Playstation 3: Hardware Info and Price

[Arwin]

Even if you could get a better hardware specced PC at this moment for the SAME price as the PS3, then the mere fact that every bit of software released for this machine for the next 6+ years of its lifespan will make increasingly efficient use of that hardware makes up for a world of difference.

Try to find a PC from the birthyear of the PS2, and then try finding software of the likes of God of War, Resident Evil, Gran Turismo 4, or Jak & Daxter 3 on it (just picking a few examples of half-decent graphics and sound ).

As an ex-PC gamer (well, a rare PC exclusive excepted, stuff like GTR2002 mods for instance or Warcraft 3), that's the main attraction of a console. You buy a well-specced machine, and over the next 5-6 years you just see better and better specced games appearing, not because you spent tonnes of cash upgrading your hardware, but because developers get more out of the machine each year.

 

[Fox5]

Even if you could get a better hardware specced PC at this moment for the SAME price as the PS3, then the mere fact that every bit of software released for this machine for the next 6+ years of its lifespan will make increasingly efficient use of that hardware makes up for a world of difference.

Try to find a PC from the birthyear of the PS2, and then try finding software of the likes of God of War, Resident Evil, Gran Turismo 4, or Jak & Daxter 3 on it (just picking a few examples of half-decent graphics and sound ).

As an ex-PC gamer (well, a rare PC exclusive excepted, stuff like GTR2002 mods for instance or Warcraft 3), that's the main attraction of a console. You buy a well-specced machine, and over the next 5-6 years you just see better and better specced games appearing, not because you spent tonnes of cash upgrading your hardware, but because developers get more out of the machine each year.

PS2 was far cheaper and didn't have half the stuff a PC or PS3 has.
PS3 is getting dangerously close to PC hardware costs, sure the PC wouldn't offer Blu-Ray playback like the PS3 does, but if we're just talking about as a game machine, PCs are actually starting to look somewhat affordable compared to consoles.

 

[TheChefO]

PS2 was far cheaper and didn't have half the stuff a PC or PS3 has.
PS3 is getting dangerously close to PC hardware costs, sure the PC wouldn't offer Blu-Ray playback like the PS3 does, but if we're just talking about as a game machine, PCs are actually starting to look somewhat affordable compared to consoles.

good point Fox - consider as well pc costs have really been driving downward over the past 5 years and ps3 is going against the grain in this regard.

overall I'd have to agree with Arwin though - not from a value standpoint but from a pc = pain in the axx standpoint. Years ago I didn't mind the constant tweaking. Nowadays I just want the friggin thing to work.

 

[_phil_]

good point Fox - consider as well pc costs have really been driving downward over the past 5 years and ps3 is going against the grain in this regard.

overall I'd have to agree with Arwin though - not from a value standpoint but from a pc = pain in the axx standpoint. Years ago I didn't mind the constant tweaking. Nowadays I just want the friggin thing to work.

For a lot of people , a PC with windows ,for to what their needs really are is like driving a full lengh truck to get to buy some bread a yard away...

 

[TheChefO]

For a lot of people , a PC with windows ,for to what their needs really are is like driving a full lengh truck to get to buy some bread a yard away...

lol - agreed but don't go off spewing this at your local electronics store! You might make some people angry.

I'd like to see the option for pc-console convergence. But not at the expense of affordable gaming.

 

[Fox5]

For a lot of people , a PC with windows ,for to what their needs really are is like driving a full lengh truck to get to buy some bread a yard away...

So what alternatives are there that can run Microsoft Word, browse the Internet (well), and play games?
Dreamcast, Wii, and maybe PS3 can browse the net, though likely none of them will do it well.
A PDA can browse the net and run Word, but not well.
A Mac doesn't really have any games to play.
Besides, word processors and Internet browsers are pretty complex, in order to make a machine capable of doing them well, it's probably capable of doing a lot of other things people don't need.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

So what alternatives are there that can run Microsoft Word, browse the Internet (well), and play games?
Dreamcast, Wii, and maybe PS3 can browse the net, though likely none of them will do it well.

Why won't a PS3 browse the web well? Web browsing is hardly the most demanding tech of a system. I guess there would need to be Flash and a number of media extras implemented like QuickTime, WMV and and RealAudio feeds, but with those you'd be at no disadvantage over a Windows PC. Plus it might not run Word but it could easily run a similar wordprocessor that can load Word docs (Open Office Writer is pretty good). And iot plays games pretty well too, so I've heard

If those are the only criteria needed to replace the PC, it could do very well...

 

[TheChefO]

Why won't a PS3 browse the web well? Web browsing is hardly the most demanding tech of a system. I guess there would need to be Flash and a number of media extras implemented like QuickTime, WMV and and RealAudio feeds, but with those you'd be at no disadvantage over a Windows PC. Plus it might not run Word but it could easily run a similar wordprocessor that can load Word docs (Open Office Writer is pretty good). And iot plays games pretty well too, so I've heard

If those are the only criteria needed to replace the PC, it could do very well...

Limiting factor would be the display and keyboard. ps3 can output 1080p and shouldn't have a problem doing so while webrowsing. But 99.9% of the people out there don't have a tv that can accept and display a native 1920x1080 display. This combined with the actual size of the display relative to how far most people sit from their tv's will limit it's effectiveness. True over time this barrier will go down as hdtv prices come down but I don't think it will go away completely as big screens will always cost more than little screens.

I'd like to see them bundle it along with some sort of office application package and Wireless kb/mouse for ~$100.

 

[_phil_]

So what alternatives are there that can run Microsoft Word, browse the Internet (well), and play games?
Dreamcast, Wii, and maybe PS3 can browse the net, though likely none of them will do it well.
A PDA can browse the net and run Word, but not well.
A Mac doesn't really have any games to play.
Besides, word processors and Internet browsers are pretty complex, in order to make a machine capable of doing them well, it's probably capable of doing a lot of other things people don't need.

Isn't google making an online Word processing software ? also you can hook any USB 1.1 keyboard and mouse to your PS3.

 

[scooby_dooby]

Isn't google making an online Word processing software ? also you can hook any USB 1.1 keyboard and mouse to your PS3.

So you'll have to buy a big screen HDTV to do word processing? isn't that sort of like "driving a full lengh truck to get to buy some bread a yard away..." as well?

You can't word process on an SDTV, not to mention the comfort aspect, no desk, no good back support in most cases. Will PS3 come with it's own email service and virus protection? Does anyone want a keyboard and mouse lying around their living room?

This idea has no legs, I can't understand how people actually seriously believe anything like this will ever take off.

People see the PC as an integral part of their home, a flexible tool to do many difefrent things, and most people consider it well worth the money. Games consoels are viewed as frivolous devices, meant for recreation, as a luxury. This is why consoles can not charge such high prices, the mental perception from consumers is they are a toy.

You will never convince people to replace their PC's with consoles, ever.

 

[Tap In]

....
You will never convince people to replace their PC's with consoles, ever.

Scoob, you have to remember that some people hate MS and their PC Winworld and will do anything to get away from it.

so I can see where for some people this idea has merit.

 

[wco81]

Do people still word process at home? Unless they're writing a novel, email is good enough for most writing, isn't it?

Of course, there will always be PCs at work, which is a much bigger market than the consumer PC market.

But even if you don't have to word process, you have to be able to read a lot of text on web pages. For that, you definitely need a high resolution display. If not a big screen HDTV, then maybe at least a 17-inch LCD monitor.

Of course, a lot of people are interested in managing their music and photos, maybe even ripping and burning DVDs, as well as printing up stuff.

It wouldn't take much to adapt these consoles for such light computing work. For things like video and photo editing, they might not be bad at all.

 

[Fox5]

Why won't a PS3 browse the web well? Web browsing is hardly the most demanding tech of a system. I guess there would need to be Flash and a number of media extras implemented like QuickTime, WMV and and RealAudio feeds, but with those you'd be at no disadvantage over a Windows PC. Plus it might not run Word but it could easily run a similar wordprocessor that can load Word docs (Open Office Writer is pretty good). And iot plays games pretty well too, so I've heard

If those are the only criteria needed to replace the PC, it could do very well...

No console or PDA so far has a very good browser, I'm not expecting PS3 to be much better, even though it does have the full capability to be better. Still, there are web pages that can take forever to load or slow to a crawl (irregardless of internet connection) on modern PCs, I don't know how well the PC would handle those, even with heavy optimizations, it still may not match your average Celeron. The slow harddrive (5400RPM?) could be a bottleneck as well. Still, PS3 has a much better chance to run a web browser well than any other system. (well, maybe the Wii's CPU + flash ram could outperform it here?) Hmm, I suppose PS3 has the hardware, but there's still the fact that it needs a decent web browser, and the lack of a keyboard and mouse and an HDTV would make it very suboptimal for web browsing.

Scoob, you have to remember that some people hate MS and their PC Winworld and will do anything to get away from it.

Which is why they're flocking to WebTV and Macs.

For things like video and photo editing, they might not be bad at all.

They might be better. I'd consider Internet browsing to be pretty much the pinnacle of what home PCs can do best that other architectures can't do as well. Though the code was reprogrammed for Xenon or Cell, maybe they could do better, didn't Sun's Niagra show that TLP > IPC in certain situations?

 

[scooby_dooby]

Scoob, you have to remember that some people hate MS and their PC Winworld and will do anything to get away from it.

so I can see where for some people this idea has merit.

some people, but i have to believe these most of these people are either using macs or linux anyways, and the same arguments apply.

 

[Arwin]

C'mon, even the PSP has little trouble displaying most pages and that little thing has 32mb ... I'm using old PCs with cpus clocking in the hundreds and only 256mb, and there isn't a page that they have trouble with. The only kind of modern day stuff it can't keep up with is decoding HD movies of games (apart from playing games of course)

But much more importantly, the Cell architecture is way more suited for showing webpages than traditional computers are. It's one of the core features the Cell was designed for. Rendering and downloading a page is something that can best be done in a number of different threads. Heck, Cells will be used for heavy weight servers, never mind a few clients. It's all about streaming data from multiple channels. The Cell was built to work together with other Cells over networks including the internet from it's very core.

If anything is going to stop the PS3 from beating the PC, it's not going to be web-browsing. Browsing the web has become one of the most platform independent things out there, with two of the three main webbrowsers available on other platforms.

In the end what is really stopping people from getting other machines, is because the corporate world works primarily with them.

Ironically, I've encountered several people who were afraid to browse with their PCs, because they feared they'd infect their computers with Adware or virusses. One of them bought a Mac. I hate him for it, because our IT department (of which I am a part, though as a programmer, I suffer slightly less) will not have a good time giving him any support.

I don't consider this a trend necessarily, but it does indicate you never know. Maybe messenger will be the primary reason for people to keep their PC for their online stuff.

We'll just have to wait and see. Personally, I browse so much, that I can find use for just about every browsing device in my neighbourhood. So if the PS3 can do it, great. It has a 1Gbit Ethernet connection, so that should last a while, and it should do sites with lots of video like gametrailers and gamespot rather well, I imagine. What I am really hoping for is that I can have a browser like the PSP's as well as a full Opera or Firefox browser (either through Linux PS3 or something else). Because the PSP's browser is very good at accurately displaying the page and is at the same time very resistent against adware or virusses. Just a while ago I went to a Japanese site, and downloaded a game demo straight to my memorycard, and could then play it from there. You can also save all sorts of other media - no special portals are required for this.

Families will have lots of people browsing, so another browsing device not only won't hurt, but will actually be quite likely to be used. I even see a future for the Opera browser on the Wii, despite it being handicapped in terms of resolution. You can scroll pages no problem, as long as the width is reasonable. Pages are getting better at scaling anyway.

Anyway, I am starting to ramble, because I have to get into bed. This has prompted me to test my PSPs browser a bit more by the way, and so far it passes almost every CSS1 test with flying colors. Sure, that's not the latest tech, but still not bad.

 

[Sis]

But much more importantly, the Cell architecture is way more suited for showing webpages than traditional computers are. It's one of the core features the Cell was designed for. Rendering and downloading a page is something that can best be done in a number of different threads. Heck, Cells will be used for heavy weight servers, never mind a few clients. It's all about streaming data from multiple channels. The Cell was built to work together with other Cells over networks including the internet from it's very core.

It's official: I have now heard it all. The Cell actually makes internet browsing better.

It has a 1Gbit Ethernet connection, so that should last a while, and it should do sites with lots of video like gametrailers and gamespot rather well, I imagine.

Wait--I spoke too soon. Now I've heard it all. The day a gigabit connection speeds up internet browsing is the day we have HD on-demand.

 

[_phil_]

So you'll have to buy a big screen HDTV to do word processing?

not really.But would you buy a ps3 to hook it on a SD tv ?

 

[quest55720]

not really.But would you buy a ps3 to hook it on a SD tv ?

Why not I bought a 360 and have a SD tv I will pick up a HD tv when the prices come down a bit more and there is more content.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

But much more importantly, the Cell architecture is way more suited for showing webpages than traditional computers are. It's one of the core features the Cell was designed for. Rendering and downloading a page is something that can best be done in a number of different threads. Heck, Cells will be used for heavy weight servers, never mind a few clients. It's all about streaming data from multiple channels. The Cell was built to work together with other Cells over networks including the internet from it's very core.

I don't agree with any of this . Cell isn't designed for big servers, nor suited for it. It's a massive computation engine, not a data delivery platform. Showing webpages is all about parsing scripts and loading data off thin BW pipes (unless you live in Korea!), something Cell isn't ideally suited for. I'm not saying it'll be bad at it, but it's not fantastically designed to be better at those tasks than the PC.

Regards PS3's performance, web browsing is possible on 200 MHz Pentiums at no loss in performance, that's text and pictures. The only slowdown you'd face is processor intensive websites, mostly with Flash content. I don't know any of the particulars of Flash to know if Cell (SPU's) are extra suited to it, but a 3 GHz PPE should do pretty well for itself. So PS3 should handle web browsing fine, but it's not better suited to it than standard PC fare.

 

[Sis]

I don't know any of the particulars of Flash to know if Cell (SPU's) are extra suited to it, but a 3 GHz PPE should do pretty well for itself. So PS3 should handle web browsing fine, but it's not better suited to it than standard PC fare.

Considering that the Xbox 360 uses Flash for a lot of things, including many arcade titles, the PS3 should have no problems. I too would expect all of that to be done on the PPE, not any of the SPEs.