The article to me didn't seem like it was fishing for problems. I get irritated that we are all (for the most part) gamer's, geeks, and tech-weasels, and it gets harder and harder to write up an editorial response to an experience with a system without getting tied to the Fanboy-post and burned alive. I get that it's an open forum, and that anything you put out there is susceptible to a flogging. Just seems like lately posts instantly go for the throat.

Susan Arendt:
To better answer another point raised by SaintWaldo. It's quite possible that future forays into the world of PSN video might be less frustrating, but what's my incentive to try? I can get virtually all of the same content on XBL with no hassle at all. I've never, ever had to wait for a movie I've downloaded from Xbox Live the way I had to wait for Spiderwick. If I have two video services offering the same content, and one is easy to use and one is not, what sense does it make to ever use the latter?

I agree, if one service gives faster DL for the same perceived quality and you only intend to rent, it doesn't make sense to try again. Choosing what works is a winning argument every time.

If you want to own the content, if I understand the two services correctly, that would be a different equation.

I mean if ya REALLY wanna go trolling for something that the 360 has to answer for you could start with those pesky red rings... Waaaaaaaaaaaaay too many gamers have been effected by them to say that it is EVEN anything less than a serious trend. But I think there are PLENTY of forums for the PS3/360 debate elsewhere. The article wasn't bashing the PS3 personally. Or singing the gospel of the 360. Just putting out an issue she had with some of the functionality of the PSN. In order to do that a comparison was made to the 360 system and its attributes.

zombielifecoach:
The article to me didn't seem like it was fishing for problems. I get irritated that we are all (for the most part) gamer's, geeks, and tech-weasels, and it gets harder and harder to write up an editorial response to an experience with a system without getting tied to the Fanboy-post and burned alive. I get that it's an open forum, and that anything you put out there is susceptible to a flogging. Just seems like lately posts instantly go for the throat.

Agreed, can't PS3 and 360 owners just get along? Most of the big ticket games are on both systems with no discernible differences between them, and neither system is perfect. I own a 360 but i'm well aware that it has a tendancy to eat discs, crashes frequently and gets hotter than the Sun after an hour of playtime. So long as you are happy with the system you own, why care what anyone else thinks of it? If you don't like the system you bought, then trade it in for the other one.

True article....hence why I only use my PS3 for BR and thats it. For gaming it is a failure and I will always get the 360 version of a game instead.

Susan Arendt:
I didn't choose the option that would cause the most problems -- that would've been the HD version, which I did not select. Also, why would I possibly think that my internet connection would be an issue, when performing the exact same function on my 360 had never caused a problem?

Internet is annoying thing, particularly Wi-Fi, if my PS3 is too far from the router than I get a 65% signal strength while my laptop is at 100, etc.

Susan Arendt:
Let me be clear on something else, folks. I am not for one moment suggesting that the PS3 is broken, or that you should avoid it like the plague, and I am very much aware of the fact that it offers very much the same experiences as a 360 (Trophies, etc.). In fact, that's all kind of my point.

Let me spell this out once more to the people who seem to think I'm just spouting some kind of fanboy rhetoric -- if I have two consoles that offer nearly identical services, but have a good experience with one and a bad experience with the other, which am I going to use?

I am telling a story about an experience that I personally had. No more, no less.

Oh, doesn't matter, you should have know this would start a battle in the giant field of the online system war, even though you said this, way after your post:

Digikid:
True article....hence why I only use my PS3 for BR and thats it. For gaming it is a failure and I will always get the 360 version of a game instead.

We get a post like that.

I mean, your gripe was with PSN clearly, but nope, Digikid sees "gaming failure".

Indigo_Dingo:
Then theres another factor: realistically, theres no way that your Ps3 should see that much inactivity. Even if you never play it, it would seem highly unconscionable in that situation to not get it out for the purpose of setting it to Fold.

I've actually been living with a guilty conscience since I moved out of my apartment three months ago because I forgot about Folding@home. Does anyone know if there's a website dedicated to explaining the work that's been completed thanks to the additional workload carried by PS3 owners?

What a fantastic idea. There was a great article in Wired a while back that listed several similar programs like Fold and SETI. Including everything from particle physics to art, everyone can help out.

Here's another list.

Sorry...a bit off topic.

Yeah, my first experience with the Sony Video Store was very similar as well. I figured there was a buffer but my wife's non-techie perspective and the lack of any mention of a buffer made me a bit too optimisitc and I ended up watching the movie too early... it eventually took 3 hours to stutter and stop my way through a 1 and a half hour movie.

Now when I download a movie I look at the filesize and wait till it's 40% before I start a standard def movie and 70% before I start a HD movie.

Now that this fact is understood, the service is fine.

While reading this article you got me wondering whether you've got the PS3 wired up or not?
There's a huge difference between going online wireless or wired (on any console or pc), which has nothing to do with the back-end handling or network priorities or anything but everything with Wi-Fi tech.

edit:
wow, lot of posts popped up in the meantime... Deleting some stuff.

ElArabDeMagnifico:

Susan Arendt:
I didn't choose the option that would cause the most problems -- that would've been the HD version, which I did not select. Also, why would I possibly think that my internet connection would be an issue, when performing the exact same function on my 360 had never caused a problem?

Internet is annoying thing, particularly Wi-Fi, if my PS3 is too far from the router than I get a 65% signal strength while my laptop is at 100, etc.

Susan Arendt:
Let me be clear on something else, folks. I am not for one moment suggesting that the PS3 is broken, or that you should avoid it like the plague, and I am very much aware of the fact that it offers very much the same experiences as a 360 (Trophies, etc.). In fact, that's all kind of my point.

Let me spell this out once more to the people who seem to think I'm just spouting some kind of fanboy rhetoric -- if I have two consoles that offer nearly identical services, but have a good experience with one and a bad experience with the other, which am I going to use?

I am telling a story about an experience that I personally had. No more, no less.

Oh, doesn't matter, you should have know this would start a battle in the giant field of the online system war, even though you said this, way after your post:

Digikid:
True article....hence why I only use my PS3 for BR and thats it. For gaming it is a failure and I will always get the 360 version of a game instead.

We get a post like that.

I mean, your gripe was with PSN clearly, but nope, Digikid sees "gaming failure".

I only tell the truth and I call em as I see em.

there is a bit of an issue here, most fast or slow downloads would happen because of your isp, not the service itself, probly could have tried renting the video on the 360 and seen how long it took that day

as for them having similar things, well the media companies are being paid money, they'll offer the content to whomever will pay them, i'm betting if Sony came up to your company and said "here's a pile of money, we want you to run ads for the ps3 on the site for 3 weeks", you're marketing dept would say "we will certainly do that", itunes has similar content to the ps3 and the xbox live marketplace

Susan Arendt:

SaintWaldo:

If you want to own the content, if I understand the two services correctly, that would be a different equation.

Absolutely. You can't purchase movies on at 360, nor can you transfer them to your Zune -- a fact which has irritated the hell out of me for ages. Even odder still, the video marketplace for the Zune offers different content than that on the 360. I downloaded the first three episodes in a series to watch on a plane, figuring I could finish watching on my actual television. Nope. Stupid, really.

And for the record, my first 360 died the Red Ring Death. It was in the middle of an N3 session, though, so I'm not sure if it was a mechanical failure, or some kind of self-preservation.

This may be a bit off-topic but the best way to keep your 360 from "RRoD"-ing would be to keep it as cool as possible. Put it on top of your entertainment set-up instead of the areas where your DVD player or satellite receiver would be (I hope that makes sense to everyone). Also, try to get your hands on a third-party fan peripheral like the Nyko Intercooler EX. It might make your 360 sound like a jet plane but will blow out all the hot air inside it.

Not a good idea. microsoft has already stated that if you installed an Intercooler that your warrenty will be voided. They can tell by the scratch marks that it leaves behind on PUS plug that goes into your 360.

Digikid:
Not a good idea. microsoft has already stated that if you installed an Intercooler that your warrenty will be voided. They can tell by the scratch marks that it leaves behind on PUS plug that goes into your 360.

Or you can use a different cooler like the one I've got, the Intec Cooler. It uses a separate power source, has small hooks that can easily attach and remove from the venting holes in the back. Unless someone saw you use it, no one would know unless you told them.

http://inteclink.com/turbocooler.aspx

Mwhaha. I love my PS3, but I have to agree with you on the downloads part. I remember it was whining at us to download an update, so we did. After about 15 minutes, we left for pizza. Two hours later, we come back to find it's only at 88%.

Meeheheh.

I think it took about five hours to finish, and what did we get? Uhm. We think it added an icon...we're not sure, but we're pretty sure that one wasn't there before. Mmm.

/agree...

Vortigar:
While reading this article you got me wondering whether you've got the PS3 wired up or not?
There's a huge difference between going online wireless or wired (on any console or pc), which has nothing to do with the back-end handling or network priorities or anything but everything with Wi-Fi tech.

Not in my experience. My PS3 has run on wireless since day 1 and I've never had a problem with it that could have been solved by wiring it.

I could really see how annoying the updates could get on slow internet, not to mention video download. I have my ps3 hooked up to 7mbit so it updates and streams video exceptionally fast. Truthfully I use it mostly for its blu-ray capability though, being mostly a PC gamer myself. Nice article though. :)