PlayTV is one of the many peripherals Sony says is part of "future-proofing" the PS3, but for the £69.99 price, what can it actually do?
We'll start off with the basics. The PlayTV box contains the main receiver unit - a pleasantly small black PS-branded box - a USB cable and the Blu-Ray disc containing the software to get it all going.
You plug the receiver into your PS3 via USB, and into your roof aerial via the standard RF lead you'd use with your telly. The receiver is USB-powered, so no need for a plug.
Plop the disc in and you're greeted to a short overview video that you can't skip, because it actually disguises the PlayTV installation that's secretly happing in the background.
The install takes three and a half minutes, and slaps the full 141MB PlayTV program onto your PS3's XBM (Cross Media Bar), so you won't need to insert the disc anymore.
It also puts 308MBs in the Game Data file for "Recordings and Settings", containing some delete-able default videos about PlayTV.
One thing to note is that the installation of PlayTV places a new TV icon on the main list of icons of your PS3's XMB which, even if you delete PlayTV altogether, appears to remain permanently on your menu - almost like it's updated your firmware.
Firing up the program, it automatically detects all the stations - 80-or-so of them - and that's it; you can jump straight into watching live TV.
Don't expect miracles from the picture quality - you may have your PS3 hooked up via HDMI, but you're still essentially watching a standard definition signal so you'll have the same grainy picture you get with Sky TV or any decent-quality Freeview box.
The controls while watching TV are simple enough, whether you're using the PS3's Blu-ray Remote or just a DualShock. You need only hit a button on the controller to bring up menus, program information, channel lists or quit back to the front end.
Of course, the best bit is the ability to pause live TV. Just hit the Start button like you would a game and the screen pauses. Get your tea and scones and when you return you can resume the action by hitting Start again. Simple.
The length of time you can pause for seems limited only by hard drive space - when you pause it starts caching whatever's being broadcasted to your hard drive. You could leave it paused for the duration of a film and it'd only eat up about 2GBs of storage.
But if you know you'll be gone for a while you're better off recording your program to watch later. This is PlayTV's best feature. Just hit the Select button at any time and it'll start recording.
There are other ways to get programmes recorded, too. As you browse show listings for the days ahead, you can set the PS3 to record any show with one touch of a button. Or, if you know exactly what you want, you can do a word search for a program and, after a brief search, it'll list all the examples of that programme airing in the next few days, which you can set to record. Clever, that.
Any recorded footage is slapped in a Library menu, automatically tagged with the programme name and description. Hit X on it and PlayTV runs the recording. Again, nice and simple.
Or, brilliantly, you can export videos to your PS3's XMB menu as MPEG-2 video (despite rumours suggesting the feature had been removed). From there you can use it like a normal file - watch it on your PS3, put it on PC, transfer it to your PSP... whatever you like.
You can access PlayTV from your PSP via Remote Play, too, allowing you to watch live TV or stored videos through your portable. Handy if you find yourself near a Wifi spot in, say... India, and don't want to miss out on Corrie.
Update: PlayTV WILL turn on your PS3 to record programmes if your console is left in standby mode. Update Ends.
So, all round, all good. But there are a couple of problems. Advanced recording systems like Sky+ can be set to record every episode of a particular series regardless of what time episodes are aired. Using whatever industry-standard trickery involved, it knows when the programme is on and starts recording. PlayTV can't do that.
It gets round it by recording on a timer. So, if you know Eastenders is on weekdays from 8pm to 9pm, you can set that up. But if a series has irregular airing times you need to set each episode manually. Not massive problem, but not ideal.
Is PlayTV worth getting, though? If you really like the idea of recording TV, yes. It does it brilliantly, and with intuitive menus and easy features, it all works seamlessly.
But it is £70, and most (if not all) HD TVs come with Freeview boxes built in nowadays, so that's quite a price to pay just for the privilege of recording. Plus, there's no scope for it receiving high-definition terrestrial broadcasts, which are planned for the end of 2009.
If Sony then releases a PlayTV HD box, that'll be well worth a purchase. But this? Its value is questionable.
No special upscalling trickery or superior picture quality. It's £70 for ability to record digital TV. Is it worth it? That's up to you. But it certainly does the job well.
As i said about Eurogamer's review, the PlayTV might be a good choice if you already have a PS3 and have replaced the Hard Drive with a larger model, but if not, there are better featured PVR's on the market for the same price that have larger hard drives and series recording functionality.
If playTV were a little cheaper, a little more fully featured, and worked as a standalone unit as well, it'd be a great little piece of kit. As it is, I'm not really sold on its viability- sure, the option to stream content to PSP and PC is good, but you can do the same by picking up a DVB tuner for your PC for around Ł20 and using the Orb software to stream it.
Can Play TV turn on your PS3 from standby to record a program? It'd be a pretty big feature for me as programs that I'd want to record would be ones that I'd miss by being out the house. If I'd have to leave my PS3 on constantly then It would be pointless.
I would like one but i cant see myself ever using it, I watch very little TV and the have digital built into my tv so id only be getting it for the recording, that isnt helped by the fact that my 40GB HDD has very little space left and i would have to upgrade it to get the most out of playtv, so really thats over Ł100 just to record tv...currently i cant justify that, maybe in a year or so.
Nice idea, but ultimately, only of any use to someone that already has a PS3 and DOES NOT have Sky/Sky+, Freeview, Virgin, etc. That's gotta be a small list right there.
I've no doubt it will, in a short space of time, have the functionality that Sky+ does, so not really worth stating the fact that it doesn't as a negative right now.
All that aside though, why watch tv on your console when you have games and High Def movies? TV is full of sh*t...
Can Play TV turn on your PS3 from standby to record a program? It'd be a pretty big feature for me as programs that I'd want to record would be ones that I'd miss by being out the house. If I'd have to leave my PS3 on constantly then It would be pointless.
well the article says it won't turn your PS3 on to record a programme so i guess not, you'd have to turn on/have it on when you want to record something
Is it possible to use this thing to record Off- and On-Line gameplay..?
No I'm pretty sure it'll only record things coming from the RF input, basically just TV.
I really dont like the idea of having to leave my PS3 running (and no, im not an Eco-freak. Global warming is a government conspiracy) Its just My bedroom is Tiny and My ps3 is is it, and it heats it up enough, even with a crap little "fan" attatched. A sky box can record while on standby? And Folding@home will turn off when its job is finished? They have all the ingredients, but just havent used them effectively. Im not buying a PSP just to record a few programmes.
The price is aslo a bit high for Non HD programmes.
I'm quite happy with my Sky HD box thankyouverymuchsir, but I do think this could benefit some people.
It'll only be a couple of days before someone trades it in after release, I'll pick it up cheap after release for my bedroom, I was meaning to get a freeview box and if I can get a second hand one for Ł40 I'll be happy
I really dont like the idea of having to leave my PS3 running
You don't need to have the PS3 running but you do need to have it in standby ... see here.
cheers for the link there killdare...interesting read. lots of squirming around questions (i.e the ability to transfer files- i can but assume to prevent lawsuits)but we now know thats not the case...strange how C+VG have omitted the fact that it IS possibly to record from standby?(as if anyone believed you can just power on something from a physical off position??) trouble is i was seriously considering buying this..but the lack of HD and even upscaling (although he brushes on that in the piece) means i may have to wait for an upgrade
Yes, it does. The article has been edited. It seems a technical glitch with our version caused it not to boot up properly when we tried out the feature (I tried recording an episode of Top Gear at 11am but it had failed when I got home that night).
After speaking with Sony, I reinstalled PlayTV and tested the feature and it works just fine. The PS3 boots up a couple of minutes early and displays a black screen with some warning text saying PlayTV is active (like when it's in Remote Play mode). You can hit Circle to go to the menus and use your console while it records. Or just leave it and, when the recording is finished, it shuts down automatically.
Yes, it does. The article has been edited. It seems a technical glitch with our version caused it not to boot up properly when we tried out the feature (I tried recording an episode of Top Gear at 11am but it had failed when I got home that night).
After speaking with Sony, I reinstalled PlayTV and tested the feature and it works just fine. The PS3 boots up a couple of minutes early and displays a black screen with some warning text saying PlayTV is active (like when it's in Remote Play mode). You can hit Circle to go to the menus and use your console while it records. Or just leave it and, when the recording is finished, it shuts down automatically.
cheers for clearing that up mike (wouldn't want any screams of bias round here would we) just kidding..but as i mentioned above 'killdare' had a very good link to the guardian piece with the man himself...
p.s does this mean the score will be reviewed??? ( i would of thought that being fare ) after all it was a major function, and clearly a lot of the other posters up top have been misinformed, thus putting people off the accessory
I already have Sky TV, but I can't get Sky+ because of the flat I live in. Therefore, Play TV seemed a good idea so I can record some of my favorite shows when I am out.
When setting it up, do I need to take the aerial currently going into the rear of my Sky box and put in into the Play box?
Does this mean that I will no longer be able to view Sky as I am running Play?
I'm totally fed up with play tv i love my ps3 and all its other functions and programs that work fine but my play tv has been a complete waste of money and a big let down! I cant relie on it to record anything and thats if i can get the tuner to stay connected long enought to set a recording or even watch tv! Iv replace my antena and coax cable at a cost of around Ł100 so my signal strenght is spot on and have downloaded all the system and play tv downloads iv kept things simple and not put back ground recording on and only buffers live tv when i pause it and it still plays up constantly any ideas cos im at my wits end with the thing and read to throw it out the window!
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I'm totally fed up with play tv i love my ps3 and all its other functions and programs that work fine but my play tv has been a complete waste of money and a big let down! I cant relie on it to record anything and thats if i can get the tuner to stay connected long enought to set a recording or even watch tv! Iv replace my antena and coax cable at a cost of around Ł100 so my signal strenght is spot on and have downloaded all the system and play tv downloads iv kept things simple and not put back ground recording on and only buffers live tv when i pause it and it still plays up constantly any ideas cos im at my wits end with the thing and read to throw it out the window!
