I had a hard drive die in my 6208. The drive is spinning when the box is on AND when it is off, so it really doesnt matter.

I leave my 6412 on 24/7 and have for several months now with no issues other than the unit does seem to get quite warm. The second part to your question is I do not think it has any form of powersaver feature. If the unit is turned on it is recording on whatever channels the two tuners are on. The unit has no way of knowing or detecting if your TV is on or off so a power saver mode would not be very effective. In short the HD is always running and recording when the unit is on.

The next question you might have is will this kill the HD quicker? That is difficult to answer, technically "yes" HD's have a defined life span based on hours of use however, that being said, I have had all three of my main computers running 24 / 7 for over 9 years and as of yet have never suffered a HD failure (and I have 8 HD's in total running 24 / 7). I have a computer that is 11 years old and it still kicks a boot with its might 40Mb HD!

The good news is shaw supports this unit, if it crapps out, you pick up the phone and say come fix it. If a HD fails (and yes, it will happen and has happened), they replace the unit. As far as I am concerned, it doesn't get any better than that.

I had a few differetn PVR's and this one is by far the quietest. But remember to give it space. Circulation is key. Don't put stuff on top if you can avoid it. The warmer it gets the more likely to get damaged.

If you're worried about wear and tear, tune your pvr to a digital music channel (or channels if you have the 6412) when you're not using it, as it does not cache these channels. Yes the drive spins regardless, but the drive does a lot more work when it's caching programs, particularly on HD channels. Listen to the difference in drive noise when you have two HD channels on compared to two music channels.

I leave my 6412 on 24/7, but I tune it to music channels overnight, and I've found that I have smoother HD recordings if I put one tuner on a music channel when I'm recording an HD show on the other.

I think a moderator needs to get this thread back on topic since the purpose of this thread is to discuss HD Channels and Programming on Shaw Cable in a constructive and intelligent fashion.
Motorola 6412 issues/ questions need to be in that sub-forum not this one.

I've found that I have smoother HD recordings if I put one tuner on a music channel when I'm recording an HD show on the other.Interesting - Can you define "Smooth" and the differences from one recording in this manner (how did you test that)?

More questions... cuz this is interesting...

How do you ensure when you are planning future recordings that your recording tuner is the one that isn't on the music channel?


Observation:

"Complaint" and "Compliant" are spelled differently - funny this thread has that error in it twice.

Yep - Topic Alert... this is about Shaw's programming....

K, has anyone established if the perceived "weakening" of Shaw's HD picture is in fact compression of data that is being undertaken by Shaw to allow for adding of channels

or is this being done by the broadcasters.

Having seen this go from 5 - 9 channels, I swear the picture is less brilliant than it was.

Having seen this go from 5 - 9 channels, I swear the picture is less brilliant than it was.
I agree that the difference between SD and HD is now not as hot as it 1st was still a large difference but used to be unreal how different it was.
Is there a way on the tv or 6412 to figure out what the signal strength is or the bitrate coming in on a particular show or channel ? Also how do we know if the HD is 1080 or 720 or being passed off at 480
PBS is outstanding still and hoping that if discovery ever comes that it wont greatly affect everything else
but i guess there is only so much you can cram down a little copper wire ?

Thanks folks,

I like the idea of tuning to the music ch.s as an option. I did read the manual and now remember that detail.Training spouse and for that matter remembering myself, to switch to music will be dicey before shutdown, but we'll give it a try!

I have heard of some, even most hard drives lasting a phenomenonly(sp) long time, so we'll let it spin!

Thanks, folks.

Sorry folks,

Just reading the last post and find that it was me that is violating topic.

Anyway, I am reading with interest, the OTA thread, and learning that SHAW is compressing our HD signal. This MP3 world is depressing.

Bluecruzer, in an effort to move an unrelated discussion out of this thread, I've put my response to your question in the 6412 thread.

Sorry folks,

Just reading the last post and find that it was me that is violating topic.

Anyway, I am reading with interest, the OTA thread, and learning that SHAW is compressing our HD signal. This MP3 world is depressing.

On that I just watched lost from wednesday and there was definately detail missing from the shows ocean and jungle shots compared to last fall. How disappointing. Saw grain and didn't see the sense of depth that lost had previously in hd.

Anyone know what steps Shaw is taking to increase quality and quantity? Can they only upgrade so far (still just a copper wire)??

Cable can have the best hd picture quality. In many US markets cable is superior to sat. It's all about increasing bandwith at each cable plant to the pole to deliver best signal. Unfortunarely the pressure on Shaw is to add quantity of hd product, and this has been at the expense of quality. As has been said we'll reach a point where we miss the 4 channel and omnibus days, I already do.

I can't figure out why shaw doesn't offer Pay Per View programming in HD?

Eastern cable providers do this, Bell does this.

I think shaw is concentrating too much on their digital phone, and letting their bread and butter cable business slide.

Although I'm tempted with Digital Phone if I get a better deal then Rogers...

I am putting this together as part of my research in determining which HDTV provider I go with - please let me know of any errors or omissions:

As of: January 16, 2006
For: Surrey (GVA)

Channels:
HDTV 301 Sportsnet HD
HDTV 302 Movie Central HD
HDTV 303 KOMO - ABC Seattle HD
HDTV 304 KIRO - CBS Seattle HD
HDTV 305 KING - NBC Seattle HD
HDTV 306 KSPS - PBS Spokane HD
HDTV 307 KCPQ - FOX Seattle HD
HDTV 308 TSN - HD
HDTV 309 CBC - HD
HDTV 310 CIVT - BC CTV - HD

Pricing:
1. You require a HDTV STB - there are two options:
(a) Motorola 6200 - CDN$398.88 (comes with programming credits)
(b) Motorola 6412 - CDN$748.00 (comes with programming credits)

Key difference is that the 6412 has a built-in hard drive to allow for PVR functionality (even record as you watch) and provides a HDMI out connector.
Currently, customers must purchase these STBs; there are no rentals.

2. You require a Cable subscription - there are multiple options:
(a) TOTAL HOME BUNDLE $91.95 (All HDTV channels)
(b) TOTAL HOME BUNDLE LITE $80.95 (All HDTV channels)
(c) PREMIERE HOME BUNDLE $80.95 (All HDTV channels except 302)
(d) PREMIERE HOME BUNDLE LITE $68.95 (All HDTV channels except 302)
(e) TOTAL ENTERTAINMENT BUNDLE $60.95 (All HDTV channels)
(f) PREMIERE ENTERTAINMENT BUNDLE $48.95 (All HDTV channels except 302)

Ted

Looks about right. Only recommendation is get the pvr no matter what provider you choose. It makes you the hd master, not your provider. Bells main advantages over shaw, it has hd timeshifts, discovery hd and hd ppv. Also thier top pvr is rentable (a friend loves his). Shaws advantages (the few there are) pvr has active firewire out for archiving hd to dvhs (I do this), the bundles include 4 analog drops for the home at no extra charge. Also shaw bundles are cheaper than bell hd+a broadband provider. Enjoy your hd no matter how you go, its awesome. I'd have a hard time choosing providers if picking again.

"The purpose of this thread is to discuss HD Channels and Programming on Shaw Cable in a constructive and intelligent fashion."

I think that we should get this thread back on the original track and as this is my first post I will try to provide some insight on the subject...
Its not like Shaw is just "holding out" on providing more HD channels/content to us, there are many factors involved as to why the situation is so.

1) Shaw is limited to the amount of HD content that it can pass by the amount of HD that they receive from broadcasters... of the 10 or so "HD" channels, I think only about 80% is HD content. I got that figure from a Shaw CSR...
2) Shaw is limited by Canadian regulatory bodies such as CRTC... with Shaw's current infrastructure in most of their operating areas to the customers home(copper/coax), they only have so much bandwidth to work with. What I am getting at is that the CRTC has deemed Basic analog cable an "essential service", meaning that Shaw has to have basic cable available to customers with no additional equipment(digital box). I couldnt find the exact legislation, but if you need proof, just look at your cable bill and if you have a cable package, (and dont live in Alberta :-)), you will see that the PST is less than the GST... this is because we are not charged PST on 25.00 of the bill because this is "basic cable" and is that "essential service". The big picture is that this forces Shaw to have to still carry many analog channels, which use up lots of their pipe. I live Vancouver and shaw has tons of fibre around here, but still coax to the home, its their bottleneck, and until mega upgrades to fibre or something to the home, its not like they can just throw 5 or 6 new HD channels in there whenever they want, they say they are upgrading their infrastructure all the time, but i am not sure. Analog channels are 6Mhz each and i think normal digital channels can fit like 4-8 in the space of one analog because of compression, and I dont know how much bandwidth an HD channel takes up, but i could imagine more than analog?(please post if you have a figure)? Remember how the US was supposed to be "all-digital" by 2006, i dont think that happened, Canada was projected to be by 2009, I can't see that happening.
3)Also, I think has already been mentioned, but they need to negotiate with the broadcasters, like discoveryHD and that is probably pricey for them because these broadcasters are seeing the attraction of HD and they know what it is worth to people... Shaw doesn't charge us for HD content...yet.
I have more thoughts, but this post is getting too long to keep anybodys attention... Any other thoughts or comments, additions... corrections:-) are much appreciated.

I think that we should get this thread back on the original track and as this is my first post I will try to provide some insight on the subject...
Its not like Shaw is just "holding out" on providing more HD channels/content to us, there are many factors involved as to why the situation is so.


You forgot the biggest factor - it is Shaw business decision to provide the minimum amount of HD necessary to avoid losses in total sub numbers. They are taking the Shaw Cable and Star Choice profits/free cash flow and investing it in telephone.

Look at all the grumbling on this and other forums about the lack of HD on both Shaw and SC during the last year. One would think that Bell would have 3 million customers now if these posters represented an accurate measurement of customer dissatisfaction.

In the end total sub #s increased in both sides of the business - freeing up additional cash for telephone infrastructure investment.