Topic: Plasma owner!

[safristi]

I have VIP too (No NUDIE MOVIE channels tho' and i woz TOLD by the ROG REP not much more fer HD?........let ME (US) Know the results of yer Call...............i find some channels much brighter and sharp than others..............do they (cable Folk) have issues separating "service" i could swear some channels (like NFL Sunday games ARE High DEF) and others are fine...but a few are like rabbit ears 50's crap???<sigh>..............

[tpl]

Going from memory here:

TSN is part of the extra HD channel package which cost around $8-9. You also get Discovery, HD_Net and others.

TMN/HBO is part of the movie package, around $15. If you want M_HD (which plays older movies in HD) its another $3.

Since you have VIP I'm not sure how they do the pricing.

Personally, if you get the movie channel you should have a PVR which is $25/month or you can buy one if you wish. I also recommend adding an external hard drive for more storage. The PVR come with a 160GB drive which is only good for 20 hours (at best) of HD recordings. I added a 320GB drive for another 40 hours (60 total) and haven't had any issues. In the past larger drive gave problems so I don't know if that is still an issue.

I will call them.  That is where the confusion is... on the interaction between VIP and HD.  I'll post when I find out.

I have SD PVRs on both TVs and would for sure get HD PVRs
If I upgraded to HD I would indeed add a big disk to the PVR. According to threads on Digital Home Canada the Rogers HD pvr works at least  up to a 500 Gb add on and probably works with a 1TB drive. Both SATA/SATA II  

[tpl]

OK.   A very helpful CSR and no wait.

If one has VIP  then as soon as one upgrades to HD and that is $5/month/set top box  one gets the Movie channels  in HD included.

BUT the "theme pack channels"    TSN, National Geographic, Discovery etc. cost an additional $8.95 for the whole lot of them.  Even the CSR admits that the pricing seems weird

So for me  that would be another $18.95 ( plus taxes) per month  plus of course two TVs.... and then the AV receiver would need updating and yadda yadda yadda

[ArticSteve]

So what are you cable guys paying for the works monthly: movies, TSN, Speedvision, 2 US feeds .... all that stuff 

[quadzilla]

If one has VIP  then as soon as one upgrades to HD and that is $5/month/set top box  one gets the Movie channels  in HD included.

.... and then the AV receiver would need updating and yadda yadda yadda

When you say set top box was the for the PVR (SA8300) or the basic no PVR model (SA3200)?

Unless your receiver is very old you should have a digital inputs for audio (coax, toslink?) as these cable boxes don't go any higher than Dolby Digital which means you would be fine.

So what are you cable guys paying for the works monthly: movies, TSN, Speedvision, 2 US feeds .... all that stuff 

I'm paying less than $50/month for a HD_PVR, HD movie channels (TMN, HBO, M_HD + sd movie channels), basic HD channels and of course, all the regular SD channels. I get basic cable + a small discount for free as it is part of the contract with Rogers through the building where I live.

[Leviathan]

So what are you cable guys paying for the works monthly: movies, TSN, Speedvision, 2 US feeds .... all that stuff 

I have Shaw's HDPlus package + Movie Central HD. The building I'm in has cable "included" in the monthly rent so I only pay $28/month for all the HD stuff. Kicking myself that I didn't do HD sooner...

[Leviathan]

Cannot watch SD TV anymore.

Pretty much agree but I'll add that watching any TV without a PVR is barbaric 

[tpl]

If one has VIP  then as soon as one upgrades to HD and that is $5/month/set top box  one gets the Movie channels  in HD included.

.... and then the AV receiver would need updating and yadda yadda yadda

When you say set top box was the for the PVR (SA8300) or the basic no PVR model (SA3200)?

Unless your receiver is very old you should have a digital inputs for audio (coax, toslink?) as these cable boxes don't go any higher than Dolby Digital which means you would be fine.

The 5$ fee/month was for either type upgraded to HD   So of course I'd then want (need ) two SATA enclosures and 2 big disks.  Easy enough.  Tempting to BUY an HD pvr and replace the internal drive with a 1TB drive... just to save clutter
I have coax and optical for audio  but I was thinking of future Bluray.

[Ex-airbalancer]

Wing,
Maybe you can make a sticky thread for TV, and one for Sat & Cable viewing

We had the movie channels years ago, but found most of the movies were crap, ( like playing Bollywood for hours on end), is it any better now for $20 a month

AS, I phone Bell TV about a month ago, to say I was leaving their service, I got a 30% reduction in monthly fee, and a HD PVR free for a year. I think we were paying in the $50 range

[quadzilla]

I have coax and optical for audio  but I was thinking of future Bluray.

BD players still have coax/toslink outputs so you don't have to hurry to upgrade your receiver. Of course you will only get DD/DTS lossy sound and not the new PCM, Dolby_True_HD or DTS_MA lossless sound but is that a huge deal for you anyway? This way you can always wait for a big sale on last years gear and get something better for cheap.

* Of course there is still the debate: Can you hear the difference between lossy and lossless sound to begin with.

[quadzilla]

We had the movie channels years ago, but found most of the movies were crap, ( like playing Bollywood for hours on end), is it any better now for $20 a month

I'm sure its different for everybody's taste but we record between 10-20 movies a month so its worth it to us. Just check your movie channels website to see what they have playing now.

[ArticSteve]

AS, I phone Bell TV about a month ago, to say I was leaving their service, I got a 30% reduction in monthly fee, and a HD PVR free for a year. I think we were paying in the $50 range

I'm getting it up the yazoo @ $78. plus tax for StarChoice.  I use to split the cost with another guy so it wasn't too bad until his wife left him and kicked him out.  

[Ex-airbalancer]

Phone up Star choice and see what they will give you to stay
check out this forum http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/ for info

[initial_D]

AS, I phone Bell TV about a month ago, to say I was leaving their service, I got a 30% reduction in monthly fee, and a HD PVR free for a year. I think we were paying in the $50 range

I'm getting it up the yazoo @ $78. plus tax for StarChoice.  I use to split the cost with another guy so it wasn't too bad until his wife left him and kicked him out.  

FTA?

$78 isn't a lot of money for TV programming, I mean, there is a lot programming for the amount of money, mostly good for channel surfing.

[Ex-airbalancer]

Really
Probably most people only watch 10 channels
I think most program is over priced

[ArticSteve]

Phone up Star choice and see what they will give you to stay
check out this forum http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/ for info

 

[SkiBunny]

I am looking at Samsung PN50A550
http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-tvs/samsung-pn50a550/4505-6482_7-32887581.html?tag=contentMain;contentBody
Pricing on sale is around $1500.00

I saw that model for $900 at Pacific Mall but I'm thinking of the Panny instead for a little more. 
Cheap because they're grey-market direct imports from Asia (no canadian distribution markups, but no canadian warranty).
Probably that same Samsung model is about $600-$700 in Korea.
And of course no sales tax at Pacific Mall if you pay cash as Asians are smart and don't pay sales tax, haha
Don't forget the matching stand too.

[vdk]

pmall has the greatest collection of pirated DVDs..

'nuff said..

[SkiBunny]

FTA?

FTA is dying to dead. 
I want the P5 hack. 
Can't stand canadian tv. 
Anyone wanna share a directv sub?

[SkiBunny]

pmall has the greatest collection of pirated DVDs..

'nuff said..

yeah it's like bangkok or HK. haha 

Great for genuine name-brand grey-market electronics (not black market or stolen, that'd be unethical).  Or cheap knock-offs of clothes watches etc which are crap but funny.  Anything from east asia, at asian (cheap) prices.  And no tax, yay! hehe