Very OT: Moving from UK to Canada

[STeADi]

alenppc wrote:

The company I work for offers mostly games functionality testing services plus general pc, console and mobile EU languages localization/translation and testing. Since I am fluent in a couple of languages, I work in the localization department. :-)

Is the company Babel by any chance.  I think that's who we once used.  Hmmm, I think that was the name. :-?

The prices of games in HMV there seemed quite high too. More than I was expecting anyway.

Sorry my fault, I should have been more specific. HMV is usually good for DVDs, they often have these "3 movies for $20" specials and sometimes you can find some very interesting titles for that price (i.e. not just those in the bargain bin).

Futureshop and Wal-mart are the best place for pc & console software but not hardware.

Okay great thanks.  I'll be sure to check them out.  Is Futureshop a big superstore chain or a small outlet chain like Electronics Boutique/Game?

Any TV programmes that belong to the BBC are expensive on DVD in the UK too.  They can charge a stupid amount for a series that only has 6 episodes when you can pay the same for an American comedy with 24 episodes.  Typical rip off BBC!!

Well that depends on your point of view. IMHO 80% of  American TV programs are trash. There might be an average of 25 episodes per season but there's hardly any quality at all.

I know what you mean.  There is some American TV I really don't enjoy.   But things like Lost and 24 IMHO have just surpassed UK tv.  The days of Cracker and Fawlty Towers seem to have gone :-(

I certainly wouldn't miss the TV License. ;-)

I am willing to bet that you will. ;-) Here you don't pay the licence but you have to pay for cable. For instance, Rogers or Vidéotron charge anything from $30 to over $70 per month for cable service and offer you 70 channels of nothing! All you get is endless commercials with bits of tv shows sliced inbetween. I stopped paying for cable and generally watching TV a long time ago. I would certanly be willing to pay a TV lincence and have commercial-free high-quality stuff like the BBC rather than be forced to watch that crap on cable.

So is the only way to get TV through cable?  I would like to get broadband to keep in contact with people in the UK but I'm not interested in spending lots of money on cable TV.  I don't have cable or satellite TV here and simply use the freeview box to receive the free to air digital channels (and I don't watch those much).

Much easier to rent/buy a DVD and watch it at your convenience, that's what I say.

I'm right there with you on that one :-D

Regarding power supply frequency issues that someone else mentioned in this thread, in 95% of the cases that should NOT be a problem. I used lots of different EU based equipment over the years, including PAL VCRs, 14" CRT TVs and lots more with a power converter and never had a problem. Generally speaking anything manufactured after 1995 should work fine. Modern TVs never sync to the power source frequency rate anyway and AFAIK haven't done that for at least a couple of decades. :-)

That's good news. That is one thing that worried me slightly.

I wonder if anyone could provide me a link in fact for a suitable transformer from a Canadian website?  I've found the one in the link I posted further up the thread but I'd prefer to get one out there if possible.

Oh btw, what's the company you are going to work for, if I might ask?

I hope for your sake it's not EA. ;-)

Um, it's funny you should say that ;-) I have a friend who works there and he's been really happy there for a while now.  Hopefully I will be too.

If you want to bring along your GSM mobile phone, you can use it over here as long as it's unlocked and supports 850/1900 Mhz frequencies (1900 should be sufficient although you will not get the full coverage). Then just go to the nearest Rogers or Fido store and get a sim card for $25. Bell/Telus use proprietary CDMA standard so you won't be able to use them unless you buy one of their crappy phones.

I was thinking of getting a phone whilst I was out there.  Do they do pay-as-you-go or do you have to have a fixed contract?

Regarding Montral, in my opinion this is one of the most beautiful cities in North America, or at least the most European looking one. That's why I love it and I hope I will never have to move. Cheers! :cheers:

 

It sounds like so many people are happy in Canada.  It's good to know :-)

Thanks your help  :-) I'm getting quite excited :-D

[uncleted]

I have been to Quebec City.  It's very pretty, but even putting aside language issues (although my French is slowly improving), I'd never want to live there.  Each to their own though.

Futureshop is a big chain.  You can buy most major appliances there.  We also have EB Games which is the same thing as Electronics Boutique/Gamestop.

The only Free to Air stuff I've gotten is CBC/Radio Canada stations, so cable is a requirement.  Some people in Vancouver claim to get Seattle/Washington TV which has much more available.  By the same token we should probably be able to get Vermont/New York TV here, but I've had no luck.  You might get CTV, Global or Vancouver specific stations too.  CTV and Global cover basically everything good on ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, so if you can get those you could probably live without cable.

We have digital TV here, cable/satellite is naturally the best source for it, but again I believe it's possible to get it free to air, but it's a different standard (ATSC?) so no need to bring the freeview box.

Phonewise you can do either pay-as-you-go or contract.  Check rogers.ca or fido.ca.  I'm not sure if you have Virgin in BC, but I think they're pay-as-you-go.  One weird thing about Canada/North America is that they charge you for both incoming calls and outgoing calls, but they finally seem to be changing that now.

[alenppc]

STeADi wrote:

Is the company Babel by any chance.  I think that's who we once used.  Hmmm, I think that was the name. :-?

Yep, that's the one. :-D

I won't comment on functionality (high turnover etc), but we localization guys know our job, that's for sure. ;-)
I don't think a single client was ever disappointed with our work which includes some very well known titles as well.

Hey I might even get to meet you in person if I ever happen to be working on-site for your company, you never know.

So is the only way to get TV through cable?  I would like to get broadband to keep in contact with people in the UK but I'm not interested in spending lots of money on cable TV.

As already mentioned in this thread, you can only get 5-6 channels over the air, but as far as I know there are no digital stations that broadcast that way, at least not in my area. It's not exactly popular as I think almost everyone subscribes to cable. But as far as I'm concerned cable and tv are a waste of time and money whichever way you look at it.

I wonder if anyone could provide me a link in fact for a suitable transformer from a Canadian website?  I've found the one in the link I posted further up the thread but I'd prefer to get one out there if possible.

When I bought mine years ago, I simply walked into the first electronics shop I came by and I bought it there. Other than that I'm not really into electronics stuff so I don't know a lot of stores. I suggest you try looking on electronic hobbyst related newsgroups, I found some really nice folks there who helped me repair my VCR a few years back.

The only store I know of in the Vancouver area (and that's because I bought Amiga DB23 connectors there) is RP Electronics, they also sell power converters. But I am sure there must be other stores in the area though.

Check it out: http://www.rpelectronics.com/

Click on "Catalog", "Electrical", then "Foreign Voltage Adapters". Also don't forget to set your currency to CAD.

Um, it's funny you should say that ;-) I have a friend who works there and he's been really happy there for a while now.  Hopefully I will be too.

Well let's just say that it works for some people but it doesn't for others. There isn't that much innovation going on at EA, everything is preset, they always play it safe, and they usually follow a very rigid, almost-military discipline, at least that's what I heard. But then again, that was mostly from people who left the company - so I don't know how objective those views were. I sincerely hope that you will like it there.

I was thinking of getting a phone whilst I was out there.  Do they do pay-as-you-go or do you have to have a fixed contract?

Fixed term contracts are way the most popular ones, and that's usually because the mobile providers offer huge discounts when you buy a phone. On the other hand there are lots of hidden fees, so it is not uncommon that you end up paying $60/month for a plan that is actually advertised at $25/month. They lock you into a 2 or 3 year contract, give you a free phone, then suck your blood. :-)

I have always been on prepaid for this reason, even though it means that I have to pay the full price when I want to buy a new phone and I have no international roaming possibilities (other than the USA), which is no big deal, as I usually buy a local prepaid sim card whenever I am visiting another country.

Virgin mobile here is using Bell's CDMA network (no sim cards) and their phone choice is unbelievably bad. Rogers however usually has the very same deals on pay as you go (such as $100, 365-days expiry cards) but they don't advertise them in order to keep as many people on monthly plans as possible. They also sell them only in Rogers stores, not at the reseller's. There are no hidden fees for prepaid other than the monthly 911 fee (50 cents).

It sounds like so many people are happy in Canada.  It's good to know :-)

Well you may or may not like it... Just like work, it doesn't work for everybody.
Vancouver is also a highly multicultural city, which I bet is going to be a bit unusual for someone coming from the UK. :-) But that's a good thing... no one will expect of you to live according to some pre-set standard or to abandon your culture or traditions as it happens in some (ehm) countries.

Even so, there are still some rules that you need to get used to, such as 2-weeks of paid leave/holiday per year, occasionally long working hours (especially in the software industry, but I'm sure it's the same in the UK as well), etc... not to mention the cold and the snow, but you won't have to worry too much about that as long as you live in BC :lol:

[alenppc]

Montreal is nice, but it sounds like you've never been to Quebec City then?

No, unfortunately I have never been there. To be honest with you my French sadly is not that good. Montreal is bilingual enough, so I have no problems from that point of view, but Quebec City is another story...

I do plan to improve my French in the future, which should not be too difficult as it would be my 4th language and I alredy have some base, but sadly with my long working hours I don't have as much time to do it. :cry:
Still I hope that I will be able to visit Quebec City in the future.

[aardvark]

If you have a UK drivers licence, you should be able to convert it to a Canadian one without much trouble, but they will take your UK one away.

I don't know about that, but you can get an"International Drivers Licence" through the Auto Club (perhaps elsewhere as well) don't know the rules on how long you can use that if you're a resident, (but then they could 'take' that one instead. :-)

Best Buy owns Future Shop so their prices are comparible (different items are on sale at the same time though)

Here you don't pay the licence but you have to pay for cable.

You can get six or so stations with a set of rabbit ears, but quality will vary depending on where you live with ghosting and fuzzy reception, if you want broadband internet, you can deal with the phone company or with cable company. I prefer cable. If you want, the cable company also has a VOIP phone service. (unlimited long distance in Canada and the US and also 1000 minutes to Europe) The phone company will charge twice that for service and long distance is not included.  Virgin, Telus, Rogers, and Fido(owned by Rogers) have pay as you go cell service I think basic cable is about $20. I pay $105 for extra high speed broadband and most available channels (around 70 or so), but not too many specialty digital channels. Satelite TV is better in as much as you can pick and choose which channels you want, but you lose flexibility if you have more than one tv, which requires extra recievers.

Wal-mart, Future Shop, Superstore, Best Buy and Rogers Video are also good places for new DVDs, but I like to buy Previously viewed from an assortment of video stores (Rogers, Blockbuster, Movie Gallery)Pawnshops and specialty DVD/Cd/VHS secondhand stores.

I wonder if anyone could provide me a link in fact for a suitable transformer from a Canadian website?

Sure The Source or Radio Shack .  Circuit city bought most Radio shacks in Canada and Radio Shacks are just starting to come back into Canada with a few stores here and there.

Oh and Vancouver may not be that cold, but it rains and rains and rains...  :-D  Come and visit Edmonton while you're in BC, best time is late spring to early fall.  lots of festivals here in the summer. Best are The Fringe (live theatre modeled after the Edinburgh Fringe), Heritage days (more meat on a stick than you can well.. shake a stick at :-D  ) always something on in the summer, maybe even make a side trip to Calgary for the Stampede rodeo (if you like cowboys)

[uncleted]

The missus got an international licence when she came to Australia with me a while back.  It lasts a year.  The reason she got it is because hers is in French, which doesn't mean much to the average Aussie police officer.  Obviously a UK licence will be in English so that won't be a problem.

You should be allowed to drive under your UK one for a while, not sure exactly for how long, but if you do become a real resident you're supposed to get a Canadian one.

You might want to check or ask at British Expats.  Plenty of good advice there.

[alenppc]

Sure The Source or Radio Shack .  Circuit city bought most Radio shacks in

I had no idea RadioShack was coming back... I haven't seen one of their stores for quite some time. Are they going to be just like the old ones? I mean clones of "The Source" with very common and overpriced items you can easily buy elswhere for 1/2 price? Or is it actually going to be a real electronics store? Their website looks pretty useless.

Oh and Vancouver may not be that cold, but it rains and rains and rains...  :-D

That'll make him feel right at home. :lol:

[X-ray]

This business of exchanging drivers licenses is a common theme. They did the same to me here in the UK. They gave me a UK one but cancelled the SA one (actually stamped it in my ID book). Of course I didn't tell them I had a card license too, so I had both licenses for a while. Now the SA one has expired because you have to renew it every 5 years and I have to go there to renew it. More money for the authorities innit?

[aardvark]

I had no idea RadioShack was coming back

Very slowly, there are 3 in Edmonton, I haven't been in yet to see the changes if any, but I drive past one regularly and can verify it's there. :-D

[FluffyMcDeath]

 

Vancouver :-)

Good answer.