PlayTV

[nadslaing]

I agree, it looks messy with things attatched to the USB hub.
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[Buttmouth]

USB extension cable + powered 4 port hub + tucked away behind the PS3 = I don't care.

It's still only coming out in Europe isn't it..?
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twitter: @meandtheplague
music: http://iamtheagent.bandcamp.com

[BurnZ]

[ittekimasu]

can we import it from uk and have it work here?
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[BurnZ]

Yeah, it should work here. We use the same DVB.
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R.I.P. DEJA VU - 21/08/2010
R.I.P. Tanya - 16/04/2011

[BumJab]

I'm kinda hoping the reason it's delayed here is so they can get the HD side of things sorted out since we can get HD versions of all our main free to air channels.

I certainly won't bother with it unless I can ditch my HD STB for this which looks to have a much better EPG, and recording on top too.

[ittekimasu]

Will the attatchment act as the antenna, or will it run through the TV? or do we watch it through the PS3? (live tv, not just recorded)
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[BumJab]

Your tv aerial lead that normally plugs into your TV (or VCR or STB) plugs into PlayTV instead and your TV signal is routed through your PS3 from what I've read.

I'm sure I read something about you not having to have the PS3 switched on to watch TV, but presumably you can't change channel then I would imagine.
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[pnit]

I wonder how it gets it's EPG data... The EPGs provided by commercial stations here in Australia are lacking - they definitely don't provide a 7 day schedule. From my experience with running Windows MCE / MythTV / EyeTV (my current set up on my mac) the only reliable ways to get EPG data in Australia is by paying for a subscription to IceTV (!!) or using one of the free xmltv services. Either option would require official support from Sony before PlayTV could be used to it's full potential in Australia.

[john_solids]

I'm guessing it gets its EPG data just like any other set top box, always gonna be wrong because Australian television is crap with that.
just wondering is tivo any better? like pnit said there is other ways of getting the EPG, but does tivo do anything like that or is it still up shit creek? but i would say in most of europe they would have decent EPG that get it right, maybe thats why they are holding it off till Jan/feb for here.
even without the EPG being right playtv is still gonna be alot better then alot of other set top boxes out there considering its connected to a ps3 that lets you play games in the background and its twin tuner too.
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Steam id: john_solids

[BumJab]

I'm sure I read somewhere that something has recently changed with regards to EPG info for Australia and it was going to be possible and in fact didn't sound good at all for IceTV's business model.

Only thing I don't think will work too well is the way the TV channels here are absolutely appalling at working to their published schedule anyway. I don't think PlayTV will know that a program has started something ridiculous like 10 minutes late for example.

EDIT: Yes, here we are: http://www.itwire.com/content/view/15367/532/

The follow on article though that says no Free EPG is a follow on where it's still being denied to PVR's that offer ad-skip. Don't know if that includes PlayTV or not...

[john_solids]

ok well that shows why we have to wait then.
like in the last couple of weeks going to watch the unit and cavemen on channel seven both listed to be on the wednesday night so i come home from work and the unit is on the first week and no cavemen then the next week cavemen is on and no the unit, just ridiculous.
but having 4 hdd recorders i can just keep recording everything haha

EDIT sorry just going back to not being able to record in HD, would that be more suited to europe which need a DVB-T2 for hd channels, where as in australia our HD works through DVB-T so no need for upgrade. most of the articles we read are talking from a european point of veiw so quite possibly we might be having hd support from the get go
sorry to add that in so late just had a thought haha.
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Steam id: john_solids

[nadslaing]

If it's HD, I'll be up for it. The copyright inclusion is bad news, but it's not a dealbreaker. It would have been great to be able to record stuff on PlayTV and then transfer stuff to my iphone though.
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[nadslaing]

You guys know if you could record the foxtel channels on PlayTV?

I'm pretty sure of the answer, but it would be good to know for sure.
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[BurnZ]

Nope, you can't record Foxtel with PlayTV, cause you can't tune PlayTV into Foxtel.
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R.I.P. DEJA VU - 21/08/2010
R.I.P. Tanya - 16/04/2011

[nadslaing]

Hmmm...that's a tad lame...Guess it's not a patch on getting Foxtel HD then eh?
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[BurnZ]

I thought Foxtel HD can record anyway, I don't have Foxtel so I wouldn't know. I could look it up, which I might do later.
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R.I.P. DEJA VU - 21/08/2010
R.I.P. Tanya - 16/04/2011

[john_solids]

nah, it would need to be hardware, never know few years down the track we might see playtv2 which could be connected tp pay tv and let us use that instead of the 20 year old austar boxes which i currently have that barely works but wont be replaced
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Steam id: john_solids

[nadslaing]

@ BurnZ: Yeah Foxtel HD can record. We don't have it at home cause it's rediculously expensive for a select few HD channels. Not worth it IMO.
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[Zhou]

Even though I hardly watch tv now (I find torrents and youtube more than satisfy my hunger for family guy and other shows without the ads) I cant help but be slightly intrigued...But not at that price point.
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My flickr
i7 930 | 6gb ddr3 Ripjaws 2000 | GTX 560 | 1tb 7200rpm WD |

[BurnZ]

So the Europe PS Store got a PlayTV demo, and since I'm interested in PlayTV (couldn't tell from all the news posts eh?) I downloaded it this morning and have given it a go.

Now I'm no reviewer or writer so forgive me if this is worded out like crap.

File size: 1.3GB

The first thing you get to do after entering the demo is select what country you're from, it first shows you the UK with options to go left and right. Being me I chose right and found France and some other European countries followed by "Other". So I was thinking "this doesn't look good for Australia, guess we have to select Other." So I went all the way left and found Australia and New Zealand! Hooray we are supported in this, which is great.

You might be wondering; "how can you demo a TV tuner?" Simple, give the people 10 demo channels that are: News, Entertainment, Business, Sport, Wildlife, News+1, Entertainment+1, Business+1, Sport+1 and Wildlife+1. They even have digital static to make it seem more real. (For those wondering, digital static is when on digital TV the pictire gets square fuzziness on the screen for a few seconds, like static on normal TV.)

Some little things I noticed:
- None of the demo channels displayed any widescreen video
- Playing the same music over every channel is really annoying
- As Penelope Cruz gets older, she is gonna be a Cougar
- Like eveything else that has the red, green, yellow and blue buttons on the remote, they do nothing

Now onto the controls, they are as follows...

Live TV:
- L1: Channel down
- L2: Rewind (When the buffer is full)
- R1: Channel up
- R2: Fast forward (When the buffer is full)
- Square: TV Guide
- Triangle: Main menu
- Circle: Close
- X: Select
- Select: Record
- Start: Pause
- L3: On-Screen Remote
- R3: Programme Info
- D-Pad: Preview Channel
- PS Button: Exit

Library and Playback:
- L1: Page up
- L2: Rewind
- R1: Page down
- R2: Fast forward
- Square: Sort
- Triangle: Main menu
- Circle: Close
- X: Select
- Select:
- Start: Pause
- L3:
- R3:
- D-Pad: Navigate
- PS Button: Exit

TV Guide:
- L1: Page up
- L2: -1 day
- R1: Page down
- R2: +1 day
- Square: Favorite/All channels
- Triangle: Main menu
- Circle: Close
- X: Options
- Select: Record
- Start:
- L3:
- R3:
- D-Pad: Navigate
- PS Button: Exit

Other controls like for the BD remote and PSP are also listed but I'll list them if requested since it's alot of typing.

The settings have the usual screen size, audio, help, setup, about etc

The main menu list is: Live TV, Library, Schedule, Settings, Maunal, Find and Record and Guide.

Any questions, feel free to ask.
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R.I.P. DEJA VU - 21/08/2010
R.I.P. Tanya - 16/04/2011

[IISpacebreakII]

[genxevo]

[BurnZ]

[nadslaing]

According to the Eurogamer review, the PS3 WILL wake itself up to record.

Thought I'd read otherwise somewhere in this thread.

I know I'm nagging, but it's a real shame it doesn't record HD. It's be very tempting if it did.
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