I've been kicking the tires and debating which high end game platform to purchase for the last two years or longer since both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 hit the market.
I jumped on the Nintendo Wii bandwagon the day it launched as I'm a huge fan of the Legend of Zelda series and this was a must have for me. I have been playing most games on it such as the Guitar Hero and Rock Band series as well as the Mario titles however I get bored of most of the games pretty easily. There have been many times over the last two years that I filled a cart with the 'starter' pieces of both systems, and deleted the cart instead of pushing the button.
In the end, I chose the PS3 for the following reasons:
1) More of my friends that had both systems were buying games now for the PS3 when the titles were on both PS3/Xbox
2) For the $349 price Point I get both online game play and wireless networking included in the game vs. an additional $150 at purchase and $50 a year afterwords
3) Bluray Movie Playing.
Having got four titles with the purchase as part of my order I am very happy with my purchase. I got 'kid friendly' games such as Little big Planet and Ratchet and Clank as well as some of the more mature titles of Call of Duty: MW2 and Borderlands.
My only complaint is there is no mention that the HDMI requires some kind of copy protection crap to work. If your TV is High Definition this doesn't guarantee it will work. I've got a 2001 57" CRT Projection HDTV that does up to 1080i and has a DVI port. I've been using my satellite DVR and other devices switched through an Outlaw 990 Pre-Amp for years with on issues. The PS3 fired up and gave me a nice big black screen with no error messages or anything. It took me an hour of troubleshooting and web surfing to figure out that my TV doesn't have this HDCP copy protection junk so it won't work with my PS3. Being one to understand digital rights protection concerns at the same time this is stupid and it should at least give you a message out that port to the display what is going on. no picture isn't enough.
Other than this I had no issues getting the unit up & running on the PSN and playing some games locally and online using my wireless network.
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buy it. It has an internal blu ray player. The playstation network has tons of games and movies, with 250 gb of space you will have a hard time filling it up.
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I originally wrote a review on the original 60 gb PS3 right after it launched in November, 2006. Like the original 60 gb the new PS3 slim 250 gb is almost as good once you get past its few flaws. The new Playstation 3 has the same specifications as the previous models, but it's 32% smaller, 36% lighter and 33% more energy-efficient than the regular Playstation 3. It sports a slightly different look and the touch buttons are now replaced with real buttons. I have to say the SONY Playstation 3 is one amazing system. With a 250 gb hard drive you will have plenty of memory to download a ton of stuff. One of the most welcome features is the PS3 Slims ability to bit stream both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. As for the games we are finally starting to see the true potential of this amazing system. You get an amazing blu-ray player that is future proof thanks to the system being able to receive firmware updates via the web. If you have a 1080p HDTV you will be amazed at the picture quality which is up to six times more detailed than DVD. You also get theater quality sound and picture that DVD, cable, satellite HD, and even apple TV just can't touch because of their bandwidth limitations. If you have standard DVDs the PS3 upscales them to 1080p which brings all your DVDs to life. Don't expect blu-ray quality from watching DVDs, but do expect them to look much better and sharper because they are being upscaled to look better on your HDTV. I like the fact that the system has online connectivity and that it also has a built in browser should you just want to surf the internet. Most of all I like the fact that you get built in wi-fi. if you all ready have internet access you just have to set this up with your wi-fi router, or if your lucky enough you might be able to pick up free wi-fi if you don't have internet access. You can download your favorite music/videos to the ps3 hard drive and if available online it will display the artist names and songs. You can even connect a USB keyboard (along with almost any type of USB device) to make surfing the internet faster and more enjoyable. With the recently launched Playstation Store you can play demos, download classic PS1 and PS2 (and some new PS3 games) games, get wallpapers, and watch blu-ray and new movie trailers. With the new virtual world Home you can create a virtual character and explore the virtual world. If your friends have a PS3 you can meet them in home and Play virtual Pool, bowling, or invite them in to a PS3 game to play with you. You can rent movies (some in HD) from an always growing catalog and purchase many of them. The things that this new PS3 lacks from the original 60 gb model is SACD support, it only has 2 USB vs. the 4 on the original. The top left part of this PS3 doesn't open up like the old one because this one lacks the memory card slots. The good thing is that this PS3 is so much quieter and takes up less space than my original 60 gb because it uses a smaller chip which now makes it use less electricity. That was my biggest annoyance with the original PS3 was that it got a bit loud sometimes when watching movies or playing games which I felt a bit distracting. This new model is as quit as a mouse. The PS3 does everything. It plays CDs, DVDs, and, blu-ray discs. You get video chat, an internet browser, digital photo viewing, Playstation store movie rental (and video game) and purchases, and now Netflix streaming. The PS3 will likely be your home entertainment centerpiece. I have to say I am very happy with giving the Playstation 3 a chance and I highly recommend it for anyone who appreciates a great game system with some awesome entertainment features. With the new PS3 slim and a long overdue price cut SONY is back in the game, and with new games like Uncharted 2 and may other exclusives this is going to be the start of the new Playstation revolution. This system may be lacking some of the original PS3 60 gb features, but it is still one awesome entertainment powerhouse that I highly recommend!
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So about a year ago my girlfriend who I lived with bought the metal gear solid bundle with the 80gb ps3, long story short we broke up over the summer and she kept the ps3. Up until recently I have been without one and have missed it dearly until yesterday...the target where I work discontinued the 250gb ps3's and I purchased mine for 235$. All I can say is that this new slim system is so much nicer than the old ps3's. While it may not have backwards compatibility it does have over three times the hard drive and runs way more quiet. I would recommend this system to anyone and if I still hadn't purchased a ps3 by the time that Gran Turismo 5 comes out in March I would've gladly paid full price for one of these. While I still miss the ex as well as all the memory stored on the old playstation I couldn't be more happy with my new playstation 3...seriously...buy one.
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I purchased this unit (recomended by a Netflix customer service representative), for the express use in downloading instant play movies from the Netflix libaray of movies and broadcast TV series. I was impressed that a novice like me could connect the PS3 to a router for the internet connection, perform the firmware updates, access the Netflix movie library and select about 100 movies and TV program series such as: Have Gun will Travel, Gunsmoke, DEXTER (my favorite), Lonesome Dove (the best western mini-series ever), and movies that go back to the 1930's. I do not use this system to play games but I assume if it performs half as well as it does using Netflix, it must be great. The only con I have found is that when you download a movie from the instant play library and you finish viewing it and you want to watch another selection, you have to go through the entire opening process which takes approx. 2-3 minutes to complete before you can select another movie to watch. There is probably a way around having to do this however, as I said earlier "I am a novice" and have not come far enought up the learning curve to avoid the restart process...JG
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I bought this gift for my husband. We can't beleive how clear the graphics are in the games. We have also used it to watch a Blue Ray movie and it was very crisp and clear. The controllers have to be charged, but the good thing is the charge last for hours and hours. You can also play with the controllers plugged in.
Great buy!
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I recently had a problem with my 60GB model, it got the YLOD. To make a long story short, after several times I tired to fix it, it still died on me, so I decided to buy a slim version. I had to buy the 250GB model because there wren't any 120GB left. Had to shell out a few extra bucks but let me tell you it is worth it.
A lot of the space on the hard drive is used up for system software and such, so the 120 gig would probably have less than 100, and since I have a lot of pictures and videos, not worrying about deleting so often is very nice. Also the biggest issue with this model seems to be the lack of card reader and backward compatibility. I do miss the last one but I still have my PS2, and honestly the card reader is no problem, since you can still use the USB the same way, and even some cards come with a USB adapter, so for me it is no problem.
On to the "specs", since this processor is smaller, it generates less heat, which makes YLOD less likely, and for those of you who care about the environment, 30% less power consumption is a small weight off our backs. Also, when viewing movies, the quieter fan is also a nice thing (not that the other was that much disturbing or anything.)
To sum up, this model works for me, but read more and make an informed decision.
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I've had a 360 for quite some time and the hard drives are too expensive for it and most of the games i wanted for my 360 are also on the PS3 so i figured why not get a PS3 also, and plus now i can get all those awesome exclusives that i could only dream about while i only had my 360. Overall i am very satisfied with my purchase and i think the pricing is very reasonable. And i can do all the same things as i could on the 360 and i dont have to have a subscription to play on the internet.
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Its a grate system over all, very powerful grate source for media content and much more. Games are top notch, visuals are stunning and sound quality is excellent, a must buy for any gamer. Works best with 720 or 1080p TVs.
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i could not find this playstation 3 slim in any stores. the closest one was in atlanta, ga. i found it on amazon.com for the same price asa stores. but the greatest thing was i got it shipped overnight for around 7.00 and it came the very next day. will purchase again from amazon.com. thanks alot amazon.com
beverly, westminster,scPlayStation 3 250 GB
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My bonus came in. Just enough to buy either an xbox elite or a playstation 3 slim. choices are very good as long as you do your research. I combed the web on both machines and the Red Ring of Death (RROD) and noise and heat complaints and comments can be found by multiple reviewers ON THE XBOX 360 in general.
So, I decided to check this out myself with a visit to the local Gamestop store to see and hear both machines side by side. Sure enough, there was the XBOX in it's stand sounding like a jet engine even in it's plastic see through enclosure and then I looked over at the PS3 sitting on it's stand perfectly quiet but still running a beautiful demo, everything about it said "quality" from it's beautiful finish and straight tight and perfectly fitted buttons, edges and tastefully contrasting smooth shinny surfaces and matt black case, tiny sharp lights indicating she was running and all was well and will remain so. The PS3 is a work of art in technology and fit and finish and quality. The poor xbox 360 looked positively stone age compared to this latest generation.
So, before deciding on playstation I remembered some words of advice, buy the maching based on it's games and not technology and I remembered how IBM and OS/2 were the better technical combination rather than Microsoft and their Windows product but anyone buying OS/2 soon found themselves without the best software. So checked out the games for each machine...Xbox had the most but PS3 had the best made for PS3 games and quality is better than quantity so I then had one more decision to make, 120 gig PS3 or 250 gig for only $49.95 more?
Then I remembered another lesson I learned in the past, one can never had too much disk space and for fifty bucks more I more than double the space and double the future fun...it's a bargain, the 250 gig PS3 is the real bargain.
Now please excuse me while I get back to saving the universe in the incredible gameplay and larger than life galaxy of "Ratchet and Clank, Tools of Destruction " a made for PS3 game that clearly needs a blu ray disc to hold this matching work of art.
My apologies to Xbox owners.
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I gave this to my grandson for Christmas.He and his family plus all his friends love it.
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Can't keep the kids away! Forget the Blue Ray, the upconvert make the regular DVD's look just as good! Can't wait til the network allows for the recent games to be downloaded.
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My husband loves ps3. He plays "call on duty" almost everyday. It helps release his stress from work.
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My main goal was to use it as a network media player with my Synology NAS and Windows Media Player. It's kinda slow and not as smooth continously plays one mpeg segment to another.
It's very good as a game console but there are not enough titles for toddler, look to the Wii instead.
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