I bought the 80gb PS3 last week to use as a Blu-Ray player, after having this for about a week I have discovered that this is a big upgrade from our PS2! It is a much more than just a gaming system or BR player. To this point we have used it for watching BR, we have downloaded demos and trailers and watched them. We have purchased a few games. We have figured out how to use it along with our home network to access our videos, pictures, and music...all very cool.

I have read that we can change the "theme" but haven't gotten that far yet. What else am I missing? As a casual user, without really wanting to get "under the hood" are there some other things we should (or could) add or install? Is there a place where we can find specific applications for the PS3 or do those not exist?

Mike

Try running SD-DVDs through it. The PS3 is a fantastic upconverting player.

Otherwise, what kinds of games do you like? The PS3's library has a lot of great titles, particularly if you don't game on a 360 or PC already.

I second the suggestion to check out standard def DVDs on this thing. After the "honeymoon" period wore off, I probably use it more for that than for BD-Rs. It does a fantastic job of upscaling those old DVDs.

Well, one unique thing I use my PS3 for is to feed its unique photo viewer and mp3 player into my DVD recorder to make cool music photo album presents for family and friends.

All you need to do is put in digital photos on the PS3 in the order you want them viewed, and then pick the photo player option you think is best as well as the transition speed.

Synch that up with a music track of your choice in the PS3 mp3 player (adding or deleting photos as needed) and practice a bit until you can time starting the two simultaneously.

To do that, I usually rewind my chosen song to play the last 15 seconds of the previous song track on the player, then press the HOME button to go to the photo viewer, choose the display mode and transition time and then pause it. The music will eventually end for the setup track and begin for the "real" track, at which time I u- pause the photo viewer and press record on the DVD recorder simultaneously. At the end I simply stop the recording and I have a great little music photo album on disc.

So far I did this for my mom's huge B-Day party we gave her as well as my daughter's outing to the amusement park at the beach with five of her friends (each friend has a copy of it, which their parents loved).

You can play Uncharted :D

Oh, another thing to look into is the PlayStation Eye. You can use it for a bunch of stuff like putting yourself into certain games, or video chatting with up to six people or making your own videos. Here's a demo vid (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2NR-yNtQTo&feature=related) of its features, and on YouTube you can find a bunch of videos made using the EyeCreate software if you use that as the keyword.

Do not pick up the camera, the resolution is terrible.

Do not pick up the camera, the resolution is terrible.

Although it's not the quality of a digital video camera it seems to be on par or better than any camera I have ever used with my laptop or desktop...

For the PS3 I think it's great!

.... We have figured out how to use it along with our home network to access our videos, pictures, and music...all very cool.

I have read that we can change the "theme" but haven't gotten that far yet. What else am I missing? As a casual user, without really wanting to get "under the hood" are there some other things we should (or could) add or install? Is there a place where we can find specific applications for the PS3 or do those not exist?

Mike

Wrong question, too much to state, it is just easier to say what it cannot do.
however, i recently discovered remote play (i also have a PSP) and since i have a playstation-Eye, i can stay miles away from home and still power on my PS3 remotely and turn on chat and speak to my wife and child while on the away (of course using my cell to speak back to them).

The multiuser chat features are really cool but streaming content and playing games remotely means that my PS3 is always with me where ever i go. I really am not sure if people know how powerful a feature this is !!

-kbee
P.s. also try web browsing.

Do not pick up the camera, the resolution is terrible.

Who cares? As far as webcams go it's pretty high quality. Besides you're not really buying it to take high quality pictures.

To the OP if you get a PSEye check out Eye of Judgement if you're into CCG. Just be warned you may find your bank account draining fast as you buy booster packs.

One thing about the Eye Toy is that it has a very fluid frame rate. It goes as high as 120 fps at low rez and 60 fps at normal rez. It is a unique addition to the PS3 that looks and works just great.