I currently have 3 PS3's.
(1) One in a home theater (used as BluRay player and stream videos from home network and occasional games)
(2) another doing the same in the bedroom
(3) and a 3rd which does not have a working drive - which I don't know what to do with. It works great (other than the drive) but don't have another location that I need to use it as a media extender. Can I convert this to a full fledged PC (or am I better off just buying a $100 Pentium 4 PC? ) Will there be any limits if I convert it? Also if I convert it to Linux - do I lose the PS3 media extender ability or can you do both at the same time (i.e. boot option) or a way to restore?

Also what advantages are there to the PS3 slim?
Is it quieter playing BluRays (my PS3 is load when playing BluRays)?
Also I read something about TrueHD audio playback. What does that mean (I currently have a Marantz SR8001 receiver which is HDMI but not v1.3 HDMI - would the slim help me any?

thanks!

Can I convert this to a full fledged PC
Yes and no, see bellow.

(or am I better off just buying a $100 Pentium 4 PC? )

Will there be any limits if I convert it?
Access to the graphics accelerator is not available when using other OS. All linux software has to be complied for use with the cell.

Also if I convert it to Linux - do I lose the PS3 media extender ability
No

or can you do both at the same time
No

(i.e. boot option) or a way to restore?
Yes, you get a boot option and a way to remove other os.

Also I read something about TrueHD audio playback. What does that mean (I currently have a Marantz SR8001 receiver which is HDMI but not v1.3 HDMI - would the slim help me any?
No benefit for you

thanks for the info.
(guess the PS3 is going up for sale)
Sounds like the linux is not going to help me much, guess it's off to eBay.
Hurts to sell it so cheap, was hoping to find a use for it - but guess I don't have a choice.

thx

Well, GT4 supported multiple displays, so I'm going to assume GT5 will as well.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v119/MasterGT/GT4%20LAN%20Mode/Multi-MonitorLAN.jpg

3) and a 3rd which does not have a working drive http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=17052874#post17052874

I am about to get a second PS3 - trying to decide between the new slim 120 GB or a 160 GB regular PS3.
My old 40 GB unit will mainly become a Blu Ray player for the guest room, but it would be nice to be able to network game with it...

my main question is, can I down load all my previous purchases (mainly concerned about rockband DLC) to the new / second PS3 and keep the old on online (with my main user account), or do I need to disconnect the old one from the network and pretend I do not have it any more, or set it up with a new user account, before trying to load up my new one with my purchases from my original user account??

on that note, I heard some where there was a limit of 5 times that you could re download purchases from the PS3 store - is that correct?

hopefully my stream of consciousness questioning wasn't too confusing...

thnx

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v119/MasterGT/GT4%20LAN%20Mode/Multi-MonitorLAN.jpg

Holy crap, that would make me dizzy. :eek:

my main question is, can I down load all my previous purchases

Yes

Up to 5 Systems

Yes

Up to 5 Systems

Yes, but can the previous system(s) still be "online" or is the idea that you have "upgraded" and formatted / erased your old system?

thnx

Yes, but can the previous system(s) still be "online" or is the idea that you have "upgraded" and formatted / erased your old system?

thnx

They can be 5 systems in use. But, of course, you can't log into the PSN account on more than one at a time.

@gooki

Please tell me how he will load Linux onto his PS3 since the drive doesn't work.

@gooki

Please tell me how he will load Linux onto his PS3 since the drive doesn't work.

I assumed when he said "drive" he meant the optical drive/Bluray.

So then the assumption was from a USB drive, maybe? I've never tried to install Linux but I'd assume the PS3 can mount an image from a USB drive?

Fix the BD drive issue yourself, and you have another fully functional PS3.

@gooki

Please tell me how he will load Linux onto his PS3 since the drive doesn't work.

Yep, I just meant the BluRay drive, the hard drive works great (that's how I'm using it as a media extender)

Yep, I just meant the BluRay drive, the hard drive works great (that's how I'm using it as a media extender)

How do I fix the BluRay ?
And how much does it cost?

Beans, you around?

Not much, much less then the Sony $150 repair. I think there's a thread somewhere in the forum with instructions and help.

Edit: Found This (http://www.myps3.com.au/Post.aspx?id=5522). If beans strolls around, he can give you tips.

They can be 5 systems in use. But, of course, you can't log into the PSN account on more than one at a time.

cool

I am also wondering about the idea of multi player gaming with the two PS3s from one room to the other...
In that case, I would need to create a second account for the extra PS3 , and log in with that account (and have a second copy of any games I wanted to play, correct?)

What games are good for doing that?

cool

I am also wondering about the idea of multi player gaming with the two PS3s from one room to the other...
In that case, I would need to create a second account for the extra PS3 , and log in with that account (and have a second copy of any games I wanted to play, correct?)

What games are good for doing that?

I'm pretty sure you would need a second copy of the game. I know you would if it's a disc game, but I'm not clear on how it is for shared PSN games.

What I would do is create an account for each person who would use one of the PS3s, rather than one account for each system. Then create users on each system. If it's not really one other person but just visitors, call it "Guest" or something like that (I'm sure "Guest" is taken).

For example, if it's you and another person, you would create:

PS3 1: user Schteevie - associate with your PSN account
user (other person) - associate with PSN account 2

PS3 2: user Schteevie - associate with your PSN account
user (other person) - associate with PSN account 2

and so on.

When you boot up a system, you'll be prompted to choose the user, so pick the user Schteevie (or whatever you call it) to play so that your identity and PSN account is used. I think this will preserve the trophy progress as well, since trophies are tied to a PSN account.