PS3 phat/slim?

kachofool

Hey all,

I'm thinking of buying a PS3. I've gone over the basic differences between these two consoles. I want to buy it more as a media center device than a game player (it will primarily be for my parents!), so I'm not concerned with PS2 back compatibility. The main thing I was a bit disappointed about was the lack of Linux support. I figured I could throw a distro of Linux on there that would make it easy for my parents to surf the net and watch movies and media in formats the normal system doesn't support.

I was hoping for some of your opinions... my room mates have a PS3 and I use it to surf the net all the time, and it seems pretty adequate. I've also used software like PS3 Media Server to stream stuff to the system that can't be played natively and it works well... Could I hook up a keyboard and mouse to the slim to surf the net? Since both systems are the same price, it feels like all I'm getting for a slim is a nicer looking system with lower power consumption.

MichaelLC

The Linux thing isn't all that great. It's really a huge PiTA, actually.


Yeah, you can use bluetooth or just USB KB&M on any PS3. Of couse with the Slim, there's only 2 ports, so a cheap hub might be needed. I'd still go wit the Slim at this point.

RUNN1NGMAN

There's absolutely no reason to install Linux on a PS3 unless you're trying to make some sort of budget CELL supercomputer. And unless you're parents are super modern they aren't going to be cool with a Foreman grill in their entertainment center. Go with the Slim.

cooljammer00

Actually, why are you getting your parents a PS3 as a "media center" anyway? Do they even play games?

desperaterobots

It can do a bunch of stuff a stand alone bluray player probably cant? That's the only reason I bought mine.

Black Ice

It's also the cheapest and highest-rated Blu Ray player, isn't it? I think it was at one point, anyway.

DragonPup

There's some standalone BluRays in the 200s nowadays.

Dehumanized

if they have a netflix subscription, there's that. they just released a disc that allows proper instant queue streaming directly to the console. for full media center stuff you'll probably need some sort of other computer running playon or tversity or whatever.

if you are not concerned about any backwards compatibility, then the slim is 100% the way to go. the linux support is just plain not useful.

Arivia

If your folks are playing stuff off discs, the slim is just fine. I've had friends throw stuff of less than dubious origin into my PS3 and it's played it all just fine. I can't think of much it doesn't handle.

Saddler

DragonPup wrote: »

There's some standalone BluRays in the 200s nowadays.

I think I saw an ad in this week's Sunday paper for a $100 BluRay player. They would be missing out on internet and streaming Netflix functions, I suppose, but still.

Kipling

Arivia wrote: »

If your folks are playing stuff off discs, the slim is just fine. I've had friends throw stuff of less than dubious origin into my PS3 and it's played it all just fine. I can't think of much it doesn't handle.

The only reason I bought the Fat version was because of PS2 capabilities. And Linux is more of a pain than it is worth, since accessing some of the hardware (graphics) is supposedly a royal pain.

For media streaming, PlayOn is quite decent even if it costs some money. It does Netflix/Hulu/local file streaming through the PC without a difficult setup. Just in case something doesn't just work on the PS3 to begin with.

Dehumanized

netflix.com/ps3 to get the PS3 instant streaming disc if you have a subscription to the service. It's almost as awesome as the streaming that the Xbox 360 gets.