Good news everybody!

[Lazybones]

Man, if it wasn't for my kid wanting to see Special Agent Oso and me having spent $250 on Telus equipment I'd seriously consider moving back to Shaw and getting that Shaw Gateway...  I wonder when they'll let us put together the bundle prices for the new packages.

I have a spare SHAW DOCSIS 3 modem... I ended up with two of them when I moved because I had two plans for a short time.

[Thorin]

on-topic: http://business.financialpost.com/2011/05/26/will-shaws-speed-push-threaten-telus-dividend-growth/

[Melbosa]

Are you able to record/view two or three HD live streams (channels) at the same time?  Mine I can only record/view one HD live stream at a time (plus two more SD live streams).  Try recording two, three, four separate HD channels and you'll eventually get the same warning that only so many live streams are possible.

Tested last night, and I can do 3 HD records and 1 Watch before I can no longer get an HD channel. 

The letterboxing is happening on SD channels that are showing HD content.  So first the side bars come up because it's an SD channel, then the SD channel has HD content on it so it includes the top and bottom bars.  And voila, I'm watching a 32" show on a 50" TV.  HD is showing in 720p (perfect for my 720p plasma).  Yes, I know, that's because of the content.  I've also had it get stuck a couple of times where the HD stream is getting compressed to 4:3 mode and there's still black bars, and everyone is super-skinny.

Yeah never experienced the 4:3 on HD, only 720p mode with the TV power up lag, which is simple channel change back to 1080p.  The SD Channel with Widescreen Content stretches for me... I get the top and bottom bars as I would on Shaw, but not the side bars.  SD Channel with 4:3 Content gives me the side bars, but not the top and bottom.

The stupid bars are causing burn-in, though (stupid plasma, why can't you work like LCD?).  With my old Shaw terminal, it was connected via component video, so I could tell the TV to stretch, zoom, etc.  The Telus PVR is connected via HDMI (officially unsupported by Telus, thanks Telus installer for installing an unsupported setup), and the TV doesn't have the same picture alteration options on HDMI as it does on component connections.

I haven't heard about this HDMI unsupported thing... all my devices are hooked up that way, and that was one of the questions I asked them when I got the service (not the installer but the support people at Telus), is HDMI supported.  Scary if it isn't, and funny at the same time.

I know, I can just change it myself.  And I will, eventually.  Although if I tell the TV to zoom, it zooms the entire picture and thus the Telus menu goes at least partially off-screen.  I wish there were shortcut buttons to tell the Telus box to stretch/zoom, then I could just program those into my Harmony and have a "Picture Size" button.  Because when the Telus box zooms, it doesn't zoom the menus, just the stream.

And it works automatically just fine on mine without telling it anything.  Could be the differences between your Plasma and my DLP.  But only a guess...

I know Cova couldn't use his XBox in 1080p mode with his HP DLP cause the XBox could not determine its 1080p ran at a different rate than most DLPs.  Where as mine worked right out of the box, no change need when hooked up through HDMI. 

Anyway, my experience has been "meh".  Yeah, we got more features (pause/rewind live TV is pretty damn cool!  and we finally have HD channels) for less money ($60 to $80 less a month), but now we have to manage streams for recording, picture sizing, and put up with slower Internet speeds.

See I blame Shaw here.  For 3 months starting January this year I called them asking what was available, what was coming and what I should expect from them to keep me with them over Telus.  Never did they mention the increase in internet speeds.  Never did they mention the Gateway and how it was going to work.  Never did they offer up any details of plan or cost changes, and they didn't even allow me to sign up on contract for a better deal.  If they had, I might not have changed.

But alas I did, and as history shows, Telus will eventually catch up on the internet side, and the service will only get better on the TV side (lucky Telus is leveraging technology of a larger digital provider in the states partnered with Cisco), and I didn't pay for my units, so I can get upgrades to the latest as I "rent" mine (for free mind you as part of my 3 year contract).  I guess there I might be in a better position.

BUT I STILL HATE TELUS, and Shaw is starting to get up there on my list too.

[Darren Dirt]

Yeah, that fixed number is killing them, hell the limited titles in Netflix is killing Netflix in Canada!

@%&# regional @%&#, if I had Netflix with all the titles on it I want to watch I probably wouldn't bother with torrents at all.

but Netflix is not just killing themselves. It's Official, Kids:
http://business.financialpost.com/2011/05/27/blockbuster-announces-locations-set-to-close/

The Canadian division of the movie and video-game rental chain was placed in receivership earlier this month after its U.S. parent filed for bankruptcy protection. It announced this week that it would close 140 locations, about one-third of its Canadian operations.

The locations which will close are as follows:

...

Edmonton

    * Bonnie Doon Shopping Centre
    * Meadowbrook
    * Capilano Mall
    * The Grange Shopping Centre
    * Market at the Meadow
    * Clearwater


Vancouver

    * 3298 West Broadway
    * Robson
    * 16th & Oak
    * 1887 West Broadway

[Tom]

Are you able to record/view two or three HD live streams (channels) at the same time?  Mine I can only record/view one HD live stream at a time (plus two more SD live streams).  Try recording two, three, four separate HD channels and you'll eventually get the same warning that only so many live streams are possible.

Tested last night, and I can do 3 HD records and 1 Watch before I can no longer get an HD channel. 

The letterboxing is happening on SD channels that are showing HD content.  So first the side bars come up because it's an SD channel, then the SD channel has HD content on it so it includes the top and bottom bars.  And voila, I'm watching a 32" show on a 50" TV.  HD is showing in 720p (perfect for my 720p plasma).  Yes, I know, that's because of the content.  I've also had it get stuck a couple of times where the HD stream is getting compressed to 4:3 mode and there's still black bars, and everyone is super-skinny.

Yeah never experienced the 4:3 on HD, only 720p mode with the TV power up lag, which is simple channel change back to 1080p.  The SD Channel with Widescreen Content stretches for me... I get the top and bottom bars as I would on Shaw, but not the side bars.  SD Channel with 4:3 Content gives me the side bars, but not the top and bottom.

The stupid bars are causing burn-in, though (stupid plasma, why can't you work like LCD?).  With my old Shaw terminal, it was connected via component video, so I could tell the TV to stretch, zoom, etc.  The Telus PVR is connected via HDMI (officially unsupported by Telus, thanks Telus installer for installing an unsupported setup), and the TV doesn't have the same picture alteration options on HDMI as it does on component connections.

I haven't heard about this HDMI unsupported thing... all my devices are hooked up that way, and that was one of the questions I asked them when I got the service (not the installer but the support people at Telus), is HDMI supported.  Scary if it isn't, and funny at the same time.

I know, I can just change it myself.  And I will, eventually.  Although if I tell the TV to zoom, it zooms the entire picture and thus the Telus menu goes at least partially off-screen.  I wish there were shortcut buttons to tell the Telus box to stretch/zoom, then I could just program those into my Harmony and have a "Picture Size" button.  Because when the Telus box zooms, it doesn't zoom the menus, just the stream.

And it works automatically just fine on mine without telling it anything.  Could be the differences between your Plasma and my DLP.  But only a guess...

I know Cova couldn't use his XBox in 1080p mode with his HP DLP cause the XBox could not determine its 1080p ran at a different rate than most DLPs.  Where as mine worked right out of the box, no change need when hooked up through HDMI. 

Anyway, my experience has been "meh".  Yeah, we got more features (pause/rewind live TV is pretty damn cool!  and we finally have HD channels) for less money ($60 to $80 less a month), but now we have to manage streams for recording, picture sizing, and put up with slower Internet speeds.

See I blame Shaw here.  For 3 months starting January this year I called them asking what was available, what was coming and what I should expect from them to keep me with them over Telus.  Never did they mention the increase in internet speeds.  Never did they mention the Gateway and how it was going to work.  Never did they offer up any details of plan or cost changes, and they didn't even allow me to sign up on contract for a better deal.  If they had, I might not have changed.

But alas I did, and as history shows, Telus will eventually catch up on the internet side, and the service will only get better on the TV side (lucky Telus is leveraging technology of a larger digital provider in the states partnered with Cisco), and I didn't pay for my units, so I can get upgrades to the latest as I "rent" mine (for free mind you as part of my 3 year contract).  I guess there I might be in a better position.

BUT I STILL HATE TELUS, and Shaw is starting to get up there on my list too.

That's the fun part. Shaw was just coasting. They also assumed that the current behavior of the eastern ISPs was acceptable to customers. They learned a little from the whole debacle. They had only just decided on the new changes maybe a week, possibly less, before they held that meeting I went to. And it shows, they sill haven't finalized the acceptable use policy for the new plans.

Absolutely none of the new changes were even on their radar. At the first meeting they admitted to getting complacent.

Yes, I'm aware I sound like a fanboy, but I prefer to remain optimistic.

As a result of the meeting, I actually managed to talk to a tech that knew what he was talking about. He scheduled a senior on site tech for Wednesday. I really hope they fix the issues with my hookup.