This week, after discussions with several of my colleagues, I decided to look into getting a Personal Video Recorder (PVR).
I live in Gatineau and we get our cable service from Videotron. Now from my research which is not specifically current, nor do I claim to know all of the television service providers, Videotron is more or less the cheapest deal in town if you can live with one of the smaller packages.
My wife and I do not watch a whole lot of TV as she is busily finishing her masters thesis and I am always busy as an independent consultant. We do however like to watch a number of shows together. Recently, one of the shows we love to watch, Terminator- Sarah Connor Chronicles was cast at the same time as another show we love to watch. I am unsure if the conflict is with Chuck or Heroes but it is on Monday night...
The VCR cannot help us with this as we don't have the package that includes regular cable. Even if we did, our terminal only has one tuner so we cannot watch one channel and record another. Enter the PVR.
Now, I was determined to keep this cost effective. I am already renting the terminal from Videotron so the upgraded terminal is only $10/month more considering I committed to 1 year which I was already bound with an internet service contract from the same provider.
I am happy to rent the terminal as the power cables and phone lines in my neighborhood are vulnerable to high winds any time mother nature feels like treating us.
I got my new gadget last week and have to say that they work great! The terminal even has 2 tuners so I can watch 1 show while recording another on digital cable. Bonus!
The issue with all this came from an awkward place... The remote control... All of the instruction manuals point to a UR5-8400A. I don't have this... I have a UR5U-8400A. As a seasoned techie, I poked buttons for a few hours figuring I've done this dozens of times before...
After a couple of hours of frustration, I ventured to the Videotron website. They have a helpful troubleshooting and guides section which provides me with... you guessed it, the same guide I have!
Next step of any seasoned techie, the search engine... I type in the M/N of my remote: UR5U-8400A. Bingo! About a dozen useful links pop up an one even has a handy 2 sheet PDF for me to download with all of the system codes. In about 20 minutes from here, I had all of my devices working in harmony the way I want them.
Long Live the Internet search Engine!
Read the complete post at http://owsug.ca/blogs/brad/archive/2008/12/13/Troubleshooting-instinct-does-not-change-much-from-PCs-to-cars-to-TV-remotes_2E002E002E00_--Long-Live-the-Internet-Search-Engine_2100_.aspx