If you’re an existing Rogers customer, call up Rogers and tell them that a competitor (i.e. Bell) is offering you a free PVR if you switch to them and ask them to match. The frontline people can’t do anything for you – they will transfer you to Customer Relations (aka the cancellation people). These are the people who have the power to offer you discounts to stay with Rogers. Some reps will match and I have heard of a lot of people who got an HDPVR free for 2 years. (Personally, I have a standard def PVR free for 2 years and will eventually be calling to upgrade that to an HD one when I get my new TV). Some reps will say they can’t match. Just say ok, I will go talk to the competitor and call you back when I’m ready to cancel. Wait a week or so, and then call Rogers back and repeat until you get a rep who will match.

Personally, back in May, I called in with competitor’s prices on every service and got a 20% discount on my internet, a free standard def PVR for 2 years, a $10/month discount on my home phone, and they permanently waived my system access fee. Overall, I save like $30 bucks a month, all for calling in with a little research on how the competition’s prices were blowing Rogers out of the water.

A new tv is indeed a great idea – you talked me into it!

As far as storage goes – you’ve given me an idea – put the kids in storage and get the surround system back where it belongs…let me go run that by the wife. :)

I tried that with Rogers…they called my bluff and put me through to the line to cancel service with them. Seems like it depends who you talk to?

Preferring a crappy old TV with a PVR to a great TV with no PVR is PerVeRse (my apologies if you were PreVaRicating simply to get a reaction.

Either way, the answer is a capital idea (if you have the right character): NEtWork TV.

P.S. How are the kids adjusting to being in storage with the surround sound system?

;-)

I used to have a pretty good surround sound system – which is another thing that is more worthwhile than an expensive tv – but with the kids it went into storage.

My attitude for tvs is just look for improvement – if you can spend a reasonable amount of money and get a significant improvement over what you have now then you will be happy with it.

We have 3 HDTV’s – a 2002 Samsung 47″ RPTV and 2 Acer 37″ LCD TV’s. The picture on the Acer’s is far crisper and such a pleasure to watch – with HD content that is.

We also have 2 PVR’s because now Cogeco rents them for only $15/month. Factoring in technology changes and inherent unending warranty, it makes sense to rent a PVR rather than purchase one.

I echo the sentiments that if you felt the need to dip into BluRay, the PS3 is THE choice to make. However, I think you will find that DVD’s are quite sufficient for your enjoyment – think of the PS3 as another “reward” upgrade next year.

But, you seriously have to get at least a 5.1 speaker set. For regular TV (except some sports) it isn’t that beneficial, but for movies (either on TV or through a player) it will really add a lot of enjoyment. You may have to budget $800 for a full speaker setup, but you do have some of the components already in place. For each one of our HDTV’s we have at least a 5.1 setup (in our family room, we have a multi-room receiver which allows us to put a couple of speakers outside around our patio and listen to a separate input – very nice for sitting out in the nice weather).

Some of the best HD channels in my area are PBS and National Geographic. The visual difference between HD and standard definition can be quite dramatic.

Ultimately, you also need to have at least one recliner / reclining sofa. Sit back, feet up, cold drink and snacks nearby and a remote… bliss.

I’ll need some instructions on running TVersity. I probably didn’t set it up right, but TVersity played less Xvid stuff than my Xbox (even though i have the right codecs and can run the file on the PC)…

The HD content doesn’t stream through the wired connection very smoothly either and i’ve got a QuadCore 6600 CPU that it’s connected to.

In regards to the Harmony Remote – it’s amazing.. a little piece of equipment has made TV and DVD watching and playing Wii and the switching back and forth so much more friendly.. Happy Wife, Happy Life – no more calls to my office with “how do i watch dvds?”…
to get one – wait for the Dell Day of Deals.. you can get the Harmony 880 for $100 (it was on sale last week).

I use TVersity on my PC to serve my Xbox 360. It will transcode any format into a readable format for the console. Recent 360 updates have also added native DivX decoding, so most content does not need to be transcoded anyways.

I have to admit, that my ‘entertainment’ budget was basically axed after getting this up and running. No need to rent or buy another movie. My wife loves it.

@mjw2005- You’ve provided some excellent info- thanks. The only point I’d make is on your recommendation against an advanced universal remote (comment #26). The usefulness of these remotes has nothing to do with the cost of your system, but the number of components you have. If you’ve got multiple inputs, game consoles, etc., an activity-based remote makes things run much smoother. I’ve got a Harmony 670 for my setup and it has been a fantastic addition. You might know how to operate your setup, but will your mother-in-law when she comes to visit? :)

@29 – I have thought long and hard about building a HTPC just for the purpose of playing HD downloaded content – MKVs, which is the common divx like format for HD… (with this I won’t need a PS3) – also have the xbox360 that I am using to stream HD WMVs to the tv.. so a few cheap long run alternatives.

Another cheap alternative for a HTPC is the Popcorn Hour network media tank – see their new A-110 model – goes for under $300 to play all your mkvs.

The PVR itself is for cable tv , for me, it’s mainly HD sports, and my wife’s food network shows

Speakers and Sound –
Also, from reading other forums, i would tend to avoid the home theatre in a box setups, mainly because the speakers that come with it are only compatible with that receiver, therefore less upgrade-friendly if you want to change components. Also the speakers are usually made by the same co. as the receivers (say if it was a Japanese brand, which are usually not as solid as a North American speaker manufacture).
with that said – I have a Harmon Kardon receiver and Polk tower fronts with bookshelf backs (larger footprint that i would like)

Although this is just an opinion, and i’m not that well-trained of an audiophile.

When you buy a HDTV TV, it comes with a promotional 9-month rental free HD cable box from Rogers. It is a good way to get a feel of it before commiting to buy one.

I bought a Samsung 52″ 650 for $3000 & it worths every penny. The color is sharp, contrast is excellent. I really have no complain. The downside is once you get used to it, it’s almost impossible to settle for a low-end TV ever again.

most of what you said is ok but..
720p will not give you a smaller picture than 1080p, it is still 16:9 ratio and will fill the screen, no different. TV shows are ALL ONLY 720p (or the almost equivalent 1080i).

The difference between 720p and 1080p are only noticeable if you have a big >46 or 50″ TV and are sitting very close.

Try the Sony RM-VL600 does almost everything you would need a remote to do for $20.00 on ebay…