problem with a cable box from Shaw, they pretty much just show up with a new one and say "Yeah, it's probably covered by warranty".
Hopefully you're good to go.

Failing that, I just switched to Telus TV.
Not only am I saving about $30/month (On TV, Cable, and Interweb), but they threw in an HD PVF and a second HD cable box.

Only downsides are that I supposedly sigened up for 3 years (Though I have yet to sign anything), and the PVR isn't as good as the Shaw one, but it's just fine for 95% of what I want it for.

mykalberta · 08-26-2009, 11:16 AM

I gave up cable a few months ago to focus on some schooling I need to get.

When I went to cancel Shaw offered me free cable for 8 months Since I canceled every other month they have been calling me with anywhere between 2-4 free months of cable because I am still an Internet customer. I was an early adopter like you and sold my PVR for $350.

So far I can watch all CFL/News/NFL Pre Season for free online. It takes some tinkering with trial and error but it works great. I really miss my PVR but until i am done with these damn exams I am not hooking it back up. Weirdly I have started to read alot more

nickerjones · 08-26-2009, 11:19 AM

Center Ice can be watched on your computer... I had a similair situation with my provider COX here in the states... I simply called and told them DIsh was now being allowed to come into my area and were offereing me a great deal. I asked what i currently had and the price so I could compare. Cox then said well what is dish offering ... I did have an offer from Dish but I did tell a few white lies and expand the discount but in the end MY Original COx bill for phone internet and Tv (hd , hd dvr, no movie channels) was 168.00 a month. They ended up speeding up my internet , nmy phone stayed the same, The gave me my choice of a movie channel and a 2nd HD Dvr and my month bill is now 120.00

SO i guess you could always call and threaten ...It cant hurt , but be prepared to switch if they just say "well do whatever"

Art Vandelay · 08-26-2009, 11:21 AM

What's the hannibal lector reference?

mykalberta · 08-26-2009, 11:22 AM

Yah, we are in Canada, those deals dont exist up in the frozen north.

I would try opening your cable box, putting in a replacement, put in an 80 gb hd and see what happens. Its worth a shot since its dead.

Bertuzzied · 08-26-2009, 11:33 AM

My friend just replaced the harddrive on his pvr a few months back. Mem express had the exact same harddrive back then. I think the motorola pvrs are limited to a max 160 gig harddrive.

Looks like they are $60 and $65 still.

I can't believe the harddrive isn't crapping out faster on the pvrs. It runs sooooooo hot. i should really buy a harddrive now in case they stop carrying the 160gig ide hd.

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Product...9/Default.aspx

Red · 08-26-2009, 12:03 PM

Take the box to Shaw. They will replace it for free.

ken0042 · 08-26-2009, 12:52 PM

My experinces with Shaw:

- like others have said, they are insane about replacing hardware for free. I've been tempted to put tire marks on a receiver to see if they would still replace it.

- When I was mad at them a while back I had called Telus, got a competative offer and called Shaw's retention department. All they would do was bad mouth Telus. Long story short I had Shaw on "temporary suspension" for a while to have time to change email addresses. When the time came to actually cancel, they had all sorts of retention offers for me. So my experience has been not to call and threaten to cancel, but start to actually cancel. (Assuming they don't end up replacing it for you.)

Igottago · 08-26-2009, 12:59 PM

I'm in an interesting spot. I've been on Telus TV with an HD box for the last couple years, and my contract has just expired. Shaw has been sending me offers for a free HDPVR about 3 times a month. My Telus TV is dirt cheap and covers most of my tv viewing habits, except for centre ice package, which I can get online. I'm gonna see how I can play this to get the best possible deal. I don't think Telus TV is great but if I switch over to shaw I am going to be paying almost 3 times more monthly in order to get the channels I need. The plus side is I can get centre ice and watch it on my tv instead of my small laptop.

Russic · 08-26-2009, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickerjones

Center Ice can be watched on your computer... I had a similair situation with my provider COX here in the states... I simply called and told them DIsh was now being allowed to come into my area and were offereing me a great deal. I asked what i currently had and the price so I could compare. Cox then said well what is dish offering ... I did have an offer from Dish but I did tell a few white lies and expand the discount but in the end MY Original COx bill for phone internet and Tv (hd , hd dvr, no movie channels) was 168.00 a month. They ended up speeding up my internet , nmy phone stayed the same, The gave me my choice of a movie channel and a 2nd HD Dvr and my month bill is now 120.00

SO i guess you could always call and threaten ...It cant hurt , but be prepared to switch if they just say "well do whatever"

This was my thinking. I'm in a good spot because if my cable is completely gone I could still function really well, plus I'd save about $65 per month. If they were to throw a free pvr in the mix though, I'd happily continue to pay my $65

Quote:

Originally Posted by Art Vandelay

What's the hannibal lector reference?

In Red Dragon Hannibal gets the address for Ed Norton's house by telling the receptionist over the phone he'd dance at her wedding if she could provide the info. I'm very impressed you noticed.

yads · 08-26-2009, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

My friend just replaced the harddrive on his pvr a few months back. Mem express had the exact same harddrive back then. I think the motorola pvrs are limited to a max 160 gig harddrive.

Looks like they are $60 and $65 still.

I can't believe the harddrive isn't crapping out faster on the pvrs. It runs sooooooo hot. i should really buy a harddrive now in case they stop carrying the 160gig ide hd.

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Product...9/Default.aspx

You can put in a bigger HDD, it's just that it will only use 160 GB of it.

Also in regards to Telus TV, the PVR is only single tuner as opposed to Shaw's which is dual tuner. I almost don't even see a point in having a single tuner PVR.

Russic · 08-26-2009, 01:24 PM

Ya mine is a single tuner right now and I think having one that isn't a double at this point is unacceptable. I had rough experiences with Telus back in the day, so I'll gladly pay more to go elsewhere. Thanks very much to those who've responded though, it's greatly appreciated.

Raekwon · 08-26-2009, 02:41 PM

Reading these stories inspired me. I called Shaw to discuss my account since I have phone/cable/internet through them. I bought a PVR last year but my wife took control of it so i'm stuck in the office watching regular TV. I explained how other companies were offering free hd tuners and pvr's and such and after a little humming and hahing they offered me a free PVR for 6 months after which I can buy it out for $298 or rent it for $19.95/month or just return it. They also offered 6 months of hd plus free (which I already pay for so save $9/month). Not bad for 5 mins of conversation, if only they knew I would never have switched!

pokerface

Bill Bumface · 08-26-2009, 02:54 PM

I was in the exact same situation with a dead PVR. I wanted to stay with Shaw and new I would, but didn't want to pay the $600-$700 at the time for a new PVR.

I phoned up and said I need to cancel. They asked why, I said my PVR was dead and Bell's were only $400. I ended up getting about ~$200 in credits that were knocked off my bill for 6 months and a bunch of free shaw on demand or some other thing I never used. Sounds like if you turn that down you end up getting even better offers though! I needed mine right away for Euro Cup though.

Bertuzzied · 08-26-2009, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yads

You can put in a bigger HDD, it's just that it will only use 160 GB of it.

Also in regards to Telus TV, the PVR is only single tuner as opposed to Shaw's which is dual tuner. I almost don't even see a point in having a single tuner PVR.

SIngle tuner PVR? you might as well just a vhs machine. Pathetic.

onetwo_threefour · 08-26-2009, 03:59 PM

When I was with Bell last year, they annoyed me with respect to upgrading my box so I called Shaw to see what they were offering to switch. At first, because I said I was just renting my Bell Box (non-PVR) they said they couldn't do anything for me. So I siad fine and thought I would continue to deal with Bell. Suddenly, three days later, I got an email from Shaw offfering me a free dual-tuner PVR to switch. Since conmbining my phone, internet, and cable with them was going to save me about $50 a month I went for it. The first PVR I got from them was a refurb, and the second tuner didn't work. It took me about a weej to realize it, and shaw came out and gave me a brand new box after testing to see that the one they gave me was faulty. As much as I totally preferred Bell's linup and timeshifting options, the price and service at Shaw beat the pants off Bell.

Igottago · 08-26-2009, 05:15 PM

Has anyone tried using the online version of centre ice and connecting it to a tv via your computer? Is it watchable? Too pixelated to enjoy on a bigger screen?

Russic · 08-27-2009, 03:06 PM

Ok ... the first seed has been planted. I called up bell and asked what would happen if I canceled my Shaw and switched to them. I was offered:

- Free install (of one receiver ... I'd need 2)
- 1 HD PVR for $10/month for a year (after the year it goes up to $20)
- 165 channels for $33/month for a year (looking at the website, I'm guessing this is regularly $54/year)

Straight off the top I'm pretty impressed with those prices. Bell has more HD, all the channels I care about and the multiview for centre ice. My TV package with Shaw right now is close to $70 per month and that's without a PVR rental. That could easily go up to $90 if my PVR isn't under warranty (something the guy on the phone said was likely). The Bell equivalent would be about $50 per month (for the first year at least, my guess is it would be closer to $80 after that, which isn't as much savings but it is a stronger product imo). I'm interested to see if now that they have my contact info I get any more offers over the next few days.

I might have to entertain the idea of canceling with Shaw unless they can counter with something substantial. The very nice woman I spoke to didn't have the greatest english ... I would miss the hell out of that if I left shaw.

ken0042 · 08-27-2009, 03:52 PM

Only thing to add- whenever you talk to Bell ask them if they mind if you also record the call (that's a bluff obviously) and then ask for their rep number. Then log the date/time, who you spoke to and what is offerred.

Then next month when you get your bill for $450 you have a leg to stand on.