Play TV (Sony Playstation 3)

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Paul1977

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# 140656 16-Feb-2014 18:31

Hi all,

Apologies if this has already been covered.

I friend just pruchased a second hand Play TV to turn his PS3 into a DVR. However the EPG only shows at most a few hours in advance, and not the full 7 days it is meant to. This makes it pretty much useless.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

B1GGLZ

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# 988424 16-Feb-2014 18:53

If the device can't handle the format in which the EPG is transmitted (MHEG5) then this is normal. My Hauppage Tuner in my PC does the same so I use Timer Record.

jfanning

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# 988467 16-Feb-2014 20:34

Are you logged into PSN, and have you connected it to the service that downloads the EPG? It doesn't handle all channels, but does get most of them (well it used to, haven't used mine for a while)

Paul1977

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# 988578 16-Feb-2014 22:47

jfanning: Are you logged into PSN, and have you connected it to the service that downloads the EPG? It doesn't handle all channels, but does get most of them (well it used to, haven't used mine for a while)

I'm logged into PSN, but not sure what you mean about connecting the the service that downloads the EPG?

bjorn

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# 988623 17-Feb-2014 08:28

You will need to purchase the PlayTV addon from the PSN Store.

The PlayTV TVTV EPG doesn't work for 3,Four,Prime or any other new channel

Jaxson

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# 988675 17-Feb-2014 10:02

For some background info, I started a little thread on this a few years back here...

Klipspringer

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# 988686 17-Feb-2014 10:27

About 2years ago when we dropped sky I did a little research into PlayTV. At the time it looked like a pretty good idea to just use my PS3 with PlayTV/Freeview as an alternative to mySky.

Back then there were issues with some of the freeview channels not showing up in the PlayTV EPG (Prime and a few others) ... Lots of promises from Sony to get it fixed but I don't recall it ever happening.... PlayTV is not a Freeview approved product, hence the lack of support!

In the end we went for a Tivo (also not freeview approved) which also had its fair share of missing EPG. But Tivo has since got its EPG working beautifully and I really cant complain (despite rumors of Tivo leaving NZ). I still believe a Tivo is the best device out there..

Jaxson

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# 988693 17-Feb-2014 10:34

Klipspringer: At the time it looked like a pretty good idea to just use my PS3 with PlayTV/Freeview as an alternative to mySky.

Yep, I thought the same long ago. Taking 30 seconds to even start the PlayTV software, after the PS3 had turned on just meant it was clunky as.
The PlayTV EPG was awesome, very HD, and with very cool search features, but that had to be handicapped with the lack of EIT data support.
Basically it was a flop, and it stuttered like crazy at times also for no valid reason. I spent way too much time trying to solve that issue and sold it in anger in the end.

Klipspringer: (despite rumors of Tivo leaving NZ). I still believe a Tivo is the best device out there.

Um, no rumours about it, the Tivo deployment was a complete disaster here in NZ and there is only limited support by a support company left in NZ. Tivo is not for sale here, Elvis has left the building.

I've got one myself though, and yeah it does what it's supposed to do. I've had a few hiccups every once in a while, like recording no sound on TV3 etc, but mostly it's been faultless.
The menus and EPG are all SD, and I find the interface confusing and clunky, but it was easily the best buy at the time for $199. I still don't think there's anything close to that being offered any more?

Klipspringer

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# 988707 17-Feb-2014 10:57

Jaxson:

Klipspringer: (despite rumors of Tivo leaving NZ). I still believe a Tivo is the best device out there.

Um, no rumours about it, the Tivo deployment was a complete disaster here in NZ and there is only limited support by a support company left in NZ. Tivo is not for sale here, Elvis has left the building.

I've got one myself though, and yeah it does what it's supposed to do. I've had a few hiccups every once in a while, like recording no sound on TV3 etc, but mostly it's been faultless.
The menus and EPG are all SD, and I find the interface confusing and clunky, but it was easily the best buy at the time for $199. I still don't think there's anything close to that being offered any more?

Elvis has not quiet left yet ....

There is still Tivo support (well some). Tivo just recently added EPG for sommet sports. I'm just worried what I'm going to do when my Tivo hard drive crashes. I'm quiet happy using it for another few years, just hope its lasts.

Paul1977

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# 988865 17-Feb-2014 13:28

bjorn: You will need to purchase the PlayTV addon from the PSN Store.

I'm not at home so can't check myself at the moment - is this "purchase" free or do they expect you to pay extra for this functionality?

I'm just trying to get it working for a friend, so don't want to pay anything.

Seems like an all round crappy product to me.

bjorn

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# 990984 20-Feb-2014 10:38

The addon is about $11.00 I think

Swanny

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# 994815 26-Feb-2014 13:34

I used my playtv for about 6 months and it worked ok but then it would stutter during playback. Things really got out of hand when I would schedule a recording and it would look like it was recording but it wasn't. Not enough support from Sony.

Haven't used it since.

Jaxson

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# 994895 26-Feb-2014 15:15

Swanny: I used my playtv for about 6 months and it worked ok but then it would stutter during playback. Things really got out of hand when I would schedule a recording and it would look like it was recording but it wasn't. Not enough support from Sony.

Haven't used it since.

The stutter was horrendous on mine. I spent an epic amount of time on coordinating different test scenarios, various signal strengths and conditions, (filtering VHF out etc), different speed hard drives, different versions of PS3 main hardware (fat vs slim etc) but to no avail. Sold mine, moved on, end of. Would not recommend to anyone given the cost and simplicity of a stand alone freeview box these days, even non PVR.

Actually I think that's the main point with a lot of discussions lately. Originally it was $400 for a stand alone freeview HD box, and over a $1000 for some original PVRs and combo Bluray/PVR devices etc. Nowadays it's $100 for a standalone and under $500 for a PVR. It's just not worth the hassle on compromised versions considering the low cost saving.

boldy

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# 995313 27-Feb-2014 10:15

If you already have a PS3 it's a very cheap way to a PVR. It definitely has good points and bad points. However after buying a Panasonic PVR and using it for a couple months I kind of miss the PlayTV. I really liked the way the EPG functions on the PlayTV. Quick to bring up and compare what is playing at a particular time. Easy to navigate UI and quick to record programs. Downfalls, it takes a while to boot up, EPG takes a while to download, is prone to stuttering (although a new HDD went a long way to address this) and you can only record 1 of 2 tuners. I used it for my primary PVR for 2 years, and 95% of the time it did the job no problem. The Panasonic, on the other hand, doesn't seem to be able to record back to back programs on the same channel without tying up both tuners. The UI is slow and well kind of balls.

Jaxson

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# 995322 27-Feb-2014 10:27

Yeah that's right, I forgot that the unit has twin tuners but one is for playback and one for recording, so it's a single tuner pvr essentially. Plug that same unit into a windows 7 PC and you had twin tuners to play with.

That issue with the back to back programs caused a lot of problems for many freeview PVR's. I think a lot has to do with how they implement the information from the MHEG5 freeview EPG. I know my first crappy freeview PVR, JC Matthews I remember now, couldn't handle lotto being in the middle of a show/movie etc. It all comes down to how much attention/fault finding/commissioning the software developers have invested in the unit.

The PlayTV EPG was awesome, as was the Magic TV's before it had to be castrated to take the crappy SD Freeview MHEG5 EPG. Sad really, I had heard that a new HD freeview EPG was being developed, but I don't know if this has ever eventuated in any devices?...