PS3 advice needed.
 

My girlfriend wants a blu-ray player and a wdtv player for the bedroom so what I planned on doing was to get a ps3 instead and I have a few questions:-

1 - Is the blu-ray player on the ps3 as good as the stand alone players?

2 - I have a normal hd player and no external speakers so I was wondering does the ps3 downmix the audio out so that it plays out of the two speakers when watching blu-ray (as they must be 7.1 right)?

3 - Erm can they play dvd? (don't shoot me for asking this one I genuinely don't know).

4 - Can you just plug in a hdd and watch your videos from there?

5 - Can the ps3 run xvid avi files (encoded with mp3 sound)?

6 - Are the slims better than the fat ones?

7 - Is the online as good as xbox live?

8 - Are there any similar games to crackdown/prototype?

I've tried to google this just I keep getting different opinions and no confirmed answer so I went into gamestation today and I go a resounding "No" to all of my questions which didn't seem right to me, so im asking you lot as your normally more well informed :D

Thanks

Re: PS3 advice needed.
 

I'll answer what I can but I'm not 100% on all the questions.

1. - In some cases yes, Especially the older model Blu-Ray players. Can always be kept upto date with the firmware updates to.

2. - I dont fully understand the question sorry.

3. - Yes :) and its upscales fairly well to.

4. - I know you can do this with a USB stick but never tried with a HDD. You would be able to copy stuff off onto the PS3 though I think if it didn't.

5. - As far as I'm aware yes. I know it can play xvid Avi files and MP3 audio just not 100% on the exact details. This link might help more http://manuals.playstation.net/docum...filetypes.html

6. - More energy efficent but thats about it tbh. More personal prefrence.

7. - I mostly hear no to this question but that does not mean its bad. Its come a far, far way since launch and I think its great. Still lacking a couple features but they can be patched in with firmware updates in the future. Its also free to so thats a good thing.

8. - I can't think of anything like Crackdown off the top of my head but Infamous was very similair to Prototype but imho(having played both) was 10X better. If you do pick up a PS3 I would say its a must buy.

I'm sure Matt or someone will come along and be able to answer all the questions you've posted and correct anything I've got wrong.

Re: PS3 advice needed.
 

You can use this, handy for ps3 owners, lets you explore your pc from ps3, stream movies etc. ps3 media server will transcode a downloaded HD movie, which are usually in .mkv format and unplayable on ps3. You can even copy the transcoded movie to your ps3 hard drive. Saw this on another forum and I love it :D
http://ps3mediaserver.blogspot.com/

Re: PS3 advice needed.
 

inFamous is certainly a game you'll like if Crackdown and Prototype were games you liked. When you say HDD, do you mean external? If so then yeah as long as it's formatted to the correct type. I'm always using mine and hardly have any problems. I'd also recommend PS3 Media Server. When I first got my PS3, I didn't really like the online but over the last year it has been improving a lot, and it can't be faulted considering it's free.

Re: PS3 advice needed.
 

Erm well I have just a normal hd tv and when i've watched say a mkv through the tv that has 6channel sound (or similar) it sounds awful because of it not being downmixed into 2 channels so basically im asking if blu-rays sound fine if your not using a surround sound speaker system.

Thank you so, so, so much for answering my questions, sounds like the ps3 will be ideal for what I want it for :D

Excellent thank you very much :)

I'll buy inFamous then :D And yeah I meant external as i've a 1tb one full of xvids I have converted from dvd.

Thanks to everyone for the help.


One more question I can buy a 250gb slim for £215 with one game (selected instore game) from a local computer game chain.....is that a decent price?

Re: PS3 advice needed.
 

Ah ok I understand you. Yes Blu-Ray's sound fine through a standard HDTV. Thats how I currently have mine setup and I've never had a problem tbh.

Yes thats not a bad price at all. Depends what you want with it really. I'd always surgest you shop around but if your happy with whats on offer then go for it :)

Great choice :tu: I'm sure you wont regret it. It really is a brilliant game imo.

Re: PS3 advice needed.
 

Thank you such a relief I was expecting to probably have to fork out for a surround sound system I didn't need.

Should have mentioned that it's a pre-owned system but the shop says it's still sealed so basically new :D

I was expecting to probably pay more but i'm happy with that price really and I have my eye on a few games especially inFamous as that looks right up my street and I might pick up fifa for the occasional online play :D

Does the ps3 suffer from anything like the red light of death?

Re: PS3 advice needed.
 

Actually it does - the yellow light of death, but I think that was only on the old fat ps3 so you should be ok.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/...yellow_li.html

Re: PS3 advice needed.
 

There's the Yellow Light of Death which is no where near as common as the RROD is.

Re: PS3 advice needed.
 

There is whats now been dubbed the YLOD(Yellow Light Of Death) It is nowere near the scale of the 360 RROD problems and seems to effect the 60GB's the most from what I've been reading. You should be much safer with a Slim though as they've had much mor time to prefect the tech :)

Looks like I was beat to it by the post's above^^
Do you think they are telling the truth ? If they are then its defo a deal worth going for :)

Re: PS3 advice needed.
 

Nice thanks to everyone

Be off to buy one in the morning now :D

Re: PS3 advice needed.
 

I just wish I could install linux on my slim.

Re: PS3 advice needed.
 

I wouldnt normally take a thread off topic but Hiroki seems to be sorted now :) so a quick question as you mentioned it. What other things can you do with linux installed?

Re: PS3 advice needed.
 

True but its well known how badly that watchdog investigation was. It lacked any perspective at all and was wildly unaccurate. Even slightly underhanded if one of the guys who was featured on it was telling the truth in his blog.

Re: PS3 advice needed.
 

Have a look on the wiki here...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_on_the_PlayStation_3

As I don't have a fat ps3 I've not been able to do it.