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630 HD PVR - Non Owners and Potential Owners discussion

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630 pre-order
273K views 873 replies 247 participants last post by  smp01 
#1 ·
First let me congratulate you on the release of the PVR, the service is now fully baked. I do have one question though, when we will see AMC and TCM on TELUS TV? They are not exclusives, Rogers, Shaw and I think Starchoice have them, and they would fantastic adds. I'll be signing right after XMAS is out of the way.
 
#563 ·
Ordered mine last Monday afternoon. Received the empty box for the 530 on Wednesday (shipped to wrong address) and got the 630 yesterday. (also sent to the wrong address)

Took five minutes to activate and was told to leave it on ch. 350 to have the guide populate. (4 hours the first time) Within 30 minutes the update started downloading and about 40 minutes later the receiver rebooted and kept rebooting every 60 seconds for 2 hours. Unplugged it and went to bed and this morning plugged it back in. One more reboot then became stable on ch. 350. No guide info so I'll leave it there for a few hours and see if all is OK.
 
#574 ·
Reboots are being caused by one bad cable randomly dropping the signal. As a result the guide's initial update doesn't work for half the channels and the 630 reboots to try again. I will try and fix it tomorrow but if I can't a technician will pass by on Wednesday.

BTW I was already aware of the faulty cable when using the 530 and had kept it on tuner two. Other than an occasional recording that didn't start because the signal dropped, it was livable. The 630 apparently cannot work without two fully functioning cables.
 
#568 ·
i'm in!!

well Thanks to you all in the forum! i will be a new owner of a brand new 630!!:D
since shaw announced they would have a new machine coming i was very curious &i found this forum and read all the deals that you guys were getting.. i'm with shaw/start choice since 2001, and i wrote to"ask jim" for a deal &offers for the 630.. 50$of ppv free.. and 50$free of programming credit. no deals here very pathetic.. must be a robot who responds!:eek:

so i call shaw here in quebec and spoke with them no deals! 399$ that's it very firm,i tried later 2 weeks after same message and he started to tell me about having 2 lines and shipping fees.. wait a minute i told him ..offer me a real deal then we'll get to that later.. nothing would make him to lower his price..oh well i guess the french reps doesn't know how to deal.. so i called shaw in english--and it worked-- and i spoke to a very nice rep and after i told her about the 99$ deals and the 199$ etc.. she kindly transferred me to their CR and i got this offer that i accepted; 1 year free rental +199$ buyout after, free shipping&installation.. the 99$ i would of had if i had the 530.. i have a 505..i forgot to ask about some free ppv.. supposed to get my new 630 at the end of the month..:rolleyes:
 
#570 ·
Which PVR?

BEV customer here and my current SD package is being deleted so I'm thinking it's time to shop around, Shaw's monthly package is $1 more then my old BEV package (so about $10 less then new one will be) but I'm confused about which PVR to buy.

The box stores have the older silver/gray model (530?) with no HDMI out for $300 and Shaw's website has a new one for $400.

The box store guy says don't worry about the lack of HDMI since shaw only broadcasts HD in 720 anyway. I know some of the signal is lowered to that because of bandwidth but they never broadcast in 1080?

Any idea if the new one is compatible with the Harmony 720 remote? It's not listed on the harmony site.

Thoughts?
 
#575 ·
mcewena - DON'T BUY THE 530!

Another thing you don't get is true dual recording. Forget what's written on the box - you CANNOT record 2 things at the same time with the 530.

Read this thread and the 630 owner's thread. You will see plenty of folks that have been wanting to get rid of their 530 for years.
 
#576 ·
Well, my 630 still didn't arrive...holiday on Monday so it looks like Tuesday is the next target.

Hopefully it arrives before we have to send back the 530.

I'm not sure if I read anywhere what the official amount of HD hours the 630 can record. The 530 was 25 but it got very cranky if you got close to that number.
 
#578 ·
I'm so confused!

Long time reader, first time poster. So I called SD last night and asked for a deal on the 630. Long story short, a CSR, a CR, and a team leader said these deals everyone is talking about do not exist (which I know is not true, why would anyone is this forum lie!). The best deal I could get was $299 and I got to keep my 530, $99 if I wanted to trade it in. The team leader wanted account numbers to prove these deals were happening which I thought was totally inappropriate. I did the Ask Jim email and they responded today saying you can't believe everything you read and that there may have been special circumstances. They want me to reconsider the $299 deal as they deem it to be fair. I have been with them since 2000, top-tier packaging and run 5 receivers (530, 505, and three 401's). What do I need to do to get the $199 deal....they will not budge? If I threaten to leave I'm scared they'll call my bluff! Too much invested to leave.
 
#580 ·
Long time reader, first time poster. So I called SD last night and asked for a deal on the 630. Long story short, a CSR, a CR, and a team leader said these deals everyone is talking about do not exist (which I know is not true, why would anyone is this forum lie!). The best deal I could get was $299 and I got to keep my 530, $99 if I wanted to trade it in. The team leader wanted account numbers to prove these deals were happening which I thought was totally inappropriate. I did the Ask Jim email and they responded today saying you can't believe everything you read and that there may have been special circumstances. They want me to reconsider the $299 deal as they deem it to be fair. I have been with them since 2000, top-tier packaging and run 5 receivers (530, 505, and three 401's). What do I need to do to get the $199 deal....they will not budge? If I threaten to leave I'm scared they'll call my bluff! Too much invested to leave.
I was told the same thing. You need to talk to customer relations! Just ask to be transferred. If they ask why, just say you want to talk about your account and trading a receiver. If they refuse...just call back and get a different CSR.

Customer Relations knows all about the deal!
 
#582 ·
Just FYI for people waiting for deliveries. I phoned and finally got a tracking number today. I ordered mine 7 days ago and it was just shipped on Friday according to the tracking information. Something else interesting is it appears to be shipped from Calgary. Other posts I have read said theirs was shipped from southern ONT, so their must be more than one distribution center.
 
#587 ·
I have a Harmony 880 and although my 630 is still in its box because my HT room is under construction, owers have posted that the 880 works as is. I believe a couple of new buttons such as GO BACK had to be added.

Don't know about the 720 but it should be the same.
 
#588 ·
#589 ·
Well, I took the advice I read here. I'm a 10+ year customer with a 530 I want to trade in. I went the "Ask Jim" route. They emailed me back asking for a good time to call me. I responded and then they phoned.

Without prompting, she offered me the $99 trade in, free shipping with HST only on the $99. I took it without trying to do any haggling, because I hate haggling. Put it on my Visa. I'm happy and it was painless.

Thanks to all for the information.
 
#592 ·
505 owner got free rent and $199 deal

Wrote a letter to Ask Jim on Saturday telling that I want to upgrade my DSR505 to the 630 PVR I want to rent but would like a better deal after a year to buy it than paying full price. I may have mentioned local cable in the email too.

got a call Sunday morning. Free rent for a year and $199 to buy after that or continue to rent for regular price after the year has ended. Not bad. I guess they are serious about keeping loyal customers. I am one for sure now.
The only catch, and I dont quite understand the reasoning, is that if I decide to purchase it at the end of the free rental period I will have to return the rental unit and they will send me a another new one.
I hope there is a way to Back up the recorded shows.
 
#594 ·
Wrote a letter to Ask Jim on Saturday telling that I want to upgrade my DSR505 to the 630 PVR I want to rent but would like a better deal after a year to buy it than paying full price. I may have mentioned local cable in the email too.

got a call Sunday morning. Free rent for a year and $199 to buy after that or continue to rent for regular price after the year has ended. Not bad. I guess they are serious about keeping loyal customers. I am one for sure now.
The only catch, and I dont quite understand the reasoning, is that if I decide to purchase it at the end of the free rental period I will have to return the rental unit and they will send me a another new one.
I hope there is a way to Back up the recorded shows.
That's a good deal for a 505 owner!

I don't own a 530 but I tried calling in anyways to see if they would give me a deal.
They gave me $100 off the 630 and a $50 bill credit (I didn't want the PPV credit).
So I essentially got the 630 for $249 and I can try selling my 505 for $100.

If I can sell my 505 for $100 then I will have upgraded to the the 630 for only $149.
 
#593 ·
I'm not sure about this but the reason for getting the new receiver after a year of rental is that they may be able to lock you into another 12 month contract.Because I think that all new recivers they sell state that in the small print.Keeping the rental unit you would of had it for 12 months and it could not be considered new.
 
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