Question is in the title really.

What is the equivilant to Sky + in Canada i.e. digi box with hard drive which you can record on with live pause revind etc etc

Is it TIVO or is that old hat now.

or is there not an equivilant.

Any info would be appreciated or any hyperlink to info.

Cheers Dave

Hi

See: http://www.shaw.ca/en-ca/ProductsSer...sion/OnDemand/

Also see this:
http://www.shaw.ca/en-ca/ProductsSer...rdware-PVR.htm

or this

http://www.shaw.ca/en-ca/ProductsSer...ware-HDPVR.htm

TIVO does provide service in Canada but you cannot buy a unit in Canada nor does TIVO provide any warranty or support in Canada.

You would have to purchase a unit in the U.S. and have it shipped to Canada or buy one while in the states and bring back to Canada with you.

We have a Shaw HD-PVR and are pretty pleased with it. It came with no instructions mind you, but was fairly easy to work out in the end !
And the concoction of wires at the back of the TV to link to PVR/DVD/X-box is mind-boggling. Hubby almost got it right - but in the end a 10 minute visit by the local Shaw guy got us fully up and running !! The 24 hour call centre have been reasonable too - can't complain.

It's about as close to a Sky+ Box as you will get, I think.

We got Bell ExpressVu. We have 2 HD PVRs and can run 2 TVs off each.

There was a 6-month special 1/2 price offer when we signed up so we rented a large TV selection package. Now the 6 months are almost up we will now be reducing the amount of channels we subscribe to as many are duplicates. eg you can find CSI on at least 8 channels at the same time. We will keep the HDTV channels because the quality is great, and also the European sports channels.

Many Thanks for all your replies.

I will prob get more of am idea when we visit this month but wanted to know what I was talking about and asking.

I put in a Charlottetown post code into the Shaw search engine and it came back with the following:

We're sorry. We could not locate the postal code you entered. The postal code you entered may not be in our database or there are no Shaw services available in your area.

Does this mean Shaw doesn't transmit to all of Canada...We are looking at PEI to settle in.

Unfortunate you assume correctly. Shaw is primarily western Canada.

EastLink is a cable TV provider in Nova Scotia and PEI they do have Digital Video Recorders.

Shaw serve only BC and Alberta (I think).

You want:

http://www.eastlink.ca/cable/digitalcable/index.asp

Or you could try Bell ExpressVu for satellite.

In addition to the service they provide in BC and Alberta.

Shaw is also available in:
Winnipeg, Portage La Prairie and Thompson in Manitoba.
Sault Ste Marie, and Thunder Bay in Ontario.
Moose Jaw, Prince Albert, Saskatoon, and Prince Albert in Saskatchewan.

Pretty much going to repeat what everyone has already said.

I wanted the closest i could get to my Sky+ box over here, and it is driven by who your local cable or satelitte providers are.

In my case, the choice was satellite with Bell or cable with Shaw. Living in a strata, i was restricted to the companies who already had cabling in place (ie i could not look at StarChoice as we are not allowed to put up our own dishes)

I went with Shaw, and got an HD-PVR (High Def - Personal Video Recorder) and it seems to be pretty much exaclty what Sky+ was. Can record one programme while watching another, can set series link to record all episodes of certain show, etc.

BEWARE though, the Cable/satellite companies do not seem to subsidise the equipment here to entice new customer in, my HD-PVR cost me $700

Thank you all very much for all the excellent info provided, gives us a chance to ask people their opinion when we visit and at least we will have an idea what we and they're talking about.

As we have not fully committed to any province yet it could be swayed by the tele.....


OH just thought.....is there such a thing as a "Multi Room" set up as per what sky do?

Cheers again

Yes, is the short answer.

Thanks thats great. Hopefully have a house big enough for a Den....or put it another way my TV room for sport....there's only so much of CSI / Medium / Dexter or other US prog's you can take....OH says she's in training for N.American TV....for the last 4 years !!!!



Thanks to all.

Dave

Here in Winnipeg Shaw no longer charge extra (monthly) for additional outlets, so you can have basic cable in as many rooms as you want. If you want digital you will have to buy/rent a box (for each additional TV) to get the digital channels. Same for HD.

I have Bell here in PEI. It seems ok but I am not sure how it compares to the others. It is an aditional $12 to have receivers in other rooms. It is worth it to stop the sqabbaling !!

Bell has all the usual discovery, bravo, bbc (older shows though, you can even get little britain) History channel etc . Loads of kids programmes and lots of usual fill in shows. You can get quite a few english shows out here, eastenders is about two years behind and corrie is about 6 months. You can get dr who and it is at the same stage as the UK

It depends what package you have but apart from bbc1, bbc2, itv and channel 4 they are very similar to sky