[breakaleg]

Hello All,

I'm looking to purchase a pvr for use with Shaw - my very first. I know nothing about these things but based on the posts here, it seems the Pace one is to be avoided. Is that the case, or have the problems been resolved?

Which of their current offerings is the safest bet for right now?

 

[Kritiker]

Take a look at Confusion over HDPVR's and the specific Pace & Motorola model threads for all the details.

 

[cooper83]

Moto 3400. End of discussion.

 

[accord1999]

Pace Summit with a 2TB external hard drive.

 

[cooper83]

Pace Summit with a 2TB external hard drive.

But an external hard drive can be added to the Moto, so what makes the Pace option superior?

 

[accord1999]

A Summit + 2TB HD + enclosure is roughly the same price as the DCX3400 by itself. So far I haven't read about anyone trying a 2 TB drive with the DCX3400. While it'll probably at least support 2X1TB like the 6416, it's still 2 HDs with added noise and power.

 

[cooper83]

In that case, I would argue the Pace is the better value in terms of dollars per GB. Doesn't mean it's a better unit though. There's a reason the Pace is cheaper.

 

[Shaw Guru]

Currently based on customer feedback I have received, the Motorola DCX3400 has been received very well and so far has less known challenges than most of the Pace PVRs. Customers who have had both DCTs have reported liking the DCX3400 more than the Pace.
We all have our own opinions, as already shown in the responses of this thread, however for me personally I would go with a Motorola DCX3400. Granted it has less recording space than the 1TB Expander with the Pace however if you read through all the threads here you will find that the Motorola seems to have a lot less complaints than the Pace.

 

[Kritiker]

And you can add a 1TB Expander to the DCX3400 too, for a total of 1.5 TB!

 

[753951]

What good are terabytes of space on pace when it can't go more than week or two without getting silly? You can have 1.9TB of free space and, when you turn your TV on, you get greeted with "Please delete some recordings ..."

 

[accord1999]

What good are terabytes of space on pace when it can't go more than week or two without getting silly? You can have 1.9TB of free space and, when you turn your TV on, you get greeted with "Please delete some recordings ..."

Never had such a problem, even going up to 97% on 2 TB to stress it. Only major issue was the 1 minute recordings prior to the last firmware.

 

[antonk]

Don't get the stupid Pace - I just came home from a weekend away to find another 1 min recording of a show I was looking forward to watching. Happens about once a week with a pretty mild recording schedule, but it's always the shows I care about... quite annoying!

If Shaw offers me a free swap for the DCX3400, it'll probably be worth losing 500GB of recording space (I've yet to break 10% on the 1TB expander), the wide-screen guide, and hardware zoom, to have something that records every time!

 

[Gord Lacey]

I returned my Pace box for a 3400, and I don't regret it at all.

 

[antonk]

2 days later, 2 more 1-min recordings - this is a new record! Don't even think about getting the Pace unless you love talking to Shaw and having them visit you! So maybe it is the better product for someone who's really lonely...

 

[adiabatic]

My 3400 has been rock-solid for something like 1.5 months and I record about 20-25 shows a week. The single recording error during that time was a guide error.

 

[antonk]

Update

I just got my Pace replaced with a DCX3400 yesterday, and even though it's only been about 19 hours, I LOVE IT!! It seems way more responsive in everything you do (even scrolling through the guide), and it doesn't seem to have any of the issues the Pace had. I was all worried about losing the full-screen guide and hardware zoom, but it took me all of 5 mins to get over the guide, and I programmed the # button on the remote to control my TV's aspect ratio, which basically does the same thing.

I don't even care about all the recordings on the Summit I've lost, because it's so nice to finally have something that works! Shaw recommended formatting the harddrive on the Pace to try to fix the 1-min recording problem, so I would've lost everything anyway. If I had any idea of how much better the 3400 seems to be, I would've tried to get it replaced a loooong time ago!

The only current issues I'm aware of with the 3400 is the handshake issue with receivers (which I don't use, so couldn't care less about), and also when pressing the Info button while looking through your Favs list, it goes back to the beginning of the list when you press Info (or Last) again. I'm sure the Fav thing will be fixed soon anyway, but it's not something I care that much about either.

So in my short experience so far, the 3400 is ten times better than the Pace ever was! The expander works with it too, so I reaaaaaaaaally see no reason anyone would ever want a Pace. I think Shaw will give up on them pretty soon if they haven't already...

 

[breakaleg]

It turns out that by the time my new tv arrived, a neighbour gave me a free dct6412 III that they had lying around. So, I didn't have to buy one after all. It works great, but it's got 10 hours of programming saved at the moment and it's 17% full. These are not recorded in hd.

 

[antonk]

6412 HD is 160GB, that's why. You can always get an expander for $150 (or make your own), and add 1GB (or more).

 

[breakaleg]

I was wondering about that and I can see from the shaw site that it is compatible with the pvr I have. I'll consider it.

 

[breakaleg]

In terms of buying an expander, is it worth it to add to this model of pvr (6412) since it's an older model? Or would it be better to wait and upgrade to a newer pvr - say the 3400 500gb model?