Console Tech → PS3 I-got-it impressions topic

I'll sticky this. Impressions only if you actually got one to play with or one of your own, not impressions from reading a magazine please.

A PS3-J from HK, arrived at my place this morning

I don't have any other impressions to add yet. Since I don't have an HDMI cable and my plasma TV is merely component in and 480p native, I won't be able to show much off.

If you must have a PS3 and don't want to get raped by locals I recommend investigating the hong kong avenue. EMS takes 2 days and costs $100. I'm sure ps3 prices on the hk/japanese flip market are already below $1000 for foreigners.

well, I plugged it in!

I was pleased to see my component cable from the PS2 is upwardly mobile to the PS3

I selected 720p for output and my pioneer TV (thank you) decided it could downsample that to 480p ok. Fonts get smaller if you pick 720p or more. You also check off what audio formats your amp can support from a short list.

It is silent. Really. Really. quiet.

I'm downloading the OS update now, which appears like it'll take me about 30 minutes. Perhaps it is getting dragged over from a swamped server in Japan. No network config was necessary it just picked up an IP from the linksys.

I stuck USB multi-card reader in (not knowing about the flap that covers the media slots!) and it recognized it and allows me to view slide shows in various cute ways off the card, or copy all the pictures onto the HD. "Portrait" mode for slide shows is like iPhoto - you know, with the picture always moving slightly or zooming in a bit as it displays. Another mode does the "throw the pictures onto a light-table" effect. You can stop the pan to the right, and you can zoom in, but apparently not pick up a single picture and fill the screen with it. Since the show is labelled with date and time (in chunks), it makes for a cute way to re-visit a holiday trip day by day.

You can also select a picture for your desktop.

I don't think anyone used to the PSP interface will have any surprises here.

Things remaining to explore: signing up for Ps3 online, trying the web browser to see if its any faster than the psp one, trying a camera or a headset..

you were promted to download an update as soon as you turned it on?

No, it is optional of course.

Correction, I think it is option to the extent that you don't try to use the net. If you attempt to use the net it asks you to go through the firmware update process.

i tried the browser. I can read yahoo news from the couch on my very dated 480 line plasma screen. It even runs the stupid flash commercials in each page. Pop-up adverts and surveys are a pain though, it isn't obvious how many pages you have open when a page pops another page.

it still isn't very fast as a browser. Each link seems to take multiple seconds (3-5) to appear. I don't really understand why that is so hard to do.

Also I timed the boot-up. After you press the button it is about six seconds before the "orchestral warm-up" sound then if you have a PS3 game in there about 12 seconds before it starts.

What game are you loading up?

I tried some PS2-J games to verify they worked, then I tried Genji, which was nice visually but opaque (too much japanese).

guess I'll go pickup fall of man some time.

well I signed up to the "playstation store" which is an icon in the launch bar (usb keyboard recommended) and it seems all handles are available - be quick!

After you get in, they have some demos to download. the ps3 is now downloading fall of man demo (856mb). I'll probably download all the others today because I bet they'll download much more slowly after tomorrow!

It'll be interesting to see how many real games are offered over the playstation store (save a tree!) instead of retail box. Or if they'll ever consider offering a movie that way.

It would be nice if the system did all this stuff in the background so you can fire off some download requests and then play a game, but no, you have to sit there while a load bar burns into your TV (it does have a screensaver though, the screen goes very dim after a preset amount of time).

I just read today that PS3 games are not region specific. Kinda cool. I haven't bought a console since the Dreamcast dropped to $50. I won't get this right away but it looks like something I'll consider down the road

hows Fall of Man, your demo must be done?

Pics?

its great! tight. And for a demo, quite hard.

I'm actually spending time downloading the formula 1 demo now.

The linux add-on is released:
»dl.qj.net/PS3-Linux-Addo ··· atid/514

So you d/l a FC5 (fedora core 5) PPC DVD iso, and this add-on package, and you can load a working linux box onto your PS3 drive using the "install other OS" option in the menu. Interesting.

Not really sure what the use is right now. Even if you port MythTV over there is no video capture card - unless you can use the firewire somehow. Perhaps for people interested in writing C to exploit the umpty billion teraflop Cell engine it would be fascinating.

There are a million pictures and videos already out there..

Now I'm downloading some kind of off-road racing demo.

there are about six demos to be had, and at least one cheap game for online purchase and install (a kind of asteroids on crack with millions of particle effects).

justin, with the web browser, how do you "type" in web addresses, etc.? Virtual keyboard?

btw, cool dog, I have one that looks just like him.

it has predictive text input like a little ABC DEF GHI keypad. same as psp. or if you plug in a usb keyboard then it is easier.

So when you are downloading a demo you cannot do anything else with the PS3 until that download is completed?

Tell me it isnt so.. I just looked on walmarts and bestbuys site and all the games for it are still on pre-order status?!?!

Dont tell me sony launched a console without games in the US. Hmmm, guess I am going to wait now.

Yes.
The download bar appears with % complete indicator, and if you press X it cancels. After 100% is reached there is a pause while it "installs".
The storefront seems to have some kind of "download cart" perhaps it is possible to add six things to the cart, then download them all at once.

Well that kinda stinks. You can't play your games while it downloads in the background

I imagine a patch will be released to fix that.

I doubt it somehow.
The PS3 turns over the whole console to the game that is playing. You can interrupt a game or game demo by pressing the special PS button on the controller, but the only option then is to quit the game, or turn off the controller or console.
There isn't an active dashboard hiding at all times, receiving messages from friends and all that jazz.

If I am not mistaken, the 360 WAS the same way until a dashboard update was released that made it possible to play music etc.. while you are downloading a demo or something. But I agree with Justin, I do not think you would be able to continue to DL something while playing a game. (the 360 does not even do that)

How did sony handle the power supply, is outside like the 360 or did they keep inside the console?

The 360 does download in the background if you play offline. If you start multiplayer online it will pause the downloads, then start back up when you finish. It will even pop-up notices while you're playing to let you know when your downloads finish.

I'm really hoping Sony can get these bugs worked out by the time I pick up a PS3, probably sometime in the spring. If they want to win in online gaming they need to be able to do everything the 360 can and more.

It's inside the console. If you go read some of the older posts on Engadget or Gizmodo, you'll find a link to where some guys disassemble a PS3 with pictures and some video.

Here's the video disassembly: »www.engadget.com/2006/11 ··· n-video/

Here's an article with pictures and explanation of a PS3 Disassembly: »www.dailytech.com/articl ··· sid=4908

wow i just got my PS3 (not opened yet)

hurry sell it on ebay

EDIT: ohhhh nvm i see you just selling here,
»Item Removed Do to fake posts

Funny

I bet he ends up taking much less than he expected.

Best of luck with that.