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I have had my PlayStation 2 ever since its UK launch date and since then I have always wondered what its upcoming HDD – Hard Disk Drive would be capable of.
As Sony say, the Future is going to be great for PS2 owners, especially with their HDD soon to be released. My questions are as follows; what can the HDD do? Sony says that it will allow Broadband connection with tremendous speed, but unfortunately with a costly price tag along the side. Other things that worry me about Sony’s new idea of the Hard Disk Drive is…will it have similar capabilities as that of a PC? It may be quite obvious that you cannot run professional programmes as on Windows, but what if we wanted to watch streaming videos of in-game footage over the Net and how about downloading some in-game pictures? Will there be any particular programmes that allow users to ‘right click’ and ‘save’ and will we be able to open up a movie on the PS2, the same way we do on a PC, using Windows Media Player or QuickTime Player; or will Sony design their own program that allows us to have this advantage.
Many people including myself have an ADSL connection to the Internet at home. I have read that Sony are setting up a Broadband connection at the back of the Hard Disk Drive, along with 3RD Party modems at the standard speed of 56K. Will ADSL owners be able to connect their ADSL cables to the PS2’s HDD Broadband connection? The ADSL Company has given users a CD, which is used to install the ADSL Internet connection on a PC. Will Sony’s Hard Disk Drive allow us to install this software as well as on the PlayStation 2?
How will the HDD work on the PS2?
Will it look similar to ‘Windows’ on a PC or similar to an Apple Macintosh?
Will its interface look like a huge sort of Memory Card screen, like on current PS2’s?
Thank you.
PHANTOM
As Sony say, the Future is going to be great for PS2 owners, especially with their HDD soon to be released. My questions are as follows; what can the HDD do? Sony says that it will allow Broadband connection with tremendous speed, but unfortunately with a costly price tag along the side. Other things that worry me about Sony’s new idea of the Hard Disk Drive is…will it have similar capabilities as that of a PC? It may be quite obvious that you cannot run professional programmes as on Windows, but what if we wanted to watch streaming videos of in-game footage over the Net and how about downloading some in-game pictures? Will there be any particular programmes that allow users to ‘right click’ and ‘save’ and will we be able to open up a movie on the PS2, the same way we do on a PC, using Windows Media Player or QuickTime Player; or will Sony design their own program that allows us to have this advantage.
Many people including myself have an ADSL connection to the Internet at home. I have read that Sony are setting up a Broadband connection at the back of the Hard Disk Drive, along with 3RD Party modems at the standard speed of 56K. Will ADSL owners be able to connect their ADSL cables to the PS2’s HDD Broadband connection? The ADSL Company has given users a CD, which is used to install the ADSL Internet connection on a PC. Will Sony’s Hard Disk Drive allow us to install this software as well as on the PlayStation 2?
How will the HDD work on the PS2?
Will it look similar to ‘Windows’ on a PC or similar to an Apple Macintosh?
Will its interface look like a huge sort of Memory Card screen, like on current PS2’s?
Thank you.
PHANTOM
PHANTOM02 wrote:
> what can the HDD do? Sony says that it
> will allow Broadband connection with tremendous speed, but
> unfortunately with a costly price tag along the side.
The HDD and Internet adapter will actually be on sale as two seperate units. The Internet adapter actually contains both a 100Mbit Ethernet card (for connection to the ISP's cable modem hardware), and a 56k analogue modem. It will be on sale in the US at around $40, so it's likely to cost around £40 here.
The actual cost of getting online won't necessarily be high. You will have a choice of connections to use, and the cost of getting connected will depend on which method you choose, and also on whatever deals Sony strike with ISP's around the country.
> will it have similar capabilities as that of a PC?
At the moment, no-one knows exactly what the interface will be like. Sony have struck a deal with AOL in the US to supply services; it is not yet known who they will use in the UK, though they have signed a deal with one cable company - I think it was Telewest - for broadband trials. No doubt more will follow soon.
I believe they've also signed a deal with Netscape to provide browser and/or messenger services. That makes sense, as Netscape are second (possibly) only to Microsoft in the browser department, and of course with the X-Box due, Microsoft will not be supplying any software for PS2 or any other console!
> but what if we wanted to watch streaming videos of in-game footage
> over the Net and how about downloading some in-game pictures? Will
> there be any particular programmes that allow users to ‘right click’
> and ‘save’ and will we be able to open up a movie on the PS2, the
> same way we do on a PC, using Windows Media Player or QuickTime
> Player; or will Sony design their own program that allows us to have
> this advantage.
At the moment, no-one knows for sure. However, if Sony expect PS2's online capabilities to be taken seriously - with all the facilities such as online banking, purchases etc. that they have spoken of, they will need to ensure that it has most or all of the standard features that people expect when on the net.
> Will ADSL owners be able to connect their ADSL cables to the PS2’s
> HDD Broadband connection?
This is largely unknown at the moment. The Ethernet card, as I understand it, is designed for cable modems; how or if this will connect to ADSL I don't know - but that's not to say that it won't.
> The ADSL Company has given users a CD,
> which is used to install the ADSL Internet connection on a PC. Will
> Sony’s Hard Disk Drive allow us to install this software as well as
> on the PlayStation 2?
There's no way your CD-ROM will install on the PS2 - the machine itself is too different, and does not work in the same way as your PC. There may well be a driver disc supplied with the internet unit, but it's more likely that either Sony or the various ISP's will supply their own drivers for the various equipment.
> How will the HDD work on the PS2? Will it
> look similar to ‘Windows’ on a PC or similar to an Apple Macintosh?
>
>Will its interface look like a huge sort of Memory Card screen,
> like on current PS2’s?
At this time, no-one really knows. There will be an official keyboard and mouse available in the near future, so it's likely to be a 'standard' point-and-click interface. Only time will tell, though - there have not yet been any screenshots of the interface, only of the hardware.
Hope this helps.
> what can the HDD do? Sony says that it
> will allow Broadband connection with tremendous speed, but
> unfortunately with a costly price tag along the side.
The HDD and Internet adapter will actually be on sale as two seperate units. The Internet adapter actually contains both a 100Mbit Ethernet card (for connection to the ISP's cable modem hardware), and a 56k analogue modem. It will be on sale in the US at around $40, so it's likely to cost around £40 here.
The actual cost of getting online won't necessarily be high. You will have a choice of connections to use, and the cost of getting connected will depend on which method you choose, and also on whatever deals Sony strike with ISP's around the country.
> will it have similar capabilities as that of a PC?
At the moment, no-one knows exactly what the interface will be like. Sony have struck a deal with AOL in the US to supply services; it is not yet known who they will use in the UK, though they have signed a deal with one cable company - I think it was Telewest - for broadband trials. No doubt more will follow soon.
I believe they've also signed a deal with Netscape to provide browser and/or messenger services. That makes sense, as Netscape are second (possibly) only to Microsoft in the browser department, and of course with the X-Box due, Microsoft will not be supplying any software for PS2 or any other console!
> but what if we wanted to watch streaming videos of in-game footage
> over the Net and how about downloading some in-game pictures? Will
> there be any particular programmes that allow users to ‘right click’
> and ‘save’ and will we be able to open up a movie on the PS2, the
> same way we do on a PC, using Windows Media Player or QuickTime
> Player; or will Sony design their own program that allows us to have
> this advantage.
At the moment, no-one knows for sure. However, if Sony expect PS2's online capabilities to be taken seriously - with all the facilities such as online banking, purchases etc. that they have spoken of, they will need to ensure that it has most or all of the standard features that people expect when on the net.
> Will ADSL owners be able to connect their ADSL cables to the PS2’s
> HDD Broadband connection?
This is largely unknown at the moment. The Ethernet card, as I understand it, is designed for cable modems; how or if this will connect to ADSL I don't know - but that's not to say that it won't.
> The ADSL Company has given users a CD,
> which is used to install the ADSL Internet connection on a PC. Will
> Sony’s Hard Disk Drive allow us to install this software as well as
> on the PlayStation 2?
There's no way your CD-ROM will install on the PS2 - the machine itself is too different, and does not work in the same way as your PC. There may well be a driver disc supplied with the internet unit, but it's more likely that either Sony or the various ISP's will supply their own drivers for the various equipment.
> How will the HDD work on the PS2? Will it
> look similar to ‘Windows’ on a PC or similar to an Apple Macintosh?
>
>Will its interface look like a huge sort of Memory Card screen,
> like on current PS2’s?
At this time, no-one really knows. There will be an official keyboard and mouse available in the near future, so it's likely to be a 'standard' point-and-click interface. Only time will tell, though - there have not yet been any screenshots of the interface, only of the hardware.
Hope this helps.
I have had my PlayStation 2 ever since its UK launch date and since then I have always wondered what its upcoming HDD – Hard Disk Drive would be capable of.
As Sony say, the Future is going to be great for PS2 owners, especially with their HDD soon to be released. My questions are as follows; what can the HDD do? Sony says that it will allow Broadband connection with tremendous speed, but unfortunately with a costly price tag along the side. Other things that worry me about Sony’s new idea of the Hard Disk Drive is…will it have similar capabilities as that of a PC? It may be quite obvious that you cannot run professional programmes as on Windows, but what if we wanted to watch streaming videos of in-game footage over the Net and how about downloading some in-game pictures? Will there be any particular programmes that allow users to ‘right click’ and ‘save’ and will we be able to open up a movie on the PS2, the same way we do on a PC, using Windows Media Player or QuickTime Player; or will Sony design their own program that allows us to have this advantage.
Many people including myself have an ADSL connection to the Internet at home. I have read that Sony are setting up a Broadband connection at the back of the Hard Disk Drive, along with 3RD Party modems at the standard speed of 56K. Will ADSL owners be able to connect their ADSL cables to the PS2’s HDD Broadband connection? The ADSL Company has given users a CD, which is used to install the ADSL Internet connection on a PC. Will Sony’s Hard Disk Drive allow us to install this software as well as on the PlayStation 2?
How will the HDD work on the PS2?
Will it look similar to ‘Windows’ on a PC or similar to an Apple Macintosh?
Will its interface look like a huge sort of Memory Card screen, like on current PS2’s?
Thank you.
PHANTOM
As Sony say, the Future is going to be great for PS2 owners, especially with their HDD soon to be released. My questions are as follows; what can the HDD do? Sony says that it will allow Broadband connection with tremendous speed, but unfortunately with a costly price tag along the side. Other things that worry me about Sony’s new idea of the Hard Disk Drive is…will it have similar capabilities as that of a PC? It may be quite obvious that you cannot run professional programmes as on Windows, but what if we wanted to watch streaming videos of in-game footage over the Net and how about downloading some in-game pictures? Will there be any particular programmes that allow users to ‘right click’ and ‘save’ and will we be able to open up a movie on the PS2, the same way we do on a PC, using Windows Media Player or QuickTime Player; or will Sony design their own program that allows us to have this advantage.
Many people including myself have an ADSL connection to the Internet at home. I have read that Sony are setting up a Broadband connection at the back of the Hard Disk Drive, along with 3RD Party modems at the standard speed of 56K. Will ADSL owners be able to connect their ADSL cables to the PS2’s HDD Broadband connection? The ADSL Company has given users a CD, which is used to install the ADSL Internet connection on a PC. Will Sony’s Hard Disk Drive allow us to install this software as well as on the PlayStation 2?
How will the HDD work on the PS2?
Will it look similar to ‘Windows’ on a PC or similar to an Apple Macintosh?
Will its interface look like a huge sort of Memory Card screen, like on current PS2’s?
Thank you.
PHANTOM