Well, I just realized today that I’ve owned my Sony PSP for almost 4 1/2 years! I originally purchased my PSP on launch day way back in March 24th, 2005.  The PSP’s superior screen and hardware (running nearly a full ps2 processor) impressed me from the start but would that alone make the PSP a competitor to the already successful Nintendo DS?  Would Sony get a foothold in the portable gaming sect?

After 4 1/2 years, I thought I’d recap on my experience with the PSP (being that I have also owned a Nintendo DS) and my thoughts and reflections.  Keep reading for the full scoop. (more…)

launch, life, tv, PlaystationStore, ps3, culture, opinion, console, handheld, psp | 1 Comment »

well, today i was finally cleaning up my laptop and decided i’d try to setup the media sharing components again.  i currently have my ps3 connected via a gigabit wired connection and my laptop using 802.11N so speed connection speeds should not be an issue with HD content streaming.  it seemed that when i had my ps3 connected via wifi i had some media server disconnect issues (however that may have been related to my older router too, currently using an apple airport extreme base w/nas).

my laptop is currently running windows 7 rc build as its main os due to the fact that win 7 lets you use and record clearQAM channels (that alone convinced me to stay with win7). however, i did not remember having any luck playing my tv shows from my ps3 via the media center sharing.  mp4 files worked fine but tv shows always gave me the usual cannot play back file error.

i have no idea what update added this feature but kudos to microsoft on that feature!!  this not only lets me use my PS3 as a media center extender but also any other pc can playback files via DLNA client. (i am assuming this since i have not tested).  keep reading for more details and the video demo.

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life, htpc, news, laptop, windows7, hp, ps3, hd, gaming, windows, opinion, console, culture, pc | 4 Comments »

this holiday weekend i decided to head up to my parent’s farm to spend some time with them and relaxing in the middle of nowhere. 

to my surprise, the first thing i notice in my parent’s living room is a nice ole 40″ Samsung LCD HDTV.  Bravo mom and dad!!  Most of my pals don’t even own hdtvs but yet my retired, ex-farming parents do.

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culture, hd, wii, life, geek, console, gaming, opinion, modding, hardware | No Comments »

well, i’ll admit it.  i really never got into GTA III prior to GTA IV’s release. it may have been due to the fact that i passed that generation of console gaming for pc gaming (ah..  imo, kind of the glory days of pc gaming thus far; tons of good games and the fact that your hardware outpaced game requirements was nice on the pocket book too!). 

i really wasn’t sure what to expect with GTA IV on my Playstation3 ; i had played GTA III a few times at my pals and on my psp but i never for more than 20 minutes.  GTA IV’s hype was pretty huge especially with the release of the first batch of reviews giving it mainly 10/10, perfects.  so my impressions are not of a GTA vetern but of a newb after 3 hours of gameplay (not watching others play, hehe).

First things first, the intro is very well done.  gives you a movie feel and warms you up to getting down and dirty.

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launch, review, ps3, culture, console, gaming | 5 Comments »

as most PS3 owners are well aware, the second to last firmware update, v2.20, brought BD-Live to the Playstation3.

what is BD-Live you ask? BD-Live, also known as Blu-ray Disc Profile 2.0, allows compliant players to go online and retreive info/trailers about the movie.  During the heat of the nextgen format wars, HD-DVD used this feature as a selling point of HD-DVD however the Blu-ray camp later added the functionality w/the release of the 2.0 Bluray Disc Profile.

lets take a look at my Sixth Day Blu-ray disc and BD-Live in action on my Playstation3.

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ps3, fanboy, review, blu-ray, hd, culture, opinion, console, geek, gaming | 4 Comments »

well, its been a bit too long since i’ve last posted and i apologize for the lack of updates/posts/ranting/fanboyism.

a few weeks back, i was hosting a mini Rock Band jamfest/party and had the whammy bar on one of my Rock Band guitars break.  it was still useable but would not reset back to the original spot.

so, being the DIYer i am, i decided this last weekend that i would fix it myself and thus avoid having to wait who-knows-how-long to get back my guitar from Harmonix.  here is a basic guide on what you need to do (its not very scary or hard, only requires a screw driver and some macgyver skills). Keep reading to see the details.
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fanboy, guides, rock band, ps3, culture, gaming, console, geek, hardware | 1 Comment »

what can i say. i was ‘that kid’ growing up that loved to get new toys (but who didn’t, right?) but the next day would then take them apart and most likely never got it back together and working.

well, my warranty on my Playstation3 finally expired on 3/26/08 and in turn i decided to celebrate my one year anniversary by taking my PS3 apart.

as previously blogged/youtubed/bit#$ed about; my playstation3 seemed to have an overheating problem (even though i can’t say it was overheating).  i’ve moved where i’ve been placing my PS3 several times now and its current spot is a wide open area by my wii and tv (not enclosed, free flowing air abounds). however i still had problems after leaving it on for more than 20 hours.  i’ve read a ton of posts by other PS3 owners who have been able to run their PS3 for weeks on end w/o any freezing/overheating issues.  so, i thought i’d see if perhaps i could figure out what was causing mine to act all weird after 20+ hours of being on.

keep reading to hear about the dis-assemble and see the geek-gore pics…

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ps3, fanboy, geek, console, hardware, gaming, general gadgets | 8 Comments »

well, i figured i’d rap up my current Playstation3 blog rapid-fire action with a roundup of current PS3 related guides/recipes over at techrx

• PS3 - How to convert movie DVDs to MP4 for playback on Playstation3
• PS3 : How to backup PS3 game save files to memory stick / sd / cf
• PS3 : Zoom In/Out, Go Forward/Backward in Photo Album Slideshow and Tips
• PS3 - Upgrade Harddrive Notes and Tips
• PS3 - How to use Bluetooth Remote as Controller in Games
• PS3 - How to do a factory / hard reset
• PS3 - Change visual player screens when playing audio files
• PS3 - Music / Photo / Video Tips and Tricks (prepping, copying, playing)
• PS3 - Create video thumbnail of downloaded movie/trailer/video

enjoy!

fanboy, guides, PlaystationStore, ps3, culture, gaming, psp, console, web | 6 Comments »

This entry is one that i’ve been waiting to do for quite some time now.  Today i’ll will be pitting my PS3 up against my Home Theater PC(well, mine is a Frankenstein’d laptop w/o lcd, hehe).  

Sony has boasted about the PS3’s multimedia and computer-ish functionality since its launch in 2006, however can it really stand-up to a similarly priced HTPC?  Does the PS3 live up to its multimedia hype? 

Lets find out, read on for more and see the embedded video.

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ps3, hd, culture, htpc, fanboy, tv, review, life, geek, dvr, psp, web, hardware, vista, music, console, opinion, pc | 7 Comments »

as many who frequent my blog will attest to, i love my ps3 not only for the gaming but also the video and music abilities.  recently i have been experimenting with the idea of my ps3 being my main hub and possibly replacve my htpc too (later post coming on this!) and realized the first thing i had to do was to get an even bigger hard drive.  previously i had upgraded from the factory 60gb to a seagate 160gb.  after getting about 20  movies on my ps3, i was getting pretty low on space; under 40gb since i also had music on there too and i also wanted to put on the 15gbs of other video i have too.

after reading on the playstation blog about the hard drive upgrades (wanted to verify the max size the ps3 can take internally, that sounded a bit dirty.. hehe), decided to go with a 250gb one.  i originally had a good deal on one over at tigerdirect but they messed up my shipping and in turn had it resent back to their warehouse and i in turn didn’t get the drive for a measly $100 and yet still charged me the 2day shipping?? (they’ll be hearing from me this week). 

so i figured i’d just go to best buy and get one since the prices were in line with what was available online when shipping was factored in. 

prior to upgrading the drive, i did a complete system backup via a usb ext harddrive (be sure that it is formatted in FAT32 file system and NOT NTFS; the ps3 will not read an NTFS drive).  the upgrade itself is cake and takes less than 10 mins to do however my system backup took about 1 1/2 hrs to complete (mainly my music).  keep reading for the embedded video of the upgrade itself!

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ps3, fanboy, geek, console, gaming, hardware | 9 Comments »

yup, what was i thinking not taking a look at this app earlier when davak mentioned it in his blog….   handbrake is an all in one video converter program.  its for both apples and pcs and does basically all the major file types/device types from iphone to psp to ps3 to apple tv to x360 to quicktime..

anywho, handbrake is able to convert a dvd to a ps3 mp4 file in about 2 hours on my setup (2gb memory, athlon 64 dual core) the quality is very good and the consistency and stability is topnotch vs ps3 video 9.  i have not had the av sync problems i had w/PS3 video 9 (very annoying when the audio would get behind the video by a minute towards the end of some movies)

now if only i could put an even bigger hdd in my ps3! oh handbrake.. how i love thee..

htpc, ps3, osx86, iphone, x360, hd, geek, windows, mac, gaming, music, console, apple | 2 Comments »

Well, a new year means a new list!  its been a while since i’ve written about my PS3-wishlist of features (ingame XMB FTW!!! still of course at the top of everyone’s wishlist, along w/Home). 

i’ve always been told that once a person/thing stops receiving criticism is when you really have to start worrying about if people care anymore.  so in other words, i really care about my PS3 thus the creation of ‘wishlists’. 

again, most of the features i am wanting are related to using the PS3 more as the multimedia hub that sony originally was pushing for or dreamed of than the gaming aspects (since really games are the solution to that one, duh!).  lets get onto my PS3 wishlist, keep reading for the list!

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ps3, hd, fanboy, life, PlaystationStore, culture, geek, gaming, web, psp, opinion, console, hardware | 1 Comment »

if there is one name in the PSP hacking world that almost everyone knows, its Dark_Alex..Dark_Alex imo is a pure PSP coding genius.

up until CFW 3.90 M33 was released, i did my CFW updates manually by putting the installers on my duo… however, with 3.90 M33, i’ve decided that to update to M33-2 via the Network Update feature.

keep reading for the embedded quick vid on doing the update and me rambling on about PSP and PS3 connectivity.
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geek, culture, fanboy, console, modding, gaming, psp, hardware | 1 Comment »

Just this week, Walmart (one of the nations/worlds largest retailers, infoweek news link) has joined other big namers such as Best Buy, Target, Netflix and Blockbuster in supporting Blu-ray exclusively.

For those in the HD-DVD camp, this move almost seems to be the final blow to HD-DVD in the format wars giving Blu-ray the possible HD format TKO.

In my opinion; Sony forcing Blu-ray into the PS3 was probably one of the smarter moves vs Microsoft making the HD-DVD drive an optional, add-on accessory.  Nonetheless, Microsoft was not pushing HD-DVD as much as Sony and also did not have as much at stake since Toshiba was the main supporter/creator of HD-DVD and Sony the big pusher for Bluray.

So hopefully, we will see an upcoming  ‘THE FORMAT WAR IS OVER’ types of announcments/messages soon! :)   or the war could limp on but again, HD-DVD seems to be on life-support and we will see if Toshiba will be merciful and just pull the plug.

now lets get some more HD content out there and get those prices down so those people who ‘were waiting for a winner’ can get involved and force TV to go full HD!!  i predict HD market penetration to be very deep this year and we should start seeing more and more HDTVs in households and people finally giving into the HD upgrade.

Plus, almost a year from now the analog tv broadcasts go digital; do you have your converter yet?

fanboy, life, news, x360, ps3, hd, console, geek, culture, opinion | 4 Comments »

If you don’t mind me asking, how do you use your PSP?  do you game on it mainly or use it for movies or music? or is it your portable emulator?

 I use my PSP for almost everything besides gaming (PSP games that is).  Honestly, I have yet to really be blown away by any game yet.  I really liked Hot Shots and was addicted to it and thought GTA was pretty cool but wouldn’t cause me to buy a PSP for it.   So, what do i use my PSP for? how do i use mine?

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handheld, console, geek, culture, life, fanboy, mobile, opinion, web, hardware, gaming, psp, music, general gadgets | 1 Comment »