Playstation 3 Thread

[Pebble]

We'll I've finally sold my bunch of bike stuff and after giving half to my Husband to buy a snake I should have almost enough to blow on a PS3. Yeah so many other things I should probably be spending that kind of money on but meh bike money is supposed to go on bike stuff anyway so no guilt here

I just wanted to know what the best place was to purchase from for the best deal?
Place most easily accessible to me is the likes of Harvey Norman or Retravision. But is it better going through places like EB Games or Dick Smiths? Or just a matter of doing mousework and leg work and finding the best deal at the time?

Just after a few ideas on where most of you guys buy from, and honestly I haven't done the shopping around yet. Also up for consideration is weather to go for the 250gig or 120gig, prices seem similar and from what I've seen the new slimline comes in both?

Thanks guys.


Ahhh yeah ok I do feel some guilt in buying a PS3 when we're having to sell our house but even if we end up living in a caravan or something at least I can still take the PS3 and the bike with me, a house is just a degree of comfort. (btw if the house sells we'll just be going to a smaller cheaper one, not a caravan). Oh yeah anyone want to buy a house in Nannup, awesome DH track 30 min drive away?

 

[Dozer]

Pebble, check out some deals through www.jbhifi.com.au or even Big W. I shop at EB Games because I get goo deals and the gear is of good quality. I have a 60gb machine (first model.....rules!) and I don't save much more than game related material on it so size isn't a big deal to me. Grab it soon, you'll love it!

Regarding the recent few games you guys have invited me to: Sorry I haven't jumped on too much or had my headset, I'm crook as and I'm just on there to pass the time. She''ll be right mate.

 

[Pebble]

Pebble, check out some deals through www.jbhifi.com.au or even Big W. I shop at EB Games because I get goo deals and the gear is of good quality. I have a 60gb machine (first model.....rules!) and I don't save much more than game related material on it so size isn't a big deal to me. Grab it soon, you'll love it!

Regarding the recent few games you guys have invited me to: Sorry I haven't jumped on too much or had my headset, I'm crook as and I'm just on there to pass the time. She''ll be right mate.

Thanks, I will certainly check out your suggestions. Ahh should have thought of BigW!

So size doesn't matter that much if you're just playing games. Good to know. I imagine I'll probably put all my digital photos on there, it won't hurt having an extra back up. but that's probably about it (I don't think they'd take up that much space either, I take more photos of my bike than I do of the kids LOL)
The only other decision I'll be torn between is weather to go for a game that I like (something like Collin McRae Rally) or just get one that the kids will enjoy. I know I won't be able to buy new games for a while (I guess another reason I probably don't need the biggest HD).

Lol in regards to selling the house I guess we will give it 3 months and re-think our situation. We're living rural on a pretty humongous mortgage, but it's a new house and a nice bush block, so I'm torn between wanting to move into town and being able to travel more (camping etc) or staying here and being on a very strict budget, probably sinking a lot of time and money improving the property (providing interest rates don't go up too much). At a bit of a crossroads of life I guess, see what happens, what is meant to be will be I guess. I't's jut a shame our little hill isn't big enough to build a real DH track, then it would probably be a no-brainer to struggle financially and stay here! Lol the mentality of a mountainbiker hey!

 

[Downhill Domination]

*snip*

If you have the money get one for you and one for the kids, after all, you did buy the PS3 in the first place.
Size is NO issue, 60GB will do you fine if you are just gaming and then with a couple of thousand pics.

 

[blakie49]

MTX vs ATV Reflex is the best game going at the moment.

 

[Downhill Domination]

MTX vs ATV Reflex is the best game going at the moment.

Bit of a biased comment. But yes, it is quite good.

 

[Dozer]

MTX vs ATV Reflex is the best game going at the moment.

No, it isn't. Nothing is ever better than Paperboy, the original Paperboy.

 

[Venciferus]

Pong is definitely the best game going.

 

[tupper]

MTX vs ATV Reflex is the best game going at the moment.

Its really good yes, nearly finished it.. guess I should checkout online more..

 

[Pebble]

Actually size wise I was thinking of just going for the 250gig, I can see possibly using the Play TV feature down the track. We use a DVD recorder with a large hard drive at the moment and don't have much trouble filing it up...can't remember if it's 120gig or 250gig.

Anyhow yes I was wondering about that MX vs ATV game, I'll keep an eye out for package deals. It looks like a PS3 Slim 250gig and a decent game will be around the $600 mark, I was hoping to spend more like $500 so either I wrangle an extra $100 from Hubby (shouldn't be too hard) or I wait around for some good sales.

Yeah in regards to games for the kids, I guess future birthday / xmas prezzies will be covered! Although my oldest just turned 7 and the youngest is 5, PS3 doesn't seem to have a huge amount of games that are great for that age, but never mind, it's really for me anyway until they get a bit older. Anyhow can't go wrong with car type games. Wratchet and Clank sounds interesting too, but the package deal offered with that game and the 250gig is pretty extremely priced (way over $600).

 

[651221]

This may not be an option for you, but we got a 250Gb slim with two controllers + a blu-ray remote, as well as ratchet and clank, on credit card points, we were planning on buying a ps3 but then realised we could get it on points (as we have done in the past with a ps2 and a psp).
We have since bought a PlayTV (off game.com.au, cheapest price + free shipping) and it's great, easy to schedule and record programs, timeslip etc...

 

[Pebble]

This may not be an option for you, but we got a 250Gb slim with two controllers + a blu-ray remote, as well as ratchet and clank, on credit card points, we were planning on buying a ps3 but then realised we could get it on points (as we have done in the past with a ps2 and a psp).
We have since bought a PlayTV (off game.com.au, cheapest price + free shipping) and it's great, easy to schedule and record programs, timeslip etc...

I will have to check out that game website now. Nah no credit card points to use though. I guess we could always buy a new TV or Fridge or something like that which comes with a free PS3 lol!

I should have broadband back on line soon and I'll do some better pricing up and just keep an eye out for the right deal to suit me I guess. Thanks for all your help everyone.

.......

Broadband is back up now, I've been doing a bit of researching and reading, I'll be probably going for a 120gig since the hard drive is relatively easy to change out in the future if need be. And this means for under $500 I should be able to get a great deal, hopefully a couple of good games at least.
I was thinking about play TV but from what I've read on Whirlpool would probably be a waste of cash since there seem to be quiet a few issues they need to sort out before it's anything like the DVD recorder/ PVR I'm used to using (simple things like trimming up movies and changing the names of the recorded titles etc) not to mention any other dramas people have had.

Yeah the bigger is better mentality is hard to get past, so I could be tempted to go for a 250gig if it's was an exceptionally good deal for under $600.

Unless it's a huge saving on line I reckon I'll stick to the real stores this time, purely for the ease of return should we end up with a lemon (like what happened with a brand new sat boradband modem!). Hubby is probably coming home with a snake and enclosure next week so guess I better start shopping around for my goodies!

 

[Pebble]

This may not be an option for you, but we got a 250Gb slim with two controllers + a blu-ray remote, as well as ratchet and clank, on credit card points, we were planning on buying a ps3 but then realised we could get it on points (as we have done in the past with a ps2 and a psp).
We have since bought a PlayTV (off game.com.au, cheapest price + free shipping) and it's great, easy to schedule and record programs, timeslip etc...

Actually having done more research now I'm tempted by the deal going on Game, 250gig Playstation with Play TV for about $550, cheapest I've seen and if I sell the play TV on Ebay for about $100 or more I'll have some cash for a game or two depending on how expensive they are (could get Wall-E for the kids and MX VS ATV Untamed for me, or one game and an extra controller for example). Total spet would be something like $550 (depending on games cost) and still slightly better than any console and 3 game deal I've seen going.
Alternatively I think DSE have the 250gig plus Vancouver plus Play TV for $600, so if I sold the Play TV I have the 250gig console and one game for $500 which is fairly reasonable.

It's stupid how just a console costs say $600 when you can get a console and play tv or a console and a game for the same price!

I'm wondering though, the play tv not being up to a great standard at the moment with a few basic features lacking, is it really future proof and these are likely to be fixed by software updates?

 

[651221]

Actually having done more research now I'm tempted by the deal going on Game, 250gig Playstation with Play TV for about $550, cheapest I've seen and if I sell the play TV on Ebay for about $100 or more I'll have some cash for a game or two depending on how expensive they are (could get Wall-E for the kids and MX VS ATV Untamed for me, or one game and an extra controller for example). Total spet would be something like $550 (depending on games cost) and still slightly better than any console and 3 game deal I've seen going.
Alternatively I think DSE have the 250gig plus Vancouver plus Play TV for $600, so if I sold the Play TV I have the 250gig console and one game for $500 which is fairly reasonable.

It's stupid how just a console costs say $600 when you can get a console and play tv or a console and a game for the same price!

I'm wondering though, the play tv not being up to a great standard at the moment with a few basic features lacking, is it really future proof and these are likely to be fixed by software updates?

We were going to get that first deal, if we had not been able to get it on points, sounds good

What sort of basic features would you say are lacking on the play TV, we have no problems at all. (Also nearly everything on the ps3 requires occasional updating as well; games, accesories, firmware etc...)

 

[Pebble]

We were going to get that first deal, if we had not been able to get it on points, sounds good

What sort of basic features would you say are lacking on the play TV, we have no problems at all. (Also nearly everything on the ps3 requires occasional updating as well; games, accesories, firmware etc...)

The few bits I picked up was from...
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/
in the gaming section

Namely not being able to re-name the programs that you record, that's a bit of an issue because we don't really get much of an EPG, being on Sat TV and in the country, it could be a pain if you're wanting to go back and watch a certain movie. However if it worked well off the EPG then I guess it's not really that much of an issue, but at the moment I don't pay much attention to the epg because it's never really correct.

You can't trim the programs (ie if you pressed record and recorded for 4 hrs, the show only went for 2 hrs and you wanted to keep it, you can't delete the other 2hrs worth of crap to save space). Yes I know that's what set recording is for, but often shows don't start or end on time either, it's a feature we often use on our current DVD recorder, trim up the movies we want to keep, or even record two that are on after each other and then split them afterwards.

Other than that I read a few people having some other sort of issues (which I guess you always get). But considering we don't have a 2nd sat decoder box and the 2nd tv point doesn't work at the moment it's sort of left me thinking that I'd leave the play tv option for later down the track by which time it will probably be improved if not some sort of better version out.

So I guess I'd probably be leaning towards the 120gig console and two games deal from Game now, haven't checked out local stores yet due to living in the country, but I will be before making a decision.
Not using PlayTV would mean that storage capacity isn't a huge issue. I spoke to Hubby and he's not that fussed, he'd probably just buy another DVD Recorder / PVR if we needed to.

 

[WolfCreekPsycho]

We were going to get that first deal, if we had not been able to get it on points, sounds good

What sort of basic features would you say are lacking on the play TV, we have no problems at all. (Also nearly everything on the ps3 requires occasional updating as well; games, accesories, firmware etc...)

I'll throw in my 2 cents here..

I've been using PlayTV since about 2 months before it was released in Aus and as a PVR it does a great job.
The EPG gives a week of guide and has some of the features you would expect such as setting a recording as a weekly or daily repeat. You can sort your library of shows in varying ways, but everything recorded has the date and time it was recorded which makes it easy enough to manage. you can also "Move" shows from PlayTV to your PS3 main menu bar... and then from there you can copy it off to PC or remote storage if wanted for further editing.

You cant edit the recordings which may be something you want to do... but this would lead me to think you are probably more ofa "poweruser" for recording and should look at spending some bigger $$$ on something with more functionality.

for $140 this really is great value and function.

.. just in regards to upgrading the hard drive, I did this when I got PlayTV as I have the very first of the 60gb PS3's.
This job is straight forward and worthwhile if you find yourself running short of diskspace.

 

[Pebble]

I'll throw in my 2 cents here..

I've been using PlayTV since about 2 months before it was released in Aus and as a PVR it does a great job.
The EPG gives a week of guide and has some of the features you would expect such as setting a recording as a weekly or daily repeat. You can sort your library of shows in varying ways, but everything recorded has the date and time it was recorded which makes it easy enough to manage. you can also "Move" shows from PlayTV to your PS3 main menu bar... and then from there you can copy it off to PC or remote storage if wanted for further editing.

You cant edit the recordings which may be something you want to do... but this would lead me to think you are probably more ofa "poweruser" for recording and should look at spending some bigger $$$ on something with more functionality.

for $140 this really is great value and function.

.. just in regards to upgrading the hard drive, I did this when I got PlayTV as I have the very first of the 60gb PS3's.
This job is straight forward and worthwhile if you find yourself running short of diskspace.

Thanks for your 2c. I like the fact that you can transfer the recordings to the computer. And I agree that it seems like a great value for money system, particularly for those that don't already have a dedicated PVR or DVD Recorder. I was only going off what I had read, but I suppose like all forums the info should be "taken with a grain of salt" otherwise nobody would buy anything people whinge about!
You're right, we tend to record a lot of movies (we don't buy a lot of DVD's) and I record the shows I like to watch that Hubby can't stand (Top Gear, yeah he's strange) to watch at my convenience.

Now I better give it a rest, I feel like I'm monopolizing this thread.

 

[will...]

Mod edit: Don't try to sell it on here. No excuses.

 

[WolfCreekPsycho]

Thanks for your 2c. I like the fact that you can transfer the recordings to the computer. And I agree that it seems like a great value for money system, particularly for those that don't already have a dedicated PVR or DVD Recorder. I was only going off what I had read, but I suppose like all forums the info should be "taken with a grain of salt" otherwise nobody would buy anything people whinge about!
You're right, we tend to record a lot of movies (we don't buy a lot of DVD's) and I record the shows I like to watch that Hubby can't stand (Top Gear, yeah he's strange) to watch at my convenience.

Now I better give it a rest, I feel like I'm monopolizing this thread.

Just a disclaimer... there is a little faffing to get the files to the PC... but once you have done it once, its an easy step... : ) I just dont want you thinking there is a simple Menu button that allows you to do this... but its not hard to do.

From memory PlayTV uses 1gb per 30 mins of recording which should help in your calcs


"hubby cant stand Top Gear"
Oh... I'm so sorry for you.

 

[Pebble]

Well I hit the shops in Bunbury WA, most of the stores didn't have much at all in the way of bundles, particularly with the 120gig console. EB Games had a 120gig console and Avatar bundle. I didn't particularly want Avatar so I asked if I could get a couple of cheaper games instead (eg MX vs ATV was $50 and Sonic was marked $50) the sales lady pretty much told me our console price is $xyz, just buy that and two games (works out dearer of course). So I said, "well you do trades don't you" before I could finish she pretty much laughed at me and said I'd get something like $26 for Avatar. Now they had a pre-owned avatar on the shelf for $76 and a brand newie for $100odd! Far out they're as bad as Cash Converters.
I was kind of upset after that and just walked out, I doubt very much if I'll ever buy anything from them ever. I thought that choosing a couple of cheaper games in place of Avatar might be too much a case of "wishful thinking" but if they'd given me something like $50 credit for the game I would have probably chosen the two $50 games I had in mind, I'm sure they still would have made profit selling the brand new unopened Avatar, plus whatever profit they made on the other two games, and I would have ended up spending $550, which is $50 over what I would prefer to spend.

Anyway my little rant is over, I'm not entirely sure how much I really want to buy a PS3 now, so I'll just wait for a better deal, perhaps the Tony Hawk Ride will be bundled when it comes out next month, that would probably be great for the kids and all round.