Sony - PlayStation 3 60GB System

By far this is the best bang for your buck as of right now. With a slew of great games getting ready to be released for the PS3 this is an amazing console. Using the PS3's wireless connection option once your online all those worries of lag and troubles goes away. Sony's dedicated servers allow for the best connection possible. Also while navigating through the system Xmedia Bar is just like the PSP and lets newcomers adapt very easily to the main screen. Its processor allows every game played on it to have amazing visuals and an even better experience. If you don't have the PS3 by now then your missing out.

I have played the Wii, the Xbox 360 and I own a Playstation 3. They all have their respective strengths and weaknesses. I honestly can't say that the PS3 is for every single gamer but I believe overall, and taking a long term perspective, it is the best console to buy. This is far from a comprehensive review but hopefully will give some insight into why one should consider purchasing this console. Below I will summarize briefly the PS3's Gameplay, Games, Media Functionality, and Online Capabilities. Gameplay -If you own a HDTV, the environments are immersive and the detail in both textures and characters is impressive. Without a HDTV, the gameplay is still smooth and engaging but may not be worth the investment unless you're planning to get a HDTV in the next few years. Games -Xbox owners will tout a larger selection of solid games and they are probably right for the time being. But in just the next five months, the quality games available for PS3 will increase dramatically. Upcoming pre-holiday titles include Madden 08, Warhawk, Lair, DiRT, Heavenly Sword, skate, Ratchet and Clank Fututre: ToD, Guitar Hero III, Rock Band, Army of Two, Medal of Honor: Airborne, Haze, and many more. Down the road in 2008, PS3 owners get to look forward to a recently delayed (sorry 360 kids) GTAIV, a masterfully rendered Killzone 2, and the most innovative game I'v ever seen: LittleBigPlanet. Media Functionality -Download pictures from your camera, memory card, or computer and show your friends a slide show set to music. Transfer home movies onto your hard drive for instant playback. For you HDTV owners out there, watch Blu-ray movies you rent from Blockbuster in the highest resolution video and with the best sound available. Connect your pc to your PS3 through your wireless router using the DLN media sharing capabilities to view any pictures or videos without even transferring them to your PS3 hard drive. Xbox 360 has a similar DLN transfer capability but lacks the aforementioned built-in high definition DVD player. Online Capabilites -Connect to and browse the internet via wireless or ethernet cable. Update your console with the latest firmware improvements from Sony. Visit the online Playstation Store to download upcoming movie and game trailers in standard or high definition. Download games and playable demos. Come October 4th, download Playstation Home and begin to interact with other PS3 owners around the world in a 3D living community. Xbox Live has the better online user interface for now, but in the long run, the immersive, living experience offered by the PS3 will be the better of the two. While I have not made all that much mention on the Wii, I will give it its due. It is fun. Although light on graphics and other media center functionality, the appeal to the casual gamer, engaging gameplay, and small price tag make it popular. If game makers can continue to think of new ways to swing around the wiimote, then the wii will not easily lose its appeal. However, the price tag for the PS3 doubles because you get much more out of it. I recommend purchasing one over the other two consoles if you are looking for the complete console experience.

To all the people who are deciding whether or not to get a Playstation 3, this is for you. The Playstation 3 is designed for now and the upcoming future. No other console is designed so future proof like Sony's. I will explain to you why the Playstation 3 is a console worth buying and keeping for so many years to come. Stop listening to negative publicity. Pricing: $500 for 80 gb or 60 gb, $400 for the new 40gb With the Playstation 3 you are not only getting a console, but also the newest format of dvd's on the market today. Sony is brilliant and I will tell you why. Sony's the first console to bring the Blu-Ray format along with it's sytem. Xbox 360 and Wii both don't have that and say it is not necessary. I'm not going to lie, it's not necessary right now but we all know that we will all buy a HD player in the future and Sony already knows that and that's why they built their system already including a Blu-Ray player. Think about these things and think honestly to yourself why this console is a steal for such a low price, also think from the points I'm going to make why this system is worth every dime. -Blu-Ray Player: Xbox 360 and Wii both don't have this. You will want an HD player in the future so you just saved yourself some money already. $180 extra if you want it for the Xbox 360, and it creates clutter since it is not built in. By the way ther Playstation 3 is the only system to upconvert your Dvd's and yes it actually does look better. -Wireless networking: Who wants cords going across rooms when it's not necessary and just a big mess. Wii has this built in but microsoft charges $100 for this so think about it. -Bluetooth: Every console offers this and it's wonderful not to have cords in the way anymore. -HDMI: Sony's the first console to bring an hdmi port to it's sytem. This is what brings the best sound and picture possible in today's standards. Wii does not offer this and does need this. Microsoft said that this is not necessary but added one to the elite for some reason and said this is to bring new possibilities to xbox 360 owners. Sony's is future proofing their system. -1080 P: First console to bring 1080P picture capabilities through an HDMI port. 1080P becoming a standard for games is years down the road but guess what, sony's already prepared for it from the very start. -Price: If everyone was honest and stopped hating sony they would realize how cheap this console is and the lifespan of this thing. What if sony promises you ten years of games and service, would you buy one? That is what this sytem is desinged for. The first xbox lasted for a good 3 years, what a waste of money. Ps2 lasted for 7 good years, worth every penny. Xbox 360 33% failure rate of it's consoles, redicilous. Playstation 3 is far less than 1%. If xbox 360 even only lasts for 5 years, you lost your money compared to the Playstation 3 Overall: Sony will dominate and everyone will see the power of the Playstation 3. I'm not negative towards Xbox 360 but follow the facts and you will see what I see. The games are great no lie, but the system is flawed. Playstation 3 will wow gamers in 2008 with and endless lineup of quality A titles and then we will all be saying I guess I was wrong about the Playstation 3. It is a must have console. Do your own research and see what you come up with.

When People see this system they all look at the price tag and that is the key factor as to why people have been reluctant to buy one. The other systems such as the Wii and Xbox 360 are cheaper but come with less. Don’t get me wrong those systems are good too but heres why I recommend the PS3 over the others. Like I said its one hefty price tag but you get the Wi-Fi and the DVD player. The Nintendo Wii has Wi-Fi but lacks the DVD playback and for the 360, you need to buy those separate. Factor that in and your $450 Xbox will come to be over $700. I like to have all my stuff neatly packed into one area so this eliminates the need for cords and additional equipment if I want to watch movies or play online. Plus with the 360 you have to pay a fee to play online. From what I’ve come to realize is more money doesn’t equal quality, and yes I know that statement works against the PS3. But what I’m trying to say is despite the fact PS3 Online is free, I’ve had less dropped games on it than on Xbox Live. So far the graphics haven’t been mind blowing as we have been lead to believe, but that will change in the next year maybe two. Compare the first Playstation game to the last Playstation game, compare the first PS2 game to the last PS2 games. Sony has a history of getting the best out of the system and this wont be different. The PS3 is off to a slow start in many departments but its all but guaranteed to change for the better. The PS3 is durable, sure you cant throw it off a building but you can forget to leave it on for a day or two without it ruining the system, not recommended but it last longer than the 360. However when it comes to games the PS3 is behind the 360. The 360 does have better games at this moment but unfortunately they are for the most part FPS, which is first person shooter just in case you don’t know. FPS are fun but most people like a variety, that’s where the PS3 has an edge, but you’ll have to wait for 2008 for the PS3 exclusives to hit shelves. I know this has mostly been about the PS3 vs 360 so lets get over to the Wii. Its fun, cheap, compact, and unique. By far if you want to have fun with your friends then the Wii is the best. I hope you have enough space because there are no online Wii games to be found. I’m sure that will change but as of this moment, no. Theres the reason the Wii is going to out sell the 360 by the end of the year and its because its affordable and fun, I’m not going to lie. The Wii is flawless in many aspects, its not nearly as powerful as the other systems but it makes up for that. The main reason I like the PS3 over the Wii is the fact that it doesn’t have enough games geared for an older audience. It has Resident Evil, but you can get that on the other systems too. I didn’t spend much time on Nintendo and that’s because theres nothing really wrong with it, but the future of gaming is online and that’s where it falls short. I’m not trying to bash any system I’m just mentioning pros and cons in all of them. Each system has its strengths and I liked what the PS3 had to offer and that’s the reason it’s the one I play the most out of the three, Wii second and 360 third. Heres my final thoughts, if youre a one trick dog and only play FPS then go get the Xbox 360, if you want to have fun with friends and get a work out then get the Wii, but if you want an all in one system then get the PS3.

To make a decision among the next generation consoles, I feel that it is important to try them all three to provide an informed recommendation. In my case I am lucky to say that I currently own the Nintendo Wii, the Xbox 360, and the Playstation 3, therefore I feel that I can provide an unbiased opinion on this review. Don’t get me wrong, both the 360 and the Wii are awesome consoles, which I play regularly as well, but in my opinion the Wii focuses more on younger kids, while the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3’s target is more for hardcore gamers, however you will be able to find all kinds of games for all three consoles. If you want a short answer, then it would be that I would definitely recommend the Playstation 3 gaming console to anyone who loves and enjoys videogames. If you want to know the reasons why please read along. The Playstation 3 is a beautiful piece of equipment and very well designed, and one advantage it has over the Xbox 360 is that the failure rate has been extremely low in comparison. This is important to me because I don’t have to worry about that my console would constantly overheat or get the unpopular “ring of death” of the Xbox 360. In terms of reliability and performance I have to declare the Playstation 3 the winner in this category. In terms of graphics, both the 360 and the PS3 have better graphics than the Wii, although in my opinion the PS3 has a slight advantage over the 360. The six-axis controller used by the PS3 provides the availability to play games using the successful format of the Playstation 2 and similar to the Xbox 360, while also providing the motion sensing capability (similar to the Nintendo Wii, although in my opinion the Wii’s motion is a bit better). The only thing that I miss on the PS3 controller is the rumble functionality (for vibrating effects), although there are many rumors going around that it will be brought back in the next couple of months. You can play online on the Playstation 3, visit the Playstation Store and download free demos, videos, and other cool stuff. I have to admit that the online capability of the Xbox 360 is better when compared to the PS3, but Sony is doing a great job in improving it and the great thing is that you can do all this at no extra charge, which will cost you about $50 a year with the Xbox 360. Also, the PS3 can connect to your network wirelessly, thanks to the integrated Wi-Fi, which is not present in the Xbox 360. In terms of number of games, you will see that the Xbox 360 has more games in the market, but you have to remember that it launched over a year before, therefore it is normal that the Xbox 360 will have more options at this time. In regards to new games, you will see that both consoles are releasing a similar amount of games. Also the PS3 comes with Blu-Ray, which is currently the leader in High Definition movies, which if you were to buy a separate Blu-Ray player, it would cost you at least $500 more, therefore the PS3 would be a great value because you are getting both a gaming console and a high definition player for under the price of one. Although it may seem that the PS3 is more expensive than the Xbox 360, it really isn’t since you have to calculate all it includes: No fee for online gaming (a $50 savings per year, so $100 in two, $150 in three years, etc.); also no need to buy a separate charge kit for the wireless controller (a $20 savings); if you like watching movies in high definition, the Xbox 360 HD-DVD Player will cost an extra $179; if you need to connect your console wirelessly to play online you do not need to buy a wireless adapter($100 savings). If I have to choose one console between all three, considering everything, my choice would be the Playstation 3, and if I had to pick two, then my second option would be the Xbox 360, and then leaving the Wii as my final choice. All three consoles are great, it all depends on the kind of gamer you are.

I bought the PS3 back in March and have been thoroughly enjoying my experience with the device so far. First of all I enjoy high end Audio/Visual stuff (I have a Samsung LN-T5281F, Tivo Series 3, Denon 3808ci and Definitive surround sound speakers and super cube sub) and bought this primarily for the Blu Ray feature. I am a casual gamer in that I enjoy gaming, but don't have a lot of time to be able to play as much as I would like. The Blu Ray feature on the PS3 alone makes it worth the money. I firmly believe that with the studio backing and install base of Blu Ray devices (6:1 vs HD DVD), and current sales of Blu Ray movies (3:1 vs HD DVD) Blu Ray will be the eventual winner of the format war. The fact that the PS3 is basically a computer allows it to have almost limitless firmware upgrades so that you help to future proof yourself, rather than with most stand alone players that will be obsolete in 6 months. An example of this is that the PS3 did not have the ability to output film in 24 FPS (which is the format most movies fil their movies in), but a recent firmware download updated it so now it does along with XVYCC wide color gamut. This helps to ensure that even if the tecnology is not available now, Sony will make sure you have it when it is available for FREE. The one area I would like SOny to work on is that you cannot output Dolby True HD in bitstream format yet, and nothing on DTS HD. To take full advantage of the decoding capabilities of my Denon 3808ci. HURRY UP SONY! Gaming experience on this has been fun, especially playing Resistance:Fall of Man eventhough I am mediocre at the game itself. Graphics are awesome, and you can download free demos to make sure you want to buy a game or you can just play one level to kill 30 mins. I am awaiting a time when you can download 1080P movies from the Playstation Store which I hope comes soon, but even if I cannot, I can log onto the web from my PS3 and download movies I have earned by being a Netflix member, though these are in DVD quality. The other great thing about the Playstation Network functionality is it is FREE vs Xbox Live which you have to subscribe to. A little mad that PS3 games seem to come out after 360 games, but can deal with it. Looking forward to Assassins Creed, Haze, COD 4, The Orange Box, Metal Gear Solid 4, Killzone 2, College Hoops 2K8 and Tome CLancys End War. Also if you are into Second Life type interactive experiences Sony has "Home" coming in October which looks neat, but holds little interest to me personally except for the casual games and movie trailers they are supposed to offer. Overall the quality build of the Sony is excellent and I hope they can make more A/V firmware updates available in the future. I have yet to experience a "freezing" of my device, even minorly, nd I hear that is a major issue with the 360. I would also recommend getting the one with the smallest hard drive you can find and you can upgrade the haerd drive with a Sea Gate laptop drive for much more bang for your buck in storage capacity vs cost. Go out and get yourself one and you won't be disappointed.

First I do like video games, sport ones. My main interest in this unit was for home entertainment. The blu ray player in this is excellent. When you consider the price of a regular blu ray player this is well worth the price, plus now you can play some games if needed. There are a couple of things to consider first: 1. if you don't have or are not considering buying an HD tv of 720 or 1080 than you don't need to buy this. You would be wasting your money. 2. If you have the HD tv than don't short change yourself with a s-video cable. Get the HDMI cable or Component Video Cable for the true HD image that you bought the system for. 3. Blu ray is support by 6 of the 8 major studios and HD DVD isn't. Paramount just signed for two years with HD DVD but if your a Speilberg fan he already said his movies would be released on Blu ray. The movies and sound are just plain spectacular. If your into the extra's that a DVD gives you, you will love this. 4.As I said the only games I enjoy playing are sports. Madden 08 is wonderful to play on this. As anyone will say Madden football is top of the line when it comes to football. 5. I haven't tried the on-line gaming yet so no real comment about that yet. 6.I have high speed cable interenet with a wireless router, when hooking up playstation you can have it be WI/FI. This is something I would recommend for updating software in the unit. It only took 1 minute to detect the wireless connection and search for an update and download it. It worked fine. 6. Your old DVD's not only work fine in this unit but will be upconverted and look even better than they do on your old DVD player. As for home made movies that you have put on some DVD's at home they work and look great on it. 7.It does have 60GB so if you want to store some pictures, songs, movies, etc... you have the room to do it (personal if you have a computer I would store them there and not on the PS3.) You can get you files from a computer to a memory card or a flash drive and show them on the TV with the PS3. 8. A couple of quick things to keep in mind if you do buy the PS3. Buy another controler so that two people can play games together. Also if you plan on using it for movies a lot (something that I'm going to do) than save yourself some aggravation and buy the remote control. Its blue tooth and works great and is a lot easier to navagate for movies than the game controler. As I say the PS3 is a great home entertainment unit and worth the price considering everything it does. But please if you do get one and wish to enjoy the beauty of HD movies and gaming get the right cables and have an HD TV otherwise you might as well just get a PS2 and a regular DVD player.

Trade in was so easy, no haggling over a scratch after 7 years of use...no need for controllers or cables either. I will always trade systems to Best Buy from now on!