Bell VS Shaw...whats better?

[Gundo]

I bought a new Sharp LCD TV last night and now Im wondering which TV provider would be the best for me. I know Bell will waive the rental fee on an HDTV PVR on a 2 year term if I join them, and I will get my first 6 months programmin for 50% off. Shaw how ever will cost me $20 amonth for an HDTV PVR unit............ But programming wise which one is better?

[Cheese]

Do you prefer to be whipped (Bell) or simply enjoy nipple clamps (Shaw)?

[photon]

I think Bell has the better programming, but I have Starchoice (free HD!) and am pretty happy with them.

[droopydrew19]

Having had both Bell offers more but yes Shaw's service is better. I put up with the service crap for a better product with more channels at a comparable price.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by fotze

If you can get around it, do not let them have your SIN number or some way to get at your credit rating.

Tru dat. Total boneheads are handling that show. I had Bell a year and a half ago. Before leaving the country for a year, I returned all the equipment and cancelled their service. I made sure to get a receipt from the post office when I sent their receivers back.

Guess what? I pulled my credit when I got back and those punks had a collection agency after me for 700 dollars for not returning the receivers. Convincing them that they screwed up was a major challenge. I swear, every person I ever talked to (except the one that I originally bought the service from) was a disagreeable knowitall.

All that aside, it's relatively cheap and there are some benefits to satellite over cable. You get multiple timezones, center ice is available, ummmm...., buncha holes in the side of your house.

[fanforever1986]

Wow...no comparison. Bell is unbelievable with their latest PVR box. around 40 HD channels, including NHL CI in HD...The signal for HD isn't compressed 5 times more than in should be (COUGH SHAW), so you won't see macroblocking near as often (that's when you see the picture of a fast moving image made of of fairly large squares). The service with Bell, because of their size, is not going to be as prompt as Shaw. That said, we've had Bell in our home for nearly a year now...and the only time I called them was to complain about the flames PPV that blacked out...which wasn't a Bell specific issue. They gave me a credit for the PPV with no trouble at all.

We had Shaw HD for 4 or 5 years before that. In that they added 4 HD channels, and our PVR box had to be reset on a constant basis.

Basically what it comes down to, and any off the job Shaw employee in the know will tell you this, Shaw isn't interested in growing their HD lineup with any sort of urgency. They've made the business decision to push Shaw digital phone because they've figured it will gross a higher profit. In addition to that, the Shaw bandwidth network is not large enough to support both analog TV stations, as well as a large number of HD. So until their lineup goes fully digital, Shaw and HD will not be a good mix.

That is probably way too much info...sorry, I'm in a boring lecture.

[Bertuzzied]

Screw both! go for telus tv. PM me after to see how that goes. hehe

Bell's products are awesome but their customer service is just as bad. Shaw is pretty much the exact opposite.

[MaDMaN_26]

I have Bell HD PVR - top end unit. I agree with the service issues... e.g. my bills came in French and I had to ask three times to finally get it in English and my first two receivers had issues, hard drive failure on one and second was just a crappy rebuild... but I seem to be okay now and service seemed to be okay for dealing with those issues, it was a pain to have to go to purolater etc.. but at least they sent me a unit before expecting me to ship them mine, so while my PVR was glitchy or not available I could still watch TV during those troubles. I have never had Shaw, but I really like the amount of HD channels I get with Bell (Hi-Def Hockey is incredible to watch) and if you miss a show you get the Time shifting feature which basically means every show plays in every time time zone, so its on many times a night (even HD shows are on twice a night usually)... so if you miss your favorite show its almost always on again, plus its nice to watch shows normally on at 9 or 10 pm here at 6 and 7pm. I PVR everything, and once the unit is set up to record certain shows you probably won't miss it again, taping the early version allows me to make dinner casually and then watch all my shows commercial free... talk about sweet. I have not watched a commercial in months. For Hockey games, if I tape the first 40 minutes, and then I can skip intermissions and commercials and basically catch up to live hockey usually with only a minute or two left in the third... and if your mom calls in the middle of a game because she has no clue when the flames play you can simply pause it... same with getting another beer, or taking a bathroom break, you never miss any action... I like being able to rewind when I want and watch plays in slow motion... e.g. - That wasn't F'in off side you moron!! see!! lol... I'm not sure if shaw has PVR or if the unit is quite as effective... but if they don't thats reason enough to go with Bell.

[metallicat]

I've never tried Bell, only because I've got too much money invested with Shaw. One thing I would like about Bell however, is their time shifting HDTV channels. Shaw doesn't have that, and I wish they did.

[ken0042]

I have Bell. My reasons for them over Shaw:

- More HD
- Flexible programing (instead of TreehouseTV I have NHL Network for example)
- My TV habits. I often have more than 1 TV on at a time. With Bell I can set it up so that if I change the channel on one TV, they all change. At this moment I have 3 TV's on.
- Better picture quality IMHO.
- NHL Centre Ice

What's bad about Bell:

- Customer service. Sucks doesn't even begin to describe it. I would seriously consider getting kicked in the junk than have to deal with them. If you go with Bell, take down names, employee numbers, times and dates of everybody you talk to. If the promise money off, get it in writing.

Now going with Star Choice offers the picture quality and the TV tuning that I like with Bell, so it is a good mix- giving you some of the best of both worlds.

[ricoFlame]

Originally Posted by ken0042

- Flexible programing (instead of TreehouseTV I have NHL Network for example)

I agree, i really like Bell and the product that they deliver. how you could sacrifice Treehouse however is beyond me.

[GrrlGoalie33]

Another thing with Bell (in my experience), go for the eBilling. I had the paper copy option and got bills only two or three times a year (no problem with any other mail).

Now I get my bill every month.

Love my Bell HDTV PVR. It has totally changed the way I watch TV.