Does Shaw still use DCX3400-M PVRs?

rabbit wrote: ↑ You can buy a used box from anyone, but just verify that the serial number is clean first.

I bought a box off someone on Craigslist. I was feeling lazy/lucky, so didn't bother asking for the serial first. Girl was living in a high rent area of Vancouver, so it's not worth her time to rip someone off for $50. She said that she was moving, and was also selling her cable modem. Everything was fine. I got to enjoy the premium channels she subscribed to for awhile, and then when her Shaw account was cancelled, I had to phone in and get the box programmed for my subscriptions. Since her account was cancelled, the box was no longer registered to any account = clean.

Like I said, just ask the seller for the Host SN. If they balk, just tell them why you need it. Once you get it, contact Shaw and get them to look it up. If it's clean, then the box is safe to buy. If they say it's still registered on someone's account. get back to the seller and tell them that they need to contact Shaw and get it deregistered first. If they hem and haw, time to move on to the next ad. It can be a hassle, but it's a simple process. Well, it's simple if you're not dealing with someone who is braindead .

mdb1983 wrote: ↑ i much preferred the 3400 version..although i don't know if Shaw still has these boxes to give out

Does anyone know if shaw still has them and give them out to replace? it isn't listed on their list of pvr's that were discontinued so i'd imagine they would right? We never rented them too btw it's now fully ours...

https://support.shaw.ca/t5/tv-articles/ ... /ta-p/5181

sandy_beach wrote: ↑ No, Shaw Has not had the DCX3400 for ages and definitely will not provide phased out hardware... It’s all Arris these days. You have to remember too that the DCX3400 is nearly 10 years old now and you will most likely run into issues eventually with it if buying used.

mdb1983 wrote: ↑ oh ok, i figured so..that's what people have told me too..i've seen the Arris too being the ones offered now so i guess i should live with it. do you know if it uses the Iguide rather than the navigator though? thanks for telling me

Scote64 wrote: ↑ I still have Shaw's Arris Gateway PVR. It's pretty much the same thing as the DCX3400. They're really bad PVRs. Poorly-designed GUI, erratic recording, overpriced, oversized, and consume way too much power. The Telus PVR of the same generation was way better - better GUI, smaller, cheaper, lower power consumption. The problem is that Shaw has no choice - the gear is developed by just a couple of manufacturers who cater to the U.S. cable industry and don't know or care anything about Canada. Shaw has no influence whatsoever on the design or priorities for improvement - they take what they can get.

sandy_beach wrote: ↑ The gateway is nothing like the 3400 lol.. it’s actually a pretty good pvr. I currently use the gateway and have had it since the beginning and it’s a huge advance from the 3400 which is also the box I had before I switched to gateway. The arris gateway has a much better and much different and more advanced/modern GUI than previous Motorola boxes. The gateway has been pretty reliable for me and i haven’t noticed that much power consumption with it either.

Scote64 wrote: ↑ The gateway is awful! I've seldom seen such a poorly-designed GUI. As for the power consumption, try using a power meter on it. The standby mode was so unreliable that Shaw simply disabled standby and leaves it powered on fully all the time - to heck with power consumption.

sandy_beach wrote: ↑ What do you find is poorly designed with the GUI?

Phat_cow wrote: ↑I'm pretty sure the first one is the number he wants to verify.

• Serial Number: Found on the rear of your Digital Box labeled as Host SN or printed below a bar code
• Account Number: Found at the top your monthly Shaw bill

Scote64 wrote: ↑ Multiple menus accessed in different ways for no good reason, long pop-up lists of badly-ordered functions in tiny lower-case text, icons that add nothing, menu pages that back out to a different location than where you entered, program info spread over multiple pages accessed with unique forward/back keys. This interface was haphazardly thrown together by someone with no GUI design experience and nobody told them to go back and refine it.

Scote64 wrote: ↑ I still have Shaw's Arris Gateway PVR. It's pretty much the same thing as the DCX3400. They're really bad PVRs. Poorly-designed GUI, erratic recording, overpriced, oversized, and consume way too much power. The Telus PVR of the same generation was way better - better GUI, smaller, cheaper, lower power consumption. The problem is that Shaw has no choice - the gear is developed by just a couple of manufacturers who cater to the U.S. cable industry and don't know or care anything about Canada. Shaw has no influence whatsoever on the design or priorities for improvement - they take what they can get.