Customer Reviews

Sony PlayStation 3 (60GB)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When the PS3 MSRP went from CDN$649 to CDN$699 I was appalled.
With the CDN > US exchange rate hovering at around the high 80's and now into the 90's (.95) there's no way in hell anyone could justify a US$599 console selling for $699 CDN when the exchange rate put it at around CDN$637.

Now the disparity is back to the same as it was when it first launched, and that will leave a better taste in everyone's mouth.

You know what the PS3 does - it plays PS3 games. There's already several good titles out like Resistance, F1 2006 and the awesome looking Ninja Gaiden. The PS3 will be around for a long time, even at US$599 it wasn't a crapshoot. There are plenty of exclusives on the horizon from both Sony (who's game development division is bigger than the other two big names combined) and 3rd party developers.

But what else is the PS3 good for? First off the Blu-ray Disc technology. Blu-ray, as can be verified with the weekly online editions of Home Media Magazine, has been outselling it's rival, HD DVD, every week since December 24th, 2006. So far this year it is leading the HD market over HD DVD by 70:30 ratio. Despite launching two months before Blu-ray, HD DVD now trails in overall since inception disc sales by a 40:60 ratio in favour of Blu-ray. With exclusive titles on the horizon like Spider-man 3, Pirates 3, Die Hard 4, Ratatouille, FFSilver Surfer and neutral titles that to date when they are day and date titles like The Departed have sold better on Blu-ray, like Transformers, Shrek 3, Harry Potter 5 and the other HP movies, there should be little doubt in anyone's mind that Blu-ray will be the prevailing format, regardless of which one you think is better.

The PS3 has been reviewed by Sound and Vision Magazine as being one of the top quality Blu-ray players on the market. Add to this that it is capable of processing 2 @ 40 Mbps AVC/MPEG-4 streams at once which makes it compatible with the 10.31.07 Blu-ray 1.1 profile deadline and has an ethernet port which makes it compatible with BD profile 2.0 (BD+) and you have the most complete Blu-ray player on the market. With HDMI 1.3 port and TrueHD decoding built in and DTS-HD Master Audio on the horizon through a firmware upgrade, the PS3 will be able to decode any and all audio streams and output them through HDMI as PCM, so you don't need a fancy HDMI 1.3 receiver to get lossless audio. See who your local Onkyo dealer is in Canada and go and find out how much the 505 receiver is. At 75w/channel and a US price tag of about $200, it's a pretty good deal to get lossless audio, which is featured on all of Sony, Fox and Disney's movies and is now being included on Warner's big titles like the upcoming Blu-ray releases of Batman Begins (PCM and TrueHD) and Troy Director's Cut (TrueHD/PCM) as well as 300, Blood Diamond, The Departed, etc., If you need an HDMI cable you get them from monoprice.com for $6 and you won't be disappointed. HDMI is digital so you don't need to spend $300 on a cable as the performance is the same as the $6 cable.

DVD Upscaling - Firmware update 1.80 for the PS3 added upsclaing of both DVD and PS1 and PS2 games to 1080p. It also defines the image using sharpening. Playing WipEout Fusion from the PS2 line-up of games has never been as much fun and never looked better, although I have to admit I cannot wait for August 2008's WipEout HD from Studio Liverpool. The DVD upscaling passes all HQV benchmark settings including 1:1 pixel mapping at 1080p and deinterlacing. If your set is one of the many that doesn't deinterlace properly, let the PS3 do it for you.

SACD playback - probably one of the least used features, the SACD playback on the PS3 is nothing short of brilliant. Decimating the DSD to PCM at 24/176.4 multi-channel through HDMI it uses the cell processor to acheive the same results as A/V processors costing thousands of dollars. If you want to experience some of your favourite artists in quality far greater than the CD can afford, check out some of the marketplace sellers on Amazon.co.uk - the prices are excellent and I've never had one bad experience. Although it would be great if Sony and Universal started pushing the format again there are still lots of new releases to take advantage of even if you're not into classical music. Dire Straits, Elton John, Bob Dylan, toto, Peter Gabriel, Genesis, the Pixies, Ryan Adams, feeder, Oasis, Sting, Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, to name a few.

Add to this all the freebies you can get through the developing PSN like trailers, downloadable game demos, wireless connections for updates, USB and SD interfaces and the fact that it's a pretty slick loking unit anyway and the PS3 is an absolute steal for what you're buying. It's almost like you get a PS3 for free for the technology involved.

Yes, I bought one from Amazon.ca!

If you want anything bad, then yes, there's not too many games out already. (Hey, new console, let them come out like any new consoles : )

I also played a few race demo that didn't work with my PS2 logitech steering wheel (steering and pedals worked, but no force feedback) Heard some games force feedback do work, guess I was not lucky.

And my biggest pet peeve, no HDMI cable! Cmon Sony, this thing can drive 720p, 1080i, 1080p, and I would use it only on my 25 years old tv set at 480i????. At least, it's standard HDMI, so any cable will do. (And you can pick any lenght you need, which sometime help).

And last, hate the format of the box, but at least, it's black. Make it square so I can stack it with my other home theater equipment. (But hey, ALL the game consoles are really bad. But the playstation is so much home entertainment, wish I could have stacked it neatly with my PVR, DVR, and other toys...)

Now, on the good side. Worked flawlessly since I got it. Cannot hear it. (Heck, if you want to use it as a home entertainement unit, you don't want to ear it either). Took anything I threw at it! I agree with one gentlemen that the onscreen keyboard is not the greatest (only kids would love it), so I used a USB keyboard. No problem. Then I used a cheap usb mouse for my odd web surfing, no problem (fun watching youtube or googlevideo on 54" screen). Plugged my USB drive and USB key, no problems. Moved my pictures, some movies, etc into my playstation... Simply awesome. I have about 20 small to medium movies in it so far. If I go into movie selection, I can see all of them playing in small windows. Yep, ALL of them playing in small windows. Very cool.

Same guy complained about Wifi. Was right until recently because firmware 1.54 fixed all that. Full encryption all the way. No lag on any online games. (Bought two games, but rented at least 5 or 6 more so far and played all the online demos). Haven't tried the friend section yet, but my son is already into a "clan" in Resistance, and it does seem to work very well for getting games going, email included : ). (By the way, kid also moved some MP3 which play great as expected). I'm amazed so far by how long the wireless controllers keep their charge! Even if I consider it as a gadget, the sixaxis works very well too. And last, but not all, I can now watch HD movies, on a great console, for the price of any HD movie player on the market right now. (Something to use until HD players price drop to normal : )

So forget it my friends, this thing is awesome all around. I'm happy with it, right now, with only the few games that came out so far. So if like the PS2, games only get better with time (and they should!), this thing will likely be one of my favorite toy for many years to come. I'm pretty sure it will still be decent 5 years from now, so that's only $10 a month for a fantastic console / entertainment unit...

-many great games on the horizon (and resistance available now)

-lots of power

-virtually problem free so far

-frequent (although not TOO frequent) firmware updates and you don't have to download all of them, just the latest one

-you can easily change the HDD with any SATA mobile 2.5" HDD

-internet browser

-bluetooth wireless controller/connectivity

-HDD standard

-downloadable content, including demos/games, movie/blu-ray/game trailers and more

-free online service

-very sleek looking machine

-blu-ray player

-picture viewer

-plays mp3's and mp4 videos

-wifi ready

-memorycard readers and usb ports

-HDMI connection

-backwards compatible (issues fixed) with ps1/ps2 games

-well worth the price

The PS3 definitely lives up to the hype! If you aren't interested in the gaming industry, this console is an excellent home theatre entertainment console.

As we all know with console releases, the greatest games do not become available immediately. Developers need time to fully harness the power of the PS3, so the best is yet to come.

Furthermore, not only does it include a blu-ray drive, but it also has it's own web browser capabilities to surf the net. Never again will you need to have a home desktop PC.

Whether you choose to use the machine as a gaming console, or to watch high-defition movies (BD), this machine has the power and style to suit almost anybody's taste.

5 out of 5 stars.

This is my first ever Game Console and it is excellent, the Blu-Ray HD quality is unsurpassable. I'm use to playing games on the PC now I don't think I'll be going back to that. Just wish that the accessories from PS2 were compatible with PS3, it sucks having to wait around for them to come out.

I bought this model when it first came out and paid over $700 for it. I loved it to pieces and have been a loyal Sony person since I got my PS2 when I was 14. However, about a month ago, just short of being 4 years old, my PS3 died. It smelt like burnt wires and even plugged in the red light wouldn't come on. It was completely dead (with a disc stuck inside). When I took it apart to get the disc out the system still looked brand new. Not even a spec of dust. I still have my PS2 from 10 years ago and it words like new (because I take very good care of my stuff). I'm disappointed. I expected Sony to make quality products that lasted longer. A lot of people seem to have problems with their PS3 dying aka The Yellow Light of Death (YLOD). I bought a new 320 GB model, but now all the save data for all my PS2 games is stuck on a hard drive I can do nothing with. Sadly, my faith in Sony's products has been shaken a bit. I hope my new PS3 lasts longer, if not I will be very PO'd.

Because I loved it until it died, I'll give it a 4.

Sony`s Playstation 3 was highly anticipated at first and then it went from buzz to dust,overshadowed by the Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii.The PS3 was criticized for its high price mainly,controllers without a rumble,expensive HDMI cables and so on.Now with the recent price drop its more affordable console,and with all that it can do the PS3 is inexpensive,games,internet,HDMI,PS1-2 backward compability,DVD and Blue-Ray(a Blue-Ray player costs more than a PS3).

The PS3 offers you great technology at an affordable price for what it is and can do,i don`t mean that 550$ is cheap but for all you get it is sorta the ultimate package,all-in-one if you will.Yet the PS3 is supposed to be a video game console and we haven`t seen a lot on that part,altought there are a few games like Resistance:Fall Of Man and Motorstorm but give it some time and it will have great games.Metal Gear Solid 4 and Grand Thef Auto 4 are some great up and future games.

I think Sony`s decision to stop the 40 GB PS3 might have affected the 60 GB price drop and it was indeed a brilliant move,sure to get plenty of custommers.Still there are a few complaints to be made about the expensive HDMI cables not being included and the controller has no rumble so that kinda sucks.

Playstation 3 live is nice also,as it is free to play online its easy to naviguate trought the whole system the store is nice,you can get trailers,games and more but when it comes to online playing it still can`t beat Xbox live.Still its great to be able to play for free.

The Blue-Ray player gives the PS3 an advantage as it will probably and almost surely be the dominating format over HD DVD that the Xbox 36o supports.Blue-Ray get most of the movie industry`s approval and when combined with the PS3 making it affordable,its a clear winner.

Whatever happens elsewhere,the PS3`s future looks bright,overral its a very solid buy.

Yes I'm one of the lucky few to find one just by walking into my Local EB Games store.. however i've walked in there on about 10-15 seperate occasions within a month lol to get one..

Too hard to describe the system would take pages and pages... it is just simply amazing in every aspect. I love it. Xbox 360 didnt do it for me... and Nintendo Wii... ps3 has motion sensing and its sweet.. besides PS3 comes with Linux and after a simple driver download Wii too can use a Wiimote on the PS3 yaaaay lol.. like i'd pay 70 bucks for the dam thing.

Cheers to Sony! Cheers to the Playstation 3!

Terrifically simple to get going and all the brillance that has always been Playstation.

My only quip is that I wish other accessories were available now.

I enjoy this system way more than my XBOX 360. The only problem is the game selection but give it a few more months and there will be some good exclusive games for the PS3 along with other non-exclusive. Good work Sony.