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Thankful For Shaw Direct

6K views 15 replies 15 participants last post by  JasperJoe 
#1 ·
We have a complaint tread so I thought I would start a "I like SD Thread" Why not?

During this time of Covid-19 isolation I, for one, am thankful to have HD channels available to watch and record; especially now that Netflix and YouTube are cutting video quality.

https://www.techradar.com/news/netf...video-quality-to-prevent-coronavirus-gridlock

YouTube will only be available in standard definition for the next 30 days. Satellite quality will stay the course, unless you have receiver problems, and then good luck trying to get service at this time.

According to this article: https://www.speedtest.net/insights/...ct-global-internet-performance/#north-america

As of March 23, 2020: Comparing the week of March 16 to the week of March 9, mean download speed over mobile and fixed broadband decreased in Canada.

If you have a satellite setup you should not notice any decrease in quality or any difference at all for that matter.

Stay healthy everyone!
 
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#4 ·
No bandwidth problems
No speed problems
No commercials (are you confusing cable with streaming?)
No software updates if you're using a web viewer. You can choose to set up auto-updates on most other platforms.
I login once per platform per service (right now, Netflix, Prime, Crave, and Apple TV+) so it may be years before I have to log in again.
 
#5 ·
If Shaw Direct is all of a sudden perfect it must be a new development. Lots of HD channels is certainly a recent development for them. They didn't have nearly enough when I subscribed. I found their 630 PVRs to be better than the competition at the time.

I'd have to say that no service; satellite, cable or streaming is perfect. Some are clearly better than others and all could use some improvement. My best experience has been with Netflix. Prime is good once I get past their triple layer of authentication challenges on every new device. That's more of an issue now due to overloaded email servers. Crave, Bell satellite, Rogers Cable and Shaw Direct have all presented various nightmare scenarios from time to time due to equipment or network failures that took days, weeks or months to be resolved. (Some issues are still outstanding after several years.) Everything seems to be working fairly well right now. (He says while crossing his fingers.)

The award for best sound and picture quality clearly goes to Prime and Netflix using a Chromecast. (Though I haven't used Netflix since the quality was downgraded.)
 
#7 ·
Thanks 57, I agree. Let these people go to the complaint section. I'm certainly not saying that Shaw Direct is perfect, and yes I use the internet a lot too, but now that Netflix is only in Standard Definition, I am really pleased that satellite will remain in High Definition. Shaw Direct is working toward 100% high definition this Spring, so yes, I'm thankful for that. Please others go to the complaint section. This is a Good News Thread for a change.
 
#9 ·
#11 ·
We are also very happy customers from long ago. It's a puzzle for me that so much criticism is being directed at SD for rate increases. Every single provider of telecom, internet, tv, or hydro has periodic increases in their rates.

I previously posted that when subs negotiate lower package costs or altogether terminate service, this inevitably leads to a higher than "normal" increase in price for the remaining subscribers. So if subs leave SD and go to Bell for example, Bell's price increases should be less than SD because they are gaining subs as opposed to losing them.

Unless someone can actually show us one provider who is either decreasing their rates or at least not increasing them, then I will simply accept these increases as the cost of doing business and keep praying SD keeps the footprint for Southern provinces active.
 
#12 ·
I have been a Shaw Direct customer since 1998 when it was called Starchoice. I have always been satisfied with their quality of TV service and customer service. On several occasions I have compared what I pay for SD with Bell Fibe and Rogers. I always find that I would pay more for equivalent services and even get less service for a higher cost. As mentioned previously, other providers raise their costs as well. As long as SD is around, I will most probably remain a long time and loyal customer.
 
#13 ·
I switched to SD when Bell went dark in the south. I made the mistake of assuming the receivers would behave much the same and missed many recordings because Shaw's receivers do not warn you when you set a recording which causes a conflict - even now this still occasionally happens when I forget to check. That is one of the improvements I suggested in the 830 thread. I also added this comment:

"I would just like to add that overall I am very happy with both the 830 and the way the 630 is now operating with the improvements that have been made since its introduction (Thank you Shaw D). I particularly like the ability to change the skip time and the X minutes skipping which I did not have with Bell. The one button 15 minute skip is useful too."

Also, I am quite happy with the number of channels that Shaw D offers and have no desire for more.
 
#14 ·
I’ve been a loyal customer since 2004, and at that time they were still Star Choice of course - there’s been many changes over the past 16 years, but I’ve come to rely on them for the quality programming that I am able to see.

I had at one time considered Bell, however that was before they changed their footprint... I’m glad I didn’t change, and I’m very lucky that I have not had any issues since I am in the “south”. I can’t wait for the advancements that are yet to come.
 
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