Christmas Day Advice

mda1974

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Hello

There is going to be a shiny new PS4 under our tree this Christmas and I want to avoid any unnecessary problems.
I'm assuming there won't be a hdmi cable in the box which isn't a problem as it will be replacing our existing bluray player but does the controller come charged up? If not, how long do they take to charge.
Is there likely to be a huge update it will have to download before it can be used?

My daughter is going to want to play Disney Infinity as soon as she sees it so want to make sure it's up and running asap.

Thanks
 
Hello

There is going to be a shiny new PS4 under our tree this Christmas and I want to avoid any unnecessary problems.
I'm assuming there won't be a hdmi cable in the box which isn't a problem as it will be replacing our existing bluray player but does the controller come charged up? If not, how long do they take to charge.
Is there likely to be a huge update it will have to download before it can be used?

My daughter is going to want to play Disney Infinity as soon as she sees it so want to make sure it's up and running asap.

Thanks
Why not open it carefully and test it so to speak ;)
 
Most consoles these days seem to want to do a massive update when you first turn it on, plus the games have updates too.

If you can I'd set it up before hand. I'd say a HDMI cable would be in the box.
 
I just bought a PS4 yesterday, it was the Star Wars Limited Edition 1TB model, so I don't know if it's particular to that bundle, but there was an HDMI cable in the box, but it didn't look all that long, I've not unwound it, so couldn't tell you the exact length.

The controller worked, so but the battery indicator on screen was showing about a third full. I think the manual said 2 or 3 hours to fully charge. I was only skimming through, so that could well be wrong :)

There was an update, but it downloaded it while I was setting up my PSN profile, which didn't take long, I've got 80mb Fibre so that needs to be taken into account. Didn't notice any indication of how big the update was.
 
There is an HDMI in it. It's about 3 ft iirc. I would definitely open it up and install the game and updates before you put it under the tree. It takes at least a half hour on first boot up to get a game up and running. More if you're not tech savvy. And you can charge the controller to full (it should be precharged a bit but even if not you can play it while it's charging via any mini usb cable in your house.
 
I just bought a PS4 yesterday, it was the Star Wars Limited Edition 1TB model, so I don't know if it's particular to that bundle, but there was an HDMI cable in the box, but it didn't look all that long, I've not unwound it, so couldn't tell you the exact length.

The controller worked, so but the battery indicator on screen was showing about a third full. I think the manual said 2 or 3 hours to fully charge. I was only skimming through, so that could well be wrong :)

There was an update, but it downloaded it while I was setting up my PSN profile, which didn't take long, I've got 80mb Fibre so that needs to be taken into account. Didn't notice any indication of how big the update was.


Thanks, it's actually the Disney Infinity bundle I've bought.
Do you have to pay for PSN & what do you actually need it for?
 
PSN is basically a shop, so you don't have to pay for it. They do have free stuff on there like game demos, themes and stuff.

If you want to do any sort of multiplayer gaming, you need Playstation Plus, which you do have to pay for.
 
If it was me, I would:
- test the setup the PS4 in advance,
- consider leaving power cords, etc in place for Christmas morning set up
- setting up the relevant accounts on the system
- download the updates
- buy and activate PS+, install free games
- install Disney Infinity (disk based games install to the HDD) and have it download any patches

And then put it all back in the box.

This ensures that:
1. There are no disappointments and delays on Christmas day; and
2. You are not trying to do any of these things whilst half cut
 
With my lauch PS4 I got a HDMI cable in the box. Don't see why the newer ones would be without though. I don't recall the controllers coming charged though and the usb cable in the box is a tad on the short side. Depending on how far away the console is from the seating position you might need to buy a longer one.

A longer USB cable could be a wise investment though as in all honesty they battery on the Dualshock 4 is a bit short. It doesn't take long to charge up but mine is nearly always connected via USB due to battery life.

There will most likley be patches and updates. Some of them have been quite big too so depending on your broadband connection it could be a long process.

As others have said I personally would connect it up and sort out the updates etc before xmas day. I bought myself an xbox one last year for xmas and by the time I had downloaded all the updates and patches (both console and games) it was late afternoon before I managed to play anything!
 
I will say that setting up my PS4 for was a lot quicker than my One.
 
If it was me, I would:
- test the setup the PS4 in advance,
- consider leaving power cords, etc in place for Christmas morning set up
- setting up the relevant accounts on the system
- download the updates
- buy and activate PS+, install free games
- install Disney Infinity (disk based games install to the HDD) and have it download any patches

And then put it all back in the box.

This ensures that:
1. There are no disappointments and delays on Christmas day; and
2. You are not trying to do any of these things whilst half cut

This is all good advice, but your daughter may want to choose her own PSN-ID, unless she already has an account on PS3, in which case she can use the same one. You cannot change the PSN account name once it has been created, and you will require a valid email address.

You can do all the above preperations by setting up any old account, even creating one for yourself, but if you choose to do this DO NOT redeem any PSN codes, as these are account-specific.

But yes, for instant action on day-1, including multiplayer, you'll need to allow the PS4 to download the latest update. Or you can use a PC to download it to a USB stick to save time then.
The USB stick needs to be formatted to FAT or FAT32 (99.9% are already formatted in this way out of the packet anyway). The update file needs to be placed in the following directory position (all capitals):
PS4 > UPDATE

Use the link below to download the firmware update to a USB stick:
PS4 System Software

Controllers take about 40 minutes to 1 hour to fully charge via the PS4's USB ports, but can be used to play even with the charging cable attatched whilst it is charging.

Please come back here if you have any other questions, or need clarification on anything we have mentioned so far.
 
Take it back and cancel christmas:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::thumbsup:
Only joking good luck with updates.
 
Oh, and bear in mind that last Christmas was the Lizard dicks DDOS attack, PSN was down for half of Christmas Day through to the 27th. If you've done the prep in advance a similar event would be irrelevant because everything would be set up.
 
Is it really for your daughter?;)
 
Advice from bitter experience.

If you can open it up and test/update any software before the day. Waiting to the big day when thousands of people plug their consoles in for the first time and try to update at the same time can be painful.

Especially if you have children demanding to play.

Got stug like this with the WII. It started update, took almost all day, displaying a warning not to power off. All the time my son was saying "is it ready yet".

Cheers,

Nigel
 
I remember getting computers for Christmases - a c16 and a NES - and both times Father Christmas had set them up and left them on the start screen of the game - gave a good wow factor to opening the room door :) and was a good smoke test for the above mentioned issues.
 
Christmas day advice:

Cook the turkey overnight, use goose fat on your roast potatoes and open the windows if you've had sprouts.
 
Is it really for your daughter?;)

It's a "family" present.
My daughter was desperate to play Inside Out but we only have a Wii and the new Apple TV. Disney infinity is available for Apple TV but the base station is only available in America and she won't get the full experience without it.
I saw that there was a ps4 which came bundled with it so decided to take the plunge.

I got what I think was a good deal as it also came with a copy of the Uncharted Collection.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited about it too. The last console I had was a ps2 as never had any time to play games when she was younger so never upgraded.
 
Some good advice here from everyone. I would definitely test the ps4 to make sure it's all ok and charge the controller. It will save save floods of tears on Xmas day should there be an issue.
Download the updates and there will be some because I picked my ps4 Star Wars Limited edition up last week and it did a massive update when I set it up.
There was a short HDMI cable in the box so I would advise jumping on to Amazon and pulling the trigger on of their own branded gold cables that are longer for just three or four quid.
It's always good to make sure that everything is perfect for Xmas day. I am sure that you would rather be eating your Xmas turkey than wearing it
 
To be fair, if the PS is just going directly under the TV then the provided HDMI is long enough.
 
Thanks for all the advice.
I think you all just confirmed what I already thought.
HDMI cable won't be an issue as I'll be taking out the existing bluray player so I'm just going to use that.
Nice that one is actually include.
 
Welcome to the world of the Sexiest EVER gadget - PS4.Hopefully you'll have no problems on Christmas morning
 
Last thing you want on Xmas Day morning is the kids not being able to play on their new PS4 because it needs to download/install updates etc. Millions of kids will be going online that morning to do the same. A few years ago we Santa bought our little boy a Wii which came with a Mario game included in the box. When he opened his present we discovered that the game disc was missing, he was distraught. Thankfully a relative had bought him another game so they came round to visit us to give it him.

Personally I would be...

1) Setting up the new PS4 to check all cables are there, and that it works correctly.
2) Download/install any PS4 updates needed.
2) Create any Playstation Network accounts so they can log in and go online straight away on Xmas Day morning (unless they want to choose their own PNS usernames).
3) Load up any game discs that Santa is giving the kids so that any game updates can be downloaded/installed.
4) Fully charge up the controllers.

This way the PS4 will be ready to play straight out of the box.
 
Enjoy you new boys toy on Christmas morning.I'll be returning to PSN Christmas morning on a new account when the Sony website finally sorts itself out to create a new account.2016 getting Mafia III U4 Tom Clancy's the Division.FPS i've permanently moved on with as the Campers / Camping did my head in.No problem i'll probably add you Christmas morning when i renew my PlayStation Plus. See you online.
 

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