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Originally Posted by FranklinC
Question for those that have one already: Once I get it on my network can I really surf the internet on this thing just like a regular computer? Does it have a browser built in or can I load my own or what?
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It has its own web browser, but it doesn't seem full featured enough to handle all your regular web surfing, eg. doesn't seem to support various major plug-ins like Adobe Flash (or my kids would be playing Webkinz on it
). Actually, I guess it's possible that some day Adobe (and/or Sony) might provide a plug-ins like Flash, if web surfing takes off on the PS3 platform.
And I don't think you can load your own unless you install Linux or something -- I hear some folks actually do that (and maybe I might try that too at some point).
Also, if you're gonna use it for pretty regular surfing, you might wanna get a wireless keyboard for it (unless you don't mind running USB keyboard w/ a long cord). Using the game controller for that can be a real pain -- one of which is that it seems to often (but not always) add a space at the end of what I try to enter. Also, using it on a 1080i display is not much fun either -- too blurry w/ the flicker reduction turned on. Still, one positive point about navigation w/ the PS3 browser is that it's smart enough to optionally move the cursor exactly between links/hotspots depending on the controls you use, so you don't need great accuracy w/ the game controller to click on what you want, which is especially important on a blurry, flicker-reduced 1080i display.
So yeah, if you don't have a large, sharp, 1080p display or won't be using an actual keyboard, and if all you wanna do is check IMDB.com or something like that, it's not a bad way to go. That's pretty much what I use it for now and then. I may use the web browser more (and use it for web-based email and maybe even HTF
) and go for a keyboard when I do upgrade my display to 1080p next year or so, assuming 1080p will make it much more useable. Don't expect it to ever completely replace a regular computer for web surfing though, not unless you in to Linux or something.
And oh, if you use a web-based photo album or some such, the PS3 browser could possibly be useful for that too.
But I imagine many would rather just either load their photos right onto the PS3 itself (or hook up an external USB drive) or serve the photos wirelessly to the PS3 from another computer...
_Man_
And I don't think the PS3 can ever truly replace my PC anyway, even if it has the exact same web surfing capabilities -- it might keep me from upgrading the laptop anytime soon, but that's about it. And if I really do want the PS3 to replace my PC (for many computing tasks besides just web surfing), I could probably try Linux on it.