Um so if i want a ps3 what do i need to buy?

I have a regular 27inch tv. No hd or high def or flat screen lcd. Just a regular tv from like 5 years ago 27 inch. It works great though.

If i got the ps3 would the graphics be decent on my tv? or would a hd tv be required? I really dont want to go through hundreds of tv's to get 1080i and all that stuff.

any advice?

or could you link a tv for like lets say 1000 or less that can handle 1080i (i assume thats the best?)

you probably just need to buy the ps3.
I doubt it would look bad just because you don't have a fancy hi-def television. If you want it, just buy it, don't worry about getting the best television.

You can get a decent HD TV for that much and 720p would be the resolution you want to make sure you have. I don't know if you can get a 720p/1080i/1080p set for that price, but 720p would look great and should give you HD in all games (AFAIK atleast).

1080p is the best available, but will cost you a bit more and some people prefer 1080i to 720p, but some people prefer 720p over 1080i so its hard to say which is better and it depends on the TV set itself and your personal preference.

Either way they both look great and can be had in your price range.

I wouldn't bother with a PS3 or a 360 until you get an HDTV. I'd make that priority one. Get one that can DISPLAY at least 1080i (beware some TVs will say they are 1080i but downscale them to 720p). If the TV can truely display 1080i then its' resolution will be 1920x1080, anything less is going to downscale it to 720p or 1280x720 even if the display says 1368x768 or something to that effect, it is still just 1280x720 or 720p stretched a bit further.

what price range would u estimate a 1080i tv to be?

Wow... Umm... Wow...

Yes: You need an HDTV. There's no point in getting a next gen system (besides the Wii of course) unless you have an HDTV. And there's no point in buying a $600 video game system to play on a $200 TV.

My HDTV is a beautiful 32 inch that does 720p/1080i and it cost $499. You should expect to pay about that. Memorial day would be a good time to buy

rainless said:

Wow... Umm... Wow...

Yes: You need an HDTV. There's no point in getting a next gen system (besides the Wii of course) unless you have an HDTV. And there's no point in buying a $600 video game system to play on a $200 TV.

My HDTV is a beautiful 32 inch that does 720p/1080i and it cost $499. You should expect to pay about that. Memorial day would be a good time to buy

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Well the obvious point of buying a next generation console is to play the next generation video games, it doesn't unnecessarily meaning having the best equipment to do so. If anything, the user who plays a video game on a 200$ TV is the brightest because he'll also have more cash to spend on buying the game/etc.

rainless said:

Wow... Umm... Wow...

Yes: You need an HDTV. There's no point in getting a next gen system (besides the Wii of course) unless you have an HDTV. And there's no point in buying a $600 video game system to play on a $200 TV.

My HDTV is a beautiful 32 inch that does 720p/1080i and it cost $499. You should expect to pay about that. Memorial day would be a good time to buy

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I must disagree with you here Rainless. Personally I enjoyed FFX and GTAIII on the PS2, and when the new ones come out I think I will enjoy them. Is this because the graphics are better then they were before, or just because the gameplay is good? As I see it, if the games were fine on the PS2, then they will be fine on a PS3 with a Non HDTV screen. Of course a good screen will add to their overall quality, but having a bad screen won't make them all suck. (Just a note to thread starter: The games will look around the same when played in Non-HD as they did on the PS2, edges will be a bit smoother but not much beyond that)

tenchi86 said:

I must disagree with you here Rainless. Personally I enjoyed FFX and GTAIII on the PS2, and when the new ones come out I think I will enjoy them. Is this because the graphics are better then they were before, or just because the gameplay is good? As I see it, if the games were fine on the PS2, then they will be fine on a PS3 with a Non HDTV screen. Of course a good screen will add to their overall quality, but having a bad screen won't make them all suck. (Just a note to thread starter: The games will look around the same when played in Non-HD as they did on the PS2, edges will be a bit smoother but not much beyond that)

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I'm afraid I have to disagree with BOTH of you. Gears of War looks like GARBAGE on a regular TV. So much so it's hard to say you're playing the same game. So much of the game's impact comes through physical representation that it's impossible to seperate the visuals from the game play. They exist together on the same plane.

Flashback to the topic at hand: It would be absolutely STUPID to purchase a PS3 for a regular TV unless maybe you didn't already have a PS2 and were going to play older PS2 games on the PS3. That's the only scenario I can think of where it makes sense, and onlyt then if you just had money to burn.

It would be like buying an 8800 GTX for a monitor who's maximum resolution was 800X600. It doesn't matter what rationale you conjure up for that scenario (which is very similar), nothing could beat the bottom line that you'd just blown $600 for no reason.

Who in their right mind would pay $600 to play God of War II and Final Fantasy XII? I've got a PS2 right over there and I can run to Gamespot and get both of them for less than a hundred bucks. $250 and I've got both those games and a PS2 and we haven't hit the halfway point of the PS3s price.

You can't seperate the visuals from the gameplay of next-gen games. There wouldn't BE a next-gen, technically, if you could. There are still award-winning games being released for PS2. The entire purpose of these next gen systems is to be played on Hi-rez monitors and HDTVs. There's absolutely no disputing that. (Unless you want to... Personally, I tend to dispute everything. Just out of habit. I may become a lawyer. Only 3 years folks... and then the bar!)

I am on Rainless's side on this issue. A PS3 on a 640x480 TV would bite.

I bought a 27" 720p HDTV for $1000 CDN 14 months ago. Now I can easily get 32" for that. Add a few hundred and you get a 40" 1080p on sale. That's a worth while investment before you buy a PS3. Then the PS3 might be more reasonably priced too.

Don't forget you'll need a HD box or satelite to watch HDTV (usually) plus a sound system, oh and a HDDVD, a new stand for all of it...

OK just buy the PS3

I have played and finished Gears of War on a Non-HDTV and it looked just fine, actually still looked impressive. Of course the game was a bit more fun on an HDTV but saying there is no point in a PS3 without HD due to graphics is not true at all. Also you are not paying 600$ for God of War II, you are paying 600$ for God of War III or Final Fantasy XIII, so getting a PS2 would not in anyway help you. So yes there is a reason to buy a Next Gen system even with an old TV. I mean people talk about good looking games, but in the end the ones everyone fusses over being exclusive are the ones from the last generation that were fun to play whether they are the best looking ones or not.

tenchi86 said:

I have played and finished Gears of War on a Non-HDTV and it looked just fine, actually still looked impressive. Of course the game was a bit more fun on an HDTV but saying there is no point in a PS3 without HD due to graphics is not true at all. Also you are not paying 600$ for God of War II, you are paying 600$ for God of War III or Final Fantasy XIII, so getting a PS2 would not in anyway help you. So yes there is a reason to buy a Next Gen system even with an old TV. I mean people talk about good looking games, but in the end the ones everyone fusses over being exclusive are the ones from the last generation that were fun to play whether they are the best looking ones or not.

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What the hell are you talking about? This is NOT the last generation. And no last generation games are in question. He's asking whether he should buy a PS3 when he doesn't even have an HDTV and the PS3 doesn't even have that many great games out. His best bet would be to buy the TV first, then he could get whatever he wants.

I am talking about he is buying a system for games. You said there is

There's no point in getting a next gen system

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without an HDTV. If this was true then that would mean mean he only is buying the new games for graphics. It is possible that if he enjoyed FF or GTA on PS2 hardware he will enjoy the new FF or GTA on PS3 hardware with PS2 visuals. Really an easy concept to grasp. If I were him I probably would get an HDTV first, but saying there is no point in getting a PS3 unless you have an HDTV is ridiculous as that would mean you are really only playing games since they look nice.

Everyone is different, I knew someone that bought all the latest consoles/games yet didn't really care about sound and had the worst TV I have ever seen. Some people simply don't care, I'm not one of them lol.

Zatrix said:

what price range would u estimate a 1080i tv to be?

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Try to get a 720p/1080i unit as some people aren't happy their 1080i only tv gets downscaled to 480p with some games.

OC Noob said:

Try to get a 720p/1080i unit as some people aren't happy their 1080i only tv gets downscaled to 480p with some games.

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QFT

Report back here when you decide on one. I can tell you the HDTV makes a really big difference. When I was playing R:FoM for the first time and got about halfway, my mom was leaving and she told me she had a HDTV . So we brought it in and the difference is amazing. If you haven't already go to a retailer and compare the difference between 480 and HD and see if it's worth it to you. I think it is.

You usually cannot really tell the difference at retailers, atleast not fully as they usually are low quality images run through spliters. My TV looked like a completely different one in terms of image quality when I actually got it him compared to how it looked in the store.

Honestly, unless you only care about graphics, then a HD-TV is a must.

but, if you prefer gameplay, and fun more than pure visuals, then a regular TV would work just as well. Its all on what you want. If you want the best of the best, then you will need a HD-TV. But if you want it, simply to PLAY the newest game, instead of WATCH them, then a HD-TV isn't needed.

NOW, there are a few games that are HORRIBLE unless played on a HD-TV. Take Dead rising on the 360 as an example. its PLAYABLE on a regular TV, but reading any of the text on the game is next to impossible. But, the # of games that have this type of problem is really small. I'm not sure of any other games other than dead rising that had this problem. There may be more, but if there was alot of them, you'd hear alot more complaining about it.

So its up to your personal preference.

tenchi86 said:

You usually cannot really tell the difference at retailers, atleast not fully as they usually are low quality images run through spliters. My TV looked like a completely different one in terms of image quality when I actually got it him compared to how it looked in the store.

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Hmm, all the places I went to have a single TV hooked up to something. Along with 3 walls of huge TV's of course. I mean for him to compare it to his TV at home, I don't think they even sell non HD anymore in retailers...

Seriously, I have a PS3, Wii and 360, so if you want to play games, get a 360. The games for the PS3 either suck or are ports of 360 games. Even the ones that are ports are usually inferior to their 360 counterparts. If you want something to play Blu-Ray DVDs, run Linux and Fold on then get the PS3 as that is where it shines. The games, however, are not very good. It is VERY expensive and without an HDTV is 500% NOT WORTH IT AT ALL!!! Stick with the PS2 if you don't have an HDTV.