Tech & toys: I'm keeping the 40GB PS3, a lot less noisy than the 80GB version and loving the free demo downloads and just narrowing down game (MGS4 and Burnout Paradise) and Blue-Ray (Planet Earth) starter choices. We also bought a new Digital SLR last week, a Nikon D80 (allowing us to use our older Nikon lenses). Still doing all the testing, but liking it's fast response, quick access to picture tweaks and great quality images. Still debating whether to post using Flickr or Picasa.
Music: Coldplay hold on to number one, just. Great sophomore album from the Fratellis almost edging them out. Great single pick: Gabriella Cilmi - "Sweet about me". Looking like I'm heading to the Virgin Festival in September (Sunday w/ Oasis), seeing John Mayer at outdoor venue tonight.
Sport: silly season in footy with lotsa trade rumours, will Ronny leave ManU or Russian super striker Andrei Arshavin swapped into Arsenal for Adebayor. Brilliant international sports on the weekend with the marathon Wimbledon final, a Brit winning the British GP and the start of the Tour de France. Toronto FC looking average, but support still good and strong and coach Carver getting creative. Raptors make interesting trade. Ultimate going well, but away from the action for a few weeks. PJMixer's golf game gone missing, hoping to find it before next week's game at Smuggler's Glen.
Politics and the Economy: still a little confused on Middle East good guy / bad guy alignment after watching The Kingdom the other night. Is it ok to support Arsenal and wear a jersey that says Fly Emirates ? I'm not very optimistic for African aid and the environment going into the G8 meeting today. My wife has a great summary of top topics in her blog today. Trying not to think about mammoth gasoline bill for summer vacation driving of 2,400 kms, not to mention gas for ski boat. How does oil prices jive against global aid and butter-on-a-hot-summer-day-soft US banking sector versus military funding ? Big questions, sorry if you think you're going to get the answers here !
Showing posts with label PS3. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PS3. Show all posts
Monday, July 07, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Great gaming experience but fan noise delays ultimate PS3 review
Part 2 of the PS3 story (part 1 was a few weeks ago)...
I've returned the 80GB PS3 MGS4 Bundle.
The console was fantastic, but for one thing - the fan noise. I ran quite a few tests and it looks like the fan kicks in as soon as the console warms up (about 10 minutes). The fan apparently has a number of different speeds (and matching noise levels), but even at it's lowest level the noise is quite distracting when watching quiet scenes in movies and during quiet game scenes. This issue was not a surprise to me as I'd done quite a lot of research and seen tons of forum discussions on the topic. I don't think the unit was faulty, I just think the extra software onboard (perhaps for PS2 backward compatibility or 1080p upconversion) plus a larger disk and likely different cooling components, make the unit run quite a lot hotter than other models.
Luckily for me, the bundle I purchased was a limited release and quite a "hot" item in the market. So when I mentioned to one of the Best Buy customer service people I was thinking of returning the unit, he said "really, great, I've got a customer waiting for one" ! He also reassured me that there was not going to be any problem returning the bundled, but open, MGS4 game (so I could get a full refund). So, I packed up the unit and returned it the next day and exchanged it for the 40GB version (which reportedly has far fewer issues with fan noise). I just set it up last night (seems quieter for now) and will be testing it out over the next few days.
But there's a funny sidenote to this customer service story. the day previous to when I returned the console (when I had the convo the customer service person), I returned a PS3 Blu-Ray remote control (game controller works just fine) and the Sony PS3 packaged HDMI (and USB) cable, $70. In my head, was the thought that if this machine wasn't my ideal Blu-Ray player, then I could probably get away with a cheaper HDMI cable. So when I did the console exchange the next day, another sales person overheard my conversation and asked if I needed an HDMI cable, I said sure, but I was looking for a cheaper one, at which point he says "I've got an opened package in the back I can sell you at a discount". Of course, I'm thinking - I bet it's the one I returned yesterday. Sure enough it was. I actually explained the situation because I found it quite comical, but they were fine with following store policy and I bought the package back that I had returned for half the price. Nice loop hole eh ?
So I'm missing out on the great bundle price of the 80GB version, but hoping a quieter console will be just what I'm looking for. That MGS4 game was quite addictive and looked spectacular, so I may have to buy it again (now I've invested over 4 hours playing time).
What all the fuss was about
I've returned the 80GB PS3 MGS4 Bundle.
The console was fantastic, but for one thing - the fan noise. I ran quite a few tests and it looks like the fan kicks in as soon as the console warms up (about 10 minutes). The fan apparently has a number of different speeds (and matching noise levels), but even at it's lowest level the noise is quite distracting when watching quiet scenes in movies and during quiet game scenes. This issue was not a surprise to me as I'd done quite a lot of research and seen tons of forum discussions on the topic. I don't think the unit was faulty, I just think the extra software onboard (perhaps for PS2 backward compatibility or 1080p upconversion) plus a larger disk and likely different cooling components, make the unit run quite a lot hotter than other models.
Luckily for me, the bundle I purchased was a limited release and quite a "hot" item in the market. So when I mentioned to one of the Best Buy customer service people I was thinking of returning the unit, he said "really, great, I've got a customer waiting for one" ! He also reassured me that there was not going to be any problem returning the bundled, but open, MGS4 game (so I could get a full refund). So, I packed up the unit and returned it the next day and exchanged it for the 40GB version (which reportedly has far fewer issues with fan noise). I just set it up last night (seems quieter for now) and will be testing it out over the next few days.
But there's a funny sidenote to this customer service story. the day previous to when I returned the console (when I had the convo the customer service person), I returned a PS3 Blu-Ray remote control (game controller works just fine) and the Sony PS3 packaged HDMI (and USB) cable, $70. In my head, was the thought that if this machine wasn't my ideal Blu-Ray player, then I could probably get away with a cheaper HDMI cable. So when I did the console exchange the next day, another sales person overheard my conversation and asked if I needed an HDMI cable, I said sure, but I was looking for a cheaper one, at which point he says "I've got an opened package in the back I can sell you at a discount". Of course, I'm thinking - I bet it's the one I returned yesterday. Sure enough it was. I actually explained the situation because I found it quite comical, but they were fine with following store policy and I bought the package back that I had returned for half the price. Nice loop hole eh ?
So I'm missing out on the great bundle price of the 80GB version, but hoping a quieter console will be just what I'm looking for. That MGS4 game was quite addictive and looked spectacular, so I may have to buy it again (now I've invested over 4 hours playing time).
What all the fuss was aboutThursday, June 12, 2008
He's just a big kid
Currently waiting for Best Buy to open to buy a PS3.
I guess I'm a little embarrassed to say this is a luxury purchase for me, nothing to do with the kids and one with no solid educational, environmental, or social worth. Its just a new toy for a big kid. A tech treat just in time for Father's Day.
As some may know I value top notch quality and strive for a rich existence. This includes my AV entertainment and to some degree the new world (for me) of video gaming.
So when I bought my Sony Bravia 1080p LCD last spring I was hoping it wouldn't be too long a wait to experience the very best in home video quality - high definition movies. Luckily since then, the HD DVD vs Blu-ray war has been settled. So what's brought me to this latest purchase decision ?
As it turns out, the Sony Playstation 3 (PS3) is not only (arguably) the best video game console on the market, but its also a very good Blu-ray disc (BD) player. I've actually been asking a lot of Sony experts and sure enough the BD technology in the PS3 is exactly the same as Sony's standalone BD players. Furthermore, the PS3 is priced very close to entry level, single purpose BD players on the market today. But why today ?
Today is the world release of an exclusive PS3 game called MetalGearSolid 4 (which definitely looks cool). The clever clogs have bundled this game with the hard to find 80gb version of the PS3. Hold on, it now gets a bit complicated...the dirty secret is that to be backwardly compatible with PS2 games (which my son has many) you need the 80gb version not the cheaper 40gb version. Plus this version will upconvert the video quality of those games to 1080p. One extra small bonus is the bundle comes with new version of the controller.
So now there's about 10 of of us in line and rumour has it there's somewhere between 5 and 30 in stock.
Stay tuned.
I guess I'm a little embarrassed to say this is a luxury purchase for me, nothing to do with the kids and one with no solid educational, environmental, or social worth. Its just a new toy for a big kid. A tech treat just in time for Father's Day.
As some may know I value top notch quality and strive for a rich existence. This includes my AV entertainment and to some degree the new world (for me) of video gaming.
So when I bought my Sony Bravia 1080p LCD last spring I was hoping it wouldn't be too long a wait to experience the very best in home video quality - high definition movies. Luckily since then, the HD DVD vs Blu-ray war has been settled. So what's brought me to this latest purchase decision ?
As it turns out, the Sony Playstation 3 (PS3) is not only (arguably) the best video game console on the market, but its also a very good Blu-ray disc (BD) player. I've actually been asking a lot of Sony experts and sure enough the BD technology in the PS3 is exactly the same as Sony's standalone BD players. Furthermore, the PS3 is priced very close to entry level, single purpose BD players on the market today. But why today ?
Today is the world release of an exclusive PS3 game called MetalGearSolid 4 (which definitely looks cool). The clever clogs have bundled this game with the hard to find 80gb version of the PS3. Hold on, it now gets a bit complicated...the dirty secret is that to be backwardly compatible with PS2 games (which my son has many) you need the 80gb version not the cheaper 40gb version. Plus this version will upconvert the video quality of those games to 1080p. One extra small bonus is the bundle comes with new version of the controller.
So now there's about 10 of of us in line and rumour has it there's somewhere between 5 and 30 in stock.
Stay tuned.
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