Playstation 3

Santa was very kind to me this year. He brought me a Playstation 3. So I spent Christmas day glued to the console playing games... No, that's not right. I don't actually own any games for the PS3 and getting the time to play them is nigh on impossible anyway.

Using the PS3 I can

• Watch Blu-ray discs;
• Record HD television using the PlayTV attachment;
• View my photos in glorious big high definition on the TV;
• Listen to my MP3 collection through the stereo downstairs;
• View web pages on the tv (and update this blog!)

I've got a WD MyBook World network storage device with my MP3 and photo collections, which it shares with other DLNA devices. That means my Sony VAIO PC's and notebooks, the VAIO networked photo frame (through which I can view photos and listen to music) and the PS3. The systems works really well for me.

Photos look fantastic on the LCD tv, so much more vibrant than on the computer monitors and large enough that you feel like you are almost there. It's good to have the music playing in the background too. If only the PS3 automatically rotated portrait photos.

I haven't yet got PlayTV to pick up SBS, but the signal is pretty poor anyway.

The PS3's web browser is okay, but not as good as your standard PC browser. A number of websites, including Jetstar, think that it's a mobile device and don't show the standard pages. I'm used to browsing on non-standard devices, but I haven't had the mobile issue before, except when actually using a mobile phone.

I attached my Logitech EX100 wireless keyboard and mouse to the PS3 and it worked automatically, although the range is quite poor. Still, it's much easier than using the game controller or remote to try to type.

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the setup. If I wanted to play games I'd get a Wii, but the PS3 is fun for many other reasons.