Bowtieman said:
I am looking into it for the time shifting aspect and was trying to find out if the PQ is ok. Also is their a major signal drop in Southern California (San Diego) area..
I would suggest that you wait til the fall before investing in either Star Choice or Expressvu.
RE: Star Choice: The Motorola DSR 530 is scheduled to be released soon after Anik F2 is operational (F2 has the same footprint as F1 - meaning to all of Canada, lower 48, Mexico + Hawaii). Rumors are that there will be a very special introductory price for the DSR530. It will have the same "All outputs always on" feature as the DSR500
RE: Expressvu
Simultaneous substitutions have now started with Expressvu HD - first with CTV and CityTV - soon with Global and Craig's Toronto One.
Unlike Star Choice, Expressvu does not have the ability to institute Simsubs by Canadian CRTC regulations. As a result, whenever any Canadian station, anywhere, asks for a simsub, ALL Expressvu subscribers EVERYWHERE lose the American station carrying the program. Star Choice has the ability to follow regulations exactly; as they can remap receivers, on the fly, by postal code (subtitution to be made only to customers who can see the substitute requesters signal OTA)
Contrary to postings on AVSforum, all Canadian stations can get HD substitutions, as long as they are not at lower rate than US originating network - ie 1080i subs are okay, but they cannot substitute a Canadian 480i or 480p feed for a US 1080i feed. There is no requirement for the substituted signal to be of "equal quality" or bandwidth.
In addition, since Charlie has been unable to meet delivery schedules of 811s for his own company, the launch of the Expressvu 811 has been delayed.