Hi folks, no questions or revelations today, just thought I'd get my feet wet in this forum by letting y'all in on the latest addition to my equipment rack.

I called Rogers yesterday and ordered the HD Set Top Box. I've been debating (more like wrestling) with myself for the past year on taking the $800 Satellite plunge, so this seems like a good way to resolve that inner conflict. 20 bucks a month - why not?

I am concerned with the quality of the STB though, based on what I've read here and in other forums. I'll be plugging it into a Toshiba 50HX70 4:3 set and will be comparing the picture quality to analogue cable, non-progressive DVD and DVD scaled to 1080i via my HTPC.

I'd be interested in seeing more posts here of experiences with this new service.

Regards

Kevin.

Kevin,

Congrats on taking the leap. Hopefully, they still have some available. I've been hearing that they ran out of stock.

As for quality, I've had my 36" XBR for over a year. I was happy with the PQ. Once I got the HDTV images, and got used to that, the PQ of the other channels just seemed to be so horrible. The PQ for the others didn't change, only my perception of them did.

I trust that you will post your results here.

Kevin, one piece of advice I can give you is to forget about the S-Video output on the 2000HD and use the composite video instead. Sounds silly, but the comb filter in your TV is much better than that in the 2000HD. Compare it on the analogue channels and you'll see what I mean.

Also, the 2000HD runs pretty warm, so keep it well ventilated.

Thanks John - will do!

as for Rogers running out of STB's, the guy at Rogers said I should expect delivery in three to five days. So here's hoping...

I'm not a rogers subscriber but I'm curious other than the press release and stuff, has ROgers advertised HDTV offerings yet?

Other than on forums or references to press releases I've not seen any ads

On 2002-01-12 09:41, XM4243 wrote:
I'm not a rogers subscriber but I'm curious other than the press release and stuff, has ROgers advertised HDTV offerings yet?

Other than on forums or references to press releases I've not seen any ads


It's on their website. But we've talked to them, and they say they're pretty much just figuring things out with it as they go. So I would imagine they're not going to advertise it heavily for a while. And besides, why bother? Word of mouth is out there in the HDTV community, and that's the best way of getting the word out if you can swing it.

On 2002-01-12 09:41, XM4243 wrote:
I'm not a rogers subscriber but I'm curious other than the press release and stuff, has ROgers advertised HDTV offerings yet?

Other than on forums or references to press releases I've not seen any ads


I had been wondering the same thing. Considering that they have run out of their first shipment without any ads, I don't think they can handle the demand if they actually advertised that they have 8 HD channels.

Has anyone gone into FutureShop lately? The last time I went in there, the sales people there were saying that HD on cable was 4-6 years away. That was in November.

Those Future Shop reps are so friggin ignorant. They are not trained very well regarding the products they sell. One Guy told me that all channels on Expressvu were in High Definition. I almost laughed. He also said that its impossible for cable to carry HD signals. I dont know for sure if he was lying or just plain stupid.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: digitalcable on 2002-01-12 19:40 ]</font>

It would appear that Rogers has indeed run out of HD STB's. When I got home from work on Friday, there was a message on my machine from a Rogers rep. She said that they were out of boxes, that I was on a waiting list and that they expected a shipment in &quot;a few weeks&quot;.

dang,
now that's irritating. Nothing worse than knowing your getting some great new toys and then they're not there for you.

I tend to think that Rogers probably vastly under estimated demand

I tend to think that Rogers probably vastly under estimated demand
That, I think is an understatement. :smile:

I'd heard that initially they only ordered 500 (though, John Tory said that they ordered 1500 on &quot;On Line with Rogers&quot;) I'm glad I was paying attention to the websites and news groups when word started to come down that they were going to have these boxes.

I hope the next order, and the newer 3100HDs get here soon.

Just talked to Rogers today, the wait is at least 3 weeks!

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Systine on 2002-01-15 15:24 ]</font>

What's a 3100HD?

On 2002-01-15 16:26, XM4243 wrote:
What's a 3100HD?
The 3100 HD is a new tuner that is designed from the ground up for HDTV, unlike the 2000HD that we are using right now. The 2000HD was retro-fitted to add HDTV functionality to the old 2000 model.

For more info, check out http://www.sciatl.com

So I guess no HD olympics for Rogers folks.

On 2002-01-16 16:03, tv_guy wrote:
So I guess no HD olympics for Rogers folks.
How do you get this???

Rogers had NBC in HD. NBC will have the Olympics in HD. So, Rogers viewers who have HDTV will be able to watch the Olympics in HD.

I think his point was that with no more HD terminals available, it's gonna be kinda hard to get the olympics in HD!

Unless you already have one that is :smile:

What's the latest on availability of STB?

Please don't laugh to hard when you read this but if I have high speed internet at home , am I half way there to recieve HD from cable *if* my cable company was inclined to show it?

I know , it's probably a dumb question.
Forget I even asked it.

Where's the edit button?

Geoff,

Sorry, but I don't think it works that way. For example, in the Richmond Hill area, Rogers customers can get Cable Modems, but can not get HDTV. I think the Cable Modem uses a lower frequency in the bandwidth than HDTV does.

The cable system needs to be upgraded to 750 Mhz before it is possible.