What games console.and monitor.

[LuS1fer]

I know that to some extent it depends on the type of games you play but my son is 7 and we are looking at buying him either a PS3 or an X-Box360 and we want to feed it to an HDMI dedicated monitor.

He is mainly into car racing games.

Blu-ray is of no great interest (we don't have any)though playing normal el crappo DVDs will be useful.
I doubt he will be interested in on-line gaming but I believe PS requires subscription and XBox doesn't?
I doubt his room is big enough for Kinect to be of much use and we have a Wii downstairs anyway.
I doubt a huge hard drive will be required.

I've read reviews of PS3s breaking down

Best monitor? Is 23-24" sufficient? £150-£200 budget for that.

[Mark.]

Reading with interest.
I'm still using a 1st Generation XBOX and can't help thinking I might need to upgrade
What benefit do the larger HDD versions give? I'm guessing obviously data storage but if I only use 1 or 2 racing games will I fill 4GB?

[LuS1fer]

I have a 1st gen X-Box too which I play through a 32" LED TV but we only bought Colin MacRae Rallying, Over The Hedge, Gotham Racing and Halo2 (still slowly making my way through that after many years occasional dabbling) which is why we're getting him a better version.

The monitor is so we can watch TV which his desire to use the Wii is beginning to interfere with.

[Steve Evil]

You've got it backwards on the online models, XBox Live requires a subscription, getting online with the PS3 doesn't. Arguably you get what you pay for in that respect, as the XBL interface is undeniably slicker.

90% of games will be available on both devices, with only platform-specific ones being available on one or the other. In terms of racing games there isn't a shortage on either, PS3 has Gran Turismo and XBox has Forza.

Both machines have their share of failures, but the most recent machines are a lot more reliable than the older boxes. Both are also due to be replaced in the next year or so.

I would recommend getting a larger hard drive, as you can rip the games to it and play from the hard drive, this makes things quieter and increases the life on the optical drive, though you can use USB keys to expand storage if you're short on space.

In terms of monitors, that size should be fine, but it does depend on how close it will be, as sitting 8 feet away from a 24" monitor isn't going to be ideal.

[randlemarcus]

Firstly, be aware that the next gen Xbox is due out next year (so we'll almost certainly get a new PS as well).

I'm biased, as I loathe Sony as a company, so get your PS3 reviews further down the page.

Buy a second hand 360, as it will be much cheaper, and if you buy fairly new, will be quiet, with a decent HDD size, and have HDMI. Larger HDD is useful, as you can load the games onto the HDD, and it will be quieter still. Plays DVDs, and networked movies and music, which is nice.

You'll need to pay for online gaming with the Live service, but not at his age.

HDMI connection should work just fine.

[Dave^]

Without sounding like I'm teaching your Gran to suck eggs, make sure you get a Monitor with built in speakers... not all of them do...

[Spanna]

Both play DVDs, both have HDMI, both have different sized hard drives available. If you're allowing him online, then he'll be best of with what his mates have so he can play with them.

Having owned both, I far prefer the Xbox in terms of usability and online play. Loads of apps on the Xbox too, now has an Internet Explorer which works nicely. Not my favoured browser, but it's a Microsoft product after all. Also has YouTube, Sky Player etc.

If you're buying new then I'd see what bundles are available from the game shops. Most Xbox bundles will have a decent size hard drive, a few games and Xbox Live Gold thrown in.

[LuS1fer]

Looks like the X-Box has the bsest storage at 250Gb - hadn't thought about monitor speakers so good shout.

It always transpires that we buy just before things get replaced.

[Steve Evil]

LuS1fer said:

Looks like the X-Box has the bsest storage at 250Gb - hadn't thought about monitor speakers so good shout.

It always transpires that we buy just before things get replaced.

There's a 500GB PS3 out there too, plus you can swap out the HDD on the PS3. I would say that 250GB is plenty though, anything more than that is a bonus. I tend to install the games I'm playing the most, then uninstall them once I'm finished playing, so there's always a bit of space.

[Spanna]

Stretch the TV budget by £40 and get a 1080p 27 inch? Looks good enough for a bedroom.

http://www.m.richersounds.com/product/lcd-led-tvs/...

[jogon]

I'd go ps3 and look out for one of these

http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/sony-ps3-3d-tv-dela...

Seen them around £270, 3d 1080p

[Irrotational]

I am a massive Xbox fan - but I would say get him what his mates have...he can share games with them and play them online...

If you do go for online play - be aware that the language can be truly shocking - there is a lot of trash talking and swearing. There is a setting you can use to mute all voice comms - make absolutely sure that is on and working at all times.

They are both good systems - the Xbox has better online support (by a country mile) but the PS3 has a blu-ray player.

They generally both have 95% of all games, so unless Halo or Gran Turismo is a deal breaker they are equal in that respect.

[LuS1fer]

He won't be going on-line. His little mates generally come and use our stuff.

[Morningside]

I still have the original X-Box. Upgraded the HDD to a 160gb and then installed XBMC with MAME.

Now have over 3000 games to play with

[Astra Dan]

I can't stand the bloody PS3. Lots of problems with connecting to amplifiers and wired internet. The controllers are awful and the fussy recharging system is a farce. But for a younger person, smaller hands and not faffing with batteries might be a good thing.
The whole interface is so much slicker on the Xbox than the nasty, slow very confusing setup on the PS3.
I hear all this hype about PS3 being excellent media hubs, but my PS3 hardly plays any videos and the music player lags so badly as to be useless.

I don't think you need to worry about reliability on either systems now. Get a Xbox with HDMI built in, or a PS3 slim or later and they're pretty much fine.
Xbox needs small footprint, looks much nicer.
You don't need to subscribe the Xbox live, but you do to play online or use the internet. BBCi player works fine on Live free.
PS3 surfs out of the box, but mine crashes frequently and the iPlayer isn't anywhere as smooth for some reason.

Edited by Astra Dan on Wednesday 7th November 21:14

[russ_a]

Another vote for the Xbox 360 here.

[LuS1fer]

There seem to be some issues connecting up the XBox to a monitor due to the proximity of the main cable and HDMI cable but I am assuming that if I get a monitor with both speakers and an optical input, this may not be an issue. The issue is confused by all the YouTube vids, some of which are dealing with the old X-Box.

I'm beginning to think it might be safer buying a small TV.

[joe_90]

Yep.. get a 360 for sure. (note I have owned every console since a pong machine, including odd things like a vertex, pc-engine etc), and I would get the 360.