[TelstraClear] Telstra in HD

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › [TelstraClear] Telstra in HD - Question(s)

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NZJ

12 posts

Geek

#157177 15-Aug-2008 12:16

Thanks Jeff. That's all I wanted to hear. Specs and pricing can wait. Adding freeview to Sky in one solution is definitely a smart move Anyone who've seen both will tell you freeview's picture is by far sharper. Bit of competition here and there won't hurt, and we get both offerings in one box, great!

Dawg

233 posts

Master Geek

#157179 15-Aug-2008 12:19

NZJ: Thanks Jeff. That's all I wanted to hear. Specs and pricing can wait. Adding freeview to Sky in one solution is definitely a smart move Anyone who've seen both will tell you freeview's picture is by far sharper. Bit of competition here and there won't hurt, and we get both offerings in one box, great!

Same here - Thanks for that update Jeff - Good to know that HD progress is being made.

Cheers

bcourtney

652 posts

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#157184 15-Aug-2008 12:36

I must admit that I don't hold out much hope for a speedy timeframe in which we might see this HD offering from TCL go live given their track record. From what I remember, murmurings came out of TCL a LONG time ago about a MySky equivalent and that boat has since sailed with no result. I'm not wanting to sound negative and would love for TCL to come to the party for once on this one to prove many people wrong (I firmly believe we need more competition).

Technology moves quickly and people want new technology now. Why should I be waiting for HDTV/PVR on TCL when my neighbour has it on Sky now? TCL needs to pick the pace up with introducing new technologies - there is far too much delay.

As such, I've signed up for MySky HDi with install due in a few weeks and will subsequently ditch my TCL TV connection. An announcement from TCL about their new HD PVR is one thing, but delivery is another. We've been told in Wellington that we'd have had 25mbps cable in place many months ago and it still hasn't happened.

A PVR was also supposed to be in place at some point by now and yet there is nothing.

Sure there is a distinct possibility that TCL will produce a better solution to the one currently offered by Sky however the sitution remains that many people want this technology now. I want it now and as there is only one place that offers it now, my decision as to which provider to go with has already been made for me.

I will continue on with my phone and broadband with TCL however, like the OP, I'm not against switching these too if there are better alternatives in the future. Let's face it, there are no real disadvantages (financially or otherwise) with bouncing between providers for TV, phone or internet any longer and as such TCL can't rely on this for customer retention. I'd have thought that would've increased motivation for getting these newer technologies out there a lot faster??

As an aside, I've got no real qualms with the services I've been receiving from TCL - they've been more than enough to meet my requirements to this point (cable broadband is the duck's nuts!) but something that grates me just a little is the new TCL ad on TV. I really don't like the arrogant way they portray themselves with the smarmy guy with the hacky-sack!

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
79250 posts

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Geekzone

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#157217 15-Aug-2008 14:54

mattbush: One last comment Jeff, if you look at the TC forums you will see a lot of disgruntled customers of your cable broadband solution. I myself had major issues since November last year. As a customer focused organisation, do you have any comments as to why TC handled their customer complaints with ignore, and also you may like to comment on the delays (in peakish times) in getting help from your technical people?

I think thoe two questions are off topic. But as for "issues since November last year" there is another discussion where people have been reporting improvements on TelstraClear cable network - apparently the problems report by many with excessive background ARP is pretty much gone now.

Have a look around in the forums if you haven't yet.

BigBadaboom

151 posts

Master Geek

#157706 18-Aug-2008 13:31

TelstraClear: Hi

I understand completely your positions on the HD/PVR question, and I have been considering for some time when to present what TelstraClear is developing for you. The reason I haven't done so, was I had no exact date for the delivery of our HD PVR.

Thanks for that post Jeff. Are you able to answer some technical questions about the box that are not related to service rollout dates etc? I presume you have already chosen the hardware platform for the STB, so certain details of what that supports is already known to you.

For example, one question might be whether the box supports a serial control interface for changing channels. I think that would make it a very popular option for people with HTPCs.

Also will the box include an integrated cable modem?

Paul

BigBadaboom

151 posts

Master Geek

#157708 18-Aug-2008 13:49

sbiddle: There could be conclusions drawn from the fact Pace do a decoder that's essentially identical to the new MySky but is DVB-C rather than DVB-S.

If it is a Pace box, then that narrows down the options because there are only four listed on their website that support HD.
The only one that mentions H.264 support is this one:

http://www.pace.com/corporate/products/productDetails.asp?nav=products&productID=DCABLE-TDC850

Assuming of course that it isn't an unlisted Pace box.

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