Planet Sillicon

I appreciate technology

By blog on Sep. 5, 2009.

I don’t every day, by any means, but today I appreciate the technology I have at my fingertips.

For instance, I was just offered a free trial of a new phone system, because I work from home and have a very awesome broadband connection. I hear of so many people still using ADSL or some even using dial up!? But today I’m really aware just how much I use my net connection, for regular news, or tech news, which is cool, because it’s often not covered on normal sites in much detail. Try this site here for broadband and tech news. I hate using the phone, so email is essential for me, and of course I have to have a great connection for gaming, not to mention for actual work, too. Though I’m not working today, oh no, today I’m catching up on blogging!

I’ve been having trouble with my blog all week. It took me four days to figure out that one of my WordPress files were corrupted, and then I had to completely reload the software onto my PC! I kept up my blogging, I just wasn’t posting them, so don’t be surprised to see a week’s worth of blog posts go up today!

It was very nice to be able to get my blog back up and running, especially because I’ve been so busy with work that I really didn’t have time to do much in the way of figuring out what was actually wrong. It’s always like that, though, you’ve never got much time to fix things, which is probably why my methods are precise… I’ve had time to think about exactly the best way to troubleshoot, and fix the issue before I waste a lot of time on it.

Anyway, enough of that. I was looking at the PlayStation Network, and for those who want to use the online multiplayer function, you pretty much have to have some form of headset or the like. The nifty thing with the PS3 is that it can be a Bluetooth one, which is pretty cool… then I thought about actually playing with other people, and having to listen to them, and I shook myself out of my silliness.

First Impressions of the PS3 Slim

By blog on Sep. 4, 2009.

Because I’ve just gotten my brand new console, the PS3 Slim, so I’ve decided to review the console, or at least my first hours playing it, here today.

As a side note, look out in my upcoming entries for reviews of the four games I purchased with the console. SoulCalibur IV, InFamous, GTA IV, and Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Now, onto the actual impressions of the machine so far. I’ve not had a PS3 in the past, so the console as a whole is a new experience, let alone the updated version. I found it to be surprisingly heavy when I was carting it back to my car from the store, which was a pleasant surprise. I don’t like when consoles are very light, it seems cheap. You’ll find that both the other ‘Generation 7′ consoles also have a weightiness to them that is really very pleasing to hold.

In keeping with the Wii, the PS3 uses no disc tray, rather you slide the disc into a slot where I believe there is a small monster on the inside of the console who takes the disc and places it where it needs to be… I don’t really mean that… or do I?

The console is auto set to be used with AV cables, rather than a HDMI cable. You also have to purchase the HDMI cable separately, along with controllers – only one comes in the box – and the remote and any other devices. When you load up the console originally, if you are using the HDMI cables you have to hold the power button until you’ve heard it beep twice, then it will pick up the HDMI input and you can adjust your resolution to be the same as your television. The fact that you have to pay for HDMI cables separately is my only complaint with this console.

It’s a nice looking machine, in my opinion, and I think the matte looks better than the original glossy finish. If it’s fingerprint resistant, then it seems somewhat more… professional, to me anyway. It’s quiet, and I like the system interface, too. So that’s all from my first day of playing the PS3 Slim, in the following days, maybe weeks depending on how much I play any one game, I’ll be reviewing those four games, too.