Does anyone know if the "On Sale" PVR price of $499 is here to stay? Last Christmas when they were "On Sale" there was always a date quoted when the sale ould be over (Jan 01 2009).

This time it seems to me that the price has changed to $499 to beat the competition and they are just getting as much mileage out of it being a "sale Price" as they can.

It seems like a logical move to undercut Bell ($599 for a PVR) to try to scoop up the new customer who is looking for a PVR right up front.

Bell TV lowered the price on their PVR to $499 some time ago. For new customers, the 9241 is currently $299 net, after a $200 activation credit. In that light Shaw's PVR pricing is still quite expensive. It's certainly not "beating the competition."

I, and likely others, believe it is to get rid of their 530 stock, to make room for the 630, whenever it comes.

They must have huge stock as I doubt you will see the "630" for over a year. Does anyone have any updated news on this new model that will come out next.

If the new firmware for the 530 does most of what it is supposed to do, there won't be too many advantages to the 630 will there?

HDMI outputs but that doesn't seem like a major item, nice to have but not if it is priced at $200 or more than the 530.

The ability to do the new 8PSK (is that what it is called?). Lots of talk about the 505 & 530 becoming SD only receivers after the change but I can't imagine them making thatchange without a no cost upgrade. With lots of customers out there who paid extra $$ for HD receivers & HD PVR's, switching them to SD only would most likely cause a revolt....wouldn't it?

switching them to SD only would most likely cause a revolt....wouldn't it?
It would certainly be revolting to me; they just did that a couple of years ago when they introduced the new sat and our then-HD boxes became SD. The $49 replacement upgrade was a good deal, but didn't impress this guy, who had just spent the money for an "HD" box. On top of that, when my replacement arrived, it was reconditioned, came with a well-worn remote, and was dead out of the box.

The major point of the 605/630 is that it will do MPEG4 intenrally. It will also have HDMI, and likely SATA, with the possiblity of eSATA.

The existing 505/530 do 8PSK already. That was the point of basically obsoleteing the 500 and the sidecar HD decoder for the 4xx receivers. The 505/530 may become likewise HD obsolete when the switch HD to MPEG 4. Yes, they should have an upgrade program as they did to upgrade HD-Sidecar/DRS500 owners to the 505, which IIRC was a $99 cost.

It's not MPEG4 that's the problem. The 505/530 are mpeg4 capable with the addition of a user installable card.
Shaw Direct will be moving to the more efficient DVB-S2 format, which the 505/530 are not capable of.

and likely SATA, with the possiblity of eSATA.

The only reason to have SATA connections, presumably, is to allow external hard drives. Is this on the rumor table too?

It's not MPEG4 that's the problem.

... but is MPEG4 part of the next gen anyway? Certainly it allows for considerably more channels in the same bandwidth than MPEG2. It would seem a shame not to implement it at the same time.

(PS to Classicsat: AFAIR, everyone who received a "replacement" HD box was charged only $49.95)

The only reason to have SATA connections, presumably, is to allow external hard drives. Is this on the rumor table too?

No, but it makes logical sense to use a new HDD standard on an new DVR. Yes, it also gives the possibility of expansion or a plug in single tuner DVR.


... but is MPEG4 part of the next gen anyway? Certainly it allows for considerably more channels in the same bandwidth than MPEG2. It would seem a shame not to implement it at the same time.

(PS to Classicsat: AFAIR, everyone who received a "replacement" HD box was charged only $49.95)
AFAIK, going MPEG4/DVB-S2 for more HiDef capacity is the primary reason for the change in receiver. Another major reason is the imminent discontinuation of parts that go into the 505/530 platform.

just wondering if any of you know weither the new ones will be a black or silver chassis?

I've been told black.

It will have a glossy black color just like the Sony Playstation. It will also be smaller in size too.

I wonder if it will be "Power Smart" at all? I don't know if the current PVR is or isn't a power hog (no "Energy Star" logo anywhere to be found) but the amount of heat that comes off of it constantly makes me think it is using quite a bit of power .... constantly.

In the off season I have been leaving my receivers plugged in but "off" at the cabin when I am not there to avoid having to call in to have them reactivated when I go there for a weekend. Now that the refresh is available on-line I might start leaving them unplugged when I won't be back for weeks or even months.

I haven't tried the "refresh" yet but I assume it will wake them up if they have gone to sleep?

On another note I see that Promo Channel 327 is now announcing the PVR "Guide" changes coming "in September"

...the PVR "Guide" changes coming "in September"

Yes, and no mention of similar changes to the 505... .

I wonder if they've decided to download to the SD models and 505 first. They had apparently been some debate about what was the best way to proceed.

The DVR 530's will get the new download first. Employees got the download last week and customers should be getting it in late August/early September.

So the 207/209/317/319/505 be updated immediately after the 530 is done?

I haven't heard about the rollout plans for those other receivers. I assume that if things go smoothly for the 530 updates, then the other receivers should get the updates soon after.

How right you are. I emailed Shaw Direct about this very issue and their response was:

"My name is Dan and I work for Shaw Direct at the Technical Escalation Desk. We had your email forwarded to us regarding the HD format for the DSR505 and HD PVR530. At this time we have no information regarding if or when there will be a format change to our HD signal, and therefore no information regarding whether these two receivers would be able to decode any new format that comes up."

So I asked if the current HD receivers could do MPEG4 or DVB-S2 and the response was:

"To the answer of MPEG 4, the receivers would be able to with an adapter. As for DVB-S2, the receivers will not be able to use this format."