My 6412 PIII died recently & Shaw replaced it but with
an older 6412 (not PIII) - no HDMI output & in my opinion a
worse SD picture.

I feel that since I paid $750 for and owned my box Shaw should
not replace it with an older model. But on the other hand
since I owned the box what real obligation does Shaw have
to repair or replace it? - its over a year old and must be
out of warranty.

Shaw seems to service them indefinitely - probably a good
business decision since we're force to use a Motorola box
know to have many bugs and a poor reliability record. Shaw
probably made a deal with Motorola to pick up most or all of
the cost.

Any how I went down to the Shaw office where the cust service
rep was surprised that didn't just replace it with a
6416 in the first place (I said that would have been nice but
unexpected - I just expect I should get a comprable unit)
She's getting a service supervisor to call me.

What do you think? If my TV died after 2 years I wouldn't
expect Panasonic to replace it so in that sense we're lucky.

In my understanding, if you bought your box from Shaw or an authorized retailer (I'm guessing you did, since you paid full price), you get an 'official' 3-year warranty through Shaw, and unofficially it seems virtually unlimited.

You should absolutely get a Phase III if that's what you bought, and many have had their 6412s replaced with 6416s when the 12s died or caused problems.

Thanks for the reply & info.
I did get it new directly from Shaw.
The only info I can find so far about warranty is in the
"Shaw Digital TV Interactive Program Refence Guide" that
came in the box -
Under service, in part it says
"If the Shaw Digital Terminal cannot be repaired on site, the
unit will be replaced by the service technician"

and under warranty
"If you nedd to call Shaw concerning any warranty issues, please
have availalbe the serial number and your date of purchase. Proof
of purchase is required."

Don't see anything in that 28 page book or on the box about
the length of the warranty. Where did you see the 3 years?

Sorry, watchtoomuch, I could have sworn I'd seen it on their web site, but can't find it now. It's been discussed here before (do a search for 'warranty' in this forum), and I'm pretty sure I was told by a CSR that's the case.

Certainly, lots of people have had warranty work / replacements done several years after purchasing the box. I got a DCT2500 when the ~4-5-year-old 2000 I bought from my father-in-law died; not even any question about proof of purchase etc.

I'd say if you don't get a 6416, at least push for a Phase III. The inferior SD is not just your opinion, it's well documented.

Good luck... Perry.

UPDATE: Just checked on Future Shop web site. They don't show the HDPVR, but if you look at the Features and Specs for the 6200, it shows a 3-year warranty. They also sell the Rogers 6200: it's less than half the Shaw price! That hurts.

I was at BB today and saw the 6XXX set top boxes and noticed that the Shaw warranty was three (3) years.

And Shaw just phoned and said they'll be out with a
6412 Phase III which sounds good.

what? the 6412 phase 3 has been out for a long long time.

they better replace my PVR.. POS that it is.. There's no choice but to use this device for the recording feature set. If I had other options w/ HD I would not expect this, but this is my only option and they have no choice. No if, no ands, no buts.. ;)

what? the 6412 phase 3 has been out for a long long time.
He means they'll be out to his house to replace his dead one. At least read the thread before posting...

They also replaced my dead 6412 Phase III with an older unit without HDMI. I asked them for a 6416 and they refused to give me one. However, they did grudgingly agree to bring out another 6412 PIII. Unfortunately, it means another service call.

They were very willing to replace the 6412 with the
6412 PIII I orginally had (I too had hoped for a 6416 - but
feel an identical swap was fair - I figure if I get more than
20 hours behind in my TV watching its time to catch up anyhow.
For long term storage I record on my HardDiscDrive-DVR - 400 gig for standard definition is plenty)

I wanted the HDMI for future as my current TV doesn't have
DVI or HDMI but who knows when I'll upgrade.

What I really wanted was the MUCH better SD signal from
the Phase III units and I noticed the return to better quality
as soon as the Phase III was hooked up again.