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Bell TV 9400 Discussion Thread

542K views 990 replies 168 participants last post by  noah12 
#1 ·
The last few days with every install of a 9241 I've had Bell in their infinite (lack of) wisdom has started labeling the job info as a 9400 install. I've never seen nor even heard of a 9400 till then.

Anyone?
 
#29 ·
The 9400 hasn't even been confirmed by Bell yet. Everything in this thread so far it purely speculation and rumours.

How did you have one "on order" when they technically don't even exist yet, and who told you that they won't have capacity for 2 TVs? You won't get a straight answer from anybody at Bell about any details of a new receiver at least until it's officially been announced.
 
#31 ·
Had a few more minutes with the unit today. I can't confirm if it's dual tuner, it does have two RF inputs, but it could just be an internal switch as PIP button did nothing. If it is dual tuner, the second one would only be for the PVR as it is NOT a two room receiver. Here are a couple of pic of the rear and the guide.

Rear

Guide

Guide is similar to the 6400 and it has eSata which is nice. Comes with a black RF remote.
 
#34 ·
I don't understand the hate for the 9241. A new version of the 9241 isn't necessarily a bad thing as long as they don't remove any features currently on the 9241. If the 9242 never existed everyone would think that the 9241 was great. I like the fact that it looks smaller than the 9241, and has the same guide as the 6400. A 2-room receiver would be fantastic, but I don't think we'll ever see one of them again, not from Bell anyways.
 
#37 ·
Bell has had the 9200 for over 6 years. Except for the 9242, Bell is going backwards in their technology, instead of going forwards. I use the PIP and split screen all the time with my 9242. Shaw has the multi-room Gateway, and Dish Network has the multi-room Hopper in the US, and we get nothing new with Bell--except for MPEG4 to hopefully add more HD channels with better picture quality.

Don't get me wrong, I think that Bell has the best PVR's (9200 and 9242) of all the providers, but by introducing the 9241 and now the 9400 with less features they are dropping the ball big time. Bell needs to consider their long-time customers that have gotten used to all the great features of the 9200 and now the 9242. Hopefully they will also release a big brother version of the 9400 that does have 2 tuners that allow PIP and split picture, along with the bigger hard drive.
 
#35 ·
PiP and swap are great features. As is the OTA tuner.

Those are three features still found in almost every Dish Network Dual Tuner receiver.

Bell takes them out because they can't train their CSRs or Tech support to help people who connect the RG6 from the dish to any of those other coax connections and call in for support.
 
#40 ·
I was asking if Bell TV's HD channels could be transmitted to the TV2 location, via an RG6cable?

Firstly, this is still all conjecture at the moment, these are the only pictures around of the 9400 and as yet no specs exist for it, officially. Hell Bell TV still deny its' existence.

To send via RG6 I would think you will require a QAM Modulator. To include one in a Receiver would most likely add maybe, $750 to the cost, do you want to pay $1250 for a Dual Tuner Receiver that feeds 2 TV's with HD.? I would rather have 2 x 9241's for less than $800 and $400 in my pocket.

It is possible they can have the Component output active on the second Tuner, that would work, for almost no extra cost, then you can run 50 or 60 feet of HDMI or Component cables to the 2nd TV location.

Lets just wait until we get our hands on the specs, then we can say what it can and cannot do.
 
#39 ·
Looking at the rear of that supposed 9400, I see two satellite inputs, and a Remote Control UHF antenna connection, and an HDMI out put, and Component outputs.

I'm taking a big guess here; this unit is definitely a Dual-tuner, and maybe it has a TV2 function after all, in HD.

What mkoz needs to do for all of us is take a photo of the label on the back which indicates the Model # and IRD #.

Or take a photo of the System Information screen and post it.

It ain't a 9400 til he shows us.
 
#42 ·
Oh I agree 100%.

I doubt very much that they will, it will or should make the installations more expensive for Bell and right now they are cost cutting so much, I cannot see it being included in the "Free Basic" installation, even if it were incorporated in the 9400.

No, I see just a Dual Tuner HD PVR, with a larger drive, that will ship with an HDMI cable like the 6400 does.
 
#44 ·
Just Wait

There's so little hard information in this thread. As Pinza says it's all speculation anyway until it's announced by Bell. The other thing to remember is that if those pictures are real it is already way too late to be bugging Bell about features you hope to see. The units are already being manufactured. The features are either there or they aren't. We'll get what Bell wants to give us no more and no less. Que sera sera!
 
#46 ·
The 9400 appears to be real. Yesterday, I cancelled my Bell service (had a 9242 that died for the fifth time, so that was enough). The Retentions lady offered me a free 9400 complete with installation if I would stay. I declined, but her offer seemed serious. Sounds like the box really exists.

I got no specs on the 9400 because I was leaving even if they offered me totally free service including programming. In the winter, my location in the extreme far south has no coverage, but I was not about to tell her that...

Still, I am done with Bell, so I will see you on the Shaw boards.
 
#47 ·
Until I see it appearing in the warehouses I deal with, I am still skeptical.

Just because it appears in a Bell CSR's system does not mean they are out there in the field yet....
 
#54 ·
Question?

If your renting to own a 9241 can you switch it with this (assuming the 9400 is real) for the 9400?
I am not sure Bell TV have ever allowed Customers to just "Upgrade" from say a 6100 to a 6141 during a Rental Period. I do know you could "Upgrade" from a 6131 to a 9241, as that is a true "Upgrade" but a 9241 to the still Vapor Ware 9400 is NOT an "Upgrade" in my opinion.
 
#49 ·
MCI, nobody can answer that because the 9400 doesn't exist yet. We have no clue how Bell will handle people wanting to switch their 9241 with a 9400. We don't even know if the 9400 will ever actually see the light of day lol.

wandrr, from what I can tell the CSRs are referring to the HD PVR (9241) as a 9400. There is no way that they could actually give you a free 9400 with free installation, because they simply don't (officially) exist yet (even though we have evidence of one possibly appearing soon). If they actually did go through with the offer and put in a work order for a 9400 install, I can guarantee that the technician would have shown up at your door with a 9241. They've been putting 9400s on work orders for months now, and we've just been installing 9241s. Nothing official has been announced by Bell yet. They haven't even acknowledged the existence of any new receivers coming any time soon.
 
#50 ·
Well going back to post 1 which is why I started this whole thread is because Bell is currently booking 9241 installs as "9400s" yet I've never laid eyes or hands on one.
 
#53 ·
The left hand doesnt know what the right hand is doing. I'll give you another example.We just switched to a phone app for activating receivers and closing jobs about 2 months ago. In that phone app we are told for some reason to put the customer's email address as evocontracts@bell.ca regardless. These CSRs booking these calls are still asking customers for email addresses and populating that field for us just to erase.
 
#55 ·
@pinza & monkeyhunk: So what really is the 9400? Does it actually exist in Bell's STB inventory? Or is it just a secret code of some kind that Bell is using internally to refer to the 9241 for some reason known only to Ma Bell? Just a thought.. Could it be that Bell is about to retire the 9200 series of receivers (9200, 9242, 9241) and is planning to relabel the old 9241s as "newer" 9400s because of the negative vibes the 9241 has generated?
 
#56 ·
monkeyhunk said:
The left hand doesnt know what the right hand is doing. I'll give you another example.We just switched to a phone app for activating receivers and closing jobs about 2 months ago. In that phone app we are told for some reason to put the customer's email address as evocontracts@bell.ca regardless. These CSRs booking these calls are still asking customers for email addresses and populating that field for us just to erase.
Totally off topic from the rest of the thread, but there was a Dart Evo update today that is supposed to fix a few issues.
 
#57 ·
@reidw
Your guess is as good or better than mine.


@ Joe
If the last update is any indication we get to call that EVO team to download it all over again and really solve nothing but we shall see.
 
#58 ·
I wasn't working today, but I downloaded the update, and was actually able to stay logged into the app for a good chunk of the morning until I quit it myself, rather than it booting me back to the login screen on it's own after 10-15 minutes. So far it gets a few thumbs up from me lol
 
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