New Shaw Offer, should I switch?

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by fotze

Is there a way to disconnect the Shawondemand buttons? How many bloody times I accidentally press that hell button of hell.

yes, just look in the manual. there is a section that tells you how to program the remote button by button to make it match an existing remote (put two remotes face to face so you can program remote specific features). i believe that you can simply clear the function of any button, but even if you can't all you would need to do is grab another random remote and program the SOD button to any random button on that remote that won't annoy you. for example it pissed me off as well, so i reassigned the SOD button on my shaw remote to control the color mode of my TV

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by HOOT

So when you RENT a car do you one day hope to own it? Just curious what your definition for RENTING is.

You are missing my point. When I rent a car, I know I can return it at any point. When you lease a car, you cannot.

The reason for my post is to drive home the distinction between Bell and ever other telecommunication company I have rented stuff from.

When I rented a phone from AGT, I could trade it in for an upgrade if a newer model ever came out. When I rented a cable box from Shaw, I could return it at any time to upgrade it if a newer model comes out.

I see people who rent the Bell receiver, then get mad when they can't do the same thing. Then at the end of the term, they have paid the same amount as buying, but don't own it.

Going back to your car example, if you were looking at a $20,000 car- would you pay $350 per month to lease it for 5 years? That would mean you'd be paying $21K to rent it as opposed to $20K to buy it.

[Rathji]

Anyone who has been offered this know if you need to turn in your dish as well? or just your old box.

[GreatWhiteEbola]

Originally Posted by Rathji

Anyone who has been offered this know if you need to turn in your dish as well? or just your old box.

Just the box, in my case I exchanged 2 General Instruments satellite receivers that were about 20 years old. The installer said that they <powers that be> might not take them...that was 5 months ago. So I got the HD-PVR and a SD box in exchange for 2, 20 year old useless receivers.

I call in once a month with a beef, which is that I can't view any of the digital channels. They add the channels, reset the box and no resolution, the good news is that when they can't fix it, I get another free preview. No paying for Movie Central, HD Plus and all the digital channels.

I'm sure that they will eventually come to my house and get the signal corrected, so that I can pay for the extra channels. At this time Shaw is more willing to get me fixed immediately at their cost then to send a tech and get me into billing.

I am liking Shaw more than BEV, the guide is so much easier to use, IMO.

[GreatWhiteEbola]

If anyone wants to take advantage of this, I would suggest that you go to a pawn shop, and get the cheapest Sat box you can find.

[psicodude]

Bell advertises the fact that they have 100% digital channels and Shaw does not. The question is A) is this true, and B) can a normal dude even tell the difference? I have a 50" plasma if that makes a difference.

[GreatWhiteEbola]

Originally Posted by psicodude

Bell advertises the fact that they have 100% digital channels and Shaw does not. The question is A) is this true, and B) can a normal dude even tell the difference? I have a 50" plasma if that makes a difference.

In Calgary, Shaw is now running an all digital network. Or I should say that Shaw's network is all digital, it can be debated whether the source is digital <eg. broadcast from Global is analogue I beleive>, then making the claim to 100% digital bunk.

That is the reason they can offer the $59 digital box, it doesn't have an analogue tuner. I know in Red Deer there is no "All Digital Network" and I notice a difference between analogue and SD.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Rathji

Anyone who has been offered this know if you need to turn in your dish as well? or just your old box.

My parents were told by Shaw that they needed the dish as well as the box. However on a couple of forums I have read that the Shaw rep was more interested in taking the box than the dish. My guess is the box gets its serial # recorded prior to being recycled/garbaged; whereas the dish just gets recycled/garbaged- meaning if I'm a Shaw employee why would I bother to lug around a clunky dish when nobody is going to ask for it.

[Rathji]

As far as I understand, they sell the boxes and/or dishes back to Bell. No sense throwing money away if you have someone who could resell it for profit.

[GreatWhiteEbola]

Originally Posted by Rathji

As far as I understand, they sell the boxes and/or dishes back to Bell. No sense throwing money away if you have someone who could resell it for profit.

BEV are destroyed, *Choice are returned/ sold, to the best of my knowledge. All equipment is kept in storage for a minimum of 1 month.

[GreatWhiteEbola]

Originally Posted by ken0042

My parents were told by Shaw that they needed the dish as well as the box. However on a couple of forums I have read that the Shaw rep was more interested in taking the box than the dish. My guess is the box gets its serial # recorded prior to being recycled/garbaged; whereas the dish just gets recycled/garbaged- meaning if I'm a Shaw employee why would I bother to lug around a clunky dish when nobody is going to ask for it.

You are exactly right, they want the dish, but they don't want to go on the roof to get it. Insurance reasons. So if by removing your dish you are going to create a hole in your roof, the tech will not ask to get the dish.

[mykalberta]

Originally Posted by Frankster

I just did this switch. I traded an old 3100 standard def receiver in as I was renting the 9200 from Bell.

Notables:

-Even though the Shaw is a Dual Tuner PVR, you can not access the recorded content or guide from another TV the way you can with the Bell PVR.

-As mentioned before, not having the guide on the other TV's is a huge adjustment for us.

-Minor, but convenient, the Bell remote has a "jump forward" feature that jumps forward 30 seconds or so (really convenient for commercial lengths). The Shaw remote does not have this.

-On TVs other than the one with the receiver attached, you only get Tier 3 content, nothing above.

These are all minor issues and so far I'm pretty happy with the Shaw service. Our total TV, Phone, Internet bill has dropped by about $50 a month.

What cables go from the Bell box to other TV's that allow you to access the guide?

With shaw you need to buy multiple receivers - althrough the non high def al cheapo is something like 50$.

[GreatWhiteEbola]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

What cables go from the Bell box to other TV's that allow you to access the guide?

With shaw you need to buy multiple receivers - althrough the non high def al cheapo is something like 50$.

Yeah, I think his complaints are more of a benefit with Shaw. As you don't need a terminal to access the programming. You can have up to 4 tv's at no extra cost.

[mykalberta]

Originally Posted by GreatWhiteEbola

Yeah, I think his complaints are more of a benefit with Shaw. As you don't need a terminal to access the programming. You can have up to 4 tv's at no extra cost.

Sorry, I read it as a complaint, and to me it definately would sway me to Bell if I had a family with multiple TV's.

I was just wondering how they can get the guide on multiple TV's with only one box - crazy.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

What cables go from the Bell box to other TV's that allow you to access the guide?

Originally Posted by mykalberta

I was just wondering how they can get the guide on multiple TV's with only one box - crazy.

Just a regular coax will do the job. You can run video cables if you wanted to. Most Bell receivers have UHF remotes.

[GreatWhiteEbola]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Just a regular coax will do the job. You can run video cables if you wanted to. Most Bell receivers have UHF remotes.

Yes I read it wrong. Dual tuner output and UHF remotes will do that job.

[Old Yeller]

I'm bumping this again because I have the Motorola PVR now and I can't figure out how to jump to certain points in time in previously recorded shows.

ie) I recorded something that's 3 hours long... I've already seen the first hour and a half, is there any way to tell the PVR to go to the 90 minute mark? Other than just fast forwarding?

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Old Yeller

I'm bumping this again because I have the Motorola PVR now and I can't figure out how to jump to certain points in time in previously recorded shows.

ie) I recorded something that's 3 hours long... I've already seen the first hour and a half, is there any way to tell the PVR to go to the 90 minute mark? Other than just fast forwarding?

nope. but the 4x fast forward should get you there fairly quickly. takes a couple of minutes to fast forward through a one hour show, so it shouldn't take that long. and if you stop it after finding your place the PVR will pick up from where you left off

[HOOT]

Originally Posted by Old Yeller

I'm bumping this again because I have the Motorola PVR now and I can't figure out how to jump to certain points in time in previously recorded shows.

ie) I recorded something that's 3 hours long... I've already seen the first hour and a half, is there any way to tell the PVR to go to the 90 minute mark? Other than just fast forwarding?

That is different from Bell's PVR it will let you Resume where you last stopped it. As stupid as this sounds sometimes this is how I finish movies, I think I have A.D.D. and can only watch a movie 30-45 minutes at a time unless I'm at a theater.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by HOOT

That is different from Bell's PVR it will let you Resume where you last stopped it. As stupid as this sounds sometimes this is how I finish movies, I think I have A.D.D. and can only watch a movie 30-45 minutes at a time unless I'm at a theater.

same with Shaw's PVR, it will resume where you last left off. however once you've finished watching a program and want to rewatch it, it starts back from the beginning