PlayTV review
by Oxymandias on Comments
Well my PlayTV arrived this morning.. and setup took about 5 mins.. Not sure I want to set through that video it plays whilst it installs again but i guess once is fine. ;).
I've a Sixaxis and a bd-handset. was surprised that the kit came with an overlay for the handset. Handy..
Unit itself is small and once I'd confirmed it was working just tucked it away behind the tv.. I notice its wall mountable but I figure its not worth the hassle. Can gather dust along with the other cables.
Firstly the picture quality.. I am running my PS3 through a KDL-40V4000 at 1080p, so I was not expecting much more from the Freeview quality. I was very surprised at the increase and smoothness of the image.. Of course they are still only at 720x576 but all the same they upscale very well to 1080p. So this is the BEST quality Freeview image I've yet seen.
Secondly everything is very responsive and fast.. Once the PlayTV application is loaded and running the guide, changing channels etc. is very smooth.. Excellent.
Next try out the pause live TV and rewind functionality.. very slick..l worked very well with the Tennis today.
Lastly recording from a schedule.. Very easy.. go tot he guide/or search by name and then setup the recording options.. If there is a conflict it prompts you to decide which to record and which to discard. Excellent. Next I recorded a program and then exported it to the regular PS3 video folder.. From there I can copy it to a memory card etc. So confirmed no DRM.
Did a few test recordings whilst playing games.. No noticeable problems. with either the game or the recordings. The unit will also bring itself online from standby which it pretty neat.. then it goes back to standby.. very neat..
Remote play works very well and whilst am looking forwards to watching live TV from around the country/world. Along with the rest of my videos, games and music.
Hassles & Niggles
Had a little difficulty getting the PS3 to detect the playTV unit when i plugged it into my external USB hub but its not the first device to do that!!..
So overall I recommend this product as an excellent upgrade to a regular setup box.. the ability to pause and rewind are excellent and the recording/pvr functionality is very easy to use and the playback quality is fantastic.
Just need to wait four years and see what happens on the HD-Freeview front.. although personaly I think PS3-Iplayer and PS-Video store will probably come along with HD content first.