PS3 DVR add-on launch delayed PlayStation 3 fans hungry to get their hands on a PlayTV unit will have to wait just a little bit longer than expected, because Sony’s delayed the add-on’s launch date. Sony_Play_TV PlayTV arrives in the UK next month The company has told Eurogamer that the unit will be launched in Blighty until 19 September, a date …
Choice:
1) Pay £70 for 2 tuner functionality and use your PS3's hardware (disk space etc.) so you can record digital TV. Perhaps it will upscale the DTT source for an HD set - not mentioned though, just guessing.
2) Pay £99 for a Thompson DTI6300S dual tuner digital PVR with a built in 250GB hard disk of its own. It has TopUpTV but that is of little use.
So, £29 extra for 250Gb and no use of existing resources...
Am I missing something ?
"Am I missing something?"
Yes
You are missing the rest of the world.
In lil' old NZ for example this will make the PS3 one of the few PVRs in the world (yes world) that can record DVB-T Mpeg4 HD broadcasts. This is totally irrelevant to you in the UK as such broadcasts don't exist - making the PlayTV a bit pointless as you suggest. But where this 'new' broadcast tech exists, it's a godsend (I think some of the scandi countries also use this).
Oh, and um, it means I get a DVD player, BluRay player, music/video server, PVR etc all in one box, with ONE remote. Win Win Win. Oh and it plays games, but you can't have everything I guess.
And so have you compared the energy used by the "overqualified" PS3 against the energy used to manufacture, ship, distribute, AND power a "less-qualified" box to do those same functions? Have you looked at those numbers in light of many people will own a games machine ANYWAY, that is already produced, shipped, distributed, etc?
Is the difference really anything worth writing home about, or are we just being green here just to prove we can spout off about being green? (Oh hell, I've probably just tarred the entire green movement with one brush stroke...lolz).
In summary, energy conservation MATTERS - but building special boxes just because they can do one function with slightly less consumption than an existing box is probably a poor decision from a total energy life-cycle analysis.
Can't be done. Not legally anyway.
Cable Company specific set-top boxes generally use encryption.
I just hope that the announcement that we won't be able to transfer video to other devices only applies to the US.
http://www.ps3fanboy.com/2008/08/13/playtv-recorded-content-will-not-be-transferable/
Other sites are reporting that the feature to copy recorded programs to PSP won't be included - although remote streaming to PSP will.
Shame really, this was the feature that really set it apart from dedicated PVRs.
On the green thing - if you really care that much, stop heating your house, cooking your food and taking hot baths/showers. That's where the real energy demand is coming from, not your PS3.
Try getting a device with GuidePlus (http://www.europe.guideplus.com). It's not perfect but does the job of recording either the integrated freeview and Sky/Virgin (uses a red-eye device to control the the set top box). I recently got a Sony HXD870B DVD-HDD for just under £200 - only a single tuner but that's good enough for my needs (i.e. record Virgin, watch freeview or vice versa). Plus it upscales TV and DVD (1080p), plays MP3, shows photos and unlike Sky+/Virgin+, doesn't cost me a monthly fee to use it!
Am i missing something here, why would anyone pay £70 for this. You can get a brand new dedicated PVR with the same functionality as this for £40 - £60 with a 80/160GB hard disk. Usually a dedicated unit is better then a bolt on. As far as im aware this Sony version doesnt do anything that a normal PVR cant do. If it recorded to the HHD in HD resolution then maybe it would be worth buying but with the tiny standard HDD thats found in the PS3 you wouldnt store very much HD quality video.
The first five Sky+ boxes I had all died on me due to one fault or another, so I took the plunge and upgraded to HD version, which seems to be holding out (touch wood). However, the UI is very very clunky, and takes an age to respond to the remote, which is a pain in the arse when pausing live footie if I'm gagging to drain the wee vein, it also skips the end of some programs which over run. Compared to the TiVO box I had in the states it comes in a very poor second (V+ HD would come in 4th, behind a betamax recorder.)
When you ask "...have you compared the energy used by" should we take it to mean that _you_ have done the sums yourself?
Thought not.
For sure using a PS3 rather than building and shipping a whole new box - with the ubiquotous 'warm' transformer adapter - makes sense in the short term, but in the medium to long term an active PS3's energy use far outstrips that of a typical PVR (especially the newer generation) even when you include build and shipping.
'On the green thing - if you really care that much, stop heating your house, cooking your food and taking hot baths/showers. That's where the real energy demand is coming from, not your PS3.'
Bah, if you really want to be green, get a 360. That way you can do all the above with one device ( well, at least heat the water for the bath..I do adore my 360 but its a hot little bugger )
>Oh, and um, it means I get a DVD player, BluRay player,
>music/video server, PVR etc all in one box, with ONE remote.
>Win Win Win
Sure, for 500€, with only 40G HD space to be shared with games, and no means to record DVDs. Not many HD shows in that disk, for sure, and don't think Sony will allow recording to an external USB drive. So it requires a 50€ to 100€ for a new 2.5" HD, and a user upgrade which the general public will likely not do.
"Win, win, win" is what Sony would like to sing, but that won't be just now. It is a tempting package, true, but far too expensive. Maybe Sony will surprise us with a new PS3 with new chips, PS2 retrocompatibility, smaller enclosure and larger disk at a lower price... Don't hold your breath, though.
as well as the consolidation of several functions into the single ps3 device being a reason for this device, also from what i hear the user interface is fantastic and beats any other pvr solution around
re: Don't Get It
so in this case - instead of spending 30quid for a pvr with just 250gb - spend 99 quid at dabs.co.uk and get an external 1TB usb drive and use that as external storage on the back of the ps3 to record the tv too
It really could have been great.
However Sony announce at the last minute that we will not be able to copy the shows from the PS3 to other devices. Stream, yes; copy, no. With a 40G HD this would seem to be a problem. 35 hours of programming minus any 'game installs' (whats with this? this is a console not a computer!! I dont want to install, I want to pop the disk in and play!!) and you're not going to be left with a lot of space for programming.
Its a shame, as I'd really like one of these and would even pay the above the odds price for it as it would make the machine a decent media centre. (And in its self cost much less than buying a new computer to act as such.) So its just crippled as it is, quite terribly so.
Also, does this mean there will be a new remote? AFAIK the current one doesnt have a 'record' button...?
NoOnions, I guess you've never seen a TiVo PVR then?
Even my 8+ year old UK Series 1 TiVo p1sses all over Sky+/SkyHD (I have the latter so can speak from experience). The Sky PVR interface is horrid: slow, clunky, not very intuitive, lacking in features other better PVRs have had for years and the SkyHD box crashes far to often - it's only ignorance that allows Sky to get away with it. And Sky Series Links are a joke, seriously they make me laugh when I think how poorly they've been implemented and they get deleted whenever a series is no longer showing, how dumb is that? When the new series/season of the programme is shown you don't record it because your series link was deleted months before, haha! Ah TiVo, thank you for doing it so right all that time ago!
I can't stand using the SkyHD interface, 30x FF is no different to 12x FF and it's like wading through treacle whenever I want to skip an advert. I know have my TiVo record everything, and whenever an HD programme is to be recorded it tells the SkyHD box to record it as well, so the only time I have to go near the SkyHD UI is when I want to watch the HD recorded content. It's the best compromise until TiVo return to the UK, but with Murdoch illegally restricting access to the CAM it's unlikely TiVo will offer Sky Digital support. :(
Sorry for the Sky vs. TiVo rant but seriously, it's time people in this country realised they're being peddled utter sh1te by Murdoch while at the same time he illegally restricts entry to the Sky TV market from better products than his own, which could conceivably include a PS3 with dual Sky tuners and Sky CAM.
I bought it in Curries late 2000 for £400 and immediately paid £200 for the lifetime EPG service - the best money I have ever spent on a gadget, bar none. The TiVo has been in use everyday since then and has been utterly reliable, another reason why it shames the less complicated Sky hardware. After installing a CacheCard NIC and TiVoWeb software, scheduling programs from work has also been a reality for 5 or 6 years! Maybe Sky will implement their own sub-standard version eventually, and charge extra for it.
Have a look on eBay for second hand TiVo Series 1 units, they can still be had with lifetime service for less than the cost of the lifetime service alone!! Then again, why did your TiVo die? If it was the power supply have a look at www.tivoheaven.co.uk for spares and other upgrades - if it was your hard drive(s), replace it/them yourself (easy enough to do with a PC) or again www.tivoheaven.co.uk will sort you out.
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