By golly it's loud!

[randycat99]

Oh and one last thing, if you turn the ps3 90 deg from its usual position (flat or upright), you may gain another degree of noise reduction, fwiw.

For example, in the upright position, turn the console so that the broadside faces you, instead of the slim side (I'm rather fond of this orientation just for the dominating appearance it creates...now if only I can find a suitable permanent place to do this in my own setup...).

In the flat position, turn it so that the hdd side faces you. Yeah, I know- looks rather bland from that angle. I don't think I would be content with that, either. It's an option, though, if you really are averse to fan noise.

 

[patsu]

For example, in the upright position, turn the console so that the broadside faces you, instead of the slim side (I'm rather fond of this orientation just for the dominating appearance it creates...now if only I can find a suitable permanent place to do this in my own setup...).

That's the orientation I'm using.

Besides the build quality of the unit...
I am also glad that the discs are hard coated. Managed to "recover" my RFOM game disc yesterday from scratches and stubborn streaks of gum on the disc surface courtesy of my kid. >_<

 

[randycat99]

My only gripe about the wondrous ps3 is, rather than any sort of noise concern, it's the 3-prong AC plug. I know, I know- find any kind of major computer device these days that doesn't have a 3-prong plug. It's just that in the home theater gear world, anything with a 3-prong plug is usually a harbinger of grief due to ground-loop hum. Usually you can withstand a single device with a grounded plug (and usually that is your amp or subwoofer), but as soon as you add a second device with a grounded plug, you will be cursed with a hum problem. The quick'n'dirty solution...of course, is the cheater plug. Yeah, I had to use one, and it miffs me a bit to compromise the electrical coup de grat that is the ps3 in such a way.

For all the technological innovation we have today, it sure would be nice if someone could finally come up with a way to eschew 3-prong plugs into the annals of time, once and for all...but I digress.

Oh and my attempts to get a successful wireless link to my router have been unsuccessful, so far. So I gave up and just plugged in the "not so elegant" network cable, after which I was flogged with a cavalcade of update this, update that between the OS and the FaH. It's not feasible to run a cable permanently, so I really hope to get that wireless working, eventually...(don't know why it's not working, as I have done it fine with my laptop in the past)

 

[patsu]

Oh and my attempts to get a successful wireless link to my router have been unsuccessful, so far. So I gave up and just plugged in the "not so elegant" network cable, after which I was flogged with a cavalcade of update this, update that between the OS and the FaH. It's not feasible to run a cable permanently, so I really hope to get that wireless working, eventually...(don't know why it's not working, as I have done it fine with my laptop in the past)

Hmm... I hear about this from time to time. Which router do you use ? I think there was an issue with certain Linksys model. Or can it be your ISP (port setting) ?

EDIT: Problem with Linksys WRT54G - http://forum.beyond3d.com/showthread.php?p=1097736&highlight=linksys#post1097736

 

[randycat99]

I have a 2Wire that is generally fussy all by itself. I got it working tonight, though! Turns out all I needed to get a link is to power reset the router. Normally, I would never have done this from a troubleshooting standpoint, but my 2Wire has a habit of crashing all by itself whenever I leave the wireless enabled all the time. So I had to restart it when I got home today, anyway. On a hunch, I attempted to link up the ps3 once again when the router was fully booted up again, and it worked this time.

 

[randycat99]

By golly , I could swear this thing is getting quieter as it "breaks in" on these FaH work units. I could swear the "hard at work" noise level is now comparable to what the idle noise level was when I first plugged it in. I can barely hear it relative to the gentle volume of the tv. If I didn't have firsthand knowledge that I had turned it on (and can see the lights on the console), I don't think I would even notice it was running.

Perhaps, it could be the colder air in the room today, which allowed it to keep the fan on low speed, but that would be amazing if 1 deg change in ambient from yesterday could make such a difference.

 

[ShaidarHaran]

I leave my 80GB PS3 folding 24x7 with nothing else in the room running (except my dead-silent HD DVR) and I can barely hear it from 10 feet away. When I'm gaming I can't hear the fan or drive access.

 

[patsu]

Yes, the quietness is really helpful for me. If I bring it home, my PS3 is located in the studyroom next to our bedrooms. When I left my headphone at work, I can still game in late nights without waking up my family. I just turned the volume down barely enough to hear faint grunts and explosions. The PS3 contributes little or no noise at all.

 

[Mize]

I can hear a soft hush of a fan from my 60 GB (China) PS3 from the couch about 8 feet away. It's barely noticeable during movie/games and then only if you turn the volume to near zero. If I have it folding with everything in the room turned off I can here it but it's nothing close to loud. My HD DVR upstairs is MUCH louder.

 

[ShaidarHaran]

I can hear a soft hush of a fan from my 60 GB (China) PS3 from the couch about 8 feet away. It's barely noticeable during movie/games and then only if you turn the volume to near zero. If I have it folding with everything in the room turned off I can here it but it's nothing close to loud. My HD DVR upstairs is MUCH louder.

What make and model HD DVR do you have? I can't hear mine at all, will look up make & model when I get home.

 

[Mize]

It's a Scientific Atlanta 8300 series and it's the HD that's loud...thunkity..thunk...thunk. Not noticeable when watching really, but if you're reading and it's recording it can be a bit annoying.

I got a Moto unit of some sort for my Mom (Los Angeles) and it's very quiet.

 

[cameltoe1009]

I own both consoles...a launch 60gb PS3 and a recent 360 pro w/HDMI. My PS3 is dead silent all the time...when playing games, folding, the noise level is minimal. The 360 on the other hand is unbearably loud. When watching a movie or playing a game...the dvd drive is insanely loud...

I just up the volume on the TV but then the TV is too loud....oh well!

 

[Mize]

Headphones

Actually I got some Seinnheiser (however it's spelled) RF headphones for nighttime gaming...my space is right under the kids' bedrooms and the law is no graphic-violence games while they're awake

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Met my first ever PS3 last night. 40GB, and silent from 2 metres. There was one audible disc access noise in Uncharted. Very impressive! Makes it an excellent choice for a media device. As my upstairs TV's dying a slow death, my choice is a TV tuner for the PC or for PS3. My PC is very quiet and I was expecting PS3 to challenge it, but not at all! In fact if PS3 had very usable application software, it be fantastic for writing, digital audio workstation (okay, needs more RAM), etc.!

 

[randycat99]

To me, just the sheer array of comprehensive settings and management interfaces in the XMB was mind boggling and a daunting experience. This thing has gone far beyond just a game console- it might as well be piloting a starship, the way it is going!

The color show when playing music is quite nice, as well.

I haven't even been able to dig into the pictures/video/music functionality, yet. Hopefully, I'll get to try out the bluray movie playback this weekend...

 

[patsu]

To me, just the sheer array of comprehensive settings and management interfaces in the XMB was mind boggling and a daunting experience. This thing has gone far beyond just a game console- it might as well be piloting a starship, the way it is going!

Mind boggling is the right word. They should do something to organize it better (or simplify it). The main problem is I don't know when I need to change something and when I don't have to. I look forward to "PS3 for Dummies".

The color show when playing music is quite nice, as well.

Don't forget you can press the "PS Home" button to put it into background too

I haven't even been able to dig into the pictures/video/music functionality, yet. Hopefully, I'll get to try out the bluray movie playback this weekend...

Oh "young" grasshopper, you still have a long way to go. Try portrait mode for slide show, PS3 seems to be able to recognize the face(s), and pan + zoom in/out of them.

 

[randycat99]

Man, that is scary sick! They really have put a lot of thought into this thing (words escape me that would not be an understatement to this).

 

[Arwin]

Met my first ever PS3 last night. 40GB, and silent from 2 metres. There was one audible disc access noise in Uncharted. Very impressive! Makes it an excellent choice for a media device. As my upstairs TV's dying a slow death, my choice is a TV tuner for the PC or for PS3. My PC is very quiet and I was expecting PS3 to challenge it, but not at all! In fact if PS3 had very usable application software, it be fantastic for writing, digital audio workstation (okay, needs more RAM), etc.!

Well, certainly enough RAM to at least run Fedora 7 and OpenOffice Write. I did that this Friday, much fun. Then of course I screwed up something while installing Cell SDK 3.0, so being the n00b that I am I had to restart the install (running now), but it works very well, FireFox, everything. Booting is pretty fast too, much better than I thought, and you can reboot into the PS3 game os pretty easily (type "ps3-boot-game-os" at prompt).

It's a good start! If they get that rsx driver to work well (and the basics are already working with the guys on ps2dev, so that should relieve some of the memory issues also), then it's pretty decent all in all.

 

[ShaidarHaran]

It's a Scientific Atlanta 8300 series and it's the HD that's loud...thunkity..thunk...thunk. Not noticeable when watching really, but if you're reading and it's recording it can be a bit annoying.

I got a Moto unit of some sort for my Mom (Los Angeles) and it's very quiet.

Odd, I have the same unit and I can't hear it when watching or recording. Maybe I'm just going deaf...

 

[Mize]

Odd, I have the same unit and I can't hear it when watching or recording. Maybe I'm just going deaf...

Either that or I lucked out and got a noisy hard drive. I just bought 6 portable USBs for the office and two are noticeably louder than the rest...all same make.