# Not Quite TiVo - Sony PlayTV



## terryeden (Nov 2, 2002)

http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/16233/17257/PlayTV-for-September-UK-launch.phtml

Basically, turns ones PS3 into a DVB-T DVR. I don't know what the scheduling will be like - may be FreeView Playback.


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## Pugwash (May 23, 2003)

Mine should turn up tomorrow. At the price, I thought I'd suck it and see. It seems to have promise and with the streaming playback on my PSP, beats anything else out there.
I'll cross my fingers that Sony will extend functionality in the future if it sells. It won't replace my TiVo yet though, especially with only 17GB of space left on my PS3!
The demo software in the online store sold the idea to me.


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## Milhouse (Sep 15, 2001)

My PS3 is incredibly noisey, even when idle in the XMB the fan speed will step up a notch or two (and it's in a well ventilated location near the top of my AV rack!) so there's not much chance of it replacing anything that requires quiet operation like a TiVo/WMC. My PS3 is just about acceptable during Blu-Ray playback & Game play when the surround sound is up loud but it's totally unacceptable for regular TV viewing... and I know not everyones PS3 is noisy like this (it's random chance whether you get a quiet or noisy unit) but there are enough that exhibit this problem to make PlayTV a no-go for many (unless they can muffle the noise somehow).


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## mikerr (Jun 2, 2005)

Twin Tuner - "watch one channel while recording another"
Can record without affecting gaming.
1 week guide
keyword search on the guide
Network access/view videos via a PSP over wifi/broadband 
(in-built slingbox/locationfree)

Doesn't mention if you can set it to record via keyword i.e. wishlists.
It only mentions searching.

But then neither does it mention series-links, but it must have those!


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## Pugwash (May 23, 2003)

No mention of them in the demo version of the software either. I'm just hoping Sony decide to add those sort of things later if it's popular. It'll just be used in addition here so I can watch stuff on my PSP too.
My PS3 is quiet usually. I wonder if it helps that mine's on-end with the side vents pointing upwards?
It should have arrived today but didn't!!


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## Milhouse (Sep 15, 2001)

Pugwash said:


> My PS3 is quiet usually. I wonder if it helps that mine's on-end with the side vents pointing upwards?


No, vertical or horizontal orientation makes no difference - it's simply that some PS3s are noisy, others are quiet and nobody has been able to determine why that should be! 60GB or 40GB or whatever doesn't seem to make any difference either, although with the new smaller feature CPU/GPUs appearing one would hope the new PS3s now pump out less heat than the older models (mine is one of the last 60GB PS2 compatible models, purchased about 12 months ago).

One obvious issue regarding the PS3 and PlayTV - why didn't Sony put a USB port on the rear of the PS3?!


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## DX30 (May 22, 2005)

No Series Link in the shipping software. ISTR reading about a year ago that Sony may consider adding it in a future version. I'm guessing since Series Link is part of the UK specific Freeview+ initiative, and Play TV is aimed at Europe as a whole, it is a case of lowest common denominator at work.

Repeat recording are Daily or Weekly, so no Weekdays, Weekends etc.

Searches are by keyword, either Title or Title+Description. No sign of an option to restrict by Genre. No auto record either.

The hardware is bigger than I expected for a USB tuner, although from the weight I think the plastic box is mostly empty. No RF loopthru', which may complicate cabling up in some situations (I had to use an RF splitter to feed both it and the TV).

The picture quality is good. The UI seems a little quirky, but I guess I will get used to that.

Overall a bit expensive for a USB dual tuner, and the software seems a little behind the times without Freeview+ features.

IMHO it is a nice addition to an existing PS3, but not really up to the job as a PVR replacement.


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## DeadKenny (Nov 9, 2002)

Pugwash said:


> It seems to have promise and with the streaming playback on my PSP, beats anything else out there.


Though just about anything else out there can be easily streamed with a Slingbox or similar.

Almost certainly Sony's offering will be crammed with DRM and won't stream to anything but Sony devices. If they have a chance they'll work out a way of charging extra for the streaming service too. If they do streaming over the Internet like a Slingbox, rather than just around the home, then I bet it will also be locked down so you can't stream outside of your home country 

But other than that... 

Nice idea, though as said it's basically just a USB tuner box and plenty of those about and can include some PVR software, for half the price. I suppose it's handy to power it off the PS3 rather than have a dedicated PC, though also as said the PS3 can be a bit noisy. I've never really been sold on the idea of using the PS3 as a media centre anyway.

Really needs series links though. Major factor for me, and they need to be accurate, work across channels, and work on all programmes even on minor channels... i.e. not like Sky's pathetic effort!


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## Pugwash (May 23, 2003)

Well remote play for anything else works for free without limits. How much does a slingbox cost?


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