Which Console Suits My Specific Needs/wants?

[Yann1503561104]

Hello all,

Ok I am in need of the collective knowledge of you all, y'all or yous if you prefer!

I'm thinking of getting a console and these are my primary wants;

1) Fun Karaoke style game something that has a good range of music to choose from, ideally however something that has access to alot of chinese pop music (for my Girlfriend and her friends). I think I've heard the PS3 singstar you can download songs from the internet to use in the game? Anyone know about this? Does the 360 karaoke game have the ability to download songs from the internet to be used as part of the game?

2) Streaming DVD's and downloaded videos and music to the console

3) I have a stand alone Blu-Ray already, and a stand alone HD DVD player. I also have an xbox 360 HD DVD drive as a back up to the stand alone unit with about 60 HD dvd's. Will I be able to using the HD DVD drive on my computer then be able to stream in HD to a PS3 or can I only use the HD DVD drive in conjuction with a 360?

Thanks!

[bowds]

Hello all,

Ok I am in need of the collective knowledge of you all, y'all or yous if you prefer!

I'm thinking of getting a console and these are my primary wants;

1) Fun Karaoke style game something that has a good range of music to choose from, ideally however something that has access to alot of chinese pop music (for my Girlfriend and her friends). I think I've heard the PS3 singstar you can download songs from the internet to use in the game? Anyone know about this? Does the 360 karaoke game have the ability to download songs from the internet to be used as part of the game?

2) Streaming DVD's and downloaded videos and music to the console

3) I have a stand alone Blu-Ray already, and a stand alone HD DVD player. I also have an xbox 360 HD DVD drive as a back up to the stand alone unit with about 60 HD dvd's. Will I be able to using the HD DVD drive on my computer then be able to stream in HD to a PS3 or can I only use the HD DVD drive in conjuction with a 360?

Thanks!

1) Yes Singstar is very popular, yes there is downloadable content from the PSN for the game. I would look at guitar hero world tour/rockband as well, the vocal's are good in those games as well + you get to play guitar & drums. great fun.

2) PS3 does this quite well with an app called TVersity. I upgraded my PS3 hard drive (very easy) and just store the mp3's and avi files on the PS3, saves the hassle of streaming and makes it very easy.

3) I don't think its possible to stream the HD DVD from the PC to the PS3, but i haven't looked into it either. I do know that the PS3 cannot playback .mkv files though which is a drawback.

Edit: typo.

Edited November 27, 2008 by bowds

[ajm1503559545]

1) Pass on this one. They're not my cup of tea tbh.

2) Neither will stream DVD's. Neither are great with video formats (.mkv for example) so they're both a little hit and miss. I've not used either for music so can't comment on that.

3) Short answer, no. You'd need to rip and convert the disc to another HD format and neither really like HD formats (ironic huh?!)

If it's Singstar you want then perhaps a PS2 would be the go. You could then buy a media player such as the Popcorn Hour A110 or MDX1000 to stream video (including DVD .iso and HD .mkv files) and audio including lossless FLAC files.

But, otherwise:

360 is cheaper.

360 is crazy noisey

PS3 is quieter.

360 has better choice of games (IMO).

360 had better controller (IMO)

360 is crazy noisey

PS3 has Blu-ray (which you don't need but might be relevant one day)

[locpender]

i am finding it really hard to decide what to go for - so any advice would be awesome

i am a casual gamer - don't play many hours, but i love playing real games and more silly ones. Love halo, amped, knights of the old republic, streetfighter, castlevania, mario etc

i have a Panasonic Tau flatscreen TV - is HD capable (not full HD though - only 1080i, 576P and 480P) that only has component and no HDMI

have an older AVR that has optical audio and component visual - no HDMI either

xbox is appealing cos of the games and price

ps3 is appealing cos of bluray - would i get any benefit from the bluray on my system though? i know i wont get the sound benefit due to lack of HDMI - but what about PQ? should i look at a stand alone player like the new sony 550 instead maybe?

any help would be most appreciated

[nonny]

1.

Check out Lips for the 360... I understand it has its own songlist but can read and turn any mp3 songs into Karaoke format as well. I havent seen any reviews but its literally just come out for the 360. Failing that Singstar is still the Karaoke king. It is also supposedly going to have that same mp3 ripping feature in future releases. I do know that the next release of Singstar for the PS3 (ver 3) is going to allow all previous PS2 singstar games to be ripped to the PS3's HDD and used in game.

2.

Both PS3 and 360 do this rather well either streamed from the PC over the network or via USB key etc.. plugged directly into the unit. I have one PS3 and two 360s I use every day for this. Works for both mp3 audio and xvid/divx streaming so they're both pretty damn good whichever way you look at it. Doesnt work for DVD streaming however in .ISO format etc... but then both play DVDs locally.

3.

You can use the HD-DVD add-on for the 360 through Vista just fine... no issues. In terms of then ripping HD-DVD media to the PC and using it on PS3... Hmm not via streaming but I do know you can convert HD-DVD to Blu-Ray if you have the time and patience. Its a bit of a mindfield and not worth it IMO. If you have 60+ HD-DVD films I think the correct answer is just to go with the 360. Its dropped in price, the Pro pack now sports a 60GB HDD and the new dashboard update lets you install games to the HDD which makes the system a lot quieter than it used to be with the disc whirring away like a mini-tornado.

In short I think the 360 covers most if not all of your bases. In addition to that as you seem to like your HD-DVD movies if you were going to get a PS3 I'd plump for a Region A one from the US or HK simply for buying Blu-Ray movies at a more affordable price with more choice, quicker releases and usually more features as well. I can back that up as thats literally what I've done myself, though I sold all my HD-DVDs to pay for it.

Hope all the helps!

[swordfish805]

i have a Panasonic Tau flatscreen TV - is HD capable (not full HD though - only 1080i, 576P and 480P) that only has component and no HDMI

have an older AVR that has optical audio and component visual - no HDMI either

xbox is appealing cos of the games and price

ps3 is appealing cos of bluray - would i get any benefit from the bluray on my system though? i know i wont get the sound benefit due to lack of HDMI - but what about PQ? should i look at a stand alone player like the new sony 550 instead maybe?

Careful with the ps3. If your tv is an older panasonic CRT that does 1080i @50hz then you won't get the best out of a ps3. Ps3 output at 1080i is only 60Hz which my panasonic cannot display (see here for more background).

[varvs]

1) Pass on this one. They're not my cup of tea tbh.

2) Neither will stream DVD's. Neither are great with video formats (.mkv for example) so they're both a little hit and miss. I've not used either for music so can't comment on that.

3) Short answer, no. You'd need to rip and convert the disc to another HD format and neither really like HD formats (ironic huh?!)

I play HD movies on my 360 from an external hard drive all the time, I dont know what youre talking about.

.mkvs can be converted to x.264 to play on either console using a free app called GOTSENT. since the only problem with .mkv files is the container, and .mkv's are just h.264 videos in a different container, all it does is change the container and re-encode the sound and its playable on a console. No video quality loss and the audio loss is minimal. conversion takes 10min tops with a dual core computer.

Theres some files it wont convert, but 8/10 of my HD movies convert OK. only thing is you need to split files that are over 4gb in size (gotsent can do this for you) to suit FAT32 drives, but if youre streaming this should not be a problem.

theres a full list of supported video formats but .avi, mp4 and h.264 videos are all supported and of course all the MS formats too. Since .avi support was added I have had zero problems playing basic videos from bit torrent, and since i found gotsent HD torrents havent been a problem either.

[ajm1503559545]

I play HD movies on my 360 from an external hard drive all the time, I dont know what youre talking about.

.mkvs can be converted to x.264 to play on either console using a free app called GOTSENT. since the only problem with .mkv files is the container, and .mkv's are just h.264 videos in a different container, all it does is change the container and re-encode the sound and its playable on a console. No video quality loss and the audio loss is minimal. conversion takes 10min tops with a dual core computer.

Theres some files it wont convert, but 8/10 of my HD movies convert OK. only thing is you need to split files that are over 4gb in size (gotsent can do this for you) to suit FAT32 drives, but if youre streaming this should not be a problem.

theres a full list of supported video formats but .avi, mp4 and h.264 videos are all supported and of course all the MS formats too. Since .avi support was added I have had zero problems playing basic videos from bit torrent, and since i found gotsent HD torrents havent been a problem either.

All I said was that neither were great with video files! You've just explained why (conversion, reecoding, splitting files, 80% success rate, audio loss) so what "I'm talking about" is the very same thing you're "talking about". It's do-able but that doesn't exactly make it great does it?

Edited November 28, 2008 by ajm

[nonny]

Neither is great with HD video files but Ive had no problems with any other video files in .avi format that didnt play first time perfectly on either.

Group Hug.

[Yann1503561104]

Thanks for the responses guys!!

[davep]

Its like Microsoft read these forums:

link

We know Microsoft have gone bundle mad in Europe this Christmas, but Australia had been spared. Until now. Take a look at Microsoft's "See, Hear & Play" bundle for the Australasian market.

For $329, you get an Arcade 360, a copy of iNiS' Lips, a copy of Sega Superstars Tennis and...A Pussycat Dolls DVD. Oh, and a Pussycat Dolls album as well. I promise you, this is a real, genuine product.

Scoff all you want - and I know you're scoffing - but while scoffing, bear in mind that $329 is $71 cheaper than a Wii.

Further info on Lips

Edited November 28, 2008 by davep

[varvs]

All I said was that neither were great with video files! You've just explained why (conversion, reecoding, splitting files, 80% success rate, audio loss) so what "I'm talking about" is the very same thing you're "talking about". It's do-able but that doesn't exactly make it great does it?

so youre complaining that your HD-rips that you havent paid a cent for require a little leg work to play?

nothing is free champ.

[ajm1503559545]

so youre complaining that your HD-rips that you havent paid a cent for require a little leg work to play?

nothing is free champ.

I'm not complaing at all, champ. I just made the observation (supported by your own comments and those of several others) that neither the Xbox 360 nor the PS3 were great with video. Simple as that, champ.

The rest is just a strawman argument you made up. Champ.