Shaw vs. Telus Cable TV

[MikeN]

Well with Telus rolling out there new FIOS lines, they have 180+ HD chls now.

[OilKiller]

Originally Posted by MikeN

Well with Telus rolling out there new FIOS lines, they have 180+ HD chls now.

Still just Bell in a Telus costume...no thanks.

[Sr. Mints]

I got a letter in the mail from Telus offering Optik, phone and the net for $10 each. I phoned Shaw to see if they'd match it in any way and the lady I spoke said she can't. ($40 for just internet and phone from Shaw, that's with a student bundle).

So even with a student discount offered to me by Shaw, Telus seems like a better deal right now.

This means I will probably give Telus a whirl for a year. It kinda' sucks because I've been with Shaw since The Wave. But you know: mortgage, insurance, school... sometimes we have to make cuts where we can.

[ken0042]

Just keep in mind the price after. IIRC that Telus offer is for the first 3 months; with the remaining 9 months at full price. So some random numbers:

Let's say it goes up to $150 after 3 months. So that would be $1440 for the year.
I know somebody in the "Cell Retentions" thread said they got Shaw down to $90 per month. So that would be $1080 for the year.

[The Yen Man]

I signed up for Shaw High Speed Internet and Basic Phone as a package 3 months ago. The bundle costs $55 a month. As part of the promotion, I got $20/month off for the first 6 months.

Shaw calls me today and said they're doing a promotion right now. They will extend my $20/month discount for another 3 months plus give me free cable for the next two months. I get 2 tv hook ups, and completely free installation. I'm just not sure what kind of cable package I'm getting as I forgot to ask. I'm hoping it's some sort of HD package, but I'm expecting normal digital cable. Oh well, can't argue with getting stuff for free I guess.

[Sr. Mints]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Just keep in mind the price after. IIRC that Telus offer is for the first 3 months; with the remaining 9 months at full price. So some random numbers:

Let's say it goes up to $150 after 3 months. So that would be $1440 for the year.
I know somebody in the "Cell Retentions" thread said they got Shaw down to $90 per month. So that would be $1080 for the year.

Good point, so I checked that: It's $10 each for the first 12 months if I get all three, and for the first six months if I get only two services.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Old Yeller

Interesting Redliner... I have phone/internet/TV all with Shaw and while Telus has never called me, it makes me tempted to call up Shaw and say they have and gave me quite a good offer.

I just did this about a week ago and quoted Telus's new 10/10/10 bundle for a year. The secret is not to ask them for a deal but ask them how much notice you need to give to cancel your account. Then they will go through a whole thing on how shaw is better and after talking to them for half an hour or so as long as you are insistant that you want to try out telus they should offer you a better deal. Do your research and figure out what Telus would cost you for a comparable package.

I was able to get my package which was about $160 reduced to $105 for a year plus they upgraded me to extreme interenet and gave me a free month.

[ComixZone]

I just 'upgraded' from standard digital tv with shaw to hd plus and bought an hdpvr which I got for 199.99 (1tb hd) which blew my mind because I had been quoted the 399 price on the phone but when the installer came this morning he called in and got them to price it at 200, definitely happy - although I must say, having been a Bell HD customer for years before, Bell's HD seemed a bit crisper? But the quality difference in the content didn't make up for the hell that was my experience being a customer with them.

[8sPOT]

Got a similiar offer in the mail from Telus and I decided to call them up.

I am currently with Shaw for internet and cable, my phone is with Telus. Right now I pay $200 a month for all that.

If I switch to Telus it will be $162 a month AFTER the 3 month discount, I will upgrade to a 250 GB PVR that I can program from my phone, record 3 shows at once and seems to have cleaner looking menus.

PLUS they are throwing in an XBOX 360 Elite which they will hookup to act as a 2nd digital box.

Pretty sure I'm gonna take this deal, the XBOX alone is enough to entice me, I have a 1st generation one (my 5th) and the Elite would be nice.

[Barnes]

Originally Posted by 8sPOT

Got a similiar offer in the mail from Telus and I decided to call them up.

I am currently with Shaw for internet and cable, my phone is with Telus. Right now I pay $200 a month for all that.

If I switch to Telus it will be $162 a month AFTER the 3 month discount, I will upgrade to a 250 GB PVR that I can program from my phone, record 3 shows at once and seems to have cleaner looking menus.

PLUS they are throwing in an XBOX 360 Elite which they will hookup to act as a 2nd digital box.

Pretty sure I'm gonna take this deal, the XBOX alone is enough to entice me, I have a 1st generation one (my 5th) and the Elite would be nice.

I was going to do the same until I called Shaw and they absolutely destroyed Telus's offer.

[8sPOT]

Originally Posted by Barnes

I was going to do the same until I called Shaw and they absolutely destroyed Telus's offer.

I called Shaw and after 25 minutes on hold I gave up. I know Shaw can't give me an XBOX so I think thats the tipping point for me.

How much of a difference between Shaw's and Telus' offers?

[fundmark19]

Do people here have Telus Optik? I keep getting phone calls and am starting to consider it. My problem is I want at least 5 tv's in my house. I know on the old telus tv they couldn't offer this. Is optik worth the switch?

[fundmark19]

Originally Posted by Barnes

I was going to do the same until I called Shaw and they absolutely destroyed Telus's offer.

what was the offer? I would love to get my services lowered if I stay with shaw

[TopChed]

For my house, the cable in the area has been damaged and we were not able to receive Shaw HD cable tv, and our Shaw internet was incredibly slow when compared to stats that we should have been getting. This wasn't really Shaw's fault, but because of this I have switched to Telus Optik for tv/internet, and so far I've been impressed. I'm sure Shaw is faster for those who can receive it, but it isn't an option of me and Telus has been 100x better.

[Diemenz]

Remember that with optik the more streams you use the slower and slower the internet gets.

If you are recording 2 shows or have multiple stream going the internet crawls to a snails pace. I will admit I have been tempted to go the telus route as well because o the deals and the money I would save a month.

However after watching a friend only be able to get around 8mb down while recording tv when i get 18-22mb down while 3 tv's are on in the house will keep me with shaw.

[DuffMan]

Originally Posted by fundmark19

Do people here have Telus Optik? I keep getting phone calls and am starting to consider it. My problem is I want at least 5 tv's in my house. I know on the old telus tv they couldn't offer this. Is optik worth the switch?

I'm very interested in this myself.
I would think Telus would definitely have the advantage with the any recorded program on any tv anytime, that you see advertised with Comcast, etc. Someone at work was just asking me about this, this morning.
I would think if it is any good, Shaw would have to match the technology shortly.

[Barnes]

I got a DCX 3400 free for 2 years so that I could move my DCT 3416 upstairs which satisfied my complaints with them not having PVR anywhere and the audio problems on the DCT with HDMI.

I have HD+, HBO, MC, East time shift SD, and 10 a la carte channels.

They threw in Shaw Extreme free for a year.

I also signed up for Phone Lite to replace my Telus phone line.

My previous Shaw bill was around $160 for internet and TV and Telus was $40.

All three with Shaw are about $112+tax for a year.

Saving $88 a month.

[fundmark19]

Originally Posted by Diemenz

Remember that with optik the more streams you use the slower and slower the internet gets.

If you are recording 2 shows or have multiple stream going the internet crawls to a snails pace. I will admit I have been tempted to go the telus route as well because o the deals and the money I would save a month.

However after watching a friend only be able to get around 8mb down while recording tv when i get 18-22mb down while 3 tv's are on in the house will keep me with shaw.

8 mbs is tons for me. Im on shaw highspeed and I get nothing in regards to downloading so I could definitly settle for 8 mbs! Thats still 400-500 kbs a second on a decent torrent

Also what is the best offering right now from telus? I might as well use it with shaw retentions to get a free pvr rental and then just switch to telus later if I still choose to. I have HD plus sports shaw highspeed and basic phone for 120ish a month so I feel I am geting ripped off

[Barnes]

Originally Posted by DuffMan

I'm very interested in this myself.
I would think Telus would definitely have the advantage with the any recorded program on any tv anytime, that you see advertised with Comcast, etc. Someone at work was just asking me about this, this morning.
I would think if it is any good, Shaw would have to match the technology shortly.

AT&T U-verse uses MS mediaroom like Telus. Comcast and Shaw both use i-guide and guideworks.

The problem is, i-guide is the only middleware solution for the hardware Shaw has in place and the company that makes i-guide, Rovi is essentially a monopoly that has bought up all of its competitors and are more interested in licensing a whole bunch of things rather than actually developing products to compete other providers products and services.

Guideworks is the guide software that sits on top of I-guide is owned now by Comcast and re-sold by Rovi so we are all at the mercy of them to decided which features they feel it is important.

For example, Comcast has decided that they don't want the ability to turn off channels not subscribed to like their competitors do so, we'll never see it.

Apparently, Shaw is testing a new version of I-guide and Guideworks that is supposed to bring in a lot of the features that you see in Microsoft Mediaroom but how long that will be, who knows? It took them a year to roll out version A28.

[Khel]

Thus far it appears most are impressed with Telus Optik... been having an on going discussion with my girlfriend regarding getting Shaw or Optik in my new house...

I have 1 TV, an Xbox, and play Starcraft... I watch sports, don't download torrents...

Since she also surfs CP, is Telus Optik a reasonable choice over Shaw or not?