mik60ish Posted September 13, 2010 Posted September 13, 2010 I was thinking of getting one I've just put 500gb hdd in so plenty of storage potential. So has anyone got the Sony PS3 Play TV pro's & cons please. Would like to get rid of MYSKY !
eRaS1553552749 Posted September 13, 2010 Posted September 13, 2010 Is the official NZ version available now? Personally, while I need one (my TV is a 42'' monitor, basically), I'm reluctant to use it because the PS3 is apparently quite power hungry. Please keep us updated if you do get one!
Hopper1553552708 Posted September 13, 2010 Posted September 13, 2010 There are a couple on here, I got mine from Fishpond, after an e-mail to confirm support, using it on a 250GB slim. I have 2 MySkys and the PlayTV doen't even come close, saying that it is a lot cheaper to buy and on going costs are minimal. I want to get rid of Sky - it will take a bit of time to get used to it! Pros: Cheap 1 box does all Has loads of potential I have had no issues with background recording while playing games. Cons: Not 'officially' supported/released (by Freeview or Sony) limited EPG Mine does suffer the dreaded stutter in certain situations, anything involving two processes i.e. record one and watch another (using the original HDD) Uses a USB port (the slim only has 2 on the front) I have resorted to using it like the old VHS and this seems to be working well, I hope there are steps being taken to reduce the stutter. Hope that helps
Tonto Posted September 13, 2010 Posted September 13, 2010 I get the stutter but I think it is more on my crappy aerial connection as when I fiddle with it it comes back. In terms of power consumption go with the PS3 slim and put the biggest hard drive in it you can. 1TB I think is the current limit:D
Stuzzo1553552685 Posted September 13, 2010 Posted September 13, 2010 The PS3 Slim would use about 70-80 watts in operation for playback .When the Fat is in a PlayTV recording standby mode it use about 18-20 watts, the Slim probably a little less but can't find a measurement. More power hungry than a DVR or MySky (about 30 watts with a buggy low power mode of 23 watts) but if you're using it as a all-in-one gaming/PVR/Blu-Ray system you could argue there's a cost saving.
eRaS1553552749 Posted September 13, 2010 Posted September 13, 2010 Thanks guys. Unfortunately I already have a pre-slim PS3 - which incidentally, over the past two years, I've used maybe for 20 hours (except for watching several blu-ray movies). Perhaps when I find a bit more time.. Sounds like a feasible option; would save me getting a free view tuner.
bazzer Posted September 14, 2010 Posted September 14, 2010 It is OK, but I would go with a proper PVR if you want a decent experience. I've ditched ours for a JCMatthew box and wouldn't look back. But, for the price (it was about $100 from the UK, if I remember right) it does a decent enough job.
mik60ish Posted September 15, 2010 Author Posted September 15, 2010 hey bazzer I can't seem to find any info when I UK google where did you get yours from? JCMatthew box
bazzer Posted September 15, 2010 Posted September 15, 2010 I'm not sure if you misunderstood me or not. I don't remember where I ordered my PlayTV from but I got it delivered to a friend who was shortly coming back to visit us here, so it was way cheaper (about $100). I think it was from a cheap online retailer, they delivered free within the UK so worked out well for me. The JCMatthew DVR-320T is a Freeview Approved PVR, RRP is $599 but I got mine for $399 on 1-day. I heard some retailers have sold it at that price point too.
Jaxson Posted September 15, 2010 Posted September 15, 2010 +1 for what ever Bazzer says. We were both in a very similar situation and I'm opting for a JCMatthew box now too, having tried PlayTV, the Hyundai AH-3110 sat/terrestrial box and the Ultraplus 980HD sat box. I had PlayTV early on. It works but will always be a single tuner program. It takes a while to load but when its up and running it works just like any other freeview box. PlayTV should arrive here in NZ officially one day, but for now it's limited to essentially no EPG. You can manually schedule programs and it will wake from standby and then sleep again after recording etc. You essentially can't transfer off the recordings to disk either, for a variety of PS3 technical reasons. As it stands I also believe there may be issues with drives larger than 320Gb but I can't 100% confirm this, other than the same aerial signal shows 100% and works fine on other freeview HD boxes. Very cheap if you already have a PS3. But if you have nothing and only want a freeview recording device then I think I'd always recommend a proper PVR/DVR.
Tonto Posted September 15, 2010 Posted September 15, 2010 Single tuner? Must work differently in NZ as I record and watch all the time- alternatively if you have a TV with Freeview inside you "can" record one and live pause one to record it-then switch to the TV tuner to watch the third live I would agree with whats been said if the EPG doesn't show, you way as well have a DVD/HD recorder.
Jaxson Posted September 15, 2010 Posted September 15, 2010 Sorry, looking back I wasn't very clear. Single tuner for recording purposes. You can only record one channel at a time, even if they are on the same mux I think too. It is a twin tuner, but not in the same way as any other twin tuner PVR. One tuner is dedicated to recording and the other to watching. If you have freeview built into your TV then you are only going to be using the recording side of PlayTV. (Well unless you want to use the social networking features apparently coming in a PlayTV update). If you have a PS3 already, don't have freeview built in to your TV and don't want to record a lot, or multiple shows during prime time etc, then yes, playTV is a fairly cheap way to add a freeview box to your setup.
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