Advice request ... should I upgrade to a PS4/Xbox One?

[dud]

I appreciate all advice the community can provide. My situation is thus:

I own a PS3 slim. The console is used almost exclusively as a media center for watching DVDs/BRs and media stored on an external HD. The price of the latest gen consoles have steadily declined over time. In fact, used systems can be had for a considerable discount. Based upon these facts I am considering upgrading to a used PS4/Xbox One to act as a replacement media center. I am a PC gamer and I rarely game on a console (I never seemed to get conformable with the controller(s)).

What, if any benefits would I receive (other than a lighter wallet) from upgrading to one of the later-gen consoles over the PS3? If I would, please recommend which console and why. If no benefit would be realized ... my question has been answered.

Thank you ...

 

[SteveGrabowski]

XBox sounds like your best bet

 

[dud]

XBox sounds like your best bet

Thank you for replying. Could you educate me ... why?

 

[quikah]

Do you have a 4K TV? If so, or you plan to get one sometime in the future, the Xbox One S is the way to go if you plan to mostly use it as a media player since it will allow you to play 4K blu-ray which is a missing feature for the PS4.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

Thank you for replying. Could you educate me ... why?

Television



Nah seriously, XBox One has an HDMI in so you can run your cable box through it. If you buy the XBox One S it has a 4k Blu Ray drive, which neither the older XBox One nor any model of PS4 have. It looks like a much better media platform than PS4, plus you can get an XBox One S 500 GB from Gamestop or newegg for $190 right now.

https://www.gamestop.com/xbox-one/consoles/xbox-one-s-500gb/149706

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=1GK-0063-00001

Of course you lose out on some truly incredible PS4 exclusive games (2017 has had some unbelievable releases on PS4) but it doesn't sound like that matters to you.

 

[Aikouka]

The Xbox One S is not a good UHD Blu-ray player. The system has little or no shielding against disc noise, and consequently, you can easily hear a disc during any quieter scene of a movie. Although, if you want a console specifically for a Blu-ray player, I'd still go with the Xbox One over the PlayStation 4. The biggest reason is that Sony really seems to have dropped the ball in regard to remote controls on the PS4. For example, my Harmony remote cannot turn on the PS4... and it commonly asks me to pair the remote with the PS4 again. On the other hand, the Xbox One just uses IR, which works far, far better with remotes. It's a real shame since the PS3 had a really good first-party remote, but the PS4 doesn't even have that.

 

[dud]

Thank you Steve and friends. I use a non-4K TV for viewing so that is not an issue. Thanks again ...

 

[DaveSimmons]

You'll want to eventually once streaming apps stop being updated for the PS3. But you can wait another year if 1080p media is your main use.

Right now the main media benefit would be getting a very loud 4K-bluray player from the xbox, nothing from the PS4.

I almost bit on the Black Friday deals ($200/189) but I have a backlog of PC, PS3, X360 and Vita games so I have no need for the gaming part yet, and from what I've read the streaming apps aren't really better yet. The PS3 is still working very well for me as a blu-ray player and for Netflix and Amazon.

 

[shortylickens]

I got a PS3 (slim) just to try out GT6 and while I did like it, I couldnt find much else that thrilled me. Tried GT5 and didnt like, tried a couple of NFS's, I went ahead and bought The Last of Us cuz everyone in the world said its the best game ever.
I felt ripped off. Boring, slow, tedious, unpleasant, unfun, got tired and uninstalled it never went back.

BUT, when I got my Xbone I was pretty darn impressed. Better games overall, nicer hardware, slightly faster movie player, lots of apps and stuff to download. My only complaint is it seems like Sony gives a lot away for free that Microsoft charges for. Like online multiplayer.
I was a little amused when I moved Forza Horizon 3 over to my computer and found the online multiplayer was free.

So anyways, my recommendation is to wait for Xbone prices to drop (they may have already, I dont know) and pick one up for a reasonable price. Maybe even a used one dirt cheap as hardcore gamers decide to upgrade and sell off their old console.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I got a PS3 (slim) just to try out GT6 and while I did like it, I couldnt find much else that thrilled me. Tried GT5 and didnt like, tried a couple of NFS's, I went ahead and bought The Last of Us cuz everyone in the world said its the best game ever.
I felt ripped off. Boring, slow, tedious, unpleasant, unfun, got tired and uninstalled it never went back.

BUT, when I got my Xbone I was pretty darn impressed. Better games overall, nicer hardware, slightly faster movie player, lots of apps and stuff to download. My only complaint is it seems like Sony gives a lot away for free that Microsoft charges for. Like online multiplayer.
I was a little amused when I moved Forza Horizon 3 over to my computer and found the online multiplayer was free.

So anyways, my recommendation is to wait for Xbone prices to drop (they may have already, I dont know) and pick one up for a reasonable price. Maybe even a used one dirt cheap as hardcore gamers decide to upgrade and sell off their old console.

You'd kind of expect an XB _1_ to be better than a PS _3_, being the next generation

PS4 is winning the console war this generation so it has more games, and the regular PS4 is more powerful than the regular XB1. (The PS4 Pro is less powerful than the XB1 X.)

That said, if a person prefers Forza and Crackdown (when it finally ships ) over Gran Turismo and JPRGs then an XB1 is a better choice. XB1 even has limited backwards compatibility with some X360 games (but not Crackdown 1 ), though PS4 has HD remakes of some PS3 and PS2 games.

 

[cmdrdredd]

If you aren't a big gamer I wouldn't bother buying either. That's just me. I find the media functionality on both systems lacking in certain areas. If you're in it for the games evaluate what games you want to play and go from there.

 

[Red Hawk]

Thank you for replying. Could you educate me ... why?

Like others have said, Xbox One has more non-game functionality than the PS4. The white colored Xbox One S model specifically, but not the black original model Xbox One, functions as a 4K blu-ray player. So if playing 4K blu-rays interests you, maybe not now but later down the road, that's a decent reason to upgrade from a PS3. No model of the PS4 has a 4K blu-ray player.

Other pros/cons:

PS4 has a better library of exclusive games than the Xbox One, but the Xbox One is backwards compatible with a lot of Xbox 360 games. The PS4 has no native backwards compatibility with PS3 games, if you want to play PS3 games you have to pay for Sony's game streaming service PSNow (which can actually be used on PC, as well). Each has a base model and a more expensive model designed for use with 4K TVs -- the original model Xbox One and Xbox One S are weaker graphically than the original model PS4 and the PS4 Slim, but the more expensive Xbox One X model is more powerful than the PS4 Pro model. So, games look and run better on PS4 Slim than Xbox One S, but games on Xbox One X look and run better than on PS4 Pro. The Xbox One X actually renders Xbox 360 games at 4K, and improves things like draw distance, texture resolution and filtering while running at a higher frame rate, so you get a substantially better experience than on the original Xbox 360.

 

[nakedfrog]

PS3 is overall better for media than PS4, so unless you plan to start gaming more on consoles, I don't think you should upgrade.

 

[cmdrdredd]

PS3 is overall better for media than PS4, so unless you plan to start gaming more on consoles, I don't think you should upgrade.

Yeah and if media is your primary goal a good blu-ray player can do almost everything.