Sony PlayTV review

Comments

• not worh 70 uk pounds. So how will sony provide hardware updates over the internet? As DVB-t is what it is. It cannot not be upgraded to become hd Compatable. I think Sony just Had a bunch of old hardware left over & thought waht can we do with this pile of rubbish? I dont understand who would by this. They are old tuners that will not sell in other parts of the world. Reason why UK & France are being mugged. If the 'New' Hd standard is yet to be agreed why not wait until it is? As many ps3 users are made to wait silly times for certain game launches. Like i said they need to shift old cheap tuners that are lying around. Also when free sat is launched theres a new technology market open for Manufactures & retailers. If sony were to release a free sat play tv device it will have to be price fixed to match the market. This is sad sad & even sadder. As you know HD Sky Box 200ish Cable around the same price. Why? 3G was a farce & still is. Wireless Technolgy is played down in favor for 3g why? This is greed right in front of your eyes. Please see clear. NO sale Sony. Posted by sonys about to play YOU, UK
• actually the tuners in the Play TV tuners are apparently already HD tuners, its just the software and the terrestrial signal doesn't support HD pictures yet, so all it would require is a firmware update. Also many people will want this because its cheap, compact and a easy replacement for maybe a Old VCR. Posted by Dom, UK
• It's only £59.99 on Play.Com! Posted by David :), Scotland
• There have been a lot of mixed messages about PlayTV and the is it/isn't it debate surrounding HD. It distinctly said in the information that it has twin DVB-T tuners, i.e., the current Freeview standard.
  
  The standard that should provide terrestrial HD is DVB-T2; the UK is expected to be first in line to roll out DVB-T2.
  
  That's not to say that DVB-T cannot handle HD content: it can with MPEG2 and MPEG4 encoding, for example in Australia and France respectively, so yes a firmware update might bring changes but it will depend on how HD is being broadcast in your territory. Posted by chrishall, United Kingdom
• i bought it. it was only £60. Uhh its good. I already had free view so thats not new. But it did pick quite a few extra channels that i had not seen before. It was easy to install and generally it works well recording etc etc. Nicer picture i guess. Probably good seeing i upgraded my ps3 to 160gb. Yeah not essential but for the price probably will come in useful. Good stuff. Posted by chris, uk
• Yep - Sweden, France and Australia are currently using DVB-T with H264/MPEG4 and MPEG2 for HD, which the PlayTV should cope fine with.
  
  However the UK is going DVB-T2, and there is no real production silicon for this yet and it is not the kind of upgrade that can be done in firmware update for DVB-T demodulators (The standard was only ratified a few months ago, and the chips for it are still in development and NOT available for incorporation in mainstream products. The BBC one on display at IBC last weekend was still the size of a shuttle PC - though there are 1 rack unit versions) Posted by Steve, UK
• It has been announced here in New Zealand PlayTV WILL be in HD (we use DVB-T with H264/MPEG4 and AAC/AC3 sound) we are aleady running Freeview HD and have been since April 2nd 2008)
  Dave Hine (New Zealand marketing manager of Sony Computers) made the announcement in a local mag 2-3 weeks ago, New Zealand will be launching PlatTV before Christmas 2008 Posted by Mike, New Zealand
• Thank goodness you noticed the slight decrease in picture quality! Looking at all of the glowing reviews on Amazon you'd expect near HD quality Freeview. In fact I find that it makes the main channels (like ITV1) look like the more compressed channels (e.g. ITV2). At least I'm not imagining it! Posted by Dan, England
• £46.95 on ebay to buy!!!!! Posted by Richie Portas, england
• Its only 49.99 from dixons now and its a great idea at a great price i think! Posted by Clarky, England