I was unsure if this would fit best in IMHO or the Games Room but as I am asking for opinions I’ll stick it here for now. Mods can move as they see fit.
I am thinking about picking up a PS4 for my daughter for Christmas. I was originally going to pick up the Pro version at Shoppers Drug Mart (because I can use points towards $170 of the cost) for $500 but I see that this weekend they have the original PS4 on sale for $380 and you get a $100 Shoppers gift card.
The original price difference before the card had me thinking I would get the Pro because it was not that big a difference but the addition of the $100 gift card is tipping the scales towards the regular PS4. What is the opinion of the Dope? Is the PS4 Pro worth the extra $200?
I’ve read the PS4 is 4K “ish”. And that a 4K TV is needed to see the better pictures…
With that said, note that MANY 4K TV’s being sold have ONLY ONE 4K HDMI connection on the back! The other HDMI connections are only old HD TV 1080p.
And the product information in the stores does not say anything about this. The sales people don’t know anything about this (so far). And many of these TVs have no stickers on the back indicating which HDMI connection is 1080p or 4K@60!
I returned two TVs which I had to buy to find this out later. Then searched and found that LG has at least one TV which has all 3 HDMI connections on the back 4K@60. You connect a 4K device, play something 4K, press Info on the TV, and it will say 2160p instead of 1080p.
And I currently have two 4K devices. A REAL 4K Blu-Ray player (Samsung $200), and an Android 4K TV box (MINIX U1). If I ever buy a new PlayStation, then that would be three 4K devices!
(I was told Samsung is the only model of 4K Blu-Ray which is “True/Native 4K”. And it is now selling for around $200.) Cheaper Blu-Rays are only “upscaling”.
Like the other posters have stated, you would need a 4k television to get the most benefit from a PS4 Pro. On a 1080P set you’ll get better color, smoother video and slightly less jaggies.
I’ve never thought up-to-the-second graphics/display improvements were really worth it. If you compare a PS4 running on a 1080p TV to, say, a PS2 running on one of the last-gen flatscreen CRTs, the difference is night and day. But if you compared a PS4/1080 to a PS4Pro/4K, I doubt you’d see much difference at all.
There’s also the fact that not too many games are 4k compatible right now. I want to say that only the newest Tomb Raider is, but that’s about it.
I also want to say that I heard (sorry no cite) that the Pro will do it’s best to upconvert the regular games and it will play them slightly more clear and quicker, but (as has been said) I doubt the difference is all that stark.
Between the fact that the difference isn’t too much and you get the giftcard and stuff with it, I would think the regular PS4 is the right way to go.
HOWEVER! If you intend to upgrade to a 4k TV at any point you (and her) are already set up for the future of games which, I’m assuming, will eventually go to more (if not all) 4k.
Thanks all. As I don’t have a 4k TV and no plans to upgrade anytime soon (I just upgraded to 1080p last year) I guess I’ll be up bright and early tomorrow to stake out a PS4 and save myself $200.
Hopefully you can get it home before the “There’s no conceivable reason any human would even consider buying a console instead of building his own gaming PC!” crew arrives in the thread.
Hahaha, I’m actually one who much prefers gaming on a PC. My daughter developed a fixation on a particular game that is only available on the PS4. We told her that she would need to save the cash (oh the tears did flow) to buy the PS4 but with Optimum points and this deal it has hit a price point where we can chip in and cover what she can’t and toss the game in as a Christmas Day surprise.
Anyway, I’m a PC gamer, but I bought an Xbox in 2014 and I recently got the PS4 slim. I thought about waiting for the Pro but decided against it because I don’t have a 4k television. Plus, if I cared that much about resolution for Blu Ray, or something, I’d get the upgraded xbox. Also, I have no interest whatsoever in VR.
The slim has been perfect for what I want: PlayStation Vue and exclusives. I’m very happy with my choice.
OP decided well. Save those $200. Hell, there are games currently that are running WORSE on PS4 Pro than on the base PS4. It’s just not worth the money right now. Especially when you’re talking about buying an entire system for a single game.
Check out Digital Foundry’s reports. They’ve been covering the hell out of the PS4 Pro.
They even have a video entitled: “Why are some games slower on the Ps4 Pro?”.
The answer appears to be that the PS4 Pro still has a shit CPU, and some games are downsampling to 1080p, taking a hit in performance.
But downsampling from 1400p isn’t going to net you fantastic IQ results, anyone on a PC will tell you that, it’s usually something I do if my specs are way above what the game needs.
