We have been loyal customers of Shaw Direct (Formerly StarChoice) since 2005. Five years of paying our bills on time and enjoying their programming.

We have been thinking about getting an HD PVR for a while now, and their prices are around $500. Currently Bell has a deal on where new accounts can get one for $299. We decided to call Shaw Direct to see if they would match that price and send us out a PVR. They said no.

We told them that we would cancel our account and switch to Bell – the girl on the other end said, “Okay, well, have a nice day then”. Are you serious?

Shaw Direct really doesn’t want our service at all! Back in the “StarChoice” days, customer service would bend over backwards to keep a customer happy – since their acquisition things seem less customer oriented. (see my Post “Free HD PVR – But Not Really” from last year for another Shaw Direct experience

To top it all off, we are saving by switching – in the long run!

The Numbers

Stay with Shaw Direct
$39.99 / month + tax = $537 (for 12 months)

Switch to Bell
HD PVR Cost + tax = $446
Service + tax (@ $25 promo rate) = $336
$200 Promo Credit (for PVR purchase) = -$200
Total Cost for 12 Month Period = $582

That’s like paying $45 for the HD PVR when the dust settles.

BUT there’s more. The regular package price for the service is also $34.99 with Bell, an additional savings of $5 per month, so after 11 months of paying the regular service price, we will have recouped that $45, and after that we will start saving. So, basically, in the long run, all this will have saved us money, AND we will have the HD PVR. Can’t go wrong with this switch.

If you’re with Shaw Direct and want a PVR, you might want to consider switching…

Summary of why we are switching

• Great deal on HD PVR
• Lower monthly cost saves us money
• Better HD selection (more stations) in basic package
• Better Pay Per View selection

This weekend I rented Bruno. Ya, I know this movie has been out for a while, but only now did I get around to seeing it.

I have to say that if you were a fan of Boart, you will LOVE Bruno. If you have not seen Borat and are easily offended, stay far far away from this flick.

Bruno, much like Borat, goes beyond the politically in-correct and could easily come across as extremely offensive. If you watch it with an open mind however, and leave your guards down, you will laugh and laugh and laugh. Probably one of the best laughs, if not the best, that I have had in the past year.

Sacha Baron Cohen truly does have balls. Some of the stunts he pulls off (such as interviewing a known terrorist and then offending him) are incredibly shocking. In all honesty I wonder how he survived the making of this film. Standing in a wrestling ring and hyping the audience to be anti-gay, and then making out with another man in front of the angry hillbilly rednecks come a close second to the terrorist. I for one can’t imagine where he gets his courage. Both scenarios’ could have wound up with him stuffed in a body bag.

If you have an open sense of humor and want to just sit down and laugh, then watch this movie. If you are set in your ways, have no sense of humor, or have a large stick stuck up somewhere, then stay far far away, as you will not enjoy it.

I for one loved it (as did my wife) and I would give it a thumbs up, 5/5 stars, or the best of whatever other rating system you choose.

Sacha Baron Cohen was on Letterman a few months back – I have a post with some clips from that appearance (as himself, and as Bruno) as well as the Bruno trailer on this post: “Bruno / Sacha Baron Cohen on David Letterman“

This isnt so much a product review as it is a review of a companies customer service. First my story:

On Christmas Eve I was taking a couple photos with my Canon Xti when suddenly the camera gave the error “There is a problem with the CF Card. Replace the CF Card”.

That’s not good.

I tried turning the camera off, then back on, nothing. I then plugged the Compact Flash card into a card reader and tried to read it with my computer, nothing – Vista gave me an error saying that the card needed to be reformatted, I tried again, and it just read the card has being empty.

I played around a bit and somehow the card started working again (honestly, not sure what I did). I was able to take the photos off the card successfully. I then formatted the card, and it appeared to work well…

Christmas morning I took a bunch of photos when suddenly I got that same “replace the CF card” error. Only this time there was no recovering the photos. I downloaded a bunch of different recovery programs, and NONE of them would recognize the card. It was bad, and this “crash” had taken with it the 100 or so photos of my 2 year old daughter opening her presents and seeing her new bike for the first time. WHY did I use that same card?! I had an old 1gb card I could have used…

A few days later I called Lexar Support (the card I was using was a 300x 4gb UDMA Compact Flash card). I told them my story, and they emailed me a link to their recovery software, and he told me what to do with it to recover my photos and how to then erase, reformat, and test the card after I got my photos safely off.

My first reaction was, great more software to try. I had very low expectations. BUT, it worked!! The software was easy, and I was able to recover ALL the Christmas pictures I had taken, along with about 800 other photos that had been deleted, but still technically existed on the card.

After erasing/formatting & testing the card, it came up clean as if nothing was ever wrong. I called customer support back today and the rep assured me that he was confident that I will not have any more problems, but if I did, they would swap the card out. They say that a corrupt file is most likely what caused it, and the fact that I was able to get the photos back with their software supports that the card is physically okay.

I hope he’s right – I trust that he probably is – but one thing that is for sure, is the customer service team at Lexar is great, and because of them I got my photos back. I will definitely continue to use Lexar for any future CF cards that I may need!

If you are ever looking to buy something buy it from Costco. Why? Cause they will let you return anything giving you the comfort you would not get elsewhere.

On Aug 10, my wife and I bought an HP mini Netbook. We thought it would come in handy. While this is not a review of the Netbook, I will tell you that we simply found the small size incredibly awkward for normal use, and the lack of an optical drive made life difficult at times (something I thought would not be an issue). We thought we would use it all the time but ended up barely using it all. Just last week or so ago it started to have major problems. Whenever we would try to boot it up it would hang on the HP Logo screen, and would require several On-Off switches, and popping the battery in and out a few times, before it would eventually boot up – not good. We were starting to regret having spend the $400+ on it.

I dug up our receipt for warranty purposes and found that it had been 95 days since we bought it. Turns out Costco has a 90 day return policy! So we figured, rather then sending it away to be fixed on warranty, we’d try returning it and wash our hands of this Netbook experience. I called Costco, explained the situation and that we were just a few days past the return policy expiry, and they said to bring it back, no problem.

So that’s what we did, we took it back, and they refunded our money in full with no questions, problems, or anything. What other business would do that? I can guarantee Future Shop and many of the other big box stores would never do such a thing!

Over the years my wife and I have spent thousands of dollars at Costco. We’ve bought mostly groceries, but also some big ticket items like tires and electronics. This fantastic customer service is just one reason we keep going back. By allowing us to return the Netbook, it just helps solidify our patronage to the store, and almost guarantees to them that they will recoup the small amount of profit they would have made from us had they not taken back the laptop.

Costco, thank you for kicking ass!

My wife and I have had iPod Shuffles for a while now, but the other day we caved and picked up an iPod Touch. We drive a 2008 Mazda 5, and unlike most newer vehicles, it does not have an MP3 compatible stereo. I won’t write a rant about this at the moment, but I will say I think its incredibly stupid. The stereo does however have, an auxiliary input, perfect for plugging in the ol’ iPod.

Changing CD’s is a pain in the next, so we started using our Shuffle’s in the car, and while this works well, the lack of a visual display and inability to create separate playlists etc, make finding the song you want nearly impossible. This is why we decided to go all out and pick up a touch.

The 8 GB version is more than enough for us, considering that we only have about 300 MP3’s in our current library, we can’t even come close to filling this thing up – if we were to put all we had into the player we would still only fill up about 12% of its capacity (assuming I am doing my math right). Considering this, spending the extra $80 to jump up to a 16GB model doesn’t make much sense for us.

When we first started using iTunes a few years back, I have to say I hated it. It made no sense to me, and I simply gave up trying. A few months back I decided to sit down and actually learn how it works. I have to admit, it isn’t rocket science, but when you are used to using WinAmp, and then dragging MP3’s onto an MP3 Player within Windows Explorer, iTunes does represent a bit of a learning curve. It didn’t take long to figure out, and now I find it incredibly easy, but it did make me wonder how intuitive the iPod Touch would be.

Well, I have quickly learnt that the most difficult part about the iPod touch was getting it out of the packaging. I struggled with this for at least 5 minutes. Perhaps I should have given it to my 1 year old, she would have had it open in seconds.

Next I had to wait 15 minutes to upgrade my version of iTunes and then reboot the stupid computer. They can put a man on the moon but they can’t seem to make an operating system that allows for updates without a reboot. Man Vista takes forever to re-boot.

Once I finally had the iPod unpackaged and installed, I dragged my playlist over to it within iTunes and threw on a few photos before playing with the interface etc. I was VERY surprised to discover just how easy it was/is to use. It is incredibly intuitive. Everything I tried to do I could figure out in just a few simple steps, and navigating from one menu to the next is instantaneous.

Once I had a bit of a grasp on things, I decided to take a look at the apps. A quick search for “free” uncovered a number of little games and various tools. Nothing too exciting, but somewhat fun never the less – really the games are only any good if you are waiting at a doctors office or something – I can’t imagine ever sitting on my couch playing away on them, but still cool never the less.

So while I have only played with this iPod for a couple days, So far I have nothing but good things to say about it. Way to go Apple – while I still have no desire to purchase one of your computers, you have managed to change my opinion of your MP3 Players, at least for now.

It isn’t often that I post reviews in my Blog, but it is something I think I will start doing more of, as I am finding people seem to like reading reviews.

In the past I have reviewed our 2008 Mazda 5, the new Monopoly City Streets game, and today I am writing to review Memory America, an online Computer Memory shop. (Stay Tuned, I will also be reviewing my new DeWalt 18V Hammer Drill – but I haven’t had time to play with it just yet).

About a year ago I replaced my old boat anchor 17” Dell laptop with a more manageable 15” Toshiba Satellite. (It literally weighs about 8lbs less). This new replacement also brought with it my first experiences with Windows Vista. Equipped with 2 Gigs of ram I quickly realized this was just not enough for Vista.

Today I took the plunge and ordered 2 new chips, 2GB each, from Memory America to bring the computer up to 4 Gigs. My hope and assumption is that this will significantly speed up the machine. I hesitated ordering online, but their prices make it more affordable then what I can find locally, so I decided to go for it. Typically I have never had any problems with online orders, but because the ram is something I am not 100% knowledgeable of I was a bit hesitant.

I am a bit of a novice when it comes to computer upgrades etc – sure I know more ram is good and I know how to swap it out but had no idea what type etc to order – following the easy navigation on this site made it a breeze to find what I was looking for. If they didn’t make it so easy to find the right ram, I would have probably spent a few more dollars and bought locally.

I found their shopping cart system a breeze and ordering was easy – now I just have to wait for the memory to arrive! Ram should be here next week some time.

I’ll also add I must have been having an off day because only after I ordered the ram did I think to pop the cover off the bottom of the laptop to see exactly what memory was in there – thankfully I had ordered the right stuff.

This is just a brief review, my opinion, of Monopoly City Streets. I know I have missed a bunch of stuff that I wanted to say when I first thought of writing this, but here goes anyways.

When I first heard about Monopoly City Streets I was interested and looked forward to giving it a try. After the first couple days of chaos with the site being down and simply not operational, Hasbro finally got their you know together and the system started to run smoothly – but not without issues.

The issues in the game have brought me to the point where I have completely stopped playing, and have permanently turned my back on the game.

Here are the reasons I stopped playing after such a short while:

Glitches in Game
I had an offer from another player to purchase my best street. When I clicked on the offer I was never given an decline/accept option, the link merely took me to the street. After 7 days (had I kept playing) the user would have automatically got my street as I had no way to decline the offer. All offers are automatically accepted after 7 days if no action is taken.

Bonus Buildings and Hazards.
In the rules it states the bonus buildings protect streets from hazards and bulldozers, however, other players can still bulldoze your bonus buildings, a contradiction to the unclear rules. On my biggest money making street, I had a bonus building, and the next time I logged back in that building had been destroyed and several hazards had been placed on my street.

The only way to remove a hazard is to bulldoze it via luck of the draw and collecting the proper chance card. Getting chance cards is completely random, and I went a few days without any bulldozer cards (and I needed 3 of them). This frustration made me say, screw it, I just wont play any more. After all, why on earth would I spend my time playing a frustrating game, there is no point, I’ll spend my time doing something that doesn’t annoy me.

If the bonus building bulldozer issue is a glitch, then it needs to be fixed, or if this is supposed to be allowed, it should be clarified in the rules. In my opinion, that bonus building should keep the street safe forever, period.

Cheaters
After only a few days, there were people with literally trillions of dollars, yet they owned little to no property – this is simply not possible with out cheating, and unless these holes are filled by Hasbro, I see no point in playing a pointless game.

Here are a few of my suggestions

• My wife had an idea that I kinda of agree with – rather than getting rent income automatically from the bank each day, why not have rent taken from competitors. Every day each player could randomly be sent to a random street (either globally, or locally) and required to pay rent on that street to the competitor. This would make the game a bit more like actual monopoly.
• Make those bonus buildings immune to bulldozers
• Stop the cheaters – not sure how, but find a way, they ruin the game
• Change the “offer” system so that it actually works, when the “decline” option does not show itself, it is incredibly frustrating
• Add a “search for user” option within the leader board, rather than just the top 10.

So that in a nutshell is why I am no longer playing Monopoly City Streets. Some of you may think I am just a baby, and should suck it up – games need hazards etc. Sure, that’s true – to a point, but when it comes as far as to become frustrating, why bother? Life is too short – games are supposed to be enjoyable -  a way to escape and think about something other than the grind of every day life – when the game starts to frustrate me more than everyday life does, its just time out of my life that I could be spending out on the golf course, kayaking, or simply spending quality time with my family. As Eric Cartman would say, “Screw you game, I’m going home”.

Here is my personal opinion and review of the 2008 Mazda 5 GT

About a year ago we had a baby, and we realized very quickly that our 2007 2 door VW GTI, the car I loved so much, was just not going to cut it – so, we said goodbye to the fast little car, and hello to mini-van ownership.

But we didn’t want just any mini-van, we wanted a mini-mini-van, one that seems more like a care, and less like a van, one with a manual transmission. That’s when we discovered the 2008 Mazda 5.

We knew right away that it was the perfect car for us. The convenience of a mini-van with the size and agility of a car – it is built on the Mazda 3 platform after all. We find that most people don’t even realize it’s a van, and have heard the comment several times, “It has sliding doors?” “Sure does, and a third row of seats!” Many people see it and assume it’s a Toyota Matrix and are very surprised to see the sliding doors and third row.

This car is really perfect for us, lots of cargo room, its sporty, fun to drive, and it looks good.

Car Trouble
Since we got our 5, we have had only one small problem with it, a problem that was covered 100% under warranty. The gas cap. I went to buy gas before a trip one day, and for the life of me couldn’t get the gas cap off. The dealer broke it into several pieces trying to get it off, commented on how strange it was, and replaced it at no charge. Since then, no problems. (I have also heard of several other cases where people have had the same bizarre problem. You can read some of these stories over at Mazda Forums.

Likes
I like a number of things about this car.

• Sliding doors
• Third row of seats
• Vehicle size
• Vehicle styling, Including Rims
• Available storage
• Great gas mileage
• Manual transmission
• Driveability (fun to drive & sporty, albeit a little underpowered)

Dislikes
There are a number of small things that bug me a little – none are enough to stop be from recommending the car however.

• Drivers seat should slide back a bit further
• Rear vent blows outside air only
• No heated mirror option on GT model
• No heated seats without leather option
• Stereo is way under-powered, and sounds average at best
• Stereo does not support MP3’s!
• Engine could use a little more power & torque, even 10% more would be huge
• Blind spot on right of car – passengers head, side pillar, and the head rest, block a quite a bit of the view.

Summary
All in all I would definitely recommend this car to anyone looking for a great family vehicle. If, however, you plan on having 3 or more kids, look elsewhere. For 2 kids this van would be great, but if you need to use the third row of seats often, you will lose a large portion of your cargo room. The third row is also fine for little kids, but for adults it is extremely tight. We found a good investment to be roof racks and a car top box. We ordered the racks aftermarket from Thule, found it to be cheaper than Mazda. The box came from Lordco, paid about $300. Ideal for big trips.