Bye, Bye, Bell.

Some relationships outlive their usefulness. Our connection with Bell ExpressVu Satellite has been long-standing.

We first got satellite TV when it arrived in our building twelve years ago. In 2002, we started right out with a standard definition PVR which quite literally changed our viewing habits. No longer were we tied to the broadcasters schedules. That seemed so advanced at the time. Our dealings with the east-coast company continued with the advent of HDTV. In fact, if I remember correctly, they offered the most HD options back in 2006. (Have we really been watching high-definition for 8 years?)

Poor Bell cannot deliver good service. In fact, we've been having trouble in our building for more than a week now. The company kept me with them during our winter away several years ago by providing credits for the months we weren't using the system. That kept me with them until today. Enough.

The Telus installer will come next Thursday for installation of Optik TV. As Telus customers since 1996 for a land-line phone and Internet for nearly as long, I guess we can work out a deal to bundle in IPTV. Getting television over IP seems logical. All this change is making me re-evaluate channel selection. With Netflix and other streaming options, we really only need a basic channel selection for time-shift recordings, right?

I just hope the company doesn't send along that dork from the Optik TV television advertisements.

Springfield Got Wider

I get it. I understand how TV viewing is going to be in the future. I will not need a separate satellite connection for programming as I will be able to watch every production on demand via the Net. I know this because I've moved video from my computer monitor to the living room 42" Toshiba LCD.

There's a difference between knowing about something and actually experiencing it. We're quite crippled here in Canada due to geographic copyright limitations. If I run a VPN and obtain an IP that looks to NBC as if I live in Los Angeles, then I can view their programs. If I pretend on my borrowed IP, I can use Hulu and the other major US networks. Of course, all of these restrictions are really silly in the Internet age. The copyright holders are begging for more restrictions rather than figuring out new ways in which to monetize their operations.


I thought I had an ExpressVu PVR timer set to record the Simpsons. For some reason, we haven't kept up this season. Has that show really been on the air for twenty years? I didn't know that, for example, they finally went high definition this February. We caught up on a few episodes today through Hulu. It might not have actually been in HD but the wide-screen format looked as good as I get off satellite.

Slightly Unsettled

I'm starting the entry today while seated in my recliner. The notebook's on my lap as my main machine is rather busy recording from the PVR. I'm capturing some of the half-hour, weekly Singhala-language programs that were recorded during recent weeks. They are produced in Canada and aired on a Toronto channel. After these shows become mpeg files, I can easily burn to DVD for saving or perhaps for sending to Jay's brother in New York.

It's only 4:50 right now but I have a slight sense of foreboding. Things are not ominous, I merely have a slightly unsettled feeling. It has come from a day off. I finished my goal of turning in my passport application earlier. Now, I'm just here on this July day that looks a lot more like one from March. It's gray but not cold. It rained a lot earlier and remains unsettled.

Several other factors beside the weather are probably contributing to my current state of mind. First, both of my classes will wind down next week. I've been waiting for quite some time to be free from work commitments and it's finally going to come crashing to a close next Friday. Also, to begin the week, I turn 48 on Monday. I've never ever been bothered much by birthdays but somehow this one seems mildly more important.

No Escaping Peter's Wrinkles

I've enjoyed high-definition broadcasts since last fall. Most all prime-time programming is in HD. The TV pretty much stays in the 800 range of channels on Bell ExpressVu. The thought of picking up stations and time shifting from across Canada used to be thrilling; however, now I feel if it ain't in HD, it ain't worth watchin'. Newfoundland TV maintains a quirky schedule anyway.

The exception was The National on CBC. The evening news on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation wasn't offered in HD. It annoyed me that even local news from small market segments in the US jumped right into HD, but our taxpayer-subsidized national broadcaster was being so slow to adopt.

Then, last evening for the first time, I noted the 16x9 format when playing back the news. The PVR catches the Toronto HD channel in order to record the show at 7:00 pm rather than the local ten o'clock feed.



I've seen no acknowledgement of this switchover. Their website is mum. For all I know, they could just be testing. Most outside reporting was standard TV with 'letterboxing' but I was impressed by the studio shots. I could see the individual hairs in Diana Swain's do. Then I was hit by a horrible realization. When Peter Mansbridge is back from his break, we'll have to watch him continue to age with increased definition.

What's in a Name?

I've just not the drive today to include much of an entry. We did the weekly grocery shopping at the Canadian Superstore in Coquitlam as is the custom. This evening we're invited to dinner with friends in the West End.

In the interim, I've been playing with the new satellite receiver. I once thought the Bell ExpressVu 5100 (shown in center below) was absolutely amazing in its ability to save TV to an internal hard disk. That was in 2002.



Now the HD 9200 is much more advanced in this feature because of improved timers. Rather than just set up recordings by time slot, it uses name-based recording. For example, I can highlight a future event such as Family Guy. Then, rather than keeping my fingers crossed that the station will always show at this time, I can select Family Guy and have the system find and record all new episodes.

This improvement makes the unit a small step closer to being like TiVo which is not available in Canada. I could also in theory input the name of an actor and have the receiver find and record all upcoming instances.

Couch What?

Links come and go; however, I can always, with confidence, link back to myself. I returned to the first month of my eJournal and images in 2003 in order to find my initial reference to television.

Of course I grew up with it, but 45 years ago it was mostly in black and white. This blog even contains former screens in my life.

Nothing though, quite prepared me for the seductiveness of high definition in my living room. I spent nearly a month with the Toshiba 42" LCD and my old Bell ExpressVu Personal Video Recorder 5100. Let's be frank, one shouldn't even consider moving to a flat screen if one's got access to just regular broadcasting. For you see, standard TV sucks on a wide screen.



When activating the 9200 satellite receiver yesterday, I dropped all additional programming except the high definition bundle. Wow! I'm sure the thrill will quickly wear off, but I can just stare at nearly anything in HD. I feel as though I'll be spending a bit of quality time this week with PBS from either Boston or Seattle! I've also set up timers to catch my favourites like CSI: New York, Grey's Anatomy, and even Scrubs.

Not New to Vu

I called yesterday afternoon and set up an appointment to have a technician come to install the new ExpressVu satellite receiver. I was pleased that someone will be able to come tomorrow. The appointment time was set for sometime between 10:00 am and 7:00 pm. How's that for being specific? I will gladly stick around all day knowing that if I step out even for one second, then that'll be exact time of his arrival.

A division of Bell Canada runs a satellite TV service. I've been a customer for four years and I've never been impressed with their customer service. The entire company suffers from one section not knowing what another is doing. As I live in a building with a roof satellite, I cannot deal directly with the residential division. Every time I enquired about moving to hi-def, I got totally different stories.

It's really of no consquence, because they offer the equipment and programming that I want. With the Toshiba LCD screen purchased last month, I simply have to have new programming. So far the TV hasn't been able to show anything in HD. Click to see a new page with Bell ExpressVu's High Definition Channel Lineup. Each channel has a link. You can probably expect more comments on this subject this week.

I'm Sick of 480i

Today I'm a bit late in getting anything posted. When I'm busy I've been known to prepare an entry the evening before its posting. That seems a bit too organized now that I'm on break for a month. Imagine! I won't have to go into a classroom until the second Monday in January.

I don't have any trips planned although I do notice I unconsciously scan the newspaper ads by www.flightcentre.ca. Jay's only accrued four days of vacation and I don't want to jet off anywhere alone at this time. So, I figured I've got about $500 to spend for fun just 'cause I'm not travelling anywhere.

I just got offline from www.bestbuy.ca. How quick! I've already been emailed that my order has gone through and I can pick up my purchase from the Queensborough branch. We'll probably go tomorrow. I will have to wait for an installer to bring necessary parts for the Bell ExpressVu high-definition satellite receiver with video recorder.

Our Bell is Cracked

I usually blog my ideas. Occasionally, I blog about the details of life too. Below is just a tiny glimpse of how terribly unorganized Bell Canada can be. I love having their satellite television service delivered through our building's internal wiring. I fear a dish would take up too much of my balcony space. I also am enamored with the four year old, Bell ExpressVu personal video recorder.

Unfortunately, when having to deal with people in the organisation, it's clear that one hand doesn't know what the other is doing. Therefore, it's nearly impossible to get a straight answer that can be trusted. I received this message after trying for a few days to find out if High Definition broadcasts were available via our presently installed Multiple Dwelling Unit access.

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Dear Dennis Hurd,

Thank you kindly for taking the time to enquire about ExpressVu TV for condos. You are currently in an area that is not scheduled to receive service within the next year; however we will keep you on our waiting list. We are constantly expanding our footprint and will contact you if and when our service becomes available in your area.

If you should have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact our Sales Coordinator, Melissa Morra at Melissa.Morra@bell.ca.

Sincerely,
Courtney Elliott
Administrative Sales Assistant

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Dennis Sylvester Hurd (Google Mail)
to courtney.elliott@bell.ca, melissa.morra@bell.ca

What a blunder!

I already have MDU access to ExpressVu in my building now. I have been a loyal customer for quite some time. I was trying to figure out how to inquire if all MDU buildings are set up for HD access.

I've spent lots of time and as usual with your company, I cannot find anyone who can give me an accurate answer!

==Dennis

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Can You Spare a Minute?

Yesterday, I spent some time copying half-hour programs from the hard disk of the satellite PVR to my PC. Then I burnt, a number of the programs to DVD. It did seem a shame that they were already in mpeg format but in order to get them onto my computer, they had to pass through analog again. It was not really a quality problem as the results looked just fine. Yet, it would've saved time to copy the files directly rather than have to wait for all the programs to play through in real time.

That's the rub for content providers, isn't it? Copying analog was never considered too much of a threat to the established media industry. A two-hour video tape or 35-minutes of vinyl were easily taped. It wasn't the loss of signal to the next generation that kept copyright infringement at bay; it was the actual length of time that the copying process took! Now even a layman can copy a 2.5-hour DVD in 20 minutes. A whole album in mp3 format can be duplicated in under a minute. I see why some companies are running scared.

The DVDs which I made contain ethnic TV programs from Ontario. The Singhalese (and English) show called Kala Kavaya hosts news and events from the Sri Lankan community in Toronto. As well, they show some current music videos and songs from Sri Lanka. I'm able to pass these along for viewing to those without access to satellite TV.

Not All a Wasteland!

Television can be very good. I have the original CSI playing on the Bell Express Vu PVR right now. I watch all three CSI programs. Those from Miami and New York have a different set of actors but the quality of the shows remain top notch. I've had a few phone calls during this show but just hit the pause button. Things are presently recording even though the episode I'm watching was broadcast a few days ago. I can't imagine living without the ability to timeshift and save programming. Television just wouldn't be worth it if we had to be home and view at the discretion of TV networks.

There was a courtroom scene on the Las Vegas CSI this week. When talking to colleagues at work, I found out that two had recently been sequestered for jury duty. They weren't interested as we are contract workers and it'd cost them dearly to be a juror. Damn, I wish I'd get a notice from the courts though. I'd love serving.

To See You Better

Oh my. Finally.

News - Bell ExpressVU Launches Dual-Tuner HD PVR

Perhaps it's time to get serious about a widescreen TV. I should just wear a sign around my neck that says, "Will work for electronic gadgets."

PVR Changes the Concept of TV

Yesterday I said a movie was on the PVR. Last mentioned here on September 7, the device in the middle is a digitial (personal) video recorder / satellite receiver. It is not as advanced as TiVo in that it doesn't anticipate viewing needs. TiVo is not available in Canada. Anyway the Bell ExpressVu PVR is a darn-sight better than a VCR. First, there are no tapes as programs are recorded on an internal hard disk. More importantly, no messy scheduling is required as the system displays the upcoming, three days of programming for all channels. It will record when the viewer selects a future program from the channel guide. Lastly the recording stays all digital and that means the picture is clear!


Purchased in 2002, the PVR has completely changed the way we 'do' television. It gives the ultimate freedom to watch whatever -- whenever. This is an older model so it holds just 25 to 30 hours of programming.

Viewing Habits

Personal Video Recorder Schedule

Here are the TV shows recorded on the hard disk each week. Do you think 25 hours per week excessive? Remember, when I zap commericals it's reduced to only 18.5 hours of programming.)