So what about the guy who's not a sports fan? I don't mind the NBA finals but I don't regularly follow the season. I'm more a TV series kinda guy (24, Lost, Survivor, StarGate, Battlestar Galactica etc). If you take the sports channels out of the equation, is there a definite winner?

What about Shaw's pay-per-view stuff? Is any of that HD? I looks like BEV offers PPV in HD (at least it appears that way on the web site)

Any of the kids channels on BEV HD?

I've been looking at the channel lineup on the ExpressVu web site. I'd probably go just the standard digital channels plus the HD package for $37 per month. It's a bit unclear as to whether or not chennels like The Movie Network, MPix and Movie Central are included. They are listed in the channels offered in HD but do I have to subscribe to one of the BEV theme packages that contains the non-HD channel to get the HD one?

Lastly (sorry about the long post) is there really any concern over weather with BEV? I've seen posts here saying yes and no. I live in Saskatoon. I was glad to see someone from Calgary say they didn't have any problems. You guys get similar weather. Anyone from Saskatchewan here?

Many thanx!!!

Well I decided to get BEV so I can get some HD content. They got a deal where they "Rent" you 4 receivers for free for 2 years. Well its a $10 credit towards receiver rentals. A HD receiver is $10/month so its basically a free receiver for 2 years.

Read the contract fine print: minimum programming level $47 + $10 for HD with no price freeze guarantee during the length of the contract (24 months)

I am moving into a condo and have to give up Express Vu service. How does the 5900 compare to Shaw's offering? Specifically, how robust and responsive is the guide and recording capability? Impressions, pros, cons, picture quality, etc. ?

I've really grown accustomed to my 5900 and I don't want to give up the convenience.

I did notice that the DCT6412 is apparently quite easy to rip from as compared to Bell's 5900 or 9200. That's a huge plus if you want to throw a season's worth of Battlestar Galactica or Smallville on a DVD while you wait for the boxed set to be released. Another plus for the DCT6412 is the dual tuner capability as I never really wanted to spring for the 9200 and the trouble of running a second satellite feed to the unit.

Thanks in advance.

In the Shaw (and Bell) forums, Hugh has recently requested feedback on the HD DVRs from both companies. I suggest you read these two threads.

In the Shaw (and Bell) forums, Hugh has recently requested feedback on the HD DVRs from both companies. I suggest you read these two threads.

I've read both forums and Hugh has specified they are not for discussion, but for the posting of positive or negative opinions.

Having read those two threads, you should know what the various DVRs are capable of. Please provide your main question(s) below, as I didn't know exactly where you were headed in your first post.

The only people who'd probably be able to answer are those who have both BEV & Shaw.

i have both bev & shaw. what do you need to know.

i have both bev & shaw. what do you need to know.

Read my start to this thread. Basically, a comparison of the Bell 5900 and the Shaw equivalent.

Thanks.

i have both bev & shaw. what do you need to know.

I'm curious to know if you think one has better picture quality than the other? If so, which one and is it a noticeable difference?

Thanks,

Hi Folks;

Am new to the forum.

I have a question in regards to actual numbers of channels.

Is it Shaw 3 HD + 1 HD you must subscribe to ?
and ExpressVU over 30 HD ?

Anyone know for sure ?

Thx

Jim:eek:

This may have been said, but I have a few reasons why I like BEV better than Shaw (we have both.)

1. BEV's reciever is infinitely better than the Motorolas that Shaw uses (nothing against Motorola, but there are some major issues with those boxes). We have the 9200 from BEV and the single tuner one from Shaw (forget the model #, both are PVRs).

2. BEV has WAY, WAY more channel options, both SD and HD. With the HD, I can watch all the prime time shows DURING prime time, instead of waiting until 11PM or later.

3. BEV has failed to record something only once (and it seemed like it was signal problems, not reciever problems. At least it let me delete the offending program). The Motorola fails to record things at least once a week, often more. Almost always, the program shows 60 minutes, go to play it, it says 1 minute, stops and when trying to delete it, file is in use and it displays a message. Unplugging the reciever allows it to be deleted.

4. The BEV has a good amount of HD space (25 hours I think) and a ton of SD space (200 hours I think). The Motorola has, I would guess, 10 hours of HD and maybe 40 hours of SD. Total guesses, it doesn't say.

Seems like i'm bashing the Motorola, perhaps I am. When I use the BEV and then the Motorola, there's no excuse for so many problems. I might let ONE failed recording per YEAR slide. But when it can't record programs on a weekly basis, something is wrong.

I'm curious to know if you think one has better picture quality than the other? If so, which one and is it a noticeable difference?

Thanks,


I have both also, both are on Sony LCD-RP TVs. However, one TV is 40 inches (with Shaw), the other is 50 inches (with BEV).
Of course, the 40 inch TV appears to have a more crisp picture, however that always happens with smaller TVs. Hard to say though. I think with the Shaw, compression is less invasive, so the picture suffers less defects. Both are digital signals and both are 1080i so they should be identical picture quality. The only differing thing is compression. Of course, both of them are breath-taking compared to an SD CRT TV with analog cable. Any differences in picture quality are minute. IMO, I would take the BEV 10 times before taking the shaw, just for the much better reciever.

Hope this is the right place to ask a question. I'm about to make the big jump to both digital and HD and I'm trying to decide whether to stick with Shaw or switch to BEV. (Either option will include HD-PVR). In my current "un-digital" state I have serious reception problems on the ABC station out of Spokane--bad ghosting. Shaw techs have been to my place 4 or 5 times, each time trying something different. The picture clears up for a while, then gradually deteriorates. They've told me it could be something "inside the house". My question is this: if I stay with Shaw and their STB will whatever is causing the problem now lead to other reception problems? Would I be better off trying BEV?

Thanks in advance.

Hard to say Hawkeye. Are you currently using a Shaw SD digital box? If not, I can't see how that specific channel would improve. The Motorola 6412 Phase III box (HDMI enabled) does offer a superior analogue picture quality on HDTV sets over its older boxes. I run an older 5100 HD STB with my 27 in. 4:3 analogue set and Spokane comes in fine (it didn't on my HD set).

When comparing Shaw to BEV, you should also consider some other factors.
1) customer service. Shaw arguably wins this one with their no charge on-site service calls and timely replacement of defective equipment.
2) contracts. Shaw wins this one as thet don't have any!
3) loss of signal. Bell can suffer from rain fade even relative to Star Choice.
4) content. Bell wins hands down with more HD, more SD timeshifts, NHL Centre Ice. Shaw has NFL Prime Ticket and Turner Classic movies.
5) HD cost. Bell charges a premium for all those HD channels. Shaw (currently) does not.
6) bundling. Shaw offers internet and phone as well. Not sure about Bell, but I suspect the answer is none.
7) equipment. Bell arguably offers superior set top boxes (functionality, reliability). Bells HD-PVR can operate on two TV sets and has a larger hard drive. For additional sets you'd need more boxes (although they are cheap).
8) got trees in your yard?
9) picture quality. judgmental and I can't answer that. Current Bell and Shaw subs love it, although everyone agrees there is too much HD compression.

I went through a similar process as you and settled on Shaw. I purchased a new 6412 with my Ralph bucks and have been a happy camper ever since. My phone and internet are with Telus so I can't take advantage of any bundling savings.

One final note. Rumour has it (from these forums no less!) that Shaw will be increasing its HD and SD offering in the fall. Seasoned sceptics at DHC will believe it when they see it. You may also want to check out Telus TV if you're not going the HD route for the moment. They have a content offering similar to satellite, but are currently bandwidth constrained (no more than two TV's).

And finally, if you're getting a new HDTV you'll be watching ABC Seattle more than Spokane analogue IMO, so your first issue would be a non-starter!

Hope this has helped.

Thanks for the detailed response Nanuuk.
With everything I've read it seems to boil down to better programming and perhaps better picture on BEV vs better customer service and less hardware (no dish) with Shaw.

I've done rough calculations which show my 2 year costs with Shaw (buying HD-PVR) to be about $1940 + tax. With Bev (renting a PVR and another receiver) it would be about $2192 + tax. I'm on the fence but leaning towards Shaw because of their 'promise' of more HD soon and no contract.

It's now November, and need to make a choice of switching to BEll. This is my situation and maybe someone is in the same boat and can lend advice.

1. I have one HDTV, but 3 other non-HDTVs in the house.
2. I currently have the 6412 Phase III, and own it so I need to know what to do with it (sell it I presume)
3. I ONLY care about very basic non-HD programming (I live in GVA) and want HD programming. (although I'm not that interested in wierd HD like oasisHD or treasureHD - I care more for the major networksHD, SportsHD, DiscoveryHD...)
4. Right now I subscribe to basic cable $27/month plus 1.99 digital box fee.

I know I'll pay more for more HD, but should I stick with Shaw and not get the new channels in HD, or get the new ones but have to shell out for TIER1 or/and 2? Or switch to Bell, and have to get new HDPVR and regular receivers?

Any help would be great.

p.s. Installation isn't a big deal, I can do that myself.

Hi..

As the title says I've decided to stick with Shaw after seriously considering switching to BEV ... at least for now. Here's why.

I currently have Shaw Digital with the included HD channels and I pay the $9/mo for the HD Plus package that includes SportsnetHD, TSNHD, DiscoveryHD, CTVHD, A&EHD, NGHD and SCHD. I'm basically fine with these but discovered that I could switch to BEV, unbundle my cable and internet and still pay more or less what my bundled TV/Internet I have with Shaw costs. I'm using a Moto 6412 PVR Phase III. We don't really watch much live tv ... it's almost all recorded stuff that we watch.

Initially when I looked at BEV I saw that I would gain HD timeshifting, CityTVHD, WGN, TreasueHD, OasisHD, HDNet, RushHD. This was based on getting the basic package with 5 theme packs (picking the correct one so that I would get TSNHD and SportsnetHD) and paying the $10 for the HDTV package. That was all I wanted to pay for per month. I wasn't really interested in paying for Premium movies since I had already cancelled my MCHD package with Shaw. I just wasn't watching anything on it except for the first month I got it.

Basically it came down to 2 things for me...The programming on the extra HD channels and the fact that at this time I don't want to pay the bucks for the movie channels or NFLST (this one is really tempting but I have to pass). When I took a look at the programming of the channels I would be gaining I figured that I really wouldn't watch them much. I found a big difference between the American and Canadian programming on HDNet which is too bad because I liked the American programming alot better. The other Voom programming had some stuff that I would probably watch initially until the "thrill" wore off and then I wouldn't watch much. Timeshifting isn't a content bonus ... to me it's a convenience bonus and indeed would be useful to me in one instance if I had it.

So yeah I get some more HD channels but am I gonna watch them??

I suppose if I was willing to pay for the other stuff going to BEV would be worth it. I'm not even trying to compare Shaw's HD to BEV's HD. BEV wins in shear number of HD channels I'm just not willing to pay the bucks for the cool stuff right now. I have no problem with Bell charging for the other HD so this isn’t a rant against what should be included in the basic HD package.

It seems too that Shaw is planning on adding HD Timeshifting at some point so that will help me alot. That will add possibly 2 more HD NFL games on Sunday's which will be nice. Add to that some of the minor issues that BEV users have with the 9200 ( I have no problems with my 6412 ) I’m gonna wait for a while and re-evaluate at a later time.

It's possible that BEV PQ is better than Shaw but I think my CRT HDTV hides some of the compression flaws that many say they see on Shaw. My neighbor has BEV with the 9200 and he was kind enough to let me test drive the whole thing ... answered all my questions and showed all the hookups. That was very helpful and informative. PQ was great on his 32" Viewsonic although the blacks weren't as "black" as my CRT.

Having said all that I’m going to keep an eye on what Bell is offering. I’m not counting on Shaw for long term HD offerings. I’m not sure they’re really commited to this area of their television business. I think I’ll be a BEV customer in the next 18 months or so but not right now.

ihdtv

Ok. So I've had digital cable (SHAW) for a week. I've also had satellite for a few hours. Right now, I have two tv's connected to each service, side by side. I'm watching Spike TV, and switching tv's back and forth to compare both on different screens as well. What have I noticed? Well, on the Star Choice (with a nice signal of 80%), there is a lot more pixelation/fuzziness around letters on the screen than on the digital cable. I'm quite surprised, as I figured this would not be the case. So, I'm going to keep comparing, but so far I'm quite surprised as I always was under the impression that digital cable would be far more compressed and look worse than digital satellite tv. I'm going to watch them for the rest of the weekend and then make a decision as to which is being cancelled...so far it looks like Shaw may be staying...

I've also noticed that the picture itself on Spike on SC may be slightly crisper/clearer, with the exception of the blocks/pixels around words and when there is quick movement on screen. I'd appreciate any feedback on this channel from Bell users...I don't wanna set up a bell next if I experience the same thing...

Hi, this is my first post here. Great forum guys! I've got a couple questions and since I'm starting out as a Shaw customer I though this would be an appropriate thread in which to post. If I'm out of line asking the satellite questions, let me know.

I recently bought a 46" 1080p LCD tv and am now considering what signal provider to go with. I'm currently set up with Shaw's standard cable service and would like to upgrade to either Shaw's digital with HD or one of the satellite providers (also with hd).

1 - How does the picture quality compare between regular analog cable and digital (non hd) signals from either a cable or satellite provider? If you rated the picture quality of basic analog cable as 1 and DH as 10, where would digital (non hd) fit?

2 - Does the picture quality differ between digital cable and digital satellite (again non hd channels)?

3 - Does weather really affect satellite signals as much as I've heard?

4 - Any feedback on Bell ExpressVu v.s. Star Choice (signal quality, service, etc)? Sorry, that may be too broad a question to ask here. I really should search for myself.

Your feedback is much appreciated. Thanks in advance!