SHAW high defination personal video recorder

[xoxo Amie]

http://www.shaw.ca/en-ca/ProductsSe...alTV/DigitalTVEquipment/ShawHDPVRTerminal.htm

HDPVR Digital Terminal features:
Pause, rewind and replay live TV
Record up to 50 hours of analog TV, up to 120 hours of Digital TV or up to 25 hours of High-Definition TV
Built in Dual Tuner: Record one show and watch another; record two shows at the same time; play back a recording and record two other shows at the same time
High Definition video and Dolby AC-3 5.1 audio
Interactive Program Guide
Access to Pay Per View movies and events
Easily hooks up to your home-theatre system

Technical Requirements:
HDTV or HDTV-ready television
Shaw Digital service

the terminal is $748.00

is it worth it? Any thoughts from current users?

TIVO is available in Canada but the units themselves have to be brought over from the states

http://www.tivo.com/1.6.1.asp#9

Is the TiVo service available in Canada?
The TiVo Service is now available in Canada. Canadian residents will be given special instruction to follow when activating service. Please look for the link "Instructions for Canadian residents," under step 1 during the activation process.

TiVo does not sell boxes in Canada, so Canadian residents must purchase boxes in the US and import them. If the DVR becomes defective, TiVo will not ship a warranty replacement box into Canada, and will only ship to a US address.

This is one thing I'm not willing to fiddle around with. Having the hardware work seamlessly with the cable service is important.

are there any other good alternatives?

 

[gravitas]

I'm using a combination of a Shaw HDPVR and Pioneer DVD-R and am pretty happy with the results. The Shaw unit is quite intuitive in setting up recording schedules and if I want to watch something in another room or keep an archive I'll just burn the content to DVD.

 

[xoxo Amie]

I'm using a combination of a Shaw HDPVR and Pioneer DVD-R and am pretty happy with the results. The Shaw unit is quite intuitive in setting up recording schedules and if I want to watch something in another room or keep an archive I'll just burn the content to DVD.

I really liked the fact thie shaw system is straight out of the box. But there seems to be such a huge premium on that convenience.

That said, your best bet is one of the DVD based PVRs that has a hard drive in it and isn't HD. They're a lot cheaper and the odds are VERY high that you won't see any difference in quality in anything you record (for the reasons stated above).

okay thanks!... I think the system you described is what my friend is using... but programming was not exactly straightforward because sometimes the programming list is doesnt match up . i was hoping to avoid that if i could.

Pioneer 1-Disc DVD Recorder With 80GB Hard Drive (DVR-543HS)

Is this the hardware I need? I just wanna be able to preprogram to record the Colbert Report b/c it's on so late on school nights and be able to watch it over a bowl of breakfast cereal in the morning. The quality is not an issue so long as it looks like regular TV from a little 21" TV

 

[OTBn]

http://www.shaw.ca/en-ca/ProductsSe...alTV/DigitalTVEquipment/ShawHDPVRTerminal.htm

are there any other good alternatives?

you mean other than cable? if so, and you can manage the satellite requirements, Bell ExpressVu 9200/9220 PVR - it's been out for about a year...

... a dated review

it's $600 for the 9200/9220 PVR & dish - nominally cheaper than the Shaw cost - you also might want to compare the HD channel offerings between Shaw & BEV

 

[souljacker]

I just wanna be able to preprogram to record the Colbert Report b/c it's on so late on school nights and be able to watch it over a bowl of breakfast cereal in the morning.

LOL! Why am I not surprised about your intended use for a PVR? Of course, you know the Colbert Report is also on in the middle of the day on the Comedy Network, right?

 

[totravel]

That's a pretty nice one, my father has one and he loves it. He got it at costco, got a great price on it too because they have one with a 160 gig hd out now so the 80gig model was going for a decent price.

If you're watching on a regular 21" tv so long as you don't record on the 'low quality' speed, you'll be fine

Panasonic has just come out with a 200gig model, with the added feature of an HDMI connection to the TV:
http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0926INGFS10071880&catid=22494
I bought the 160gig Pioneer model 2 weeks ago, and it's a great machine. I've still only got analog cable though, and I will hold out as long as I can, since I think the full Shaw digital package is overpriced. (I would have got Expressvue years ago, but it's not allowed in my condo.)
February 19th 2009 is when US law requires all broadcasters provide HD only signal, and Canada won't be far behind of course.
From what I've read, non-HD equipment like the Pioneer DVR, will still be usable as long as you downgrade the signal to 480i (standard analog) at the digital cable box.

 

[Sir Jim]

I bought the big one from Shaw few months ago. Was 'sposed to have it charged to my cable over a year but somehow ended up paying the 750 straight up.
I enjoy it except that there is no way to turn it off except to unplug it.
I have it at the foot of the bed and can't stand to hear the hard drive fan humming all night long. I can't imagine that killing the power like that is going to be good for it.

Does any body else notice this or have a remedy other than moving the unit to another room?

 

[Mach35]

Hey, just thought I would put my two cents in to the mix. I've have had a HD-PVR box for Shaw basically since they became available. The first gen box were crap with lot's of buggy software problem but the latest one I have the 6412 & now the 6416 are a big step up. I have to say I tend to watch more tv now but almost never see any ads anymore. I tend to let the hdd recored the show then I start watching part way in or watch it a day or so later. The nice thing with the later two models are they both have dual tuners, which means you can watch one pre-taped show while recording two other off any channel. The HD lineup from Shaw is not bad either (sportsnet, tsn, abc, cbs, nbc, fox, pbs, cbc, two ctv's one west one east coast, a&e, discovery & movie central hd if you get any of the other mc packs). The only downsides are to program it you have to rely on there guide (which is good most of the time)& the HD feeds can sometimes suffer from over compression making the picture not look as good. All in all if you like to watch tv when you want not just when the networks air it, it's a great thing (esp. for a nights shift guy like me). Plus if two show do air at the same time you don't have to choose anymore & you can output the signal from the box with some special software on the pc side (pm me for more details).
Mach35

 

[necko]

Gosh who to ask about me coming over to watch sports??? A definint quantry, Who to ask?? U'd think some one would just vulenter???/ They could help me with my spelling and give me typing lessons also???

 

[HankQuinlan]

You don't need Shaw's setup. I have a Toshiba RD-XS35; works great; big hard drive; will burn anything you record to dvd as well. About 450 bucks + tax. Doesn't need a cable box.

Only problem is the "TV Guide On Line" system. Worked good to start with and showed all the listings, but it seems to disappear from time to time. It is better to manually enter the day/time/channel you want to record rather than depend on "clicking" the show in the listing.

Panasonic has a similar thing.

It also has more of a learning curve than a basic dvd player -- but all the controls make good sense once you get used to them.

 

[BC visitor]

Slingbox pro

I got myself one of these as a birthday present to myself back in September - too cool. If you are on the road much it is great - I have mine hooked to the HD cable box DVR combo - I can watch whatever I want on the DVR - anywhere in the world!

 

[Birdboy]

You don't need Shaw's setup. I have a Toshiba RD-XS35; works great; big hard drive; will burn anything you record to dvd as well. About 450 bucks + tax. Doesn't need a cable box.

Does it record the pay channels such as Movie Central? I found that the two Pioneer DVD recorders with hard drives I tried both refused to record the premium channels- a Macrovision restriction.

 

[dirk_dog]

Yes, you can record the premium channels. You can also record PPV movies and events. But you can NOT record VOD movies.

Does it record the pay channels such as Movie Central? I found that the two Pioneer DVD recorders with hard drives I tried both refused to record the premium channels- a Macrovision restriction.

 

[HankQuinlan]

Does it record the pay channels such as Movie Central? I found that the two Pioneer DVD recorders with hard drives I tried both refused to record the premium channels- a Macrovision restriction.

Not mine -- because I don't subscribe to the pay channels. I assume it would if I could receive them.

 

[luv-em-n-lv-em]

I love my 6412 when it works (most of the time).

One big problem that I have hit a few times is that the box may tell you that the hard drive is full when there should still be lots of space. I have bumped into this around 65%, 25% and 14% of capacity. Given that there is no apparent rhyme or reason regarding the cause, it makes the box a little hard to rely on. So I usually try to record the eastern feeds (around channel 130) and check them before the western feeds in case I need to redo the recording

According to Shaw tech support, the problem is a bug in the firmware and Motorola are working on a fix. From past experience, Motorola firmware fixes that don't cause at least as many problems as they fix are pretty rare. And apparently whenever Shaw get new firmware it gets sent out to all boxes at about the same time (so you can't pick and choose which problems you have to deal with).

According to Shaw tech support, the problem can be resolved by removing power for 10 seconds (turning the unit off doesn't help and in fact is apparently not recommended as it can cause this and a number of other problems) or by getting tech support to do a device reset. If you call Shaw tech support for help with PVRs you should talk to the HD group. The normal TV tech staff barely even know what a PVR is!

I have no idea if the 6416 has better firmware. I doubt it since as far as I know the only difference between it and the 6412 is an increase in hard drive capacity from 120 to 160GB. Wake up Motorola - give us at least a 250GB drive!

 

[deke]

Does it record the pay channels such as Movie Central? I found that the two Pioneer DVD recorders with hard drives I tried both refused to record the premium channels- a Macrovision restriction.

I also have a Toshiba.
I can record pay channels to my HD, but I cannot copy it to a DVD.
I would get the Shaw box if it had a DVD burner built in, or some kind of connection to an external HD.
In the US, I've read about hack to Tivo, to swap out for bigger HD. I wonder if someone has already done it here.