I did it.  I made the switch.  You may recall that I posted about getting the dreaded red ring on death on my XBOX 360 back in April.  The well known issue is covered by Microsoft so the repair was done under warranty.  I was fairly pleased with how quickly the process was handled, but I was still without my game system for a while.  My huge problem with this is that I also use the XBOX as my DVD player.  My current BluRay player does not handle upscaling DVD’s very well.  So, everything was going well until I ran into yet another red ring issue!  This was supposed to be the repaired model!  So, I found myself having to order in another warranty service on my device.  That was it for me.  I need stability.  I bought a PS3.  My first impressions - I could not be more happy with the choice.  Here are some key points that are huge for me.

• Price - I picked up a 120 gig PS3 for $299.  That’s cheap!  Since the price drop put it right down in the same range as the XBOX you can no longer claim price is the reason that you won’t go to PS3.  And, as I am about to explain, it comes with sooo many goodies that make it such a value.

• No Batteries Needed For Controllers - the controller that comes with the unit has a built in battery.  No need to keep using your own AA batteries.  And, you recharge them just by using a supplied USB cable.  Now, you can get a similar setup for your XBOX, but that costs extra!

• Small Size - Size matters.  Smaller is better.  The unit itself is slim and looks sharp with my other equipment.  The best part about it is that it doesn’t have the massive power supply brick that the XBOX 360 has.  It is just a simple power cord.  The power supply unit is built into the system.

• Simplicity - I am a geek and can handle configuring pretty much anything.  I really do appreciate when things are simple though.  Setting this thing up, creating your profile and getting signed into the Playstation Network is easy to do!  Everything is laid out for you in simple steps.  No need to hunt around to figure things out.

• WiFi - WIRELESS!  It has a built in wireless network card.  I refused to pay money for an external card on my XBOX so I ran some CAT5 over to it.  I no longer need that run of cable as this thing comes loaded with it’s own WiFi card.  Not just that, it works well.  I know a few people that could never get their wireless working well on the 360.  They would have huge lag and drops when online gaming, regardless of signal strength.  No such issues on this thing!

• Free Online Gaming - The timing for this worked out very well for me.  My XBOX Live subscription was due for renewal this month.  I have no desire to pay $70 a year for game updates and the right to play online.  With the PS3 all of that is free.

• BluRay - I originally thought that I didn’t need this feature, as I have a separate BluRay player.  I was wrong.  My old Samsung is no longer needed.  This BluRay player is amazing.  The load times are very quick and the controls are sharp.  No lag when trying to get menu items and all that jazz.  The picture quality is great too.  I see no drop off in quality.  My old BluRay player is now redundant.  I plan on picking up the DVD remote control for the PS3.  The best part about that thing is that it uses Bluetooth.  No need to point the remote towards the PS3, it doesn’t need line of sight to work!

• It’s Quiet - This is something that I didn’t really expect.  The PS3 is amazingly quiet.  I am used to the loud chugging noise of my XBOX when I am playing games or watching a movie.  It never really bothered me because I was just used to it.  Now that I have the PS3, I am certain that noise would drive me crazy.  You can hardly tell that this thing is running!