New Shaw Offer, should I switch?

[psicodude]

So I got a call from Shaw last night, and they have a new offer which was actually pretty interesting. I currently use Shaw for internet and phone, and Bell for TV. Shaw says that they will take the Bell hardware and replace it with matching Shaw hardware. I have a Bell 6100 (HD PVR) and she says they will give me a Shaw HD PVR for free that I would outright own. (I own the Bell PVR).

I checked the channel lineups and they appear to be pretty much identical and Shaw will turn out to be 10 bucks or so a month cheaper. So, the question is, does anyone know if it is worth it to switch? Specifically, I am concerened about video and sound quality, how quickly Shaw gets new HD channels, and how well the HD PVR works. My only real problems with Bell is that the signal can be lost in bad weather, and their PVR sometimes screws up.

Thanks for your input.

[return to the red]

I have the shaw HD PVR. Before Xmas I was having troubles losing the PVR function and not even being able to turn the box on. It wasn't working for about 3 or 4 days then magically started working fine. I questioned Shaw about it and they said it was due to the a specific code relating to the upcoming shaw-on-demand feature. Ive never tried Bell's PVR but I'm fairly satisfied with Shaw NOW

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by psicodude

I have a Bell 6100 (HD PVR) and she says they will give me a Shaw HD PVR for free that I would outright own. (I own the Bell PVR).

A couple of questions- what receiver do you have? For Bell HD receivers:

6100 is HD but no PVR
9200 is HD PVR- been out about 2 years.
9242 is the new HD PVR.

The reason I ask is Shaw offers this promotion for pretty much any satellite receiver. I just sent my parents an antique 4000 receiver to use.

Just saying- if you can get Shaw to swap for one of your lesser receivers, you can try them out, and if you don't like it you can go back to Bell and sell your Shaw receiver.

[Old Yeller]

Have any non receiver/satellite owning people ever gotten a deal with shaw? The reason I ask is because I'm finally getting an HDTV and I'm still deciding between shaw and bell. I have normal cable TV through shaw right now, but could upgrade or go to bell quite easily.

I don't know much about the bell receivers/pvr but I hear you can rent them so you're not hit with another initial cost. With shaw I always assumed you had to buy their hd receiver/pvr outright.

Bestbuy has a deal where if you buy a TV with them, they'll give you $125 off the shaw HDTV/pvr receiver.

I thought my decisions ended after I decided on a TV

[ken0042]

Renting Bell's receiver is a bit misleading. It's more of an "installment payment plan with no hopes of ever owning it." You have to sign a 2 year contract, and at the end of the 2 years you've paid what the receiver costs, but do not own it. And if you cancel early, you have to pay a penalty.

IIRC Shaw offers a zero interest plan so you can buy the receiver, pay what is a similar cost as Bell's "rental", but you own it at the end of the term.

[return to the red]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Renting Bell's receiver is a bit misleading. It's more of an "installment payment plan with no hopes of ever owning it." You have to sign a 2 year contract, and at the end of the 2 years you've paid what the receiver costs, but do not own it. And if you cancel early, you have to pay a penalty.

IIRC Shaw offers a zero interest plan so you can buy the receiver, pay what is a similar cost as Bell's "rental", but you own it at the end of the term.

###, shaw offers financing for their digital terminals.

I'm sure you could get some free programming credits or whatever if you just call Shaw and see what they can do for you. I chose Shaw because I love having my phone, internet and cable all on one bill

[GrrlGoalie33]

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.

[Old Yeller]

I didn't realize you could do the same with shaw, I guess that is kind of ignorant of me. I probably will end up getting bestbuy to price match/beat the best price I can find on the Panny I'm buying and just get the shaw hd/pvr through them for $125 off.

Frankster, aren't there a few less HD channels with shaw than with Bell?

[GrrlGoalie33]

Originally Posted by Old Yeller

Frankster, aren't there a few less HD channels with shaw than with Bell?

yes, there are fewer, however I don't really notice that much of a difference. They have both SN and TSN in high def as well as A&E and Discovery.

The channels that they don't have are the likes of Oasis and RUSH, which I didn't watch anyway.

So far I haven't noticed a huge difference or been disappointed that a channel wasn't there.

My install guy said there were something like 6 HD channels that they would be adding in the next 6 months (take it with a grain of salt).

[bobrick]

Originally Posted by Frankster

-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.

FYI if you press "skip" on the shaw remote it will do the same thing and you can change the amount of time that you want it to skip.

[Old Yeller]

I had heard the shaw remote didn't have the skip either, that helps, thanks bobrick.

Alright, I'm glad this thread was posted (sorry I minorly hi-jacked it), I think I'll just stick with shaw.

[The Goon]

There's always good debate going on in the forums at Digital Home Canada, if you're ever interested in this going forward.

[4X4]

Just keep in mind if you do switch that you'll be battling Bell for months and months. MAke sure they send you a final bill and ultimately a receipt that you've paid it. Otherwise you can have a collection agency call you a year later and demand $600.

[McG]

Originally Posted by Old Yeller

I had heard the shaw remote didn't have the skip either, that helps, thanks bobrick.

Alright, I'm glad this thread was posted (sorry I minorly hi-jacked it), I think I'll just stick with shaw.

it actually works great when you pvr a hockey game.

it usually takes 30 seconds from the whistle to the faceoff...when the whistle goes you hit the skip once and its at the face off!

[psicodude]

Thanks for the responses guys. Not having the 30 second skip seems like a pretty big oversight by Shaw. I have pretty much worn it out on my remote. On the other hand, it is something I can live with to save 50 bones a month.

Ken0042 - I have a 9200 (duh) and a 5100. Are you saying that I can trade them my old 5100 (with a dead hard drive) for a new HD PVR?

On the customer service side of things...Bell is notoriously bad, is Shaw any better?

[GrrlGoalie33]

Thanks for the skip tip bobrick! You made me happy.

psicodude - You can exchange your 5100. I traded in a 3100 (3200?) which had no PVR and no HD for the Shaw HD PVR.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by psicodude

Thanks for the responses guys. Not having the 30 second skip seems like a pretty big oversight by Shaw. I have pretty much worn it out on my remote. On the other hand, it is something I can live with to save 50 bones a month.

Ken0042 - I have a 9200 (duh) and a 5100. Are you saying that I can trade them my old 5100 (with a dead hard drive) for a new HD PVR?

On the customer service side of things...Bell is notoriously bad, is Shaw any better?

as said before, there IS a 30 second skip feature. it's always been like that for the Shaw PVR's, not sure why there's the misconception. there's also a 15 second rewind button right below so you can skip through the commercials and if you go too far, just hit that one and it works perfectly

as for picture quality and sound, they'll be virtually identical. Shaw is adding new HD channels at a rate of 3-4 channels every few months or so right now, and the is a definite advantage for poor weather reception

[HOOT]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Renting Bell's receiver is a bit misleading. It's more of an "installment payment plan with no hopes of ever owning it." You have to sign a 2 year contract, and at the end of the 2 years you've paid what the receiver costs, but do not own it. And if you cancel early, you have to pay a penalty.

IIRC Shaw offers a zero interest plan so you can buy the receiver, pay what is a similar cost as Bell's "rental", but you own it at the end of the term.

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

The thing about the Rental that no one knows or takes advantage of is upgrading your equipment free after that 2 years, plus lifetime warranty on the equipment. I have heard nothing but problems regarding Shaws receivers, and my friends who can't get Bell, are always complaing about how their receiver breaks down.

I won't get into the argument of which service is better because everyone already has their mind up about which they prefer. However IMO Bell's HD is a better picture from what I have seen from Shaw and I find they have been adding alot more HD channels compared to Shaw.

I also worry about Shaw trying to controll their bandwidth too much that they won't add as many HD as Starchoice or Bell could.

edit: I think they have their advantages, it just depends on what you are looking for. Personally if I could save $50/month like some, I would switch thats a few cases of beer a month!!

[Rathji]

Having had access to the Shaw SD PVR that I used for 7 months and Bells new HD PVR that my Mother just purchased , the only noticeable difference is the second TV remote. Refering to features etc, obviously the Shaw SD PVR didnt have HD.

My wife works for Shaw (well untill Mat leave, so this info is a few months old) and she said something last week about alot of Shaw HD channels are being held up in being approved by the CRTC. Starchoice has (maybe 20+ HD channels)which apparently is more than Shaw, but I really havent paid any attention to the Bell HD channels available on my Mom's.

I hope this info helps you out.

[psicodude]

I guess I somehow missed the post about the skip button. Thanks for clearing that up.