I've heard LCD is preferred over Plasma because of glare issues, but I've never owned a plasma, so I can't say first hand.

X-Box and PS3 are similar.  I think the X-Box controller has a couple of additional buttons, so you may want to have your kids try the systems before making the purchase.  Most stores like Best Buy will have the systems set up in the store with the newest games going so you can try the controllers before making a purchase.

Wii is a bit different from X-Box and PS3.  Personally, I think Wii is a bit more little kid friendly.  We have both PS3 and Wii.  I occasionally play the PS3, but never play Wii.  My 8 year old occasionally plays Wii, but never plays PS3.  My 11 year old occasionally plays both.

A couple of other things you may want to look into.  PS3 also works as a Blu-ray disc player.  I'm not sure about the others.  I think you can stream Net-Flix through all 3 systems, but that's also something to look at, if you're interested.

Games for all 3 systems are comparably priced.

"Our CubFan neighbors had a PS3 and weren't satisfied at all. I guess the unit kept overheating and crashing."

Really?  Never had that problem, although mine is considerably older.  Mine is old enough that you can still play PS2 games on it.

LCD is the way to go unless you want to spend the extra money on an LED.  Plasma's are a thing of past, worst pitcher and half the life span.  I was told when I bought my TV that 120hz was an important number instead of 60hz.  I went to the store and couldnt tell a diffrence and am not sure which one I bought.  When I got it home my 5 year old 720/60 40inch look to have just as good of a picture.  I do know one thing and that is that the smaller the screen the better the pitcher.  Knocking down the size from a 60inch to a 55inch can sharpen the picture or allow you to buy a cheeper TV. 


PS3 or Xbox360 is what I would get.  I have a PS2 andlike it.  I just never play it so I never saw the need to upgrade.  I have played both the XBOX and PS game systems but not the newer versions.  I assume both would be fine.  I thought the XBOX and PS2 were about the same.

tkihshbt wrote:

I'd go with PS3. I have XBox 360, but the damn thing comes with a design flaw that causes a "Red Ring of Death." Your system essentially fails and you have to call Microsoft, go through some tedious questions then send it back in. A week later, they send you back a refurbished unit that still has a chance to go belly-up with the RROD.

Wii is more family friendly, but PS3 and 360 are where its at for the best games.

Do you have the XBox Live feature?

TV: So we went with a 46", 1080p, 120 Hz, edge lit LCD, which is on sale at Costco for $549.  The drawback, I am told, is that the brand is Westinghouse, and that contrary to popular belief, you get what you pay for in TVs.  I have no idea.  There was an LG with similar specs for $689, and maybe the picture was a bit better, but it was hard to tell because they were 100 feet apart and showing different content.  We'll start it out in the living room, replacing our mammoth Sony 40" CRT, but if the money stays good we might get something bigger for the living room and send the 46" to the master bedroom.

I am busy and will let it sit in the box for a day or two in any event.

As for the game system, I am imagining that it's more for the kids and their friends than for me, and the kids are two girls, 12 and 4.  Seems like all of their friends have Wii.  But I am kind of surprised by how affordable they all are . . . I think a Wii is maybe about $150.  So it wouldn't be that dear to buy more than one. 

We already have a blueray player, and will hook up one of the computers for watching internet content.  We will probably buy a lower end home theater system.  There's a Sony system for $229, which shows how far the mighty have fallen in these OWS times we are living in.  During my grad school days I had a Bang & Olufsen 5000 with Klipsch KG4 speakers.

"During my grad school days I had a Bang & Olufsen 5000 with Klipsch KG4 speakers."

Impressive ...
My dad still has a B&O turntable. He used to like to go to stereo stores, seek the youngest clerk he could find and ask for "a replacement stylus."

"You only know someone by some stupid handle they come up with ... and the encounter ends after 10 minutes."

Sounds like a lap dance.
Seriously, thanks.

"as a senior at ucla"

I thought you were an Illini guy.
True story. My wife and I are on the UCLA campus. I have to duck my head into Pauley Pavilion, just to say I saw the place.
I'm marveling, probably open-mouthed, maybe even with a little bit of drool running out of the corner of my mouth. My wife, who seriously wants to check out Bel-Air, is out of patience.
"Give me a sec. The only place you'll see more championship banners is in the Boston Garden."
"We came all this way for something we could see at home?"

Last edited by artie_fufkin (11/03/2011 7:49 pm)

Max wrote:

1982: failed out of U of I as D1 DROP, with a 0.6 GPA.  (but had season tickets for illini football and was at all the same games as Windy . . . saw the ref drop dead in front of me.)

1989-1991: returned to school as a JC transfer at UCLA (after having done a John Cusack like stint at an Venica, CA used record store). super focused.  missed magna cum laude by 0.00something and a credit hour or two . . . didn't care or even notice until it was too late. too focused.  never went to a single sporting event . . . never even considered it.  never set foot in pauley pavilion, never considered it.  walked by it now and then, but i was a 'north campus' guy and had little business down on that end of campus except to go to the book store or the occasional walk to westwood village (wrong side of Janss Steps, too).

Amazing what happens when you get a second chance.
After arm issues made it no longer possible for me to play baseball, I  tried out for our school's basketball team ('basketball' being a term open to interpretation, since we probably won a total of nine games in the four years I was there).
Most of my motivation was to get my roommate to try out for the team. He was (and still is) an excellent point guard, but never did anything on his own. He would have made the team if one of the only two players on the team who was decent wasn't already the starting point guard. I lasted about four days before I got cut. He was the last cut. I wasn't surprised I didn't make it, but my roommate was pretty upset. In front of about half our fraternity, I tried to rationalize "Hey, it'll give me more time to study. I've got a tough senior seminar next semester, and I'm probably going to spend every other waking hour at the school paper." By the reaction, you would have thought I'd suggested we ought to switch to light beer.

"Winters gained his college eligibility and eventual basketball immortality by correctly naming 10 of them."

NINTCMAD!
Which, of course, begets the question: Which two did he miss?

And Ephrem it is.  Credit the guy who graduated, over the guy who failed out after one semester, to get it correct:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U1DcXzXVzk

So, we watched our first Blu-Ray movie on the new 46" 1080p TV, and OMFG, . . . as the French knight once said, "it's very nice".