Should SC get in the rental game?

[Anubis]

Does anyone else think Star Choice should get in the rental game? I think over $600 for a still wonky DSR530 is a crazy price. I was looking on Bell's site yesterday and you can get a PVR system for $299. Actually they are half that price right now. Or better yet rent one for $10 a month and upgrade to new equipment when it comes out. For all the people out there, like me, who want a PVR but can't afford one, Bell is looking interesting. By the way I have been a loyal SC customer for over 6 years.

 

[Satellite Expert]

Shaw companies never rent equipment. Doubtful they ever will. It decreases cash flow and right now Shaw wants maximum cash flow to finance their telephone expansion.

The 505 is the cheapest HD receiver in Canada - $179 for existing customers ($79 for new customers at The Brick right now after $100 in real programming credits). The 530 is just a 505 with another tuner and a hard drive.

All the problems with the 530 are due to sloppy and crappy coding by Motorola. SC claims that they are on Motorola's case to fix these problems. Until this is done, it can never offer the stability and features that the hardware is capable of.

When a company offers an inferior product at greater than market prices, they are always sending a message. In this case, it is: Buyer Beware.

 

[birdview]

I have my 530 for a year and a half and have never had one problem with it. what kinds of problems are people experiencing.

Shaw companies never rent equipment.
Doubtful they ever will. It decreases cash flow and right now Shaw wants maximum cash flow to finance their telephone expansion.

The 505 is the cheapest HD receiver in Canada - $179 for existing customers ($79 for new customers at The Brick right now after $100 in real programming credits). The 530 is just a 505 with another tuner and a hard drive.

All the problems with the 530 are due to sloppy and crappy coding by Motorola. SC claims that they are on Motorola's case to fix these problems. Until this is done, it can never offer the stability and features that the hardware is capable of.

When a company offers an inferior product at greater than market prices, they are always sending a message. In this case, it is: Buyer Beware.

 

[Mr Tony]

I have my 530 for a year and a half and have never had one problem with it. what kinds of problems are people experiencing.

consider yourself lucky. There are a lot of bugs with the unit and we have had a fair amount of threads on the subject

 

[MCIBUS]

I guess its all depends in your point of view.

If you rent true you can always upgrade, but the catch here is if your in "SOUTHERN CANADA" itts not easy to rent.

If SC was to rent and if some you guys in the south could 'rrent' the only basic adcvantage SC would have over BEV would be signa availablity.

Either then that its all a matter of choice on your own personal prefrence

TOM

 

[keenan]

Regarding the 530, I followed a few of the Canadian sat forums and the 530 is a complete mess. This is from some of the folks that actually worked with the unit and Motorola while working for Star Choice.

The biggest issue seems to be a Microsoft like syndrome, where they don't fix the underlying bad code, but instead patch and code around it, and in the end it causes problems further down the line.

I went with a 505 and the R5000 system and it works like a champ, roughly the same cost as the 530 given you have a PC already.