Teen’s Other Big Gift

Sony Playstation 3

Oh, where to begin. It’s hard to imagine anything more anticipated this holiday season than the ultra-hyped Playstation 3. From advertisements that feature major motion picture-like quality (and oddly, no game footage) to a buzzing "Sony Nation", the product is undoubtedly a hot item. There’s so much under the hood here, it’s hard to keep it all on one page. But, we’ll try! Suffice it to say that any teen would want one, for a whole variety of reasons: >

Playstation 3

So, what’s so special about it?

A cell processor. A custom Nvidia graphics card. An internal Blu-ray high definition DVD player, Bluetooth wireless remotes. You name it, the Sony Playstation 3 has probably got it, making it a great investment for your teen this Christmas. Need a little explanation of the above terms? No problem:

Sony PS3 Cell processor

Packing a 3.2 GHz chip, the engine driving the Playstation 3 is more powerful than most top-of-the-line PCs. Its only rival in graphical is the Microsoft Xbox 360, although Sony’s console does come out ahead by just a nose.

Custom Nvidia graphics card

As impressive as Sony’s processor is, in the world of modern gaming the real grunt is the graphics card. Consoles are custom-made to output the best visuals possible, and Nvidia’s card for the PS3 is the equivalent of two $600 cards for the average gaming PC. That’s powerful.

Blu-ray

You may have read our coverage of HD-DVD for Dad. Blu-ray is the competing high definition DVD format, and the cheapest player available right now is Samsung’s BD-P1000, which costs about $1,000. That makes the internal Blu-ray within the PS3 quite a steal.

Blu Ray

The Playstation 3 is both a cutting-edge arcade machine and high definition DVD player. That makes it an excellent choice for those who are hardcore movie fans and casual gamers, and vice versa. It’s part of a new trend in consoles: the blurring of the line between gaming and general media use.

Ok, it rocks. How much does it cost?

The Sony Playstation 3, although a deal considering all you’re getting, is still a pretty expensive buy. Keep in mind, however, there are two grades available - one with a 20 GB hard drive ($499) and one with a 60 GB hard drive ($599) - most teens will eventually prefer the edition with the padded space. The premium (and more expensive) version also comes with Wi-Fi (wireless internet) support and HDMI cables, the latter allowing an owner to upgrade to 1080p resolution (so long as they own a television that supports it).

Note: Beware the  value packages  slapped together by retailers. They’re often very expensive (upwards of $1000) and are hardly worth the money. You might consider them to be Frankenstein-like abominations, for they generally include unnecessary hardware and some of the worst launch titles available (as if the first games for a system weren’t generally bad enough).