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i dont understand spending thousands of dollars buyin the latest hardware for ur comp when its going to be obsolete in a few days, ok ill admit i got a badass PC but i didnt put the newest graphics card in it b/c it would only be king of the hill for a few days and that would piss me off. i only play rts on my comp any way and that dosent require all that video muscle, but the my xbox 360 has all the muscle of ur killer rigs and i wont have to upgrade till a new xbox comes out. bying the 360 seems to be the smarter thing to do besides that controller feels like fps butter in your hands.Ill be be playing all the games on my 360 and they'll look just as good as they do on that multi thousand dollar rig u have. i dont know about u but that we make me feel stupid from a financial stand point unless ur parents bought it for u, if thats the case spend that money u cant beat free money.

Because we use our computers as machines which serve for multiple uses. I don't buy the newest or greatest however, I simply want to Play My SWG and I need a 24 Dollar new Graphics Card for my Pc to play Oblivion, Which is a generic gateway PC. The People who sepnd thousands of dollars are the people that LOVE to Tweak PCs...

lol....are you serious with that statement?? Wow!....I mean...I must admit, the ease of kicking back and playing on consoles is appealing to me sometimes. It more relaxing and all. But in NO way are the graphics better than on PC!!! Probably the ONLY thing I like better playing consoles is that I hook it through my home theatre system.

Yeah, and play it on a 50 - 100 inch screen. Bit different than an itty bitty 19 incher. Much more immersive.

Because its a hobby, and hopefully a soon to be profession to me.

I enjoy working on my PC. If you dont, please dont flame others who do.

I have to disagree completely with the illogical and baseless assumption people make concerning a comparison of consoles to PC's based on costs.

Over a year ago, a PC that can still play the best of games at higher resolutions with more game settings than even a current XBOX 360 can manage could be purchased for under $500 USD. We built several of these that included HD and SVideo output and wireless dual-analog gamepads running on our HDTV, XP Home, dx 9.0 videocards and have run 1080i widescreen resolutions for over a year. There is absolutely no need to upgrade these even today as modern games such as Oblivion and FEAR still play at >45-60fps with the wireless gamepad on the couch.

In our console room, we paid $199 for an XBOX, and now have to fork-out another $399 for a basic XBOX 360 in order to continue simply XBOX gaming. With the same investment, we're still very limited in number of game titles we can play, so a PS2 ($129), GameCube ($99) and a host of memory cards and wireless controllers for each ($250) are also required to even TOUCH the number of game titles released per month for the PC.

Overall, our "console" room has been a much, much more expensive investment and continues to be (Wii - $250? PS3 - $???) if we wish to game into 2006/2007. The HD-out PC requires $0 to continue playing all the current titles and future titles... and still has massive amounts of space for save-games, mp3 library space, enhancements, 3rd party mods, free add-ons, etc.etc.

I don't believe anyone should make false-basis of why "PC is superior to consoles" or "consoles are superior to PC's" as it's just broken logic. There is no real benefit to either and both provide compelling gaming experiences. To stand firm on one side or the other simply limits your experience and nothing else. Yes, they are both costly and involve investment... but if you wish to game on either platform, that investment is going to be about the same... unless you want to create misleading or apples vs. oranges gaming limitations in the comparison!

Cheers- and game on.

thats part of what im talking about. clearly none of those other guys have played call of duty 2 on a 52in hdila jvc with the bose lifestyle system cranking an hearing the bombs drop its an adrenaline rush like no other,but now that i think about it ive spent just as much and probably more.

just to be clear i wasnt tryin to piss anyone off and if i did i am sorry

Try COD2 and Oblivion at 720 resolutions + HDR + AA and dozens of 3rd party LOD and texture replacement mods on a 108" projection LCD display.

Or 1080i/780p modes on 42-52" Sony HD.

Most 3d PC cards have had HD-Out for over a year prior to the XBOX 360... plus are not limited to lower HD resolutions.

what about audio dude picture is only half the expierience. oh and 360 uses AA. mabye a sony bravia but not a reg hd lcd , their is no comparison

Even the most basic integrated soundcards are 6.1 or 8.1, Digital sound that rivals what the XBox 360 has. Of course, for under $100, a truly studio quality or XiFi card can also be added cheaply. This option isn't even available for the XBox as your audio is limited to the built-in only.

This is developer-reliant, not possible to be forced. AA or not is whether or not a game has been developed with support for AA. On PC's, it can also be forced on for any titles where a developer may not have chosen to add support for this.

??? You have a wider variety of output devices you can use with a PC than you can with an XBOX as today's (.. and most of last year's..) 3d cards have svideo, DVI and hd-component outputs with device selections.. also wide range of choice for 480/780/1080i resolutions modes or even roll-your own custom resolutions/modes. Sky's the limit.

as far as resolution i was refering to a base model sony hd lcd compared to a jvc hdila display. i say again unless its a sony bravia its no comparison and all ur replies are further expanding my knowledge so i thank u evey time u post a reply

Correct- in the land of LCD flat-panel displays, the Sony Bravia is one of the sharper/better units.

I was actually speaking of LCD Projectors- which can be up to 200" at 10,000:1 contrast ratios (yes, as bright and sharp as LCD Flat displays, but can fill an entire wall with a pull-down screen.)

Imagine your favorite XBox 360 game at 8-10 feet wide lol. Sony Cineza's are about $2500 USD here (OEM/wholesalers) and can project up to 200" (over 16 feet!) in size at 1080i, or as small as 40".

When going THAT big, a PC with hd-component output, DVI or such really shines since you can crank the resolution to match the maximum potential (and tune precisely for 1:1) of your display. Example- say 1280x720- you can create this display mode on a PC then select it for *ALL* games to be used.

thats good an all but im more than happy with my jvc. i looked at the projectors but they just didnt tickle my fancy

We should block all flame contest, as they get now where and just get people upset. Make up your mind. if you want an xbox get an xbox. If you want a comp get a comp. END OF STORY
I think that the mods should deltete this kind of BS. Or maybe there shouldn't be new threads started (you have to post in the old thread about the flame contest) Mods don't you agree that this should be banned? there are other sites just for this (thousands).

I have my own comments and user experiance with both. I could talk a whole bunch of shi7 on one. But I won't. Please people go waste other peoples waistly time.

I have read through all the posts in this thread and I have to say, I can`t find any flaming, just differences of opinion.

As long as it stays that way, there won`t be a problem.

However, if this thread does happen to turn nasty, I`ll have no problem in closing it and deleting posts.

Regards Howard

I agree with Howard, I see no flaming in this tread at all. Just different opinions of which I can see both sides. The thing is you cant put down someone for spending money or doing a hobby that they like, as building computers. Its like me, my hobby is paintball. I have put mega bucks into it over the years. I have 1 gun alone that I have over $1200.00 in. And my wife thinks that is soooo crazy to spend that kind of money. But as with computers, you pay for quality! I would never put down anyone for playing with a $89.00 Wal-Mart gun!

Yes, Crossfire.. not sure where you're seeing any kind of "flame" fest??

We're just exchanging ideas/opinions here and talking about gaming on BIG displays (big flat panels + projectors).

Anyone that hasn't experienced games on greater than 30" display is really missing out.. and SIRwILLET knows his gear too- JVC HDILA + Bose Lifestyle is a rockin' combo for gaming. The D-ILA chips in JVC gear is a godsend for consoles as it boosts overall contrast and brightness as consoles, in general, don't have very strong signals. It's a night and day improvement.

The new 1200+ lumens projectors are the same way- some boosting up to 10,000:1 contrast ratio and can project 40" -> 200" of 1080i output in 720 line resolutions. Projectors are getting CHEAP too, as even 3000-5000:1 units that can yield 108" displays can be had for around $1k USD. These are great for living rooms since the screen can be retracted up with pictures/wall decorations when it's not in use.

If anything, hopefully some folks will stumble on this thread and learn a few things:
1) MOST modern PC cards have hd-out/hdmi output or worst case svideo outputs. If ya got a good A/V system, shoving the PC in the living room with a wireless controller is a fun way to spend a weekend!
2) LCD displays (both rear projection, tft/plasma and front projection) are getting cheaper, better and with features to improve gaming.
3) AA starts to see more practical value as we zoom resolutions to bigger sizes (40"+).
4) Gaming overall is getting expensive. With consoles getting to be $400-$600 (XBox 360 Basic $399 and PS3 touted for >$500 USD announced, for example), those that found PC's cost prohibitive in the past are going to start finding consoles cost prohibitive as well.

A micro-atx form factor PC in an Inspire Cube case, hdmi/hd-out capable 3d card and wireless gamepad can now run similar price to consoles. Gamers are no longer stuck in one camp or another and this is a good thing!

Weellllll, actually Bose isn't particularly well regarded among audio enthusiasts. It's generally considered overpriced and not particularly accurate/neutral in sound reproduction.

But see, it does sound pretty good compared against many other systems, and they pay a lot for marketing, so the public thinks it's the ultimate in audio. Really, you can get better sound for less than half what any Bose system costs.

This isn't to knock anyone's choices. We all start somewhere, with our sound systems, our computing systems, our gaming systems.

I totally agree with you Xena.. I'm a big Klipsch and prior, Cervin Vega fan myself.

But, Bose is still better than a couple 8" 2-way speakers or TV-built-in speakers like soooo many people play on. Hooking up a Bose system at least attunes the person into having a bit higher audio standards to improve the experience.

Bose really dont make speakers anymore like they once did, if anyone remembers the 901 series they will know what I am talking about. But I think for the money they are a good choice, if nothing else for their size to sound ratio if you will. But there are much better options on the market. Take my Dad's Definitive Technologies speakers for example, they are pricey. Man do they sound awesome. But you get what you pay for!!!!