PlayTV now available to pre-order

Mr_Sukebe

Mr_Sukebe

Mr_Sukebe

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I know there's loads of people on here with PS3s, just thought you'd like to know that I've seen the PlayTV available for pre-order for all of £60. That must make it one of the cheapest PVRs on the market, even if you take into account the cost of a HD ugprade (mine was £50 for a 250GB internal unit).
Expected delivery date for mine is the end of Sept.

Apparently it doesn't live upto it's initial hype, i.e. whilst it's got twin tuners, it can only record one channel at a time. Doesn't have HD recording and has DRM implemented, which will complicate moving files to other systems.
Frankly I'm more interested in getting a cheap PVR that will simplify my system connectivity, whilst hopefully taking full advantage of the video output capabilities of the PS3.
 
Mr_Sukebe said:
has DRM implemented, which will complicate moving files to other systems.
Click to expand...

That's annoying.

At the moment I record on my PC using a TV card and then transcode versions for my PS3, iPhone and Archos as required. I was hoping that Play TV would remove some of these transcoding steps, but it it's got DRM it's likely to be jsut as complicated.
 
Ive got a question regarding this and my possible HDTV purchase.

Im looking to get the 32W4000 which supposedly hasnt got the best inbuilt freeview or displays SD images that well - if I got PlayTV would I possibly see an improvement since its not using inbuilt freeview and from what I have read PlayTV looks like it attempts to upscale the picture anyway...

I would basically concrete me buying that TV, but since I will be watching SD TV for the forseeable future its quite a hurdle to jump...

P.S. Should we expect a PS3 bundled with a PlayTV unit soon? Love it if they actually made a useful SKU where it was inbuilt :p

TIA

ps3ud0 :cool:
 
ps3ud0 said:
Ive got a question regarding this and my possible HDTV purchase.

Im looking to get the 32W4000 which supposedly hasnt got the best inbuilt freeview or displays SD images that well - if I got PlayTV would I possibly see an improvement since its not using inbuilt freeview and from what I have read PlayTV looks like it attempts to upscale the picture anyway...

I would basically concrete me buying that TV, but since I will be watching SD TV for the forseeable future its quite a hurdle to jump...

P.S. Should we expect a PS3 bundled with a PlayTV unit soon? Love it if they actually made a useful SKU where it was inbuilt :p

TIA

ps3ud0 :cool:
Click to expand...

All theoretical but certainly potentially plausible that it would indeed be a better picture from PlayTV

I very much doubt they will make an SKU with it inbuilt, as add-ons are "pure profit" for Sony, where as the machines are basically written off to pay for the debt in research etc, PlayTV may become bundled at some point but this would still be more expensive than a basic unit I would guess

Dont get me wrong I would love it to be inbuilt also - I just doubt it ever will be until at least the PS3 is at the stage the PS2 is now (ie well into profit)
 
Do you really need a 170W machine on all the time, a PVR uses maximum 20W with today’s energy prices this IMO is a big negative for PlayTV, I see it as a gimmick and a false economy?
 
Fothsn said:
Do you really need a 170W machine on all the time, a PVR uses maximum 20W with today’s energy prices this IMO is a big negative for PlayTV, I see it as a gimmick and a false economy?
Click to expand...

As I understand it, the PS3 hibernates until woken at the appropriate time for a recording (or playback). How much power does the PS3 use in standby mode vs running? How much does and equivalent PVR use?
 
Mr_Sukebe said:
As I understand it, the PS3 hibernates until woken at the appropriate time for a recording (or playback). How much power does the PS3 use in standby mode vs running? How much does and equivalent PVR use?
Click to expand...
I think PS3 in standby uses 1W only (or 24W in standby with remote play enabled)
 
My PlayTV arrived this morning from Amazon. Took around 20 mins to get fully up and running, consisting of plugging it in (the RF lead and a USB lead to the PS3), the software installation, then finding channels and changing some of the settings.
Fully controllable from the PS3 controller (not a bad thing as it's rather well laid out). Seems to be fairly mug proof to use, though being fair, I've little experience of other PVRs.

Image quality seems pretty good when fed by a good signal. I'll do a real comparison tonight against the Sony VTX800 freeview box that I presently use. I'm guessing the PlayTV will have the edge, particularly so as I'm assuming that it upsamples the picture to 1080p and transmits it via HDMI.

For the dosh, really does appear to be rather good, assuming you already have a PS3.
 
Mr_Sukebe said:
My PlayTV arrived this morning from Amazon. Took around 20 mins to get fully up and running, consisting of plugging it in (the RF lead and a USB lead to the PS3), the software installation, then finding channels and changing some of the settings.
Fully controllable from the PS3 controller (not a bad thing as it's rather well laid out). Seems to be fairly mug proof to use, though being fair, I've little experience of other PVRs.

Image quality seems pretty good when fed by a good signal. I'll do a real comparison tonight against the Sony VTX800 freeview box that I presently use. I'm guessing the PlayTV will have the edge, particularly so as I'm assuming that it upsamples the picture to 1080p and transmits it via HDMI.

For the dosh, really does appear to be rather good, assuming you already have a PS3.
Click to expand...


Be good to hear what you think about it PQ & ease of use wise after you have tested it thouroughly. I was hoping the PQ would be good, but after playing with the demo it put me right off. Please tell me the images are better then that.

Also can you take a couple of pictures of it setup, just interested to see what all the extra boxes/cables look like when installed.
 
kidloco said:
Be good to hear what you think about it PQ & ease of use wise after you have tested it thouroughly. I was hoping the PQ would be good, but after playing with the demo it put me right off. Please tell me the images are better then that.

Also can you take a couple of pictures of it setup, just interested to see what all the extra boxes/cables look like when installed.
Click to expand...

Testing the functionality will take a little while, but I'll get back to you on that. I'll check out the IQ tonight, although my comparisons will have to be against my existing SCART connected Sony freeview box (although that's meant to have fairly good IQ) and DVDs/BDs. Initial impressions are that IQ is as you'd expect, i.e. fairly ropey on poor quality TV, but rather good on newer stuff. In other words, it's simply reflecting the quality of the signal.

The add on box is really small, roughly the length of say 1.5x a pack of cigs. It has a complete total of two connections. The first is the RF lead, the second is a USB lead, the other end of which plugs into the PS3. And that's it. So it will definitely be less visually intrusive than most kit. Once I'm convinced that it's doing what I'm hoping for, I'll hide it behind my PS3.

The only downside I've spotted so far is in speed of use. Using my existing freeview box, or say a TV with freeview built in, and you turn them on and it's working. Here to you need to turn on the PS3, login, then go to the PlayTV option on the menu screen. So it takes roughly 30 seconds longer to initially get up and running.
 
Mr_Sukebe said:
I'll do a real comparison tonight against the Sony VTX800 freeview box that I presently use. I'm guessing the PlayTV will have the edge, particularly so as I'm assuming that it upsamples the picture to 1080p and transmits it via HDMI.
Click to expand...

Any chance you could also test the channel change speed and the EPG?

I've got a VTX800 and was shocked to find they are still £80 on the bay, over 4 years after they stopped making them. Excellent piece of kit.
 
Hmmm was going to get one but doubt I will bother.

The freeview inbuilt on my kuro is slick and produces great PQ, plus surely the play tv will only use blutooth remote, and I would rather stick with the ease of my harmony 1 with the freeview.

PQ is the most important thing though for me.
 
Channel speed change seems to be as fast as the VTX800 and the EPG looks VERY similar to the display from the VTX800, almost as though Sony started with the design from the VTX, then made it look a little more slick.
So for example, open EPG as per the VTX, go to the program you fancy recording, hit enter and it gives a list of options, including record. Simple as that.

The PlayTV can be controlled by any of the PS3 controllers. If you want to use a non-bluetooth remote, you can buy plug in USB sticks (around £10) which allow the use of a standard IR remote. I had originally planned to do this, but actually found the standard PS3 controller to be so intuitive, that I couldn't be bothered.

Like yourself, IQ was the most important fact. I don't know of another PVR that connects via HDMI and can upsample (which I assume the PS3 will be doing on behalf of the PlayTV module.
 
Mr_Sukebe said:
The PlayTV can be controlled by any of the PS3 controllers. If you want to use a non-bluetooth remote, you can buy plug in USB sticks (around £10) which allow the use of a standard IR remote. I had originally planned to do this, but actually found the standard PS3 controller to be so intuitive, that I couldn't be bothered.

Like yourself, IQ was the most important fact. I don't know of another PVR that connects via HDMI and can upsample (which I assume the PS3 will be doing on behalf of the PlayTV module.
Click to expand...

Sounds good then, might have to find someone to borrow one off to compare. I would be tempted as PQ is the most important thing. The remote compatability could be solved as I will probably get myself one of the those IR->BT boxes from the stats for a cheacky £25.

Can it be controlled with the official BT sony remote, and also is this upscaling for normal tv say BBC, as I can't see BBC looking nay better except with BBC HD on the kuro ?
 
One feature I would request is a reminder system. I was going to remind myself of shows and any that clash, record one of them. Sometimes I don't even want to record the show, just want to know when it's on.
 
-Ad- said:
Sounds good then, might have to find someone to borrow one off to compare. I would be tempted as PQ is the most important thing. The remote compatability could be solved as I will probably get myself one of the those IR->BT boxes from the stats for a cheacky £25.

Can it be controlled with the official BT sony remote, and also is this upscaling for normal tv say BBC, as I can't see BBC looking nay better except with BBC HD on the kuro ?
Click to expand...

Like you PQ is king, although I would be happy if it matched the excellent quality of my Panny plasma built in freeview reception. Even then I wouldnt use it for day to day viewing, it would just be to much of a chore using it. I am only interested in the PVR side of it.

I have got a nice Paanny dvd hdd recorder, but my son has put it in his room becuase he wanted freeview, cheekyest 8 year old iv ever known! :)

I think I may hold off buying one for a couple of months, what I really want is a decent branded Freesat HD unit, and if it has PVR funtionalty all the better, im holding out for a Pany model, cant bring myself to buy an Alba or Bush im affraid :eek:
 
To try to cover the questions:
- It can be controlled by the standard PS3 controller, the add on Sony BD controller, or I assume via one of those USB plug in IR convertors.
- I'm not sure, but I assume that it'll be upscaling all of the signals to 1080p. I'll tell you tomorrow how well it looks on normal TV. Above all else, it's definitely using HDMI, which IMO can make a reasonable improvement on say a SCART connection.
- The recording seems to be like a basic PVR, i.e. chose what you want to record, and record it. There doesn't appear to be any way of recording a whole series just based upon the name of the series, which I assume some of the newer other PVRs do. It will also only record one channel whilst watching another. Well I say that, but the one it's watching seems to be being buffered at the same time.
- I don't believe that you can transfer the file to say a PC.

In short, it's probably great for IQ, but not leading edge for functionality.
Having said that, it is part of the PS3, and I can't see anyone betting against Sony upgrading the functionality of the unit during it's lifespan.
 
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