DF: Media Player Face-off

Great games. Great media. Can even shove a cable tv cord into it and snap TV.

It only does everything.
 
At the end of the day, there are just a lot more commodity devices that work better for media than both the X1 and PS4 but both provide the basic needs. They are, after all, supposed to be gaming consoles first and foremost.

If that is your expectation I suppose they are. In reality for many while games may initiate the purchase, the media functionality in the end becomes the primary feature in terms of use. Suppose there is another generation of boxes. The "games" machine as positioned by Sony is untenable long term despite its current success. Consumers expectations have moved beyond that. The entire ecosystem approach is where everything is heading within the industry and is here already for many. Games and services across all of your devices.
 
If that is your expectation I suppose they are. In reality for many while games may initiate the purchase, the media functionality in the end becomes the primary feature in terms of use. Suppose there is another generation of boxes. The "games" machine as positioned by Sony is untenable long term despite its current success. Consumers expectations have moved beyond that. The entire ecosystem approach is where everything is heading within the industry and is here already for many. Games and services across all of your devices.

Pretty much the media portion only matters as much as you want it to matter to you. For example, I wouldn't want someone using my PS4 or X1 to watch movies or other types of media when I want to play. I buy another inexpensive commodity for that, there are so many devices out there right now doing those media things much better than X1 or PS4. I can't speak for others but I buy a PS4 or X1 to primarily game personally.
 
Pretty much the media portion only matters as much as you want it to matter to you. For example, I wouldn't want someone using my PS4 or X1 to watch movies or other types of media when I want to play. I buy another inexpensive commodity for that, there are so many devices out there right now doing those media things much better than X1 or PS4. I don't know about others but I buy a PS4 or X1 to primarily game personally.

That's cool and if it works for you then great. I see what MS is doing with Xbox and while they are certainly competing head to head with Sony in the games space there is also a bigger, long term battle with Apple, Google, and probably Amazon in providing the entire ecosystem experience across all of your devices space. Desktop, mobile, TV, and games all converging together across all of your devices.
 
That's cool and if it works for you then great. I see what MS is doing with Xbox and while they are certainly competing head to head with Sony in the games space there is also a bigger, long term battle with Apple, Google, and probably Amazon in providing the entire ecosystem experience across all of your devices space. Desktop, mobile, TV, and games all converging together across all of your devices.

That seems to be MS's goal but this paragraph from DF summarizes why that seems to be an uphill battle so far:

"And therein perhaps lies the crux of the matter. Microsoft designed Xbox One in an era where consoles were being used just as much for media playback - if not more - than they were for gaming. Placing so much emphasis on this proved to be a costly error both in terms of initial marketing and hardware design, but the logic at the time was sound. However, the reality is that media playback is now ubiquitous across virtually all devices - streaming from smartphone or tablet to an HDTV is ridiculous easy, assuming your HDTV doesn't already have smart functionality onboard to begin with. Media playback boxes - like the Roku offerings and their subsidised NowTV sibling - offer a higher level of streaming app support than Xbox One, at prices starting from £9.99. In short, Xbox One is a premium level media device in a market now saturated by perfectly functional commodity hardware."
 
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well I'll forgive ya cause you don't know any better or know what you're missing.
I use it mainly for Netflix and HBO go and it more then meets my needs.
 
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That seems to be MS's goal but this paragraph from DF summarizes why that seems to be an uphill battle so far:

"And therein perhaps lies the crux of the matter. Microsoft designed Xbox One in an era where consoles were being used just as much for media playback - if not more - than they were for gaming. Placing so much emphasis on this proved to be a costly error both in terms of initial marketing and hardware design, but the logic at the time was sound. However, the reality is that media playback is now ubiquitous across virtually all devices - streaming from smartphone or tablet to an HDTV is ridiculous easy, assuming your HDTV doesn't already have smart functionality onboard to begin with. Media playback boxes - like the Roku offerings and their subsidised NowTV sibling - offer a higher level of streaming app support than Xbox One, at prices starting from £9.99. In short, Xbox One is a premium level media device in a market now saturated by perfectly functional commodity hardware."
Depends what people what, how much to spend and if people want another gadget on their media stand.

For people who want to play games and have the best next gen media experience in one package, X1 is the way to go.

No different than people buying a PS3 last year for gaming and BR movies. Some people (like my brother) bought a $299 slim PS3 a few months after it came out to kill two birds with one stone. Dabble in some games and watch BR movies without having to spend another $200+ on a standlone BR player. I'm sure the standalone are not only better, but have better features, but his PS3 played them good enough even though it looked silly to boot up a video game console and use a DS3 to play a movie.

On the other hand, I've always played DVDs and BRs on dedicated home theatre systems. Never used my X1 for movies, never used my 360 for DVDs and only used my old PS2 for a DVD once to test it out. I even remember the movie... Mel Gibson's Payback. After that, went back to playing DVDs on my Panasonic DVD home theatre system. Better and easier.
 
One thing they forgot to mention that impacts media is storage space.

X1 supports external drives to complement the internal drive. I think each USB port can support a 16tb drive each which is absurd overkill. Just plug them into a USB port, format it (takes about 3 seconds), put the media on the drive and it works.

For PS4, if your internal drive is full, you have to buy a compatible internal drive, turn off your system, flip it over, get a screwdriver, swap out internal drives, and then piece it back together and turn it on. Same goes for games if your internal drive is full. Game/media X, Y and Z are on internal drive 1. Game/media 1 ,2 and 3 are on internal drive 2. Have fun swapping drives. Keep that screwdriver beside your system.
 
Obviously it's the Xbox One. It's the all in one set-top box. They had that vision in the latter years of the 360 and it all came to fruition with the One.
Yup.

Who knew that after all the "It Only Does Everything" ads by Sony for PS3, MS would have the better media player for this gen.
 
Depends what people what, how much to spend and if people want another gadget on their media stand.

For people who want to play games and have the best next gen media experience in one package, X1 is the way to go.

No different than people buying a PS3 last year for gaming and BR movies. Some people (like my brother) bought a $299 slim PS3 a few months after it came out to kill two birds with one stone. Dabble in some games and watch BR movies without having to spend another $200+ on a standlone BR player. I'm sure the standalone are not only better, but have better features, but his PS3 played them good enough even though it looked silly to boot up a video game console and use a DS3 to play a movie.

On the other hand, I've always played DVDs and BRs on dedicated home theatre systems. Never used my X1 for movies, never used my 360 for DVDs and only used my old PS2 for a DVD once to test it out. I even remember the movie... Mel Gibson's Payback. After that, went back to playing DVDs on my Panasonic DVD home theatre system. Better and easier.

True but both consoles provides more than the basic requirements so either would be a great option.
 
One thing they forgot to mention that impacts media is storage space.

X1 supports external drives to complement the internal drive. I think each USB port can support a 16tb drive each which is absurd overkill. Just plug them into a USB port, format it (takes about 3 seconds), put the media on the drive and it works.

For PS4, if your internal drive is full, you have to buy a compatible internal drive, turn off your system, flip it over, get a screwdriver, swap out internal drives, and then piece it back together and turn it on. Same goes for games if your internal drive is full. Game/media X, Y and Z are on internal drive 1. Game/media 1 ,2 and 3 are on internal drive 2. Have fun swapping drives. Keep that screwdriver beside your system.
Only a question, I can plug an external harddisk with MP3 & common movie format, & X1 can play directly?
 
PS4 at launch could not even play MP3s, CDs, or YouTube videos. To lack such basic functionality is a travesty of travesties.
 
PS4 has like 10 apps or so under TV & Media. I was like ready. Not overly upset though as the one I use (Netflix) is available, & it wasn't sold as an all in one device.
 
Yup.

Who knew that after all the "It Only Does Everything" ads by Sony for PS3, MS would have the better media player for this gen.


f*** sakes you turn every forking thread into a One jerk-off thread and an anti Sony thread. Do you not be leave in One or something you sure stand a lot of time tiring to justify the thing.
 
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PS4 doesn't support external HDDs?

Not for game installs, no. But for things other than games, yes.

One thing they forgot to mention that impacts media is storage space.

X1 supports external drives to complement the internal drive. I think each USB port can support a 16tb drive each which is absurd overkill. Just plug them into a USB port, format it (takes about 3 seconds), put the media on the drive and it works.

For PS4, if your internal drive is full, you have to buy a compatible internal drive, turn off your system, flip it over, get a screwdriver, swap out internal drives, and then piece it back together and turn it on. Same goes for games if your internal drive is full. Game/media X, Y and Z are on internal drive 1. Game/media 1 ,2 and 3 are on internal drive 2. Have fun swapping drives. Keep that screwdriver beside your system.

Once you put in the new internal HDD on the PS4, it has to do the new OS format and setup again. Once you do that, you can't swap back to the other HDD...the PS will prompt you to format it before you can use it again.

I just bought a second Xbox One. I took the Xbox One I had with the external HDD attached, and I unplugged the external HDD. I moved that Xbox One downstairs. I then connected the external HDD to my new Xbox One, and I was off playing immediately. No setup needed, it recognized all my games on there with my XBL tag. I can take the HDD any place I want to go and just plug it in and play.