May 102013
Sony Playstation 3 Slim 160GB
With the PlayStation 3 160GB system, you get free PlayStation Network membership, built-in Wi-Fi and 160GB of hard disk drive storage for games, music, videos and photos. This system will come with firmware 3.6 or greater. You can easily upgrade to the latest firmware for free, simply by connecting the PS3 to the internet. And every PS3 system comes with a built-in Blu-ray player to give you pristine picture quality and the best high-definition viewing experience available. Whether it’s gaming
List Price: $ 299.99
Price: $ 244.95
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PS3 or Xbox 360, or Wii?,
The PS3 is a great system. Easy to use, futuristic on-screen interface, quality sleek hardware, awesome graphics, lots of benefits. But should you get a PS3 or Xbox 360? And what about the Wii?
Note: I own all three devices, and I appreciate all of them. I don’t have any bias to one system or the other, just my personal experience and opinion…
PS3============================================
What I like MOST about the PS3:
1) Future proof Blu-ray player (Sony updates the player over the Internet for free; it now supports 3D movies/TVs)
2) Clean, more futuristic on-screen interface (feels more mature then Xbox 360)
3) Better/Smoother/Faster graphics (in the 10+ games I own on a 60″ 1080p HDTV)
4) Free online multiplayer gaming (no monthly/yearly fees like Xbox 360; which I hate about Xbox)
5) Watch your online netflix shows on PS3 for free (Xbox requires Xbox live account to use your netflix account; another thing I hate about Xbox)
6) Exterior: More futuristic, luxurious, mature “look”. Looks more like a sleek Home Theater appliance. (Xbox 360 more oriented to youthful crowd; Xbox looks more like an ‘entertainment’ device)
7) Lighter, slimmer, smaller controller. Built-in longer lasting rechargeable battery. (the Xbox controller does not come with a standard rechargeable battery, and it feels heavier and more bloated then the PS3 controller).
8) Built-in wireless connectivity. (an option on the Xbox)
9) Built-in optical/toslink connectivity for home theatre audio connection. (an option on the Xbox)
10) I can use my (or any) wireless blue-tooth cell phone headset for voice/chat enabled games. (The Xbox cannot)
What I like LEAST about the PS3:
1) My first PS3 (the ‘fat’ one) had a disc drive failure after 13 months of ownership; 1 month beyond its warranty. The PS3 still works, I just cant use discs. That means I cant watch blu-ray discs on it and I cant play disc based games on it. I can still play games through the PlayStation store (demos, etc), I still can watch netflix on it, and I still can watch movies from my PCs over the network on it. The fact that my PS3 disc drive died after about 1 year of limited delicate usage really concerns me about the quality of the hardware and customer support/treatment. I paid over $400 for my first PS3, and I used it maybe twice a week. After searching the web about my problem, I found this was a rampant problem with the fat PS3. Did they fix this problem with the slim PS3? Time will tell; I sure hope so. I just wish Sony would have fixed my problem for free (as I feel it was shoddy hardware or poor engineering that resulted in this problem, not me).
2) Games (new and used) are generally more expensive then the Xbox 360.
3) I liked the glossy look of the first generation PS3. The new PS3 slim looks a little flimsier/cheaper. It is smaller though, and that’s a plus.
4) The rechargeable battery in the PS3 controller is not swappable. That means if your controller dies mid-game, you have to plug it in to use it. (The Xbox controller has swappable batteries)
5) When I download a game (full or demo), I can’t play it immediately. After the download (which could take over an hour), I have to install the game (which could take another 10-30+ minutes), at which time my PS3 is unusable until it completes. The Xbox downloads in the background and plays immediately without having to install the game. Also, if I turn off the PS3, the download stops (the Xbox finishes the download even when turned off).
Xbox 360============================================
What I like MOST about the Xbox 360:
1) More people have it. In other words, all my friends, family and coworkers have Xbox 360s. Which also means if I want to play online with them, I have to use my Xbox, which is also a con for me. (I’d rather use my PS3 because of the better graphics and lighter/smaller controller).
2) I can download games, updates and demos in the background, even with the Xbox turned off. So I can start a download and go to bed without leaving the box on all night. (The PS3 cant do this)
3) When I download a game (full or demo), I can play it immediately. On the PS3, you have to download it (which could take over an hour), then install it (which could take another 10-30+ minutes), at which time your PS3 is unusable until it completes.
4) My late generation Xbox elite has lasted longer then my first generation PS3 (surprisingly)
5) It doubles as a Media Center extender. I have a PC that records shows for me in Media Center (like a Tivo but no monthly fees). I can access these shows and watch live TV over the network via my Xbox. This is a VERY cool and under-talked about feature. And most people with a Windows PC can do this; look it up.
6) The console and games (new and used) are cheaper then the PS3.
What I like LEAST about the Xbox…
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|Buy it for Netflix streaming and blu-ray playback, gaming is a bonus!,
I just bought the PS3 slim a week before posting this review and I’m extremely happy with it. To be honest, I’m not a gamer and may never buy a game for the PS3, I bought it strictly for its streaming video and blu-ray playback capabilities, in my opinion it is the best.
My first blu-ray player was an early Panasonic 1.0 blu-ray player, it played blu-rays beautifully, when researching it they said it was almost as good as the PS3, at the time the PS3 was the gold standard. I didn’t buy a PS3 then because of its price and its original bulk, it would not fit in well into my AV setup. Also, you needed a separate remote for blu-ray/DVD playback if you didn’t want to use the controller, the PS3 is not IR capable. I then traded “up” to a Samsung blu-ray player because it offered streaming Netflix capability, I really enjoyed the streaming Netflix, but I noticed that my blu-ray disks didn’t look as good as on my old Panasonic and DVD upscaling on the Samsung blu-ray was no where near as good as my old Panasonic, but I really wanted the Neftlix streaming service so I stuck with it.
Since my initial look at the PS3, a lot has changed, first the new slim model, it fits perfectly in my AV setup. Also, Netflix streaming finally came to the PS3, first via software on a disk, now it is totally integrated into the PS3 OS via a firmware update.
I primarily bought my Samsung blu-ray player for its Netflix streaming capability, but I was getting frustrated with the Netflix interface on the Samsung, you could not search or add movies to your Netflix queue directly from the player, plus loading titles from your queue took almost a minute to launch.
Several friends at work have had the PS3 from its beginning and they were always taunting me when new features arrived to the PS3, when they told me about the new Netflix features available on the PS3 I decided to take the plunge. The PS3 was the first platform to get 5.1 surround sound from Netflix streaming, and to date, the only platform to have full 1080p movies via streaming, plus I can search and add movies to my queue directly from the PS3. Moving through my queue on the PS3 is a breeze, on my Samsung, the interface displayed the movies from right to left and left to right. I currently have over 360 movies in my queue, it can take a long time to maneuver through this many titles going left to right or right to left. On the PS3, the titles are tiled 5 or 6 wide, you can move up, down, left or right, when you finally launch a title it is up and playing within a matter of seconds!
What about blu-ray playback on the PS3 slim? It is awesome (video and audio), as good or better than my old Panasonic player I loved so much! DVD up-scaling is also excellent. The thing that really sold me on the PS3 is Sony’s commitment to continually improve it and keep it current. Firmware updates over the years have kept PS3 up to date in every respect. One of my co-workers bought the original PS3 the day it was released, it is still going strong 5 years later, actually better and has more features than when he bought it!
Last, but not least, the remote control issue. A few years ago I moved to using Harmony remotes to control all my AV equipment. I have a drawer in my coffee table that has 8 different remotes for all my various equipment, on top of my coffee table I have one Harmony remote that controls all of my equipment perfectly. The new PS3 is still not IR capable, but I bought the Harmony PS3 adapter, this is a bluetooth/IR device that accept commands from your Harmony remote to control the PS3, it took about 10 minutes to set up and works perfectly!
Oh yeah, I hear that the PS3 really does play games, maybe one day?
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|Fun for the Whole Family:,
Let me give a little bit of background before diving into a review. When the original NES came out, I was hooked. I didn’t think anything could be better than Super Mario Bros. Then there was the Sega Genesis…and as I entered college, the original Playstation. Wow!
After college I settled down, got married, had children, and stopped playing games for a while. Just 2 years ago I picked up a wii “for the family” and have enjoyed it since. Mario Galaxy 2 looks great and is a great deal of fun to play…and there are other great games on the wii as well. For the record, I’d never played a PS2, PS3 or Xbox.
Don’t get me wrong, the wii is great. There are a number of wii exclusives that I love. But I was still wanting something with some better graphics/games and thus began my research between xbox and ps3. Both are great systems! This was going to be harder than I thought. In the end, I felt like the game selection for the PS3 slightly outweighed that of the xbox for the family. The PS3 has LittleBigPlanet and Ratchet and Clank, as well as Uncharted/Metal Gear/etc. And while the xbox has some great exclusives as well, I was leaning toward the PS3.
When I saw that the PS3 slim increased the hard drive from 120gb to 160gb I finally bit the bullet. I was wanting to get a blu-ray player sometime so I figured I’d just get the ps3. Just set it up last night. Set-up was a breeze and the graphics, wow, they truly are stunning. As I said, the wii is great and I’ll continue to play and enjoy wii-exclusive games, but compared to xbox/ps3 graphics, there really is no comparison. I’m really looking forward to NHL 11 and Gran Turismo 5 (as the wii is lacking in these types of games).
Overall, I’m thrilled with the PS3. I’m looking forward to getting my music and other media files loaded onto it and finally beginning the world of blu-ray movies and advanced gaming. While I do wish I could load files to it from a device formatted to something other than FAT, it’s certainly not a deal-breaker. The PS3 works as it should, set-up is simple, has free online, great exclusive games, and so much more. Whether or not it’s the right choice for you is up for you to decide. The Xbox is also a great system, but I’m happy with my final decision.
Note: Extras you may need:
- Extra controller, PS3 blu-ray remote control, and an hdmi or set of component cables depending on your video capabilities.
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