More than I asked for!
I originally bought the PS3 as a Blu-Ray player, as many people have done. Most reviews point out that the PS3 is the best player on the market, and it comes with a built in game system. I am a huge console person, as I already have a 360 and Wii. I have always been an N64/Xbox person, so this was the first playstation I have owned. I never really liked the design of the controller, since I have big hands, and wasn't a fan of the XOSquareTriangle, as weird as that seems. As far as Blu-Ray player goes, this thing is excellent. I have it hooked up to a Samsung 4665 LCD through HDMI, while optical goes to a yamaha receiver. Video is excellent, sound is excellent, the videos load quickly, and there is a lot of customization as far as A/V. The major flaw I have found, and the reason for (almost) four stars, is a lack of IR. How can this be a full fledged Blu-Ray player but no IR!! I use a harmony in every room of the house so this was unacceptable. I worked around it with the Bu-Wave fixed, though the lack of a power button is annoying on Sony's part. It seems a simple patch to make the USB port function off would be easy. This would also fix having to leave the console on the charge the controller. Since this thing is a serious game console, I decided to snag a game for it. MGS4 was the first one I got, and I was thoroughly impressed with graphics, gameplay and cinematics. Though loading between chapters was quite annoying. Not 30 seconds, but between 2 and 8 minutes. Rumble, which has come standard in every console since the N64, does not come with the PS3. It does now, and I own a DS3, but support for it is abysmal. No COD4, SCIV or LBP rumble support that I could find so far. Trophies need to be polished as well, as they should be available for pre-trophy games as well. When a game such as COD5 comes out for both consoles, I would rather buy it for the 360 because I can get the achievements. Enough with the negative, here are some more positives. Bluetooth is a great feature. I can use any bluetooth headset I want, a BT keyboard and mouse, very handy, Microsoft take note with your proprietary garbage. You can upgrade the hard drive with a non proprietary one. Very nice and keeps the price down. Looking at you, Microsoft. Though I have heard this thing sucks some power, it is whisper quiet. Okay, I am bashing the Xbox for the next few points. The brick is built in, which means I can leave a cheapo power cord and an HDMI plugged into my bedroom TV when the girlfriend kicks me out of the living room to play games. To move the xbox, I need to fish the brick out of the mess of wires, as well as set up a linksys wireless adapter, way too complicated. Overall, very impressed at this piece of machinery, Sony has impressed me very much. I will be buying the PS4, but it will have to compete with my Xbox 720 (1080?) even though we are seeing sub-0 BR players, the PS3 is a must if you are even toying with playing games on this thing.