PS3 wins raves from this non-gamer

Ok, I admit it: I was totally against spending $400 - $500 on a gaming system. I'm not much of a gamer and the High Definition revolution just hasn't thrilled me the way it has thrilled masses. But I started softening when I got a look at Rock Band and then our DVD player went out and I gave in. Once I resigned myself to the purchase, the PS3 seemed to be the way to go and buying the 80GB over the 40GB was a no-brainer. For only $100 more we doubled the memory and, more importantly, the 80GB unit is backward compatible.

Once it got here, I fully expected it to take half the day to set up and I just knew I was going to have to have a cheat sheet if I ever wanted to watch a DVD without my husband.  Actually, it only took about an hour to install and update and the controls are intuitive, so I didn't even need instructions.  We popped in the racing game that came with it and we were both surprised to find that I enjoyed it as much as my husband did. I've never before cared about video game graphics, but these were so clear and realistic that I found myself physically leaning into the curves even though I was clearly sitting on the couch. Also, playing some of the games online is pretty neat and I get a kick out of the bluetooth, too. Then we rented a Blu-Ray disc. Wow! For years I've been listening to people talk about how DVD was soooo much clearer than VHS and then how HD was so much sharper and I just never really saw what the big deal was. But the Blu-Ray graphics succeeded in impressing even me!

I'm still not much of a gamer, but I'm a converted fan of the PS3. It was well worth the investment. I do wish there were more games that aren't first person shooter games, though. Also, it alarmed me at first that the cooler fan kept popping on, but the unit has been running just fine for over a month, so I guess the fan is doing its job. And, yes, we bought Rock Band, too J