Telus TV and High speed) vs. Bell vs. Shaw

[IanJames]

Don't you hate that when you hear something utterly ridiculous like, It was shot in PAL? Wow.

Anyway - I just returned from the downtown location of the Telus store where OPTIK was running. I realize that the TV set has a bearing on it but I'll say this. The recorded (VOD) World Cup did not look too good. The Seattle NBC news in HD looked fine, not outstanding, HOUSE looked good too, but the CFL game on TSN HD didn't look fantastic.

Geez. I don't know what to do...

I'm surprised at the "less pixillated than StarChoice" comment. Not doubting, just genuinely surprised.

Anyone else?

[Salisbury]

I switched from Shaw Direct ( was with Star Choice since 1998), mainly to get a decent PVR as Shaw Direct PVR is full of problems and promised upgrades.

My bottom line is:
-I think as a complete system Telus Optik cannot be beaten. The ability to seamlessly recored and play back from ANY TV is amazing.
-I can watch 2 HD channels and one separate SD channel in three different rooms. This is way better then what *choice offered me (one HD channel fixed in one room)
-yes the HD quality is a little (tiny) bit softer then *choice BUT the SD quality is better. There is less pixellation on Telus then * choice (shaw direct) in my opinion, especially in SD.

The Telus system is clever in the way it sets up your house as a network, so that each TV accesses the local network, that is how one PVR in the house works from any room.

I think it is the way of the future. It will only get better.........

[IanJames]

I tend to agree. I'm a real stickler for image quality though... I currently use the Bell PVR which I run a second SD set off of so I'm already hip to the mini-home network feel. For a brief time I switched from Bell to Shaw in an effort to bundle and save some $$ but found that I couldn't live without having my two TV's using the single PVR.

The "whole house" PVR is a big draw, yes. I'm hoping that the picture quality is something that can and will improve with better compression technologies. In the meantime I think I pretty much HAVE to do it. It's going to cut my home media bills in 1/2...

I'd still like to read a technical CNET-style review of the various TV systems.

[z24man]

I have both telus sat service "bell" and optik service. I find the optik is better picture quallity because of mpeg4. Very little macroblocking on telus end just the station source if it dose.

[IanJames]

And this applies to HD and SD? Are you in a fibre optic building or?

[z24man]

The mediaroom optik service is mpeg4 streams for hd & sd. The dslam node is only 3 blocks from me. Im running a vdsl2 modem.

[IanJames]

Okay, now you've gone and made me feel stoopid. I'm a picture quality guy. Not a node or dslam guy - what does that mean to me, and what can I ask of the installer?

[mellaby]

Z24 could you send a pix of the VDSL2 modem. I was hoping it's a little smaller than the 3810 model I got. Mine is stuffed into my comm panel and it's really tight.

[z24man]

The VDSL2 modem will give you 26mbps downlink, 3HD 1SD at the same time going. The modem subs the dlink one in the gate way. I will try to post picts of the little black box.

[mellaby]

So you need the 3810 with the VDSL2 modem? I thought it replaced the 3810.

[IanJames]

Any tips for me to ask the installer about to make sure I have the best and highest speed for this adventure?

[mellaby]

Hope you get a Telus Tech and not a contractor. As long as your close to the Telus box (DSLAM) you should get 19.2 meg service.

[IanJames]

How can I find out how far away I am to a Telus Box? Are they on the poles, or?

[mellaby]

Where are you located?

[IanJames]

800 block west 20th Ave Vancouver close to Oak St.