Hd Listing on *C

[HammerJoe]

I'm considering the purchase of the HDD201 but first I would liek to know what exactly would be available in HD with *C.

Where can I get an accurate listing for *C HD programming??

[I_M_Norm_Al]

I would only buy a HDD201 if I had 4DTV. To consider spending money on HD hardware to watch SC HD is like wearing a sign on your back that reads <font color=red>Please, kick me - hard! ... again and again and again</font color=red>

I am really surprised that Jim Shaw actually appears in public these days, but I'll tell you one thing He definitely does not sit at home watching SC HD.

[snoman]

I concur.
I've been a long time SC sub and I wouldn't buy a 201 unless I was getting 4DTV.

[mowitch]

Check out the Star Choice check in each day. I do this all the time It's accuracy is improving.

Most people can't afford to switch and get into 4DTV and so it's either Star Choice 201 or Express View 6000 to haggle over in the decision making. I dont' see too many Star Choice HD 201 people actually complaining about what they have on this forum..other than one or two who jump shipped awhile back and joined that "BEV rules in HDTV" crowd. Most of us like Star Choice and the HDTV channels are just an extra feature for some who have the sets.

Here is the link:

http://www.starchoice.com/english/whatsontv/hdtv.asp

[CSM]

Like they are telling you, do not go for HD on Starchoice. Go for BEV. I wasted my $ on *C first and had to then buy BEV HD as well to get reliable programming and sound.

BEV's web site gives weekly HD listings to give you a pretty good idea what progreamming is available.

[Steve_Winkler]

As an HDD-201 owner, I would say get the Bell model 6000. Star Choice has a number of annoying problems with their HD right now. Programming is virtually the same, although Bell has an edge in the fact they offer some HD Net feeds(hockey &amp; lacrosse), and PPV HD. Most nights there are primetime shows from ABC &amp; CBS, a couple of NBC shows, and sporatic offerings from PBS and TMN/MC throughout the week. I suppose if you already have Star Choice equipment it might be cheaper to stay with Star Choice, $399 vs. $699.

Cheers,

Steve

[Geoff]

Something else.
BEV offers a west and east HD feed to BOTH east and west.

As far as I can tell , SC does not.
Only a westHD for the west and a eastHD for the east.

[JohnnyG]

If you didn't already know, the 201 was just added to the 'No-Worries' plan and you can lease one for $50 down and 14.99/mo. After 24 months YOU OWN IT!

There are even termination and early buy-out clauses:
"No Worries HD customers may terminate their Agreement without penalty or further payment if they wish to purchase any future Star Choice HD decoder that may be available as technology progresses."

"No Worries HD customers can prepay the remainder of their amount owing, plus interest accrued to the date of payment, should they wish to buy-out their HD decoder during the 24-month period (see Terms and Conditions for full details).

[mowitch]

Sounds like a good deal for people who are just starting out in the HDTV world. These sets cost enough without having to keep up with changing sat.system, plus decorders.

Hmm, with arrival of Rogers on the scene, this growing market needs to be able to offer financial choice without having to mortgage the house.

ps. I would love to get in the 4DTV group..10 mil tonight on 649 you never know /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

[CSM]

But...as in any consumer item, beware of a "cheap deal". You usually get what you pay for. In this case, cheap hardware is no good to you if they cannot reliably provide you the programming to watch with it. You don't "edge into" HD. You either have equipment and a delivery system/program provider that works right(BEV) or not (StarChoice).

[**DONOTDELETE**]

"All is well in the BEV HD world, + not well in the SC world" that's the word of "many in the know"

Well, I say to you naysayers "All is not well in the HD world period"

Where's the beef? Yes my friends, where's the content? NOT EVEN THE SUPER BOWL IS IN HD. Besides Fox; Disney, Thomson and Sinclair have publically stated multicasting not HD will be the future for the bulk of programming. So even looking out 4 or 10 years from now, HD broadcasting will still be a minority service - yes probably more than now, but not a huge gain.

For Expressvu subs - where's the indication that you will be treated any differently when BEV goes to dual sat operation - any differently than DirecTv, Dish + SC subs were? Any company with a $70M loss in a quarter, plus a new $750M cost to start amortizing in 2003, does not have much room in the budget for "give aways".

The Echostar 6000 is going to be pulled from the market just as soon as the merger is ratified and RCA has the HD combo Dish/DirecTv/OTA receiver ready to roll. So what's BEV going to do? - keep rolling on selling obsolete product? (1st generation OTA tuners are highly suspectible to signal loss due to multipath distortion) - well yes Expressvu probably will with absolutely no support from Echostar - and you BEV HD subs know where the upgrades originate from - it ain't downtown Toronto.

Personnally, if I had a HDTV + Star Choice compatible receiver, I would take the path of least cost/risk $15/month

[mowitch]

So, HJ did you get your answer, or just more questions? /forums/images/icons/wink.gif

[HammerJoe]

Well Mowitch I really didn't get the answer I wanted, but I think that the *c deal is very good, although I don't subscribe TMN so I wouldn't be able to get the movies.

I wanted to know where I could get a listing for HD content on *C to find out what kind of programming I would have access to, because I'm still not sure if the $15/month is worthy enough to be watching the same shows over and over again...even if in HD.
That's the reason why I dropped TMN.

[mowitch]

Well, it seems like Star Choice picks and chooses what's popular..although can be inconsistent at times re: weekly ABC shows, such as Alias, ER, etc. Leno's pretty regular.

Movies make it worthwhile (TMN in 5.1 lucky you), although there are the standard repeaters, ie traffic, gladiator.

Have a look a schedule for a month over at the link I first gave you above and you will get the picture.

ps. one good thing is as given you're in the EAST (TMN?), then you get to see HDTV sitcoms/dramas etc in their prime viewing time, where us out WEST (MC land) have to get home from work early just to catch the weekly favorites.

[Geoff]

I thought the West had another channel.
Are you saying mowitch, that there is no west HD channel?
I thought each end of the country had 2 channels.Why wouldn't you watch HD programing that starts at 8pm PT?

[snoman]

What he is saying SC has no western network feed to draw from i.e. CBS Seattle. All of Canada has access to 2 HD channels at the same time.

[Geoff]

Thanks Snoman.

[mowitch]

What "she's" saying is TMN not available out WEST and "she' didn't know where the West prime time feed comes from..but now "she" does. /forums/images/icons/wink.gif

[**DONOTDELETE**]

so,
Wow, what a selective memory

"Ok for the East I suppose, but putting the Tonight Show on HD has really ruined what was an excellent HD schedule in the West.

BEV used to show the Seattle CBS HD feed for their prime time shows. This was better timing for us in the West, but we still had the option of catching the early (to us) Eastern feed as well. With the addition of the NBC HD stuff, this is no longer happening (or possible) using just the one channel for Network HD programming. BEV needs to add at least a second channel dedicated to Network programming now that there is so much of it.

It seems like BEV's existing HD second HD channel is not being utilized very well or wisely.

This is where the cable guys are going to win over satellite as they now can provide all the HD channels at once. I envy those able to get the new Rogers digital service. "

http://www.canadian-tv.com/forums/showflat.php?Cat=&amp;Board=HDTV&amp;Number=30425&amp;page=2&amp;v iew=collapsed&amp;sb=5&amp;o=0&amp;fpart=

[snoman]

Hard to tell who's a what on the internet without a pic.
Sorry mowitch.

[mowitch]

Sometimes, even a picture doesn't help..unless one's using a snowblower..oh that was a low blow..it was a tasteful picture.

Thanks for the new insight re why I always miss the good shows..tonight made it home in time for HDTV NYPD but a little problem with the sound..like no dialogue.