Jason Moran
Friday, March 28, 2008
PS3 Or Laptop
Question: Should I get a PS3 or a laptop?
The obvious answer is both, but which one should I get first?
PS3:
I've got this 50 inch 1080p HDTV at home that is wasting its 1080p abilities because even HD channels via cable are only 720p or 1080i (less than 1080p for those that don't know). I can watch DVDs and they look "pretty good", but I've seen a movie or two with HD quality and it's pretty nice. So, if I had a Blu-ray player I could watch 1080p movies. Blu-ray's spec has not been finalized, which means if you buy a player now the movies you buy in a few years might not play. Tech savvy folks like me can fix this buy downloading and installing firmware updates for the "old" Blu-ray player, but the average Joe's only safe Blu-ray bet is to get a PS3 since it will automatically download and install firmware updates if you plug it into the internet.
Anyway, it is probably obvious that I'm mostly considering a PS3 because I want a Blu-ray player. However, fringe benefits are the ability to play Guitar Hero / Rock Band and maybe a few other games now and then.
Laptop:
I don't need to tell everybody that a laptop can do pretty much anything I want it to do. I won't play games on it. I will sit in front of the TV and search on wikipedia when I have a question. I will sit in coffee shops with free wifi and drink trendy drinks. I will watch a movie on my laptop while riding an airplane - because I can. You see, these are all things that I can't do right now because I do not have a laptop.
The most important part of having a laptop is that I can do side work on it. I am a software developer and being able to take my work on the road will help me with possibly starting up my own business or at least doing a little bit of supplemental contracting side work.
The only other argument I might consider is getting an Xbox 360 first, since I like more of the games it has and most HD content will be downloadable within a year anyway. But, you know what? I don't want to download a movie for 3 days before I can watch it.
The obvious answer is both, but which one should I get first?
PS3:
I've got this 50 inch 1080p HDTV at home that is wasting its 1080p abilities because even HD channels via cable are only 720p or 1080i (less than 1080p for those that don't know). I can watch DVDs and they look "pretty good", but I've seen a movie or two with HD quality and it's pretty nice. So, if I had a Blu-ray player I could watch 1080p movies. Blu-ray's spec has not been finalized, which means if you buy a player now the movies you buy in a few years might not play. Tech savvy folks like me can fix this buy downloading and installing firmware updates for the "old" Blu-ray player, but the average Joe's only safe Blu-ray bet is to get a PS3 since it will automatically download and install firmware updates if you plug it into the internet.
Anyway, it is probably obvious that I'm mostly considering a PS3 because I want a Blu-ray player. However, fringe benefits are the ability to play Guitar Hero / Rock Band and maybe a few other games now and then.
Laptop:
I don't need to tell everybody that a laptop can do pretty much anything I want it to do. I won't play games on it. I will sit in front of the TV and search on wikipedia when I have a question. I will sit in coffee shops with free wifi and drink trendy drinks. I will watch a movie on my laptop while riding an airplane - because I can. You see, these are all things that I can't do right now because I do not have a laptop.
The most important part of having a laptop is that I can do side work on it. I am a software developer and being able to take my work on the road will help me with possibly starting up my own business or at least doing a little bit of supplemental contracting side work.
The only other argument I might consider is getting an Xbox 360 first, since I like more of the games it has and most HD content will be downloadable within a year anyway. But, you know what? I don't want to download a movie for 3 days before I can watch it.
Labels: gadgets, HD, laptop, PS3, xbox
¶ 1:30 PM 7 Comments