A common question on the forum is whether to get Rogers Digital Cable or Satellite television.

Over two years ago I started an Official Rogers Digital vs Satellite thread (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=21215) where over 60% of users who had a choice picked Rogers digital Cable over ExpressVu or Star Choice satellite.

Since much has changed in two years, I thought it was time to revisit the question of which is better Rogers Digital Cable or Satellite television.

Note, if you sell or service either system or work for either company, please state that in your answer or you will be ridiculed when it is found out and your posts deleted.

When answering think about pricing, programming, equipment, service and the intangibles and please leave out the rhetoric and rants!

Lets remember that one system may not be best for everyone so try and keep that in mind.

Finally, if you found this thread and are interested in which system is superior, I recommend you first glance through the thread listed above as it is still the source of a lot of good information.

Where did all the replies go?

I don't think anyone ever posted here. I guess they just looked at the previous thread and other cable/sat comparisons, or looked at feedback in the individual service provider forums.

I called BEV today for a price quote and it was a very funny call. Their quote worked out to $91 a month vs. rogers at $65ish which I currently pay - for very similar equipment / packages. She insisted that (1) they provide higher quality picture than Rogers, and (2) the PVR is higher capacity than rogers. I explained that I have no issue with my current capacity, so I'm indifferent if the hard drive is larger, and we have no issue with current picture qualiy ... so really I'm only interested in lowering my monthly costs and $91 with BEV is higher than $65 with Rogers. This went on for over 5 minutes when I finally said we'll have to agree to disagree as she continued to insist that BEV was the better deal.

If you're interested in HD, read the "Enough Compression Already" thread in the BEV forum for some interesting discussions about BEV's HD Lite service.

I currently have Rogers digital cable and bought the SA8300HD pvr, and built an external 500GB drive for the pvr. I have digital VIP and a 3 month promo of HD channels.

problem is the cost. I want the HD channels all the time but don't want to pay more than $60.

As a bell employee, I'm eligible for a significant discount on bell services including BEV.

I've been hestant to make the move because I don't like dishes on my house, I don't want a box attached to every tv, heard that during storms the signal gets pixelated, i bought the $500 hdpvr and external drive, etc.

but the cost savings are making me seriously think about satellite.

1. can I use my esata external drive on a bell hdpvr? or any external drive for that matter? or am i stuck with 30GB?
2. with no contract, what would say a package of say 40hd channels cost me total? equivalent to my current rogers vip and channels 500-530/45ish.

1. No, but that is expected to change later this year when the 6141 and 9242 get a firmware update.
2. Best thing to do is check the Bell website. They have the programming packages and costs articulated there. Frankly, I doubt you will save any money (before your employee discount) but best to check it out.

I'm currently only a Rogers Analogue cable user, but got a nice 1080p HD projector and a 100" screen over the Holidays and I am now considering moving up to digital HD television.

What attracted me to BEV is the PVR 9242 (I need to replace my VHS now too) and its ability to feed 2 TVs with the recorded signal. We have another TV in the bedroom (currently SD but it will be upgraded to HD someday) which I'd like the option to watch the same recorded material as our basement projector when it gets too late. It seems to be the most flexible PVR on the Canadian market now (although I'd wish Tivo was available in HD in Canada). Rogers doesn't have any PVR that can feed two TVs - to do the same I'd have to get 2 PVRs and duplicate the recordings and remember to delete the stuff watched on the other PVR (which just isn't sensible). I just want a centralized server for my PVR which I can watch and control from any TV.

My main concern is this compression problem (I've been following the compression complaint thread for months) which seems like it could be worst for me since I have such a big screen. I primarily watch prime-time shows - I don't watch much sports - will this PQ issue affect me? I'd hate to lock myself into the 2yr contract only to receive marginally better picture quality than I already have for almost twice as much money (I think it works out to $90/month with HD & PVR). How bad is the PQ? Will it affect me (living in Toronto, Beaches area). Does the weather affect the signal significantly? Or is this all blow out of proportion by a few loud complainers?

I'd be interested to hear what others have to say about the switch - because from most of the threads I've been reading, most seem to switch from BEV to Rogers due to better PQ from Cable.

Why not find a store that can demo the BEV 9242 and see if you like the picture quality.

-Mike

Just make sure the signal is off the Sat and not OTA. ;)

I believe it has been demonstrated in these forums that the long term cost for the various packages on the various providers are typically quite close and that the only way to get reduced costs is by switching whenever there is a "ditch the dish" or "ditch the cable" offer. Of course whenever you do this, the cost in time and effort to get through the transition period may not be worth it for some people. Time is after all money.

Once you are with a provider who provides "satisfactory service and prices", especially if you have capital invested in their equipment, then switching is rarely profitable.

wm_cheng, you said you would like to be able to have multiple TV's hooked up to your PVR. Not sure about Rogers, but I believe all Starchoice receivers always have all outputs active all of the time. So if your needs are as simple as pausing whatever you were watching and resuming it on another set, you could do this with Starchoice (by running coax or s-video to the other TV, and taking the included UHF remote with you). I believe the starchoice pvr's are generally not as slick as bell's, and expensive. But there is no contract. Starchoice seems to get less complaints about picture quality.

Rogers will have the multi room HDPVR coming out in another 2-3 months.

wm_cheng, the Rogers PVR (SA8300HD) can feed 2 TVs at the same time, but if one TV uses one of the two HD outputs (CV or HDMI), then the other TV must use the composite or S-Video output. You can't use the CV and HDMI outputs at the same time, but you can use all the other outputs at the same time.

Thanks so much for all the replies,

scrooloose: I've seen them at the stores, and they look ok, but none of them wow me. I think most of the stuff at the stores are improperly set up with the TVs on the wrong settings - it would take a while for me to fiddle with them to get it look ok, plus they are usually smaller 32" or at most 42" LCDs at the stores - what might look ok may look terrible on my 100" screen.

ralph_sinclair: Thanks for the tip about StarChoice, I must admit that I don't see to many of their dishes around my neighbourhood - but I will look into them. However what sells me on Bell is their PVR, I love good technology - and its the closest thing to Tivo in Canada - and I'm afraid that the SC's PVR would leave me wanting.

Cap: Is that true? I'd stick with Rogers if they had a better PVR that will do what I want (its the ONLY reason I'm considering BEV).

jlet: Does the SD outlets include a Coax? (since I already have coax cable running through the house to my 3rd floor bedroom) Does the Rogers also have a UHF remote that I can control from the 3rd floor or is it IR? If it can output to coax and has a UHF remote, then I can use it on my 3rd floor bedroom and would solve my current problem. Until I upgrade the 3rd floor bedroom to HD as well - then I'll need something else.

Hmm not a easy decision, especially with everyone wanting to lock you down for a contract... I wish I could just try each Roger or BEV out for a few months and then pick a solution that works for me.

I am with Rogers. 9250HD box.

I have occasion poor signal quality and missing channels. At one point, they send 4 different repair guys to find the problem. The problem lasted for two months. Box changed several times, wire in side the house was changed. Finally, they found it was the outside line connection way up stream had a problem.

I guess quality of the signal depends where you live for Rogers. My TV repair guy kept telling me the Bell is better in picture quality in comparison to Roger.

I pay 90$ a month to Roger with box rental, and time shift channel. Looking at finding a supplier if there is great saving. Not sure why there is digital service charge??

I found BELL Phone service group are worst in customer training. Every time I called for my phone line problem, I end up sending a complaint letter to CRTC.

Rogers has great customer training and service. This is why I stay with Rogers.

I'm sure this dicussion has happened here before, but let's help a guy out.

If you were going to go with HD programming, would it be Bell satellite, or Rogers HD cable...and why? Pros/cons?

Expressvu would be my last choice due to HD compression. Rogers or SC would be my choice.

My "ditch the dish" discounts are over, and I now have a humongous Cable bill :(

I was wondering if there is anyone here who switched from Rogers HDTV to Bell, and how they found the picture quality.

Cost has driven me to re-consider Bell, but picture quality is always number one with me.

Thanks for any comments!

Btw, I'm in Southwestern Ontario, and use a Plasma TV (if that makes a difference).

Correct me if I'm wrong but Rogers does not have the 30 sec skip button?

I'm on Bell and have not seen a TV commercial in 5 years.

Rogers doesn't have 30 second skip. They have 4x 10x 30x 120x FF. I haven't watched a TV commercial in over 30 years, by scanning past them in about 10 seconds.