Shaw HD questions - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

metallicat · 09-07-2006, 06:10 AM

I took the plunge and bought a 46" Toshiba DLP yesterday, now I have to decide whether or not to spend even more money and get the Shaw PVR.

For those in the know, how much more a month does it cost to get a second TV up and running with digital cable? And is the PVR worth the $748, or should I stick with the regular HD box for $448 or something?

ken0042 · 09-07-2006, 07:12 AM

I would fork over the extra cash and get the PVR. It is so nice to be able to record a show without looking for a disc, setting 2 timers (one on the Shaw box; one on the DVR.) Plus the abillity to record HD. Plus the "what did he say?" factor to rewind live TV. Or you go to do something during comercials, come back and all of a sudden the Law & Order guys have a new person in custody.

Also if you know somebody in Calgary- this weekend Soundsarround et al are having their big sale; often Shaw boxes go on sale.

If not; with the $750 price you get money off your cable bill in credits.

ericschand · 09-07-2006, 08:34 AM

If you can, go with the PVR. Makes watching TV a completely
different experience. After getting a PVR, I can't stand watching
TV without it.

Also, the only charge that shows up on my bill is a $2 charge
for each digital terminal in the house (I have 2, so there is a
$4 charge). That's it...so far. There is no extra charge for
the HD channels...yet.

ers

Rhettzky · 09-07-2006, 08:41 AM

Best Buy and Future Shop both had the PVR boxes on sale for the weekend for $650.00 and a $100 programming credit. Pretty good bargain and you may still be able to weasel the deal out of them.

I-Hate-Hulse · 09-07-2006, 01:26 PM

Anyone know how to get the $100 programming credit applied to existing HD terminal holders? I have a non PVR HD terminal and want to get a PVR, but with out the credit it gets kind of pricey.

The shaw booth at the Big 4 sale used to apply them on the spot, but I'm not sure where they'll be with the Big 4 sale being gonzo.

Ironhorse · 09-07-2006, 01:33 PM

Speaking of Shaw, has anyone ever spontaneously "lost" a bunch of digital channels that you're supposed to be subscribed to?

Happend to me yesterday, all of a sudden some of the channels now show a "subscription needed" message. Shaw support claims they don't know what is going on, can't talk to the box and scheduled a tech for next week(!).

jamesteterenko · 09-07-2006, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

Speaking of Shaw, has anyone ever spontaneously "lost" a bunch of digital channels that you're supposed to be subscribed to?

Happend to me yesterday, all of a sudden some of the channels now show a "subscription needed" message. Shaw support claims they don't know what is going on, can't talk to the box and scheduled a tech for next week(!).

That happened to me a couple of weeks ago. I called up Shaw, and it was resolved over the phone. They had to reset my box, so I lost all of my favourite channel settings. Not a big deal. I was actually impressed with how quick it was resolved, since I called late at night (after 11PM) and I was not put on hold.

James.

The Goon · 09-07-2006, 02:58 PM

If you bought an HD-capable TV, you really do need to see the HD programming available.

underGRADFlame · 09-07-2006, 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamesteterenko

That happened to me a couple of weeks ago. I called up Shaw, and it was resolved over the phone. They had to reset my box, so I lost all of my favourite channel settings. Not a big deal. I was actually impressed with how quick it was resolved, since I called late at night (after 11PM) and I was not put on hold.

James.

What, playboy and hustler stopped working?

I kid, I kid.

Hemi-Cuda · 09-07-2006, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

Speaking of Shaw, has anyone ever spontaneously "lost" a bunch of digital channels that you're supposed to be subscribed to?

Happend to me yesterday, all of a sudden some of the channels now show a "subscription needed" message. Shaw support claims they don't know what is going on, can't talk to the box and scheduled a tech for next week(!).

is it just your digital channels that went off? it can be just a wonky box that needs to be replaced, or whoever you spoke with at first may not have tried all the tricks to make it reset properly (these damn motorola products are very tempermental sometimes). i'm at work right now, so if you want you can PM me your account info (acct # from a bill, ph#, etc) and i can take a quick look at it and maybe save you (and us) a service call

BlackArcher101 · 09-07-2006, 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

i'm at work right now, so if you want you can PM me your account info (acct # from a bill, ph#, etc) and i can take a quick look at it and maybe save you (and us) a service call

While you're at it.. can you in addition pm me your house address please? Oh, and let me know which channels you don't want me to order for you without asking.

Hemi-Cuda · 09-07-2006, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

While you're at it.. can you in addition pm me your house address please? Oh, and let me know which channels you don't want me to order for you without asking.

well i wouldn't need his address since it would already be listed on the account, and seeing as how i don't get commission it would be pretty pointless to start signing people up for random crap

metallicat · 09-07-2006, 08:20 PM

I bought the regular HD box, I couldn't bring myself to pay nearly 800 dollars...

Anyways, I've been on hold with Shaw for well over an hour waiting to activate, and still nothing. This is getting frustrating.

Ironhorse · 09-07-2006, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

is it just your digital channels that went off? it can be just a wonky box that needs to be replaced, or whoever you spoke with at first may not have tried all the tricks to make it reset properly (these damn motorola products are very tempermental sometimes). i'm at work right now, so if you want you can PM me your account info (acct # from a bill, ph#, etc) and i can take a quick look at it and maybe save you (and us) a service call

Only some of the digital channels went off. Others still work. The box is about 3 weeks old.

BlackArcher101 · 09-07-2006, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

well i wouldn't need his address since it would already be listed on the account, and seeing as how i don't get commission it would be pretty pointless to start signing people up for random crap

I'm just trying to say that giving out acct info to people you don't know on the net is probably not the best idea, even if they say they are with a certain company.

Hemi-Cuda · 09-07-2006, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

I'm just trying to say that giving out acct info to people you don't know on the net is probably not the best idea, even if they say they are with a certain company.

well from my prior posts i would hope that most people know i'm an employee of Shaw, and it's not like a phone # is spelling out your life history. an IP address, which you broadcast openly everytime you go online, can be used for more damaging purposes than some Shaw account information

and i take it you've never looked into the buy & sell forum here, where people trade private information back and forth everyday

ken0042 · 09-07-2006, 09:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

and i take it you've never looked into the buy & sell forum here, where people trade private information back and forth everyday

I'm trying to recall the last time I gave out an account number to somebody I don't know.

If you don't understand the basics of being safe on the Internet, then that would make you a less likely candidate for me to trust my info with. Add that to the fact that have only been around for a few months; and you can understand why caution was advised.

BlackArcher101 · 09-07-2006, 09:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

well from my prior posts i would hope that most people know i'm an employee of Shaw, and it's not like a phone # is spelling out your life history. an IP address, which you broadcast openly everytime you go online, can be used for more damaging purposes than some Shaw account information

and i take it you've never looked into the buy & sell forum here, where people trade private information back and forth everyday

I don't really make my IP public. If I do, please let me know where so I can stop doing so. Account numbers is a different matter. I have successfully ordered items with just an account number before. Other forums such as broadbandreports have a strict policy against forum members asking for other members acct info. It's a policy that protects troubled customers, the employee willing to help, and even the company that is in issue. I'm not sure Shaw would be too happy to find an employee going outside of their normal lines of support to take matters into his own hands.

Hemi-Cuda · 09-07-2006, 09:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

I don't really make my IP public. If I do, please let me know where so I can stop doing so. Account numbers is a different matter. I have successfully ordered items with just an account number before. Other forums such as broadbandreports have a strict policy against forum members asking for other members acct info. It's a policy that protects troubled customers, the employee willing to help, and even the company that is in issue. I'm not sure Shaw would be too happy to find an employee going outside of their guidelines, bypassing normal ways to track issues.

an IP address has to be public, otherwise you wouldn't be able to use the internet. if you tried to connect to a website and your PC wasn't broadcasting an IP, it would be like trying to phone someone when you didn't have their phone #. now putting your computer behind a hardware firewall (like a router) is a great way to protect against anyone trying to gain access to your machine as the router would assign an internal IP to your computer, but the router itself would still require a public IP to gain outside access and that can still be used to track down certain information

but i agree with not giving out account numbers to strangers (which ironhorse didn't do) and in hindsight i should have only asked for a phone number (which wouldn't help someone who wasn't a Shaw employee). if that still doesn't work then i could offer to message someone my work phone ext or corporate email if they wanted help with something

if.away · 09-07-2006, 09:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Stuff about Shaw

Out of curiosity, I assume that somehow you're connected to Shaw/Starchoice and have some sort of knowledge of the DSR lineup(530 in this case).

Do you or other people handle bug or defect reports from customers? Meaning that if a customer finds an error or a strange "feature" in his DSR does he call in and complain? If so do you guys maintain a database with all the known and unknown bugs that occur in the DSRs, mainly in the IPG(not OpenTV or Neptune)?