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Thread: Shaw Cable v. Telus Optik

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    Default Shaw Cable v. Telus Optik

    My parents are looking to switch from Shaw to Telus Optik because of the Chinese and Mandarin channels. I obviously could care less about those channels, but just wondering about what you guys think overall of the Telus experience, and the differences for those of you who have switched.
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    I moved over to Telus in October.

    - If you're using the non-Gateway boxes, the Telus ones are light years ahead. Shared recordings, waay better navigation experience - you can list only the channels you want in the guide. The boxes go on sale occasionally - I got the PVR and a regular box (you only need one PVR box) for $170 total during their last sale. Shaw has new boxes though with a new guide.

    The only negative I've found with the boxes is that when you watch a recording, the channel that you were on is no longer being recorded.

    And remember, if you buy the boxes you don't need to sign up for a contract with Telus.

    - Shaw PQ seemed to be a little sharper, but I always found their black levels crushed. Telus is all MP4 which seems to help alot with both black levels and color rendering, but the picture is definitely not as detailed. Some of this may depend on the signal you get from Shaw, since I've heard lots of horror stories of terrible PQ with Shaw.

    - The bundles, I found were better suited to my needs. Shaw's are all over the place and you need a lot of them to make the wife happy.

    - You get the Bell-related radio stations in the guide.

    I dropped phone, I went with OOMA VOIP service. The nice thing was Shaw put in a telephone jack in the basement for their VOIP modem, so I was able to attach the OOMA unit in the basement. $4/mth for basic service.

    Telus internet seems to be rock solid, I always get 25 mbps whenever I do Speedtest. I was on BB50 with Shaw but never ever got anywhere close to the promised speed.

    Telus answers their support lines rather quickly, which is nice. I've had some horrible, horrible wait times with Shaw, even after their supposed re-hiring spree.

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    Originally posted by suntan
    I moved over to Telus in October.

    - If you're using the non-Gateway boxes, the Telus ones are light years ahead. Shared recordings, waay better navigation experience - you can list only the channels you want in the guide. The boxes go on sale occasionally - I got the PVR and a regular box (you only need one PVR box) for $170 total during their last sale. Shaw has new boxes though with a new guide.

    The only negative I've found with the boxes is that when you watch a recording, the channel that you were on is no longer being recorded.

    And remember, if you buy the boxes you don't need to sign up for a contract with Telus.

    - Shaw PQ seemed to be a little sharper, but I always found their black levels crushed. Telus is all MP4 which seems to help alot with both black levels and color rendering, but the picture is definitely not as detailed. Some of this may depend on the signal you get from Shaw, since I've heard lots of horror stories of terrible PQ with Shaw.

    - The bundles, I found were better suited to my needs. Shaw's are all over the place and you need a lot of them to make the wife happy.

    - You get the Bell-related radio stations in the guide.

    I dropped phone, I went with OOMA VOIP service. The nice thing was Shaw put in a telephone jack in the basement for their VOIP modem, so I was able to attach the OOMA unit in the basement. $4/mth for basic service.

    Telus internet seems to be rock solid, I always get 25 mbps whenever I do Speedtest. I was on BB50 with Shaw but never ever got anywhere close to the promised speed.

    Telus answers their support lines rather quickly, which is nice. I've had some horrible, horrible wait times with Shaw, even after their supposed re-hiring spree.
    Everything he said. Love my Optik...my biggest issues is trying to threaten to cancel and go to shaw to get discounts....cuz I really hope they cave in, as I have 0 interest in actually cancelling. All my credits are coming to an end next month so my bill will go up by like $50 bucks, but I am not worried as the service has been rock solid (for optik and internet) so I am fine with paying the full price. I heard that the Shaw new shared PVR system had issues and some people on here chose to go back to their 1990s systems instead, but I would assume alot of that has now been resolved. Would like to hear about the experience from those people who have the multiroom pvr setup from shaw.

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    Friend has Shaw Gateway, he says it works fine. Apparently the latest software works a lot better according to users over at Digitalhome.ca.

    However, Gateway PQ is not that great. It's worse than their regular digital box PQ.

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    Default Re: Shaw Cable v. Telus Optik

    Originally posted by sexualbanana
    My parents are looking to switch from Shaw to Telus Optik because of the Chinese and Mandarin channels. I obviously could care less about those channels, but just wondering about what you guys think overall of the Telus experience, and the differences for those of you who have switched.
    I think they are about $20 extra for those channels on telus. Not sure about shaw.

    I didn't know that telus actually had different chinese channels than shaw.

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    I just got shaw gateway + 3 portals installed this morning. Everything seems to be working well so far, picture quality seems fine to me and no complaints yet. Have to get use to the menu system and stuff but that's about it.

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    Had Optik for 3 years now....Generally Happy with the service

    Biggest complaints


    • Small PVR Size
    • If you have more than 3 TV's that could get watched...I have issues with recording and watching


    The wireless box has a piss poor wireless signal.
    "Life is tough. It's tougher if you're stupid."

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    Originally posted by Wrath
    Had Optik for 3 years now....Generally Happy with the service

    Biggest complaints


    • Small PVR Size
    • If you have more than 3 TV's that could get watched...I have issues with recording and watching


    The wireless box has a piss poor wireless signal.

    Just a note about the "small pvr" size. I believe the new boxes are 500gb, olders ones were 320. I have the 320 and I have never managed to fill it up, even when I had over 100 shows waiting to be watched. The format that is used by telus is pretty light on hdd space. I remember I used to have a media center PC and 320gb was nothing for it, would fill up super fast, but on this telus box, I don't even worry. Never once have I stopped to think if I will have enough room.

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    I think I have a 320 also and have almost 300 shows on it. Mostly all kids shows in SD but still, it's only like 60% full. Can't complain.

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    I signed up with Telus TV and internet and got a free phone line to boot.
    Three of my favourite:


    originally posted by "paulb1320"

    (so tight that my hands went numb in minutes and a have bruises, infact my hands are still numb, 2 hours later)

    I'm going to find each and every one of your little internet friends!

    I now feel like I went into shock. I started breathing heavily and lost my sense of what was going on.

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    Originally posted by eblend



    Just a note about the "small pvr" size. I believe the new boxes are 500gb, olders ones were 320. I have the 320 and I have never managed to fill it up, even when I had over 100 shows waiting to be watched. The format that is used by telus is pretty light on hdd space. I remember I used to have a media center PC and 320gb was nothing for it, would fill up super fast, but on this telus box, I don't even worry. Never once have I stopped to think if I will have enough room.
    Yep they are 500gb now (just bought one today for 50.00)

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    None of the Telus boxes are left at LD sunridge.
    Ultracrepidarian

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    The London Drugs down at 130th ave still had a couple Optik PVR boxes and a bunch of straight HD boxes. At $50 it's a hell of a deal. Telus tries to charge $250 but can be had for $150 regular at most stores.
    Ultracrepidarian

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    Future shop had a crap load of them. Went on Wednesday as I needed a digital box to replace my Xbox, bought a 500gb pvr as it was the same price.

    So I have two pvrs but one will be used as just a slave.

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    Anyone have telus optik with several tv's and internet?
    Parents just got it, trying to watch hockey in HD and it looks like absolute shit, any movement and picture gets wavy, especially with sticks and stuff like that.

    Currently two tvs on and the internet is being used. Other people have this problem?

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    Originally posted by Hakkola
    Anyone have telus optik with several tv's and internet?
    Parents just got it, trying to watch hockey in HD and it looks like absolute shit, any movement and picture gets wavy, especially with sticks and stuff like that.

    Currently two tvs on and the internet is being used. Other people have this problem?
    Got 2 tvs and internet, no issues, watching flames lose right now, looks pretty bad (the flames) but the picture is good, no issues

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    Originally posted by eblend


    Got 2 tvs and internet, no issues, watching flames lose right now, looks pretty bad (the flames) but the picture is good, no issues
    One tv is fine, the one with hdmi, the other one only has component and looks like shit, it was fine with Shaw though.

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    Originally posted by Hakkola
    Anyone have telus optik with several tv's and internet?
    Parents just got it, trying to watch hockey in HD and it looks like absolute shit, any movement and picture gets wavy, especially with sticks and stuff like that.

    Currently two tvs on and the internet is being used. Other people have this problem?
    Pretty sure with telus each feed uses 5-6 mbps of internet. So if you have several televisions or recordings going on at once while someone is using the internet everything is going to slow down and the televisons are going to look like shit.

    What internet are you on with telus? If its the 15 mbps maybe try upgrading to the 25 mbps and if your at 25 already maybe switch back to shaw...

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    telus optik is awesome. i'd been with shaw since 2005 but recently moved so thought i would give them a try.

    i signed up for optik high speed turbo 25 and medium package tv. i agree with one of the earlier comments saying that the wireless signal was weak, and dropped off significantly to my computer on the 2nd floor, which cut speeds bigtime. i called the CSR, yelled at them and threatened to leave till they came over and installed high gain D-Link antennae on the modem and adjusted the wireless settings. now i consistently average between 16-20 mbps upstairs, increasing to 25 mbps the closer i am to the modem. it streams 1080p video from my comp through the media center without difficulty. everything seems to be working flawlessly now, touch wood.

    the tv guide is pretty cool too, nice background picture-in-picture, some other neat features etc. the present packages are pretty comprehensive and can be changed at any time. pvr is 500gb and can record+view up to 3 channels max at a time. i have no concerns about picture/sound quality on my LED 55".

    lol this post sounds like i'm a fanboi... but in all honesty, i think their customer service is wicked, they bend over backwards to accommodate you and keep your business, particularly if you verbalize your frustration/disappointment, or subtly wonder if you should be "switching back to shaw".

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    BUMP! I'm having a tough decision with this one too. I've had Shaw cable since day 1 but with Telus internet. 4 years ago, we scrapped Telus' internet service and bundled the Shaw cable with Shaw internet as well.

    But from what I've been reading, Telus has gotten better over the years, especially with Optik. I'm about to move into my new home in a week or so and I need to make a decision. Pros/Cons for both? The sites are pretty vague, I thought maybe someone could shed more light on both services. Right now I'm leaning towards Telus.

    I don't watch much TV (because I torrent mostly), except for basketball and hockey. And I use the internet alot, especially for downloading, blogging and streaming, if that helps.
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