PVR and Canada

[merk1821]

Hi...well this is my first post in DMT....feels good. Anyways, i was wondering what state PVR are in Canada? I watch with great envy as Tivo and ReplayTV are embraced by more and more Americans and knowing that neither service is ever coming to Canada. I do realize that some Canucks have installed on the own. I am also aware of Bell ExpressVu (one of the sateillite TV companies in Canada) offering a PVR/receiver setup but at $750 Cdn that is very pricey. My question is ...are we ever going to stand alone PVRs here in Canada?

[Jason Dunn]

Hi! Welcome to DMT! :-)

PVRs in Canada, or the lack thereof, is a particular sore spot with me. So far, there are no "real" PVRs from the cable companies. Here are a few options for you:

1) Buy a ReplayTV off eBay, sign up for their monthly service using your credit card but a fake US address, and use it as a digital VCR. You won't get the slick programming, but you can program it manually to record your shows. This is what I did, and it works "ok", but not great. There's a way to get it to work with local listings (http://sourceforge.net/projects/wirns/), but I haven't been able to get it working yet. :roll:

2) Buy a Windows Media Centre PC - they support Canada.

3) Build your own media PC and use Snapstream (http://www.snapstream.com/) - they have Canadian content listings.

I hope this helps a little!

BTW, I deleted your duplicate post - it's best to only post in one forum. Thanks. :-)

[JR]

So I went out and purchased a Hauppage PVR 250 TV Tuner card and am trying out BeyondTV. So far I'm impressed. It seems to do just what I want.

Now I need to find a way to connect my PC to my TV. They're on opposite ends of the room so cable won't work. Any wireless solutions?

I've seen Play@TV (www.leadman.com), but I don't think I can get this in Canada.

Any ideas?

[Jason Dunn]

Now I need to find a way to connect my PC to my TV. They're on opposite ends of the room so cable won't work. Any wireless solutions?

How about this?

http://store.snapstream.com/hamediamvp.html

[JR]

Now I need to find a way to connect my PC to my TV. They're on opposite ends of the room so cable won't work. Any wireless solutions?

How about this?

http://store.snapstream.com/hamediamvp.html

I'd still need to run an ethernet cable wouldn't I?

[JR]

OK, no sooner did I hit submit on the last reply than I got a call back and found a Canadian supplier. FrontierPC.com (http://www.frontierpc.com/productDetail.aspx?ProductID=950012082)is in Vancouver and they're shipping me a Play@TV wireless today!

[Deemo]

Have you looked into Shaw's HD PVR yet....the 6208.
There is also a dual tuner version out shortly.