New Telus PVR now available

[ttvguy]

Originally Posted by stump14

So I called today about the PVR and being an existing TTV customer I would have to pay the $20 box rental until the end of January even if I signed a 3 year contract term. The CSR said because the PVR is new and that only new customers get it free right away on a 3 year term.

Am somewhat perplexed by this, anyone else been told this that is an existing customer? Another question, say I was out for the night and I wanted to record a show on channel 8 at 7pm then at 9pm I wanted to record a show on channel 15, does the PVR switch the channels automatically?

Personal rant, still no HD in my area!

Limiting it to new customers is only temporary due to low supply levels until the new year. Even employees can't get them before January.

Yes, the PVR will change channels. It'll also turn itself on to record. You can schedule your entire week of TV on the PVR to be recorded and go away on vacation and come home to all your missed episodes.

[stump14]

Originally Posted by ttvguy

Limiting it to new customers is only temporary due to low supply levels until the new year. Even employees can't get them before January.

Yes, the PVR will change channels. It'll also turn itself on to record. You can schedule your entire week of TV on the PVR to be recorded and go away on vacation and come home to all your missed episodes.

Good to know, thanks.

[polaris]

I ordered TTV today online, expect a Telus rep to contact me tomorrow. I will ask for a PVR and see what they say about supply etc..

[sherwood_man]

I received my TELUS PVR two days ago. It's fantastic.

I find myself thinking about a show I like but haven't really found the time to watch lately, do a search, and then start filling up the hard drive.

Did a search for "Christmas" and set a buch of kids movies to record over the next few days, so that they can watch them during their holiday break.

I wish I could record one channel and watch another, but I knew that this was the nature of the beast and so it isn't a big deal. My only real complaints are:

- a search maxes out at 100 results (so I found 100 shows related to Christmas, all taking place in the next few days, and will have to do another search today, tomorrow, etc, to find shows scheduled beyond it)

- it would be nice to be able to record the entire show that you've been watching live, at any point, since it is being spooled and saved anyway... but hitting record just starts recording from that point

So far as inventory goes, the tech who installed by box said that there now seems to be a lot in supply now. So it will be interesting to hear if there are still supply problems and delays in installs.

[Satviewer2000]

Only being able to watch what you are recording would be a killer for me. I cannot believe that Telus cannot overcome such an apparently simple hurdle, something that others have been able to do for years. And even the old VCR system could record from one channel while you surfed the TV on another channel.

Given the current state of technology and that the whole Telus package is in effect nothing more than a series of network appliances, I really don't see why Telus cannot create a system where there is a "CENTRAL PVR hub" which can be programmed by any of the local "non-PVR" devices, and then can play back the content from that central PVR.

[sherwood_man]

It's not a small hurdle for the phone companies, so it really isn't any surprise that this limitation exists.

A cable line carries multiple channels through one pipe. A teleco like TELUS runs one highly compressed channel feed at a time through a standard phone line -- which also needs to run double duty as a phone line, and triple duty as a high speed internet line... and actually quadruple duty, feeding a second simultaneous TV feed to a second TV box. There is simply no way to run a third TV feed in over the same copper pipe simultaneously, with today's compression

Given that constraint, I'm actually pretty amazed that a teleco can offer HD, phone, internet, etc. at the quality that I'm getting. And given that the compression today is literaly 10x what it was a couple years ago, I'm confident it will continue to improve.

I think if I was constantly needing to record one show while watching another that this would be a problem, but given the number of channels I get from multiple time zones, I am always able to record one show at an earlier or later time.

The PVR is free, as well, with a 3 yr contract. Which I think is better than shelling out $500 - $700 for a PVR as is Shaw's practice. The penalty for breaking the contract is $120, so provided I keep TELUS TV for 6 months then I will be doing better than if I chose to pay $20 / month, without a contract.

I also think the picture quality is better than Shaw HD. And the phone/internet/TV bundle I have is cheaper than what I would pay for with Shaw or Bell.

[greenjean]

I am waiting for TelusTV to hook my up and bring me my PVR. I decided to opt for a 2yr contract and free PVR. This is possible if you are getting a PVR only. You do not need a digital box if you have a PVR.

The only thing about the PVR is the lack of dual tuner. If you are recording a show, you cannot watch a different show.

From the telus pvr guide:

"If you try switching channels a pop-up message will appear confirming if
you’d like to stop recording as it is not possible to record a different channel
than the one that you are currently watching."

http://www.telus.com/portalWeb/Uploa...pdf?_region=BC

Other than that I am pretty pumped to get my hands on it and play with it. I got a blu ray burner on my computer and hooked straight up to my TV. The last thing to do is to see if I can record shows straight from TelusTV straight to my computer via sagetv or windows media center.

[sherwood_man]

The user manual says that you should be able to watch a recorded show, while recording another.

However, every time I try this, the PVR stops recording the moment I start to play a recorded show.

Anyone else with TELUS PVR's experience this?

[dcard]

Just wondering if anyone has tackled issues when a recorded show goes over, in particular sporting events that go into OT etc. Do you have to select the next 'scheduled' program to ensure you catch any overtime. Shaw has a feature to add extra time and wondering about Telus. Thanks!

[ttvguy]

If it's a future scheduled recording you can just change the scheduled end time by accessing the scheduled programs in the PVR menu to be a time you prefer the recording to end.

If it's something you're recording live as you watch it you can hit OK and Edit Recording and you can extend the time beyond the scheduled programming end time.

[dcard]

Thanks ttvguy, appreciate the information. Might be time to dive in the Telus tv pool as this forum has been very helpful. My only real concern now is reliability over dsl (pixelation or dropped signal). Cheers!

[bobancle]

Originally Posted by Satviewer2000

I really don't see why Telus cannot create a system where there is a "CENTRAL PVR hub" which can be programmed by any of the local "non-PVR" devices, and then can play back the content from that central PVR.

That capability exists in the 430 device (the PVR). It's called Multimedia Center mode. It allows all the 330 devices (the non PVR's) to play what's stored on the 430. However they have not as yet enabled that mode, and I would suggest they do so. The feature is there, it takes no ADSL bandwidth (it's all on the local lan) so there is really no reason to not have it enabled and I suspect it will be at some point in the future.

[bobancle]

I'm curious if the boxes are addressable by the remotes. What I want to do is stack the two boxes but not have them both respond to the remote at the same time. I want to able to control which box accepts the command for the remote.

[frontpl8]

Originally Posted by sherwood_man

It's not a small hurdle for the phone companies, so it really isn't any surprise that this limitation exists.

A cable line carries multiple channels through one pipe. A teleco like TELUS runs one highly compressed channel feed at a time through a standard phone line -- which also needs to run double duty as a phone line, and triple duty as a high speed internet line... and actually quadruple duty, feeding a second simultaneous TV feed to a second TV box. There is simply no way to run a third TV feed in over the same copper pipe simultaneously, with today's compression

Given that constraint, I'm actually pretty amazed that a teleco can offer HD, phone, internet, etc. at the quality that I'm getting. And given that the compression today is literaly 10x what it was a couple years ago, I'm confident it will continue to improve.

I think if I was constantly needing to record one show while watching another that this would be a problem, but given the number of channels I get from multiple time zones, I am always able to record one show at an earlier or later time.

The PVR is free, as well, with a 3 yr contract. Which I think is better than shelling out $500 - $700 for a PVR as is Shaw's practice. The penalty for breaking the contract is $120, so provided I keep TELUS TV for 6 months then I will be doing better than if I chose to pay $20 / month, without a contract.

I also think the picture quality is better than Shaw HD. And the phone/internet/TV bundle I have is cheaper than what I would pay for with Shaw or Bell.

My issue with Telus is that I've got 4 TV's I need service on. If you can't have more than two, then i am not sure this would work for me, and I might be better off with Shaw. Does any one know if the service is available on more than two TV's. The guy at the Telus store told me it would be available through the Coax feed to the other TV's. Does this mean that those tv's would have to be watching the same channel, as the ones with the box?

[ttvguy]

Originally Posted by frontpl8

My issue with Telus is that I've got 4 TV's I need service on. If you can't have more than two, then i am not sure this would work for me, and I might be better off with Shaw. Does any one know if the service is available on more than two TV's. The guy at the Telus store told me it would be available through the Coax feed to the other TV's. Does this mean that those tv's would have to be watching the same channel, as the ones with the box?

Currently the offerings stand as this:

1. You must have a set-top box for each TV. (If you split the signal out of the STB you could technically run it to another TV but you would have to control and watch the same thing-it's also unlikely the installer would do this for you without charge)

2. If you only qualify for standard definition the maximum number of set top boxes you can get is TWO.

3. If you qualify for high definition you have two options:
a) You can have THREE standard definition set top boxes or
b) You can have ONE high definition box and ONE standard defintion box.

4. PVR is available regardless, it would just be replacing one of the boxes and would NOT be an additional box.

It is very likely that mid way through next year there may be variations to this and possibilities of even more boxes, but as current limitations stand, both due to billing systems and network capabilities, this is what you can get.