Comparison between StarChoice & ExpressVu

[Satellite Expert]

Excellent, guys. Thanks for the information. I've bought receivers through Phillipe at Kusat before. Can anyone recommend anyone better for this or should I stick with Kusat for sales to the US. I'm not sure who all is out there (that is trustworthy) that will ship down here.

Many people at satforums.com have used http://www.starchoiceusa.com/

 

[pretzelboy]

Many people at satforums.com have used http://www.starchoiceusa.com/

:shocked Okay... but why? They're about $120 higher than Kusat for the HD receiver system. It's nice that they only charge $25 a year for brokerage but that's one major price markup.

 

[Mr Tony]

pretzelboy

go through kusat. I purchased my EVu and SC system through them. Very fast

 

[pretzelboy]

Yeah, I had good luck with Kusat before except I hated the UPS brokerage fee levied on the package. Oh well. It just seems odd that folks would actively want to pay $120 more for the same piece of equipment when Kusat has it available.

 

[Mr Tony]

Ordered 2 systems...no brokerage fees charged from UPS here

 

[Pocatello]

Shipping for me with UPS (from KUSAT) was about $55CAD.

However, this includes the $21 US Customs inspection fee (or whatever it is called).

The cheaper shipping, via ground, was about $25CAD, but did not include the $21 customs fee. So for about $55CAD, with faster three day shipping, customs was included. The man at Kusat suggested this course of action because the bottom line shipping cost was about the same, and faster as well.

Mine is supposed to arrive Saturday or Monday. Not sure yet.


I won't call TVM until my hardware is hooked up.


Later!

 

[Derwin0]

Ordered 2 systems...no brokerage fees charged from UPS here

UPS sent me a bill for the customs brokerage fee when I ordered from Kusat

 

[Mr Tony]

I forgot there was the $21 "fee" in the shipping...that must be the brokerage fee

 

[mhking]

pretzelboy

go through kusat. I purchased my EVu and SC system through them. Very fast

What's TVM charging for brokerage?

 

[pretzelboy]

UPS sent me a bill for the customs brokerage fee when I ordered from Kusat

Same here. It came in the mail from a few days after the package arrived.

 

[Altaman]

The best way to ship is to have it go via USPS/Canada Post. They charge a flat $5 handling fee (may have gone upto $8) for custom's items if there is a GST/PST charge. I have found UPS charges a very large fee whenever I have had an order shipped though them. I will not order from any company that forces me to use UPS/FedEx due to this.

I just ordered the Dishpro Plus Twin LNB/Dishpro Plus Separator from Dishstore and for the extra $1.99 shipping for Express mail (the only other way they will ship to Canada) is well worth it. I will have saved considerably more by having it not come UPS to Canada.

Alt

 

[pretzelboy]

Unfortunately, UPS was the only shipping option allowed.

 

[jagouar]

Im interested in getting some more opinions on the HD side as I am going to be adding a BEV/StarChoice system to replace voom here in a week or so.....

I will be subbing to just basic package plus the movie package (for my Stargate:Atlantis)

I hear BEV really bw starves their movie channels and series (such at atlantis) so any with HD versions of both providers Id love to get some comments.

 

[AzDave]

I'm looking for comparisons of BEV to Direct TV and/or Dish

 

[Mr Tony]

I'm looking for comparisons of BEV to Direct TV and/or Dish

apples to oranges.

Most of what is in US cant be in Canada and vise versa

 

[Uplink]

Im interested in getting some more opinions on the HD side as I am going to be adding a BEV/StarChoice system to replace voom here in a week or so.....

I will be subbing to just basic package plus the movie package (for my Stargate:Atlantis)

I hear BEV really bw starves their movie channels and series (such at atlantis) so any with HD versions of both providers Id love to get some comments.

For High Def, ExpressVu is the way to go. PM Iceberg, he will tell you about brokers and equipment etc.

Get a "Dish 500" style dish for ExpressVU and you will get 91 and 82.

 

[Mr Tony]

Uplink
I think he has.....I have no idea how many people I have sent the info to

 

[rkrenicki]

After a few weeks of my *C system.. I can definately vouch for the Picture Quality...

The affiliates (CBC, CTV, Global) look slightly (yes, only slightly) overcompressed, but good for "off-air" channels.. since these just use an off air reciever, digitized, and uplinked, you really cant complain. This could also be artifacting from digital (source) to analog (ota) to digital to uplink, etc... Then again, I could be overly critical too

The Networks (TSN, TMN) look EXCELENT.. I havent seen SD quality like this since I first picked up DirecTV back 9 years ago.. nothing like Dish's SD channels (overcompressed pieces of crap )

Once I order my DSR500, I will have to post my opinion of the HD content (which I guess will be different at that time, as they are restructuring them)

 

[Mr Tony]

Glad you're enjoying SC

The main reson the picture is better is because there are only 6 or 7 channels per TP compared to 12 with Dish & ExpressVu

The CBC & CTV from Regina (305 for CBC and I dont remember the CTV number) they get OTA, so Ive seen ghosting on there. The best two are Toronto & Vancouver...the 2 main hubs
Calgary should be good too, since that is SC HQ

 

[rockhard]

Up here in the great white north I have all 3 systems DTV , BEV and Rogers cable .

DTV has sucumbed to HD-lite and is same with BEV they are both compressing signal down to 1024x768 where my Rogers is giving the full bandwidth 1920x1080i and it does not do the subsim crap ...

I love watching the HDTV US networks in full HDTV glory in DD 5.1 rocks ....

P.S
I have the HD8300 HDTV PVR and added external SATA maxtor 250GB drive effectively doubling my HDTV storage capacity ...

You can never have enough HDTV...