I have an old PS2, and would like, some time, to get either an XBOX360 or PS3.
I also have an old-ass Magnetbox TV, from about 1985.
What do I need to buy to make a new console worthwhile?
I figure:
Console
New TV (HD? or just a decent flat-screen? I’m clueless.)
I have digital cable with a DVR.
Are there additional cables or… doohickeys I need?
Joe
You can get anything to run on your Magnetbox - you just need a switch or converter. I’m completely blanking on the little device you need, but you can get them cheap on monoprice.com. Hopefully someone with less brainfart in their head will come along shortly to help me out.
HOWEVER, you do need to be aware that the newer consoles will look pretty terrible on your TV. In many cases, games with text will be unreadable on an old CRT. If you really want to make a new console worthwhile, you’re going to really want an HDTV.
You’re asking two different questions. Everything you need will be in the box. If you can hook up a PS2 to your TV, you can hook up a PS3/Xbox 360/Wii.
What do you need? An HDTV (all flat screens are HDTVs). The 360 includes the necessary HD cables in the box while you’ll need to buy them separate for the PS3.
I know. My PS2 GTA San Andreas was a chore. I accept a new TV as a given.
Joe
Not true. There have been plenty of flatscreen TVs that are only 480i. They’re nearly impossible to buy new these days, but if the OP went on craigslist, there’s a decent chance of him coming home with a shitty non-HD flatscreen.
I assumed the TV would be bought new.
Yes - I’m looking to spend in the area of $800 for the whole shebang - console, TV (modest TV), a few games, and other things I might need.
Specifically, will I likely need any special “stuff” to make a basic setup - special connectors or adapters?
Joe
The challenge for your budget is the HDTV fitting into the $400~ wiggle room you have.
Your goal is to spend as efficiently as possible. You don’t really need a TV. You need a monitor because you don’t need the cable tuner since you have a digital cable box. I don’t know if you can find such a thing though. Probably end up with a 42" 720p television, which certainly isn’t a bad outcome. Samsung makes good LCD displays. Panasonic makes good plasma displays.
Whether or not you’ll need a dongle for the console depends on the console. If you need A/V cables, buy them from monoprice.com.
If you get a PS3, like Justin Baily mentioned, you will need to buy an HDMI cable. Your best bet is to buy that cable online before you get anything else. You can find them online for less than 10 dollars. While at the store the price might be upwards of 25.
32 inch HDTV I guess is around $500.00
PS3 is around $300.00
That takes up a lot of your budget.
The nice thing about buying any of the consoles now is that there are plenty of used games out there, or Greatest Hits versions of games that have been out a while. So, you can easily stock up on older games cheaply.
If you are just going to be playing games by yourself. You don’t need much else for standard games. Of course, the Rock Band type games are popular. They take an additional outlay of funds for the equipment needed. Additionally, this fall the PS3 is coming out with Move and Xbox is coming out with Kinect. They are motion gaming devices. That lets you play games that involve motion. Like the Wii already has. But, this is all stuff you can add if you want to. It isn’t needed.
Aside from the HDMI cable. Everything else you need to play is included.
Thanks - this was pretty much what I wanted to know. I’m feeling about $350 for a 32-incher is reasonable. I still don’t know which console, but that’s it’s own several threads.
Joe
You can just use a computer monitor with an HDTV input. My away from home Xbox360 setup is the xbox into a Dell monitor with sound through either headphones or computer speakers. The monitor is better than my plasma TV setup simply because I sit closer to it and it’s higher definition, the plasma is only 720p. If you want a new TV though, go out and grab one.
Speaking of headphones, a good quality pair of headphones does wonders - video games these days have great 3D sound. Especially if you play any shooters online, you’ll hear that grenade bouncing behind you or that guy with the shotgun coming around the corner.
I’m a PS3 owner, so that would be my recommendation for console - as for TV, if you’re looking for a smaller screen, you can probably go 720p as opposed to 1080p without losing much detail - I’ve heard that you need to get up to 50" before the average person can distinguish the difference between the two. I’d also recommend looking for a TV with HDMI in (not sure if this is completely defacto standard or not, but its getting there). HDMI is great for a bunch of reasons. Get a cheap HDMI cable, no need to splurge. I bought mine at Target for like $20, but you can get them cheaper online and they’ll be just fine.
What are you doing for audio? Running the sound through the TV, or through a stereo system? If through the TV, that’s another reason to get HDMI, as it carries picture and sound through the one cable.
You’ll probably want to upgrade your cable to HD as well, otherwise you’ll notice the difference when you plug it into the HDTV.
Your best bet as far as the new TV goes is to watch woot.com and sellout.woot.com. They occasionally have good deals on HD televisions under $500. Newegg.com is also worth keeping an eye on. You may have to wait a few, but you’ll get a decent TV that fits in your budget. A couple of years ago we got an off-brand 780p 46" HDTV for our bedroom off of Newegg for less than $500. It’s a bit heavy and even back then wasn’t the latest and greatest, but it works fine.
Tiger Direct isn’t a bad place to watch for TV deals either.
As mentioned, you’ll probably want an HDMI cable - neither the PS3 nor the 360 (Unless it changed with the slim which I doubt) comes with one. Any one will do as long as it’s long enough to go from console to TV, don’t fall for the gold plated blahblah hype.
It’s a combination of size and distance from the screen. The further you are from the screen, the bigger the TV needs to be before you can tell the difference between 720 and 1080.
I’ll be about 8-9 feet away. And we do need a TV. This one has had funny colored spots in the corner for years, and has just started showing other signs of mortality.
Thanks for all the advice.
Joe
If you have a Costco around you might be able to get a good deal on everything. I got a PS3 and a Sony 40" 1080p TV for $900 or so. That also included one game and a remote.
You can get smaller, cheaper TVs there as well and I would think you could keep it under $800, or at least close to it.
A rule of thumb that has worked well for me: Take the diagonal measurement of the screen, and double it. You want to be at least that far away from the television to ensure you won’t see anything you shouldn’t. So for sitting 8’ away, the very largest you should be looking for is a 48" screen.