Sony PS3 PlayTV

14 years still going strong – Bought this in Dec 2009. Use it regularly. It froze last week, and a simple delete of the game data for playtv fixed it. Still record shows off tv , it's a simple way to record and play. Still finds 58 channels in country NSW. Awesome.

shocking costumer service – Cant seem to get netflix working on my ps3, rang ps3 support and after over an hour, the rep must have accidentally cut me off Arrrgghhh. Rang back 50min later, the staff member susanna or susan, told me it was my internet provider, i told her it wasnt as Ive already rang them and I have internet. I asked her to hold on as they take about 2-3 min… Read more

to answer their phone so we could work it out together, she said she couldnt do that. I reminded her Ive been waiting on the phone for over 1 hr and 50min, she said no and hung up on me. Disgusting costumer service

glitching/stuttering PS3 with Play TV or recorded – OK. I had this problem with my PS3 with Play Tv. Both live TV and on recorded programs. It started glitching/stuttering/pixelating, call it what you will. This happened after many years of use. I had read reviews from many others, on other forums and this one, with the same problem and not many solutions that seemed to work, I tried the solutions… Read more

mentioned, like reload the software, switch deep blue display setting to off instead of auto etc, to no avail also. But i did fix the problem. In my case it was caused by a dry/oxidised usb connection. All you need to do is buy some electrical connection lube like Servicol and spray the usb connections, presto no glitch. You could probably even just wipe them clean or give them a light spray with CRC or WD40 and that would fix.

Turns PS3 into media recorder/player and makes your TV digital! – I bought this in 2009 and I'm still using it everyday At the time I didn't have a digital TV, so buying this allowed me to get all of the freeview channels, although I don't need that functionality now Also, it means i can pause, rewind, record live TV, and program ahead for future recordings, all of which I use now Also, it can be used to… Read more

watch TV shows and movies from usb sticks and hard drives (this may be available without PlayTv)

One downside was that when I lived overseas it wouldn't work on the channels over there (Singapore)

Easy to use PVR (when run on a "isolated" PS3) – The PlayTV setup I have works flawlessly over the years due to the following installation method: (1) On a brand new 'thin' PS3, the OEM PlayTV software/hardware only is installed on it. (This PS3 is not setup for internet so the PlayTV and system software are left as original-never updated versions) (2) The 'thin' PS3 is a standalone… Read more

PlayTV PVR/HDTuner.

(3) But I re-purposed my old 'Phat' PS3 console for gaming, PS2 back-compatability and PSN network access.

Both PS3's co-exist happily sending thru a HDMI/Toslink signal switcher/combiner.

The PlayTV PS3 has no crashing, interference, stuttering or freezing problems from new at all when running the PlayTV application. Thanks for reading!

Buy a PVR instead – We bought this with the PS3 but it kept on pixelating the program and messing up the critical part of the show. We took it back, got another one and it did the same thing. We gave up and took it back for a refund. Great idea but it doesn't work. Great idea, easy to install It doesn't work! Pixelated the program losing about 7 seconds of yr show

Major disappointment – Started so well and really should be great, but nothing but a waste of money. Constantly locks up (on stock standard PS3). No fixes available. Google playtv freezing and you'll realise this a waste of money. Also Sony have made this freeview compliant in Australia, another reason to steer clear.

Ok but there is better – On its day can be good, but signal strength can be an issue. A lot of the time when scrolling thru saved shows it can lag excessively causing frustration. Can freeze at random when trying to set recordings and the whole ps3system shuts down and reboots itself. Also when you play a recorded show can stutter for about minute until it catches up to itself. Easy to use Temperamental prone to freezing

It has it's good days and it's bad days – I brought it because it don’t have enough money for an actual recorder and plus I have a lot of space on my PS3 so it seemed like a good idea at the time. Sure it has it good days where it will work peacefully and it also has it bad day where it is a nightmare. If the tv guide changes or if your show was moved or delayed then it will not record… Read more

not only that show but all the other shows after it. Freezers almost all the time, I had this for about 3 years and seen it crash more than actually working. Cheap, easy to learn and use, easy to connect/install, light weight, small Crashes almost all the time, glitches, can become a pain

Sony should be ashamed of this product – Total waste of money. Do not buy this product unless it comes as part of your ps3 already. Ended up buying a tivo after 6 months of total frustration trying to make do with this device. Half recordings failed. Kept losing programme info requiring a restart of the system. Freezes up. No product suport. Don't waste your money. Cheap Glitchy operation

Add to the functionality of your PS3 at a cheap price – At $69 an absolute bargain. Easiest PVR to use and easy to understand functions due to logical layout.. Hasn't skipped a beat since I purchased it last year. It can be a bit slow starting up, but adds to the functionality of the PS3 making it a true entertainment system. Could look better if the USB connection was at the back of both the Playtv… Read more

unit and the PS3. Also love using the PS3 game control, particularly the pressure sensitive L2/R2 buttons controlling the speed of FF/RW. A bargain that adds to the functionality of your PS3 Starts up a bit slow

Works just enough for you to not return it, bad enough for you to want to bin it every week! – Easy to use when it works. Great to save having a game console and a PVR separate but other than that this seems like a poorly made piece of hardware. Continuously fails to record a whole programme, at least once a day "fails to initialise the tuner" meaning it crashes regularly mid programme. Very frustrating indeed. Personally I would steer… Read more

clear and get a fully functioning PVR. Easy to use when it does work Poor quality, does not work at least once a day

Very happy with it, great value. A great PS3 upgrade – I already had a ps3 for a couple of years and couldn't wait for this product to be released. I was hoping it would speed up changing of channels over the built in digital tuner in my Hitachi LCD TV (very slow). It did this very well. I had upgraded to a 500gb hard drive in the PS3 a year earlier, so recording space wasn't a problem. The… Read more

original 60gb drive would have been a problem. Setup and software installation was great, however most of the software updates are made for the UK. It records programs correctly and successfully about 95% of the time. Rarely, for reasons unknown, programs don't get recorded correctly. Pre-record and over-run feature have been improved in the software and work well. The PS3 Bluetooth remote complement this system, but not required. I have recommended this product to 2 of my friends and it has not disappointed. Good EPG, good channel changing speed, makes my PS3 the central media hub even more. Rarely crashes games when recording in the back ground. Most software updates made for UK version.

Worked for a while now cant fix it – Had problems with poor reception from purchase despite separate tv having perfect reception.Not much of a gamer and bought unit specifically for tv recording.Owned for 14 months now freezing constantly after software upgrade 2.3. Checked on web an seems common problem.Have deleted files ,reloaded programme and nothing seems to fix problem. Sony… Read more

will not fix this.Do not buy this product. Worked well before mandatory software upgrade Sony not addressing problem

Don't waste your money – I bought the PS3 with PlayTV bundle as a cheap alternative to TIVO. What a waste of money ! When it worked it worked fine, but after two weeks of purchasing it, for no apparent reason it kept freezing up and would not load beyond the title screen, where I was forced to reboot, uninstall (losing all saved games and recorded programs) and reinstall… Read more

PlayTV. After the third time I went out and bought TIVO, only to be told that as I bought PlayTV as a bundle I was not entitled to a refund.

What makes it even worse is that Sony are not addressing the problem, and judging by the amount of blogs from other people around the world for the exact same problem as I had, they have no intention of fixing it. EPIC FAIL ! it fitted back in the box in which it came. Sony's failure to satisfy it's customers by fixing the problems, or giving a refund.

Good – For me, buying the PS3+PLayTV was reallying buying a HD-PVR with a free blu-ray and games console. Everyhting has worked out well so far. It works seemlessly with the Bravia 46X. Was the cheapest HD recorder on the market at the time. JB HiFi at the time had this and the 250GB PS3Slim for $540. High quality recordings. Can transfer… Read more

recordings onto external HDDs.

User interface is easy, colourful and well made. Doesn't feel like an add-on.

Still working well after 2 years.

Been recording at least 10 hours of programs a week since I purchased this.

Standard Def programs are upscaled to 1080p quite well. A lot of input required to do basic functions. As this is an ADD-ON to the PS3, the controller isn't really designed to for this input.

Can only record 1 channel at a time.

A little slow to activate.