ADVICE: TV providers - Digital, Sat, and HD - ish

[The Streak]

I tried to find an existing thread on this stuff but couldn't. Got to page 10 and gave up so I apologize if one's already out there.

I'm just looking for some advice on TV providers. I've had Bell expressvu, my sister and brother in law have shaw digital cable with HDTV, and now I've just moved to Edmonton and am re-thinking providers. I've had serious issues with Bell customer service and their packages really aren't that great. I like Shaw, but it's almost the same as bell in terms of coverage.

I did begin to look at Star Choice though. Anyone have any experience with this company? I've never heard anything about it and I don't know anyone that has. I noticed that they have a lot of american channels that would be nice for football, and there are quite a few HD, but it's hard to make assumptions just based on their website.

Another consideration is Flames coverage; that's why I turned to you guys. How am I going to get the most possible Flames games being in Edmonton? That's obviously the main thing.

Any help is appreciated, I know a lot of you guys know quite a bit about this sort of thing.

[Claeren]

I was actually looking into a related question i will tack on here,

If you have say... 5 TV's in a house, do you need an expensive receiver for each? Or can you split it up for roughly the same price as buying a system for one TV?


Claeren.

[Bobblehead]

I have Star Choice.

They aren't bad, I'm happy with them. I don't know a lot about their HD content. I rarely have any issues, it takes a huge thunderstorm to affect my reception (they type we get once a year for about 10 minutes).

I get my american stations from Detroit & Seattle so there are some times I've had the choice of 5 different NFL games. I have CBC channels from accross the country, so often see Ottawa play the early HNIC instead of the Leafs on all the other channels. This is also good as I can see many shows up to 3 hours before they are on TV in Calgary, and if there are 2 shows normally on at the same time I can still see them.

And Claeren, yes, you do need a receiver for each TV. The price of them varies; the basic receiver is $79 up to $229 for a HD receiver.

[The Streak]

Actually I know that with Bell you need to buy a receiver for every TV you have, unless you want them all to be playing the same channel. I'm not quite sure what the additional monthly cost is if any, but you still have to buy separate receivers. Also, you can only have a couple hooked up to each dish so if you have too many then you need to buy more dishes.

Digital cable, I'm pretty sure it's the same deal about the 1:1 receiver:TV ratio, but some companies will waive the additional receiver fees with different packages you can buy.

[The Streak]

Okay, yeah I wasn't too worried about reception because we don't get ridiculous storms. Used to be an issue when i lived in london, On. and we would get ice storms and you had to get on the damn roof and de-ice the thing when you were half in the bag. Was entertaining, but crappy.

[ken0042]

Yes, with any digital service (with the possible exception of Telus) you will need a box for each TV showing a unique channel.

As for Flames coverage; each provider is about the same. The exception is right now it appears that the Flames are lifing the blackouts on NHL Centre Ice on Bell; giving an additional 10 or so games this season.

I have Bell. Pros:
- The most HD. And they have the infastructure to add more as it becomes available.
- NHL-CI package

Cons:
- Customer service. Worst I've ever seen. About 3 times per year on a good year I find myself screaming in to the phone at them.
- Signal substitutions. Bell has decided it is better for me to see a crappy Regina feed of a channel instead of Boston. Tried complaining to the CRTC, no luck. *C actually follows the CRTC guidelines.
- Programming packages. But you already knew that.

[Red]

With Shaw you can get one digital box for your livingroom and then regular cable on all other TVs in the house. I think you can have up to 4 or 5 without extra charge. Bell has great HD lineup, but you need a receiver for each TV plus their service dept is non existent. With Shaw you will have a tech fixing your issues for free in a day or two. With Bell pretty much never. Telus is just so far behind it's not ever worth looking at. No HD, VOD etc, plus you need their internet to have only 2 TVs. Internet slows down while the TV is on. Channel changes take up to 4 seconds....just a really crappy TV setup. Not sure about starchoice. Similar to Shaw since they own them?

[Vulcan]

Bell has a couple of dual tuner receivers, one of HD. I believe you can have up to 6 receivers with no extra per mo. charge. You can fairly easily connect 4 tuners off of one Satellite dish, more is a little more complicated but can be done. I've got three TVs connected to two receivers , but I'm cheap since I can't be in two rooms at once but every situation is different. You already know about Bell's service so all I will tell you is try to have everything in writing and take names and numbers.

[CRXguy]

My only experience is with Bell ExpressVu. Yes, they can be idiots but I was very happy with the channels they offered. Nothing else came close. If you're looking to get multiple receivers, ask them if they're offering any deals. I was able to get a 2for1 deal for the 6100 HD receiver as long as I subscribed at least $45 worth of programming.

Just make sure when there's a dispute, you get the employee's full name, ID# and confirmation #. There are actually a couple good ppl I dealt with over the phone, if that makes you feel any better.

Unfortunately, I had to cancel my service because my condo balcony does not point the proper direction to get a signal. I miss HD!!!!

[droopydrew19]

It took Bell 3 attempts to book my install and they managed to lose my work order , start a second, find the original work order, and then attempt a double install.

Other than that I am happy with Bell. As many have said before... Bell's Service sucks BIG TIME but their product in terms of HD / Center Ice etc. is the best out there.

[The Streak]

Thanks boys, some pretty good input there. I'll take that into consideration. May have to bite the bullet and just stay with Bell if it's actually the best....

[jolinar of malkshor]

I have had Starchoice for about 10 years now. They have really good customer service compared to the other providers. Content is pretty close to the same as Bell other than Centre Ice and some foriegn language channels. Starchoice is also less picky on where you have recievers located...ie. one at the cabin, at home, rv ect.

The best thing with Sat compared to regular cable...are the time zones. If you want to watch comething early....you watch the NewFoundLand channel. Something later....BC.

[The Goon]

I have Shaw Digital Cable and I've had good experiences with their customer service. They seem a little weak on HD programming but I get the sports channels, that's what matters most to me.

If you are a glutton for information you can read a lot of forums about Bell, Shaw, etc. at:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/index.php

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by fotze

What is dishnetwork and how does that work. A buddies house he is moving into has dishnetwork and it is included with the house. Is this an illegal satellite?

Dish Network is the American version of Expressvu. Bell gets all of their hardware from Dish.

There is no 100% legit way to get Dish in Canada. Some people do try to hack it which is also called black market. There is also grey market which is when somebody is paying Dish. It still isn't legit because Dish isn't licensed to broadcast to Canada.

Let's just leave it at that. I know there is a lot more that could be said on the subject, but not on this board.