Besides, dealing direct with *C isn't warranted given their product launch fiasco's, so a dealer is always best.
Every time I think it safe to maybe buy one you guys scare me off again!!!!!! Thanks, but I will hold off again.:confused: :eek:
Don't be such a friggin' weanie!
The remark was meant to indicate my lack of enthusiasm to purchase a unit direct from *c given the skill of their product launch and logistics unit.
It was in no way derogatory against the unit and to take advantage, like Trellaine is doing of the phenonenal purchase and return poilices of places like FS, that *C may not offer. Like instant return and exchange. I expected my replacement 530 to be near next day from the Calgary warehouse, but instead, it was 1 week + from across the country.

It is my belief that it is safe to buy one, just patronize someone other that the *C website or through their call centre agents or whatever.

Lets see if their earn our direct business with what should be a simple launch of the new replacemnt lo-cost units sometime this fall.

If they come out with a 'special' for existing customers, than the deal had better be sooner and cheaper than the local big box store.

And when your order a 207 or 317, that they or a local dealer doesn't give you the old 205 or 315, since in the infinite product managment wisdom, didn't change the packaging, the chances are quite real of getting the wrong goodies.
See earlier rant from me on those issues!

I don't mind a mistake here and there, as long as they learn by it and do better next time. I'll gladly stick it out with any organization where I see continious improvement in everything they do.
I have seen it in customers servcie as well as product code.
Maybe not the speediest, but forward progress none the less.

It reminds me, a bit of the older 305's and 401's, when they had bad tuners. I had several replacements (free under simple satellite). The CSR at the time told me that the only thing that could be done was to "weed out" the bad units, one at a time.

Starchoice knew exactly which 305's had the bad tuners as the serial numbers were all in a specific range that all techs are aware of. They just thought it better to replace them as they failed, instead of recalling them.

I can't understand why anyone who reads these posts would even consider the machine. I'm with you!!!:eek:
I often look to the net to read reviews. I use epinions a fair bit as well as other web sites.
What I find is that I get some positive and some negative.
When I end up buying the product myself, I invariably find myself siding with the positive side of the reviewers. Why, maybe because I took the time to set my expectations, or become familair with the usage of the product.
I find this especially true of computer items, like AllInOne's, wireless routers, A/V switchboxes and just about everything so far. If I let my decisions be swayed soley by a few negative reviews, then I wouldn't be enjoying some of the techno toys I have now, of which the 530 is just 1 of many.

I think all the folks that liked the unit are too busy kicking back enjoying the new fall season to be on here waving a flag, so you tend to see only the malcontents and the uninformed noob seeking help and advice.

I used to be a flag waver, but you can see I've become much more of a realist. When it's good, I'll say so, when it's crap, you'll here that as well.

Since my affiliation has ended, I sit on NO SIDES.

Starchoice knew exactly which 305's had the bad tuners

Then why did they give me the third degree every time my units failed?

I often look to the net to read reviews. I use epinions a fair bit as well as other web sites.
What I find is that I get some positive and some negative.
When I end up buying the product myself, I invariably find myself siding with the positive side of the reviewers. Why, maybe because I took the time to set my expectations, or become familair with the usage of the product.
I find this especially true of computer items, like AllInOne's, wireless routers, A/V switchboxes and just about everything so far. If I let my decisions be swayed soley by a few negative reviews, then I wouldn't be enjoying some of the techno toys I have now, of which the 530 is just 1 of many.

I think all the folks that liked the unit are too busy kicking back enjoying the new fall season to be on here waving a flag, so you tend to see only the malcontents and the uninformed noob seeking help and advice.

I used to be a flag waver, but you can see I've become much more of a realist. When it's good, I'll say so, when it's crap, you'll here that as well.

Since my affiliation has ended, I sit on NO SIDES.

Well said. I had been posting and reading here frequently, but I have lately been tired of reading all the negative comments. Now I rarely visit, maybe once a week, and then I don't log in or post. But I have always said my machine works well, with the odd hiccup. This still holds true for me, knock on wood.
Most often you only hear from the unhappy customers, 90% of them I am sure post on this site. Most happy customers will give opinions when asked, but don't often go around spewing, unsolicited, about how happy they are with a particular business

I've stopped coming here regularily because my 530 is stable and also there are very few threads about features, fixes and bugs. My 530 has had 3 reboots since getting CC code in July, and yes I've actually used it the whole time since the download. In the past when someone would ask if the 530 was now good enough to purchase I would tell them about my experience with it, however it seems that most only listen to the negative posters. I believe there is a silent majority of 530 users out there who like myself are having few problems with the unit and the are too busy watching TV. So once again, if you are thinking about getting a 530, get one from FS or BB, wait till you get CC before you judge it and be assured you can return it easily if you need to. I'm not trying to be a flag waver here but mine is working great and I'd never part with it.

My 530 has the occasional lockup but I would never give it up. I also come here only occasionally.

Then why did they give me the third degree every time my units failed?

Because a lot of techs ago on autopilot and don't think to check the serial number of the defective unit against their list of sn's. Stupid really given you only have to remember something like 4 digits of the offending serial number, verus 20+ minutes of troubleshooting. Of course if your particular receiver didn't fall into this particular serial number range, it wasn't one that was a known problem and should be checked before replacement.

[QUOTE=ARR;426182]Don't be such a friggin' weanie!

Lets see if I am going to shell out $699.00 + taxes I want it to work 95% of the time (not sure it will do that yet). I know that all electronics have their little idiosincracis, I see that from my DSR505. From reading the posts I do see it has gotten quite a bit better. I have lived the Bell experience. I still will wait, and thanks for the positive posts, and maybe a lot of the guys posting later than mine are right the few complainers ruin it for people trying to make an informed decision.
Thanks and my mind is open again, it is just that Air Canada took a lot of my money yesterday for a trip at X-mas....so I wait a little longer...lol:D
The Weanie in the Peg!!!

Since the July 30 update I too have only had to reboot a few times (2-3 times). The 530 may not be perfect, but there's no way I could go without a PVR now! :D

Last night I really put the 530 through its paces.
I must have recorded 6hrs of HD programming, paused, fast forwarded, jumped, stopped and played recorded content all while recording on another channel.

I didnt have a single glitch. Touch wood ;)

I am very happy with the new code, and am eagerly awaiting Christmas for an extended guide and more HD content!

Great job Starchoice, if you are listening...

It took a while, but I am finally having faith in my investment.

Well I ordered my second one (first one was DOA--well worked for 3hrs) via FS website......by mistake sortof. I didn't really feel like waiting for the delivery, god knows how long this may take. But I am hoping for positive results once it arrives at my door step.

I've stopped coming here regularily because my 530 is stable and also there are very few threads about features, fixes and bugs. My 530 has had 3 reboots since getting CC code in July, and yes I've actually used it the whole time since the download. In the past when someone would ask if the 530 was now good enough to purchase I would tell them about my experience with it, however it seems that most only listen to the negative posters. I believe there is a silent majority of 530 users out there who like myself are having few problems with the unit and the are too busy watching TV. So once again, if you are thinking about getting a 530, get one from FS or BB, wait till you get CC before you judge it and be assured you can return it easily if you need to. I'm not trying to be a flag waver here but mine is working great and I'd never part with it.

Well said....and mine is another vote in the "I'm happy with the unit so I don't post much anymore" category.

Well, I've had my 530 for a year - almost to the week. Started with A8, then BC and CC since July. I've had very few problems. CC is stable for us. The entire family can use it. Is it rock solid? no. I have not told my family about any of the problems that others here have talked about. I just told them that this unit is very similar to a home PC and it requires a reboot once in a while. I've done only a handful since July.

We watch most programs via recorded, and we use the pause/replay live TV often. We delete shows once we don't need them, we usually have the disk under 50% used if the yellow bar is accurate.

My only concern is this was how ARR's machine worked until it died a quick death. And from what I could tell his machine died from software failure, not hardware.

Would I give it up? No
Would I recommend it to friends? yes
Would I recommend it over xpressvu? That question goes beyond PVR.

My only concern is this was how ARR's machine worked until it died a quick death. And from what I could tell his machine died from software failure, not hardware.
Precisely right. The flash was horribly corupted, and after getting it reformatted, still had some problems.
Keep in mind that this unit was pre-productin unit from December 2004, a full 6 months prior to any public release so it saw more than it's fair share of code updates and did not have the minor h/w tweaks that production units had.

So considering it's history, it did exceeding well.
I'm hapy to report the it's production replacemnt that went quickly from A8 to CC seems very robust.
NO crashes so far to report and under moderate to heavy timer usage and trick modes to boot!

I just received my CC update about a week ago. I noticed that it had been targeted the night before and I was a little anxious in light of the many difficulties that others have experienced with the new code.

The next day the unit was updated to CC and I did a Prophylactic reboot just in case. The first thing I noticed is the the jump key works just fine. With A8 it would lock up in short order. No lock ups using it now.

However the fast forward has caused some difficulties and has locked up on one occassion. If I hit it 3 or 4 times it takes off at light speed and then it locks up.

Programs have been recording and auto tuning as they should. I still program consecutive programs on the same channel as one recording event. Recording takes place whether I am watching live TV or watching a recording or pausing live programing so that is a major improvement. Recording before was very unreliable.

I am noticing a great deal of audio drop outs on all chanels, I think? Not sure where that problem lies.

I wouldn't be without a pvr now. The ability to pause a program when someone comes to the door or calls on the phone is great. Watching and recording other programs at the same time is perfect.

I hope that there are only improvements from here on in.

Bob

I echo smp01 sentiments and usage except our drive usually has about 5 HD hours remaining.

Count me among the "quite happy so don't post much" crowd. We're looking forward to Discovery HD and continued 530 improvements in the future.

Ditto from me about loving the 530 and the new code. I've only rebooted the machine twice since getting CC back in July. The first time was a "preventative reboot" the day after the download.....the second was about a week ago when it froze on a channel.

Things have gone so well with the new code that I've even gone back to not hesitating to use RW/FF/Pause when watching a live show while recording something in the background (something you wouldn't dare do with previous software versions!!).

All in all, I'm very happy with the progress that has been made with the unit and can't imagine going back to my pre-530 days.

jbobh- Instead of pressing "jump" a number of times, try this. If you want to go ahead 3 minutes for a commercial block, push the # 3, then jump. It will take you ahead 3 minutes into the recording. 15 jump will take you ahead 15 minutes, etc. I have my "jump back" set for 20 seconds, so if I go ahead too far and get into programming, I can quickly get back to where it starts. It's a great feature and you'll find that you can get very familiar with how long the commercial blocks are at various times in your favourite programs.

I'm sure this tip has been mentioned here before but I just stumbled on it last night by accident and thought I'd share it just in case....

If you have paused or RW live TV, hitting the 'Stop' button brings you instantly back to live. Very handy if you only paused for a few seconds and want to catch up with live TV at a commercial break.....and much quicker than skipping forward like I used to do. :cool: