What HD is best??

I thought I would ask... I am currently with Cogeco Hi Def, and think it looks great. I checked out Star Choice and it looks like they offer a few more channels (IE TLC and others) that I don't get. Bell says they have more - but they include the west coast feeds as channels which are basically the same... I also don't know if digital cable is better for picture? The prices seem better with Star Choice although it looks like you have to buy the box (which is not cheap!!). I wish we could get better (and more) hi def programing in Canada. In the states everything is hi def... what is taking us so long??

I can't comment on Cogeco because it isn't available in our area. But we had Rogers and we recently switched to Star Choice.

Our cable service had been problematic over the past couple of years and finally got frustrated to the point that we began shopping. I looked at Bell and SC since they were option for us. Yes, Bell does have more HD channels but in my opinion the extra channels that they have are fluff for the most part. The other part of Bell that I cannot stand is their customer service is horrible! Don't just take my word for it, simply go to the Better Business Bureau and check for yourself. SC has a super rating on the BBB and if you deal with them you will be amazed at their level of customer service.

Rogers calls their service digital cable and in our area that is not completely true. The first 60 channels on their system are still analog and it shows on a HD tv. SC (and Bell for that matter) are 100% digital and it looks much better than Rogers. Once we had SC installed , I kept Rogers for an additional week just to compare the services head to head. SC was clearly superior especially in the non-HD arena.

Making the decision to switch was a fairly simple one for us.
1) More HD channels over Rogers (twice as many in fact)
2) SC service was less expensive monthly over Rogers
3) Reliability - SC won't go off or breakdown . Sure snow might get on the dish and knock the service out but I haven't experienced this. And we get plenty of lake effect snow at our location.

Yes, you will have to buy some equipment. SC will install it and they offer credits for PPV which helps offset the cost of the equipment. All I have to say is I'm not sorry that I made the switch from Rogers to SC.

If you have any more questions, feel free to PM me.

Good luck!

Hi, shame I can't switch from Rogers to SC. I live in a condo and can't have a dish. One of the down sides of condo living. :confused:

I've had both Bell and Starchoice and Starchoice has had the better picture qualiy IMHO. Bell charges for their HD and Starchoice's HD is pretty much free, with the exception of a few HD channels that are owned by Bell Globe Media.

Bell are changing to a different modulation system in April so will be able to add lots more HD from then onwards.

I have seen a few Starchoice offerings and they are pretty good, I have Bell and I think it is very close in Picture Quality.

Where Bell do have the edge is in the equipment,

Better Dual Tuner HD PVR's.
9241 & 9242 also take an external hard Drive to increase recording time even more.
Single Tuner HD receivers also allow for the use of External Hard Drives, turning a regular HD receiver into a Single Tuner HD PVR.

Hi, shame I can't switch from Rogers to SC. I live in a condo and can't have a dish. One of the down sides of condo living. :confused:

Lots of Condo's in the GTA are being outfitted by Bell with HD ready infrastructure.

I know it's not Starchoice, but still it may be an alternate for you at some point in the future.

we just upgraded to bell hd and I really enjoy it. no problems so far.... the tech that came in to switch out our old to the new HD dish was in and out within 1/2 hour and was really professional and actually knew what he was talking about

quite a positive experience!!!!

You had a Good Tech then, they are pretty scarce......lol

I am enjoying Rogers HighDef at the moment, i purchased a TV and got the receiver free, there are some disruptions at times, but all in all it perfectly good.

Lots of Condo's in the GTA are being outfitted by Bell with HD ready infrastructure.

I know it's not Starchoice, but still it may be an alternate for you at some point in the future.

They are talking about switching the infrastructure to Bell but who knows. If they do I pissed away the $ for a Rogers 4250 HD box.

Pretty sure they will not FORCE you to go over to Bell, so just keep your Rogers box.

Very few buildings go "Bulk". Bulk, means every suite gets at least 1 receiver as part of your monthly rent.

The good news if you do move to Bell, is that even with one RG6 outlet in your suite, you can still run 3 or 4 receivers (Tuners) including the 9241 etc. Yes all from the one cable.

Wish it was the same for regular Bell TV customers......

This building does purchase Rogers in bulk. Everyone got 2 digital receivers. As I said they are toying with idea of going to Bell