Shaw Direct HDPVR 630 Owners Discussion thread for owners ONLY!

[Jimbo54]

I guess I am one of the 'fortunate few'

I've had mine since the beginning (late August) and have only rebooted it once, and I place the blame on myself because I was screwing around with the cables on one of my other HD receivers and returned to my 630 to find tuner 1 locked.

The reboot counter in diagnostics reads 3....one would have been the original firmware upgrade, another when I did it, and I guess a spontanious reboot.

I've done lots of recording, many of them 2 at a time, I use live pause and ff often, have a favourites list which I use a lot. I use most of the features available on this PVR.

My personal opinion is that low or glitchy signal strength causes many of the problems on this unit.

[D0TC0M]

I have a solid 95% and it never goes below 90% ever so while that may be an issue for some its definitely not a factor for me.

[Kartan]

With all due respect I beg to differ. The "aside from the sporadic reboot" argument. Sorry it should not happen. Not once. You should expect and demand more from your provider. Shaw has been in the business long enough to know what is and what isn't acceptable.

I would accept this arguement, if other electronic devices were flawless. I believe another member posted how he had to boot his computer twice to get it run. Well, I mean I guess we should jump all over Microsoft and Apple since they've been making computers since the 80's and they still can't get right either eh? The point is, when you're talking electronics, flawless or perfect is unfortunately words that can't be used. Yes I would very much like to have a receiver that doesn't have sporadic reboots, but if I have to endure a reboot once every 3 to 4 weeks, well then I'm fine with that. Hopefully the upcoming software release that others have claimed are coming will drastically improve the user experience of those who are having a rough go of it

[gzink]

Kartan...I have a 2004 desktop Windows PC that does not need rebooting, has been loaded up with more hardware than the power supply is supposed to handle and keeps on ticking. I have a laptop that is 3 years old was a cheap deal and the same. Put in a large hard drive recently just for the fun of it. I have a AV receiver that just keeps on ticking. Electronics these days are very close to flawless and should be that way.
In the 80's my PC's were operating like these PVR's do now.
I will say there are some good features but occasional reboots, stopping of playing while fast-forwarding, pixellation, still using a laptop coolere, etc., etc. is far from good service.
The 315 receiver never reboots and never fails us in the other room. That is the sign of modern electronics!

[zbroke]

Originally Posted by Kartan

I would accept this arguement, if other electronic devices were flawless. I believe another member posted how he had to boot his computer twice to get it run. Well, I mean I guess we should jump all over Microsoft and Apple since they've been making computers since the 80's and they still can't get right either eh? The point is, when you're talking electronics, flawless or perfect is unfortunately words that can't be used. Yes I would very much like to have a receiver that doesn't have sporadic reboots, but if I have to endure a reboot once every 3 to 4 weeks, well then I'm fine with that. Hopefully the upcoming software release that others have claimed are coming will drastically improve the user experience of those who are having a rough go of it

We don't agree but that's OK. If the 630 meets your expectations I can't do a thing about it other than being happy for you. I still wish you could see how much better the product should be.

However, the comparison with a computer is flawed. A PC has to operate with hundreds, thousands of programs from as many companies. All these programs are written in many different languages. A lot of them write in your computer registry which can get messy. It's a much more complex entity, IMO as a computer user and as someone who has been a computer programmer for 18 years now.

What does a PVR do? Other than decyphering an encvrypted broadcast which boxes and PVR's have done for decades, it:
- Play recordings
- FF recordings. The 630 doesn't always do that - see pixelization/freeze issues in this thread
- Skip Ahead. The 630 doesn't always do that. Sometimes it kips backwards. Sometimes it brings you back to the beginning
- keeps tracks of timers. It starts the timer at X and stops it at Y. The 630 doesn't always do that
- manages list of recorded programs. The 630 doesn't always do that. SOmetimes the list disappears for days
- manages list of favority channels, subscribed channels, guide info. The 630 doesn't always do that. Sometime it reboots itself while changing favs. Sometime the guide show NO INFO for no reason.
- manages user settings

What I like to compare a DVR to is another DVR. The 630 doesn't come close to other PVR's I owned/still own in terms of reliability. They are behind in in being "user friendly" but that part is more subjective and easily corrected.

Lastly, Shaw Direct (Startchoice) has a history of being incredibly slow at providing firmware upgrades. They have you think they're testing the crap out of it. When it does get released, the bugs are obvious and one wonders who the heck is testing these and what exactly have they been doing all that time?

I recently purchased a rather expensive Blu Ray player. It's a OPPO 93. They came out after a lot of testing on the field by beta testers. Was it perfect? Absolutely not. But since I got it before Christmas there has been I think 2 firmware updates(maybe more) to fix problems as they get reported. Furthermore, I had an audio synch issue and I sent them an email about it. They sent me a link to a private firmware update. Other users had reported that issue and they already had a fix for it. That folks is customer service in the ERA of firmware upgrades.

[Kartan]

I see your point, and I do agree that the software updates do need to get there sooner reather than later. So fingers crossed that the March 1st date posted on here is the real deal

[cheepseets]

I have had a couple factory resets in the last month, one tonight in fact.
My 630 has done some random reboots.

Technical Support (one step up from CSR) told me there will be a software upgrade in the next month that will fix many of these bugs.

Here's hoping...

[gzink]

Hope so. Today I really enjoyed the green stripe while fast forwarding. The one with the red where the "dvr" had rebooted.

[mrbean5411]

Don't hold your breath. They said the firmware update was coming in December. It is now February.

[Krydor]

I haven't heard of any official date for the new firmware. I've heard that people were told that firmware was on its way. That's a long way from emails from Shaw telling us it's next month. Based on the 530, I'm not holding my breath until I see the target version change.

[Cyc6]

This looks like a confirmation that firmware is imminent:
http://twitter.com/ShawDirect_News/s...47561960693760

[fatkev78]

Originally Posted by Cyc6

This looks like a confirmation that firmware is imminent:
http://twitter.com/ShawDirect_News/s...47561960693760

Nice! Thanks for posting!!

[WallyBee43]

I switched from Bell to Shaw because Shaw is the only Canadian provider that allows use in the USA. First they sent the receiver and no dish. I’m leaving for Texas and it won’t arrive in time and they won’t ship to US. Makes one wonder if it is really legal to take to the US. They will ship to my neighbor and he will ship to me when it arrives. They will compensate me for the extra shipping or so they said. After 4 months I still haven’t seen a billing adjustment for the 90 bucks it cost to ship to Texas. Then we spent a day and a half getting it mounted and getting the signal. The Bell system was just approximate direction and elevation and it lined up in a couple of minutes.

Now we got the system in but we are not happy. This interface is totally clunky compared to the Bell HDPVR 9242. Changing channels is a pain. Seems to take 5 or 6 seconds after you enter the digits. Backing-up the PVR is very clunky. Sometimes it goes to black for several seconds before the picture comes on. Sometimes it actually goes all the way back to the beginning of the show. Pain in the butt. And to fast forward it only has three speeds plus play. The Bell goes 300X normal for a much quicker zoom through.

The program guide is very flashy with all the gaudy colours but only has an hour and half on the screen at a time versus 3 hours for Bell. Navigating through the guide is slow and very clunky. And the program information for each particular program is on three different screens versus one for Bell. The system seems to do a complete reboot every couple of days for no reason and it takes 20 to 30 minutes to get the program guide loaded up. Bell is much, much faster and in two years of owning the 9242 I never once had it do a reboot on its own. Oh and then there is the search feature. It takes about 5 or 6 seconds for the system to recognize the letter you have entered. Now that is a complete waste of time.

The PVR doesn’t always record what one has programmed. And you don’t really have 2 channel recording the same way as the Bell. Bell actually gives you 2 remotes which you can split for up for two TVs in different rooms or you can have the PVR do PIP on one screen if even if your screen doesn’t have the PIP feature. And I can’t get the Call display feature to work at all. It has the feature to only record new programs but I had the same program recorded on two different channels and it recorded the same program twice. This doesn’t happen with Bell.

I could go on but you get the picture or sometimes maybe not! Very frustrating indeed. The delays from the remote may be due to the fact that we are in Texas instead of Canada but the other problems have us very upset. If they won’t give us our money back when we get home in the spring we’ll put it on eBay and get rid of it. We will be back to Bell as fast as possible.

[ae_collector]

Originally Posted by Cyc6

This looks like a confirmation that firmware is imminent:
http://twitter.com/ShawDirect_News/s...47561960693760

@MobileJoe The update should be out soon. It was just sent out to employees for final testing and then should be out to customers. *jm

-------------------------------------------

Boy does this sound familiar or what???? The new software for the 530's is still being tested by employees, right?

[zbroke]

Originally Posted by WallyBee43

I switched from Bell to Shaw because Shaw is the only Canadian provider that allows use in the USA. First they sent the receiver and no dish. I’m leaving for Texas and it won’t arrive in time and they won’t ship to US. Makes one wonder if it is really legal to take to the US. They will ship to my neighbor and he will ship to me when it arrives. They will compensate me for the extra shipping or so they said. After 4 months I still haven’t seen a billing adjustment for the 90 bucks it cost to ship to Texas. Then we spent a day and a half getting it mounted and getting the signal. The Bell system was just approximate direction and elevation and it lined up in a couple of minutes.

Now we got the system in but we are not happy. This interface is totally clunky compared to the Bell HDPVR 9242. Changing channels is a pain. Seems to take 5 or 6 seconds after you enter the digits. Backing-up the PVR is very clunky. Sometimes it goes to black for several seconds before the picture comes on. Sometimes it actually goes all the way back to the beginning of the show. Pain in the butt. And to fast forward it only has three speeds plus play. The Bell goes 300X normal for a much quicker zoom through.

The program guide is very flashy with all the gaudy colours but only has an hour and half on the screen at a time versus 3 hours for Bell. Navigating through the guide is slow and very clunky. And the program information for each particular program is on three different screens versus one for Bell. The system seems to do a complete reboot every couple of days for no reason and it takes 20 to 30 minutes to get the program guide loaded up. Bell is much, much faster and in two years of owning the 9242 I never once had it do a reboot on its own. Oh and then there is the search feature. It takes about 5 or 6 seconds for the system to recognize the letter you have entered. Now that is a complete waste of time.

The PVR doesn’t always record what one has programmed. And you don’t really have 2 channel recording the same way as the Bell. Bell actually gives you 2 remotes which you can split for up for two TVs in different rooms or you can have the PVR do PIP on one screen if even if your screen doesn’t have the PIP feature. And I can’t get the Call display feature to work at all. It has the feature to only record new programs but I had the same program recorded on two different channels and it recorded the same program twice. This doesn’t happen with Bell.

I could go on but you get the picture or sometimes maybe not! Very frustrating indeed. The delays from the remote may be due to the fact that we are in Texas instead of Canada but the other problems have us very upset. If they won’t give us our money back when we get home in the spring we’ll put it on eBay and get rid of it. We will be back to Bell as fast as possible.

I'm in Texas too. Not a fan of the 630 either but it's the only way you're going to get Canadian HD TV. If you don't care about HD, then it seems to me you made a mistake. You should have stuck with Bell and keep all the features you liked. You don't tell Bell you're travelling in the USA. You just do it.

One more thing, you can purchase everything you need from US retailers and save on shipping. Tons of info on that using google or asking on this forum. I personally have a 2 antenna system. It makes setup easy since you point each antenna to each sat in the sky. And since I use 2 90cm antennas it boosted my signal levels quite a bit.