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Closer Look at PlayTV for Playstation 3

Closer Look at PlayTV for Playstation 3

By: Daniel Chubb | July 20, 2008 | 14 Comments

PlayTV for Playstation 3

Yesterday we announced the release date of PlayTV in the UK to be September 10 and the rest of Europe will be getting this new Playstation 3 hardware between September and December.

Today we take a closer look at Sony PS3’s new dual digital tuner, we take a brief look at what it can and cannot do, some more photos and we welcome your feedback about PlayTV.

The new PlayTV is not wireless and you will have to connect to one of the USB sockets in the Playstation 3, as far as PC or Mac support we’ll have to wait and see.

Its not coming to North America as their digital terrestrial is different to the UK and Europe. (The Americans use ATSC Standards. Europeans and British people use Digital Video Broadcasting DVB standard)

TV shows / content recorded from the Freeview is not protected and you can move it where you want as long as it is in a suitable format, that includes the media server function.

To receive TV through Play TV you will need a good TV aerial, the one you normally use for analog TV will do or an existing aerial if you’ve already got Freeview. Just connect the standard TV aerial cable into the Play TV aerial socket and tune it and it should work.

The price should be EUR 99 (£79.99), although you should not bank on that, as it’s not official yet and we may have to wait until PlayTV hits the shops.

Thanks to PR readers for information they sent in and if you want to share, then just leave a comment. You can read all news on Product Reviews for PlayTV Here.

What’s even more strange is the fact that Amazon still have an incorrect release date of 31 Oct 2008 on their website.

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  • jonathan

    i like the idea, however just today i saw a freeview box in a sale for £6.99, that right £6.99, why would people pay £80.00 for this, on the other side the feature where u can record and play a game is good.

    id like to know with it a dual tuner can you record 2 programs at once like virgin medias v+ box?, also with play tv would this hardware be useful in home that people are waiting for?

    let me explain = whilst in home you have a user control of a psp could they link that so you could view recorded or live content via the psp in home or view a programme on a lcd screen within home itself? now that would be useful.

    i do like the idea you can copy the content and put it on another device, but thats the only thing i like at the moment unless the above ive meantioned can be adaptored into home

  • Simon

    Big one for me:

    Will the new announced 80gb PS3 have REAR USB slots as the current 40gb model doesn’t have any at the rear.

    And who wants this thing poking out of the front…

    Could you find that one out Daniel?

  • Daniel
  • Simon

    Thanks Daniel, thats a shame if true. Sony haven’t been very clever then – I for one wanted to give them nearly £400 on this solution when it came out, but I wont be if there’s wires poking out the front eh!

    I think it’s a story to highlight personally as I can’t be the only one thinking that! it’s a great “all in one” box, but not if it’s untidy :)

    Si

  • Wudang

    “I can’t be the only one thinking that! it’s a great “all in one” box, but not if it’s untidy ”

    Simon, no you’re not.

    For going on a £400 outlay I’ve got to hang a device off the front of the PS3 and then to add insult to injury I’ve got to plug an aerial cable as well as the USB connection into the FRONT of the PlayTV unit!!
    So my home entertainment system sitting below my Hi-Def TV looks like a dog’s dinner.
    Nope, not for me either.
    I’ll wait until the design idiots at Sony get round to putting USB ports on the back of the PS3 (as the original design release photos indicated would be the case) and also at the same time put the aerial and USB sockets on the back of the PlayTV unit. What a design revolution that will be – connectors on the back- Jeez!!

  • Simon

    Exactly Wudang.

    Hell – I’d even buy a PS3 with this tuner built inside it.. I’m sure they could cram the tiny innards of that USB dongle inside the case. – there’s an idea eh.

    As I’m sure that one hasn’t been thought of / is years off – I hope we’re wrong and / or speculating, and this 80gb jobby will have ports on the rear. Daniel – can you email Sony and ask them at all?

  • WaterElemental

    It wouldn’t surprise me that it will be built into PS3 Slim when it comes out! Which will probably be around the end of 2009! ( Hopefully with a decent 500gb HDD)

  • Ali

    So is PlayTV just another Freeview box with the same channels?

    Because if it is, then I don’t see the point of buying since most homes already have freeview. Taking into consideration that freeview boxes cost around £10 nowadays, I hardly see the ‘record whilst playing concept’ to be worth the £70 that’s left.

  • dougie

    this is a great idea but £300 for a ps3 with 40gb hdd n aother £80 for a tv tuner, you can buy loads of PVR’s for a third of the price

  • Dweller

    Interesting comments on the price.. and I agree that you can buy a DVB-t setup box for less than 20 quid.. However I can speak from experience when say that the PS3 playback of MPEG2-TS video is the best on the market. I paid 95 quid for my current set top box (also from Sony) because of its decoding and picture quality.. however the PlayTV will make that look like wet string and also have the ability to record, pause, rewind life TV…

    Sounds almost too good to be true.. I’ve already upgraded my PS3 (60gig) to a 320gig hard-drive (got fed up waiting for the 500!! ;) ..

    So I’ll be pre-ordering this from Amazon the moment they let me..

  • G-Runner

    I think Sony have missed the boat on this one. The PS3 is supposed to be all about High Definition.

    So why isn’t PlayTV a FreeSat decoder?

    I’m all for convergence and would love for my 60Gb PS3 to do everything but for now I’ll keep the second box under my TV.

    A Sky+ HD box…

  • Simon

    I called their press office in London.

    It’s the same at the 40gb model, with 80gb.

    Shame.

    Si.

  • http://playtvuser.co.uk PlayTV User

    @jonathon – you can only record one program at once (at least in the initial firmware).

  • Dweller

    Can’t wait.. The price for a 2 tuner DVR for 80 quid is very good value for money..
    My current setup box cost 95 quid (and the quality of the playback makes it worth every penny). However I can’t pause or rewind live TV or record programs on a schedule (A fully fledged dual tuner DVR will cost you 180 quid easy (Recommend Humax 9200T)).

    I’ve already upgraded my PS3′s hardrive to 320gb (Still no sign of the 500gb drive) so roll on September.