The PS3

Well - I am the proud owner of a 60GB Euro PS3 with PS2 SW Backward Compatibility. How do I as a PS3 owner rate the PS3?

Aesthetically the PS3 is a sweet looking piece of equipment. It looks great just sitting there.
It is a durable robust piece of equipment. I have 2 PS2 consoles. A launch model - still working - just a bit finicky with its reading of disks. And a slimline PS2. It works very little now - since the PS3 can play all the PS2 titles that I have - with the exception of a few.

The PS3 as a DVD / Blu-Ray player makes it worth owning alone. I rent DVD's. I own quite a few. The one thing that is really frustrating of renting a DVD is that the disks are scratched many a time - and your player don't want to read it. Well - problem solved. Get a PS3. I have 4 DVD players in my house - excluding the PS3. And then 5 notebook computers and a desktop PC that are all equipped with DVD player / writers. Some disks refused to read on any of them. And then - enter the PS3. It does not scratch disks. I have seen some of my PC DVD drivers adding scratches. Dedicated DVD players adding scratches. And yeah - the PS2 tend to do that as well. And then you get the PS3. It reads the scratched disks better than any of the other players. It does not scratch disks.

I bought 3 second hand PS3 games now. Blu-Ray disks. I have around 11 titles now. And they get played around 12-16 hours a day. Yeah - with four kids - and with the PS3 as the home entertainment center - it plays the music when we have a barbecue, We watch the DVD's that the whole family watch together, and it plays games for most of the time. And does a bit of folding as well on the side. And all PS3 owners can vouch for this - the game store people confirmed it as well - the PS3 second hand disks looks like new. I bought two titles today - Sonic, and NFS:Carbon. We checked the surface - trying to find that single little scratch. It is like new.

As a music player - now with FW 2, playlists is supported as well. For me a welcome addition. Some for party - and some for getting the family asleep - you know - more soothing music. You rip the CD to hard disk, find the title online and get all the music info you need. Create a playlist for the occasion - and there you go.

Would I recommend a PS3? By all means - yes. It is build to last. I have in many years not seen such a quality build product as the PS3. The interface is slick. The system works - day and night. It is whisper quiet. The controllers work well. The bluetooth remote works well. The games are picking up speed now - with some real quality titles rolling in. The PS2 served me well for many years. I can foresee the PS3 being the centerpiece equipment of my living room for at least 6 years.