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PS3 as a Media Center?

M

migsev

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 13, 2008
178
0
Complete noob here, but we're getting a PS3 in a week or two along with a new HDTV. One question:

Is it possible for us to move all our downloaded TV shows/movies (which are in AVI format) to the PS3 so we can watch it on the HDTV? We're replacing the HD on it to 500gb so I'm sure it'll be enough to fit our shows. Just don't know if it can play.

And we wanna be able to play it directly from the PS3 itself. None of that media streaming please.
 
sammich said:
http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/current/video/filetypes.html

Most of your downloaded TV show .avi's are in Xvid/Divx, so you should be fine.

As long as you know how to transfer video's to the PS3, you will be fine with not streaming. I did pay for MediaLink but my PS3 is hooked up to gigabit.
Click to expand...

Is there a free way to move all of our stuff? Can I just copy/paste everything with a USB flash drive?

How will it look on the PS3 though? Are all the files dumped into one folder or can you organize everything into subfolders? Is it also possible to tag the movies for better organization?
 
migsev said:
Is there a free way to move all of our stuff? Can I just copy/paste everything with a USB flash drive?

How will it look on the PS3 though? Are all the files dumped into one folder or can you organize everything into subfolders? Is it also possible to tag the movies for better organization?
Click to expand...

http://www.wikihow.com/Add-an-External-Hard-Drive-to-a-PlayStation-3

More informative than whatever I'm gonna quickly type out.

Just quickly then...any FAT32 drive, not sure about sub folders but I imagine so. PS3 does not have a 'media centre' like functionality. You can sort stuff, but I don't think it's anything much beyond file names and certain file attributes. (someone please correct me if I'm wrong).
 
sammich said:
http://www.wikihow.com/Add-an-External-Hard-Drive-to-a-PlayStation-3

More informative than whatever I'm gonna quickly type out.

Just quickly then...any FAT32 drive, not sure about sub folders but I imagine so. PS3 does not have a 'media centre' like functionality. You can sort stuff, but I don't think it's anything much beyond file names and certain file attributes. (someone please correct me if I'm wrong).
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link. I already knew about the FAT32 thing from my googling. I just wasn't sure if you could actually copy from an external.

I'm curious how it looks on the ps3 itself though. We don't want to have to buy another device just for organized movies.
 
migsev said:
I'm curious how it looks on the ps3 itself though. We don't want to have to buy another device just for organized movies.
Click to expand...

Rather plain Jane really, Google Images.

Like I said above, it's really simple and represents more of a file browser than anything.

Now, I've got a preposition: if you aren't going to play games, why not pay a little extra and get a Mac Mini, which can PLAY ANY media type. Plus download one of these free frontrow replacements: Plex or XMBC.
 
sammich said:
Rather plain Jane really, Google Images.

Like I said above, it's really simple and represents more of a file browser than anything.

Now, I've got a preposition: if you aren't going to play games, why not pay a little extra and get a Mac Mini, which can PLAY ANY media type. Plus download one of these free frontrow replacements: Plex or XMBC.
Click to expand...

Didn't think of using Google images, thanks for that! I had a look through the results and there doesn't seem to be one which shows subfolders under the Video category.

Oh, the PS3 is actually going to be used for games. It would just be a nice option to be able to turn it into the main media center as it saves on getting another device.
 
Looks like you're pretty set on getting the PS3. It's a pity it isn't more of a HTPC than it is atm, but at least it does what it's supposed to do very well, like playing 1080p content in all it's glory!

Oh and, flipping through nice high res photos is glorious, it's smooooth.
 
sammich said:
Looks like you're pretty set on getting the PS3. It's a pity it isn't more of a HTPC than it is atm, but at least it does what it's supposed to do very well, like playing 1080p content in all it's glory!

Oh and, flipping through nice high res photos is glorious, it's smooooth.
Click to expand...

Yep, all thats left now is to pick an HDTV to go along with it. Haha!

Thanks for the help!
 
In addition to streaming to a PS3, you can use Rivet to copy movies to the PS3's hard drive as well. (God, I'm starting to sound like a Rivet sales guy..) Probably more convenient than a thumb drive or external if you're copying files across frequently.

Storing them on the console's hard drive is a good option - at least in my experience, streaming on the PS3 via Wifi is very, very poor.
 
Slightly off topic, but need help with PS3 media server.

I have media server on my MBP and until recently it always worked. My router says its available, my MBP says it has detected the PS3 but the PS3 does not show it at all in the XMB. When I look in network settings it says UPnP unavailable although under media server settings it is enabled.

Someone help please and be gentle as I'm not extremely technical. :):)

This is the media server I have and it has been brilliant until I changed my broadband provider who gave me a new netgear router.

http://code.google.com/p/ps3mediaserver/
 
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