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| From: Sony
List Price: $499.99
Buy Used: $394.99
You Save: $105.00 (21%)
New (7) Used (13) from $394.99
Rating:  225 reviews
Sales Rank: 3069
Platform: Playstation 3
Color: Black
Media: Video Game
Edition: 80 GB Motorstorm Pack
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Operating System: Playstation 3
Shipping Weight (lbs): 17
Dimensions (in): 10.8 x 12.8 x 3.9
MPN: 98004
UPC: 711719800408
EAN: 0711719800408
ASIN: B000TVT8PI
Release Date: August 6, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 16-20 of 225
 When using it as a media player. September 15, 2007
Rick V (IN)
15 out of 19 found this review helpful
For those of you with content on your network: I have a wired 100mbps network at home (yes, I can also do wireless but never have been able to get solid connections everywhere). Part of this network are 4 Maxtor MSS drives at 500GB each. These drives contain movies (predominantly DIVX and XVID) as well as my music collection (predominantly MP3 as well as OGG and uncompressed music) and finally I have thousands of digital pictures I have on the drives.
I purchased the PS3 for several reasons:
1: none of my media players (Govideo , connected DVD, D-link DSM-320) were able to stream without hiccups, even on a wired connection and maintain the video quality. I was therefore looking for a flawless player that could connect to the Maxtors' UPnP capabilities.
2. I wanted to buy a Blu-ray player for use with HDTV so this was an added bonus (gotta love the Bluetooth remote)
3. The kids would be able to play the gaming console part as they were in the final life stages of their old PS2).
This review is only focused on the media player capabilities:
To my surprise, shame on me for not reading up before buying, I found that the PS3 did not stream ANY of the DIVX or XVID files. I found a solution online that helped resolve the issue 90%: run TVERSITY media server (UPnP) which is available as freeware. It's simple and really works well. It also allows playing network files, i.e. you run it on your PC and then you point at your network files. The TVERSITY software will convert / stream your files to the PS3. You might also need to install a current version of ffdshow (freeware as well). Once done most files played in great definition, with no hiccups or crashes. The 10% unsatisfactory part: now I need to keep a PC on, or start it, when I want to watch movies. The Maxtors have (Linux boxes) UPnP built in and would have been the better solution since you simply click on them and they wake up and stream.
Anyways: the Maxtors work fine with photos and music, but again, for movies you might need the TVERSITY solution I used.
Also noteworthy: the reason the DIVX and XVID's aren't supported YET has to do with licensing. The consensus is that Sony will resolve it and run a patch and I will get rid of TVERSITY (although I kinda like it... but that is another review elsewhere).
The bluetooth remote is very handy to maneuver the menu system when looking for files and or folders to start movies, fast forward etc. 25$ well spent.
As a media player I gave the PS3 4 STARS. I ducked the star because of the codec / converting workaround.
Where it excels is in reliability of the stream (NOTE THAT IT WORKED WELL WIRELESS AS WELL BUT ONCE YOU RUN HIGH QUALITY FILES IT CAN GET CHOPPY, WIRED IS MUCH BETTER FOR ME). It succeeded where all other (see hardware I listed above) failed and with all the other capabilities this thing is a good value!!
It also feels very well thought through in the menus although I would have expected more PC like file capabilities.
What also is not ideal is the way they split files by tope level menu. You can not easily browse between video and music for instance and when playing music Album Art is also not displyed. I would have expected Sony to be more in tune with the online music community...
Hope this helps a bit for other amateur network aficionados like myself.
 PS3 v. Xbox360 v. Wii February 25, 2008
M. Thompson (Memphis, TN United States)
14 out of 14 found this review helpful
Let me start by saying - I'm 30 years old, married with 3 dogs. I'm not a "fanboy" of any system. I play games about 6 hours a week. I have had an Xbox360 since the night they came out some time ago. For some reason, I didn't seriously consider buying a PS3 when it came out about a year later. I was very happy with my 360, the game selection and the
reliability. The blu-ray / HD-DVD war was still very much undecided, so I figured I would just wait. I bought the 80GB PS3 a couple of weeks ago adn this year I was fortunate to get a Wii for Christmas from my in-laws. I run all of the systems through an Onkyo receiver to a Samsung 32" LCD 1080i and Bose Acoustimass 15's. I'm not going to review the controllers because besides the obvious differences, they are all great to me. All of this said, I'll try to give a summary comparison based on what I've seen so far.
Xbox360
Aesthetics - the 360 is good looking, but the wire inputs could have been better thought out. If you plan to stand the 360 vertically, you'll see wires coming out of the back because some are at the top and some are at the bottom. The power brick (literally the size of a brick) can make for some trouble hiding wires too. No HDMI output on my version. The 360 is louder than the other 2 systems together. Aesthetics grade: B
Console Interface - By far the best of the 3 consoles... The set up is simple, the menus make a lot of sense and navigation is easy. It syncs very easily with Media Center on your PC and you can listen to music from your computer while you play a lot of the games. Grade: A+
Game selection - This one is pretty obvious. The 360 has been out longer and obviously has a better selection of games. Grade: A
Graphics and Sound - The 360 is pretty solid here. I use component video cables and an optical cable for digital sound. Grade: B+
Online - the Xbox Live Marketplace and the overall live experience is excellent. Navigating all of the menus, game downloads, etc. is a joke. There are always thousands of players online so finding a game is simple. Keep in mind, you do have to pay for Xbox Live. No built in wireless. Grade: A
Summary - Just 3 weeks ago, I experienced the first problem with my 360. I got the infamous "red rings of death." I called xbox, they sent a box to put it in, and they fixed it and sent it right back. It is as good as new now. This system is great if you want to use the media center portion and play a bunch of games online. Overall grade: A-
Nintendo Wii
Aestetics - Excellent. It's VERY small and can fit just about anywhere. You can't even see mine since it's behind all of the other components. The sensor bar is pretty small too and when I'm not playing, I just hide it behind the TV. Grade: A+
Console Interface - Definitely different from what you're used to. You "point" the wii remote to the where you want to go. Set up was simple. Grade: B+
Game Selection - Probably the biggest issue with the Wii, HOWEVER a lot of people don't care. The only game I play and care to play is the Wii sports game that comes with it. We bowl, play tennis, and box. Great with group of friends. C+
Graphics and Sound - The graphics are not great, but in my opinion the system isn't trying to beat the other consoles in this category. The Wii is so unique from the motion technology that it can stand on that. Grade: B-
Online - Not great, but not bad either. Not a lot of playing online, some basic features like streaming news and weather. Built in wireless. B-
Summary - I think the Wii is great companion system to one of the others. If you're big into gaming, it shouldn't be your primary console. It's by far the best system for a group of people to play and the price is hard to beat. Plus, you get the only game you'll need included with the console. Grade: B+
Playstation 3
Aesthetics - VERY sleek looking. Heavy, but in a good way. No real buttons on the front (you just touch the console where the power icon is - very cool). Easy to stand vertically because the wires would then go into the bottom. HDMI out is great. Louder than the Wii, but half as loud as the 360. Grade: A+
Console Interface - Different and not as user friendly as it could be. However, if you've ever had a PSP, you'll see how similar they are. Once you get used to it, it's pretty easy. Set up was a little bit more tedious because there are so many options for video and sound. Also, it's bluetooth only, so you can't use a Harmony or other universal remote. It's very convenient to have the memory card readers (80GB has these). I dropped about 100 songs and 300 pictures on a 4GB CompactFlash card from my PC and loaded them right onto the PS3. Grade: A-
Game Selection - Pretty good so far. I play mostly EA sports games and the Tom Clancy stuff, so I haven't experienced any lack of games. Grade B+
Graphics and Sound - I haven't experienced the full graphics capabilities yet since I don't have a 1080p TV, but I can tell you that the graphics on my 1080i are hands down better than the other consoles. The sound is amazing as well. Grade: A+
Summary - You can't review these consoles without adding the fact the PS3 is also a Blu-Ray player. And not just any Blu-Ray player - it's consistently rated the best player out of all of the available players out there. That is very rare for a gaming console to beat out stand along Blu-Ray players. That being said, the blu-ray is amazing. I've been watcing movies since I got it and it even upconverts standard DVDs. I heard my brother-in-law give the following analogy that I didn't understand until I got my PS3 - The Xbox 360 is like a Dell, while the PS3 is like an Apple. Grade: A
In conclusion, I hope this info helps. Each of the three consoles is excellent at certain features. They are all great systems on their own and it all depends on what features are most important to you.
Fantastic upscale system October 26, 2007
Phillip W. Wilson (ROANOKE, VA United States)
12 out of 16 found this review helpful
The PS3 is amazing!
Pros
Six axis controller with motorstorm is so much fun, for the first time I feel like the racing game is doing what I have always wanted it to do.
You can control the car by tilting the controller.
I am sure more games will come out to support it.
I the six axis controller with Warhawk also, it is great.
The system was easy to set up.
Easy to use
It recognized my media center on my hp desktop and I can view pics, video and listen to music from media center.
I like being able to go onto the internet.
I listen to my cd's.
I have it hooked to my projector and the game play is fantastic.
I have not tried out the blu ray but it is one of the reasons I bought it. I have some dvd's on order.
The system is silent, you cannot hear it running.
What a deal, you get the 80 gig unit, with motorstorm worth $60 plus 5 blu ray dvd's at least $20 ea.
look at some figures:
the game system alone is worth $300
blu ray player $500 (the cheapest I could findis $500)
motorstorm and dvds $160
total $960, round it to $1000
you pay $500 for the everything, but save $500 if you were to buy it separatly, so it is a wash.
Sony is giving this thing away.
With the xbox 360 you pay for the game system then have to add a hd-dvd player.
So you have an incredible game system with the most powerfull processer available, a blu ray player, hdmi output, six axis controller, 4 usb ports, ability to add an external usb hard drive if you want, a super quite system.
Xbox 360 or Wii cannot touch this!
Oh, it comes loaded with ability to connect to Stanford Universities protien folding project via distributed computing so you are doing a good thing to help research.
The cons,
none
this is a great system and I would recomend it to anyone.
BUY AT OWN RISK! August 12, 2007
Jose Luis Sepulveda (USA)
10 out of 22 found this review helpful
WHAT ON EARTH IS SONY THINKING? THE PRICE FOR THIS 80 GIG IS THE SAME PRICE AS THE 60 GIG ON RELEASE DATE. THERES ALOT OF RUMORS GOING AROUND THAT THE 80 GIG IS NOT COMPLETELY BACKWARDS COMPATIBLE AND WILL NEED TO GET SOFTWARE DOWN LOADED FOR THIS FEATURE. TO AVOID ANY UNECESSARY HEADACHES AND CURSING JUST GET THE 60 GIG MODEL WHICH ALREADY HAS THE BACKWARDS COMPATIBLE FOR PS1 AND PS2 GAMES. REMEMBER THAT U CAN UPGRADE THE HARD DRIVE TO A BIGGER SIZE BUT WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT DO YOU REALLY NEED THAT MUCH SPACE? THE ONLY THING I USE MY PS3 IS TO PLAY MY GAMES, WATCH ELMO DVDS WITH MY NIECES, AND LOOK AT MY PICS VIA THE MEMORY STICK DUO INSERTED TO THE SYSTEM, AND I STILL HAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH SPACE LEFT. SO JUST GO AHEAD AND GET THE 60 GIG, YOU WILL SAVE TIME AND OF COURSE MONEY. WITH THE $100 THAT WERE ADDED TO THE 80 GIG PRICE JUST GET A GAME OR OTHER SUPPLIES FOR PS3.
PS3 Worth Every Penny. September 23, 2007
W. Vacca (South Florida)
10 out of 13 found this review helpful
Why buy a blu-ray player separately when you can have a playstation and blu-ray player built into one item? Figure to pay about $300-$400 for a good blu-ray player, if you spend an extra $100 you can have the PS3 with HD movie and game play. Great graphics no video lag in any way. Great buy!!!!
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