PC to console

[game_over]

Due to life changes this year i've went from a regular gamer to a barely-casual gamer.

 

I have quite a good PC I use/d as a HTPC, it had a 360 controller allowing me to play games from Steam. I also used it for media (netflix, plex), backups and downloading files. I'm also watching less and less shows so the PC is never switched on and non of my devices are getting properly backed up.

 

To fix this I have purchased a NAS box i can leave running 24/7 which now takes care of plex media server, backups, etc.. The PC only use is for the very little gaming I do when I get a spare 5 minutes.

 

As a result I am considering 'downgrading' to a console. 

 

Which console is the best for media content? A quick google tells me both the XBOX 360 and PS4 can play Blu-rays and both have apps for netflix and plex.

 

So which one has the edge?

 

I believe the XBOX has passthrough HDMI so I could essentially hook up my Sky box to it, are there any benefits to doing this over watching sky direct to my TV? is it a good idea to leave the XBOX switched on was much as Sky? (i.e. all day and night) ... any other differences that could help sway me?

 

The only negative I can see at the moment is losing my Steam library.

 

 

 

[MightyJordan]

40 minutes ago, game_over said:

So which one has the edge?

I think most people on here will say the PS4, as it's more power-efficient, it's easier to use (to paraphrase a tweet that appeared in my timeline this morning, compared to the PS4's UI, the Xbox One's is like doing the puzzle box from Hellraiser), and multiplatform games tend to run smoother. Also, there's more value for money with PlayStation Plus than Xbox Live Gold when it comes to the "free" games offered up every month.

 

40 minutes ago, game_over said:

I believe the XBOX has passthrough HDMI so I could essentially hook up my Sky box to it, are there any benefits to doing this over watching sky direct to my TV? is it a good idea to leave the XBOX switched on was much as Sky? (i.e. all day and night) ... any other differences that could help sway me?

It frees up an HDMI port on your TV, but you've got to have the Xbox One on in order to use whatever's plugged in, so your electricity bill will quickly let you know it isn't a good idea. On the plus side, the OneGuide can be a better way of navigating the TV guides if your Freeview/Freesat box has a bad interface. It also combines live TV with on-demand services, so if for example, you tune in halfway through a programme that's up on-demand, it'll tell you that and give you the option to switch over to whatever service it's on (if you're signed up to it, that is). But I'm pretty sure most set-top boxes on sale have this nowadays; I can't speak for Sky, but TiVo definitely has it (if something's on catch-up, there'll be a symbol next to the programme).

[game_over]

54 minutes ago, MightyJordan said:

I think most people on here will say the PS4, as it's more power-efficient, it's easier to use (to paraphrase a tweet that appeared in my timeline this morning, compared to the PS4's UI, the Xbox One's is like doing the puzzle box from Hellraiser), and multiplatform games tend to run smoother. Also, there's more value for money with PlayStation Plus than Xbox Live Gold when it comes to the "free" games offered up every month.

 

It frees up an HDMI port on your TV, but you've got to have the Xbox One on in order to use whatever's plugged in, so your electricity bill will quickly let you know it isn't a good idea. On the plus side, the OneGuide can be a better way of navigating the TV guides if your Freeview/Freesat box has a bad interface. It also combines live TV with on-demand services, so if for example, you tune in halfway through a programme that's up on-demand, it'll tell you that and give you the option to switch over to whatever service it's on (if you're signed up to it, that is). But I'm pretty sure most set-top boxes on sale have this nowadays; I can't speak for Sky, but TiVo definitely has it (if something's on catch-up, there'll be a symbol next to the programme).

Thanks for the explanation.. One of the reasons for going with a NAS over just leaving my PC on is due to power concerns so leaving the XBOX on wouldn't really fix that problem.. I'm guessing it would reduce the life of the console as well... so thats a tick in the PS4 box.

 

 

Also i said XBOX 360 in the first post i obviously meant XBOX ONE.

[FloatingFatMan]

Why not just save your money and keep your more casual gaming to the PC? You have far more options for that type of gaming, and you won't have to pay through the nose to access online gaming when you want to.

[+InsaneNutter MVC]

On 08/07/2016 at 0:54 PM, game_over said:

So which one has the edge?

I think your asking the wrong question, what you should be thinking about is which console has the exclusive games and franchises you wish to play.

 

For me personally the exclusive franchises which made me get an Xbox were Crackdown, Forza, Gears of War and Halo. In addition the Xbox 360 had some great exclusive Shoot Em Up's which the PC and PlayStation never got.

 

The PS4 has Uncharted and Kill Zone which i think look really good, beyond that I can't say many other exclusives interest me.

 

I have enjoyed the exclusives games on the Wii U more than any other console this gen however, as someone who converted from PC to Console gaming 10+ years ago, the exclusives have kind of get repetitive now.

 

Media wise both consoles will meet your requirements, the Xbox One has a USB TV tuner which is capable of picking up all the Freeview HD channels here in the UK. You can't record TV with it, however can pause live TV, as I have an older HDTV that doesn't support Freeview HD this has been randomly useful, although i don't personally watch much live TV anyway.

 

I'm still not totally sure why you just don't turn the PC on when you feel like playing some games however? it seem's like your buying an Xbox One to sit there and be idle like the PC going by the reason you provided.

[game_over]

27 minutes ago, InsaneNutter said:

I think your asking the wrong question, what you should be thinking about is which console has the exclusive games and franchises you wish to play.

 

For me personally the exclusive franchises which made me get an Xbox were Crackdown, Forza, Gears of War and Halo. In addition the Xbox 360 had some great exclusive Shoot Em Up's which the PC and PlayStation never got.

 

The PS4 has Uncharted and Kill Zone which i think look really good, beyond that I can't say many other exclusives interest me.

 

I have enjoyed the exclusives games on the Wii U more than any other console this gen however, as someone who converted from PC to Console gaming 10+ years ago, the exclusives have kind of get repetitive now.

 

Media wise both consoles will meet your requirements, the Xbox One has a USB TV tuner which is capable of picking up all the Freeview HD channels here in the UK. You can't record TV with it, however can pause live TV, as I have an older HDTV that doesn't support Freeview HD this has been randomly useful, although i don't personally watch much live TV anyway.

 

I'm still not totally sure why you just don't turn the PC on when you feel like playing some games however? it seem's like your buying an Xbox One to sit there and be idle like the PC going by the reason you provided.

Yeah you have a point, the XBOX does seem to 'have the edge' regarding media but it's not providing anything I don't have or would use anyway so it may be worth looking at exclusives.

 

Because i'm now sat with a machine that cost me around £700 to build that I hardly ever use, I previously used it for a lot more (plex, media streaming, storage, backups, gaming) however circumstances have changed so we never switch it on, I've got a NAS I can leave on 24/7 which now takes care of my media, backups, storage etc.. the PC is nothing more than a gaming machine... it's a big box hidden away behind my TV it doesn't really make sense to hold on to it when i'm gaming once/twice a month... a console will be much more convenient, we can use it for things like blu-ray and media and still provide that gaming fix.

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

Both consoles handle Media pretty well, especially coming from a Nas device. I find the One often encodes audio even more where the PS4 will take the pure audio track and leave it untouched. So I prefer the PS4 for untouched audio, but I also find the One pretty much plays all file types while the PS4 still sometimes does not like certain encodes. It is not very often that happens on the PS4, but it does happen. 

So really I would say it is a toss up to how each console handles media files. They both do the job.

At that point I would say go where you feel the better games are. If the exclusives on each console do not matter, then I would go with the PS4. It still does have the edge in multiplatform title performance.

[Raa]

On ‎10‎/‎07‎/‎2016 at 5:33 PM, FloatingFatMan said:

Why not just save your money and keep your more casual gaming to the PC? You have far more options for that type of gaming, and you won't have to pay through the nose to access online gaming when you want to.

I'd have to agree here. Why spend money when what you already have sounds like it'll fit the task perfectly already?

[game_over]

58 minutes ago, Raa said:

I'd have to agree here. Why spend money when what you already have sounds like it'll fit the task perfectly already?

As said above, I don't see the point in holding on to something of such high value to play a game for a few hours each week. I have a NAS that now takes care of all other tasks I was using the PC for, I don't need a NAS and a PC, it just doesn't make sense to me... and id rather have the NAS over the PC so that I can leave it on 24/7... The only void I have losing the PC is gaming which is where the console makes more sense.. PLUS I now have a blu-ray player which is something I have wanted for a while.. 2 birds, 1 stone.

 

So i've essentially made some money and got a blu-ray player by switching my setup.

 

The only thing I am losing is my Steam library, but in all honesty I've spent a lot of money buying games for the sake of it (steam sales, humble bundle, etc..) and have only played a handful of them, i can't see me spending needlessly anymore since PS4 games are more expensive.

 

 

1 hour ago, DirtyLarry said:

Both consoles handle Media pretty well, especially coming from a Nas device. I find the One often encodes audio even more where the PS4 will take the pure audio track and leave it untouched. So I prefer the PS4 for untouched audio, but I also find the One pretty much plays all file types while the PS4 still sometimes does not like certain encodes. It is not very often that happens on the PS4, but it does happen. 

So really I would say it is a toss up to how each console handles media files. They both do the job.

At that point I would say go where you feel the better games are. If the exclusives on each console do not matter, then I would go with the PS4. It still does have the edge in multiplatform title performance.

Thanks, I looked at the exclusives and nothing really jumped out that would sway me so PS4 it is, i've went for it and purchased a console with uncharted 4.

[The_D0lph1n]

One more thing regarding the PS4: you might need to increase the volume on your TV up by a little bit because I've found that the PS4's fan gets significantly louder than the fan on the Xbox One. So PS4 has better energy efficiency, but is louder. Other than that, enjoy your new PS4!

[game_over]

3 hours ago, The_D0lph1n said:

One more thing regarding the PS4: you might need to increase the volume on your TV up by a little bit because I've found that the PS4's fan gets significantly louder than the fan on the Xbox One. So PS4 has better energy efficiency, but is louder. Other than that, enjoy your new PS4!

noted and thanks

[Raa]

10 hours ago, game_over said:

The only void I have losing the PC is gaming which is where the console makes more sense.. PLUS I now have a blu-ray player which is something I have wanted for a while.. 2 birds, 1 stone.

 

So i've essentially made some money and got a blu-ray player by switching my setup.

 

The only thing I am losing is my Steam library, but in all honesty I've spent a lot of money buying games for the sake of it (steam sales, humble bundle, etc..) and have only played a handful of them, i can't see me spending needlessly anymore since PS4 games are more expensive.

So drop a BR drive into the PC for a handful of bucks and you're set. Play casually when you want... I haven't had my PC on 24/7 since I built my own server and that was yonks ago.

I'm not trying to pull a "PC Master Race" here, just pointing out the fact it seemslike you'll spend a fair bit of money to replace something you already have - at least, that's my take on it.

[Obi-Wan Kenobi]

PC to console: Good luck, brother. There IS no going back.

[game_over]

7 hours ago, Raa said:

So drop a BR drive into the PC for a handful of bucks and you're set. Play casually when you want... I haven't had my PC on 24/7 since I built my own server and that was yonks ago.

I'm not trying to pull a "PC Master Race" here, just pointing out the fact it seemslike you'll spend a fair bit of money to replace something you already have - at least, that's my take on it.

PC is in a case hidden behind my TV stand, switching it on is a pain never mind loading it with BRs.. it all makes sense, trust me  I haven't actually spent any money as all costs are covered.. i'll be spending more when I buy games though.

[Raa]

33 minutes ago, game_over said:

PC is in a case hidden behind my TV stand, switching it on is a pain never mind loading it with BRs.. it all makes sense, trust me  I haven't actually spent any money as all costs are covered.. i'll be spending more when I buy games though.

Ahh that clears it up a bit. Well the suggestions still stand, but up to you. I find PC games are cheaper at retail too, not really sure why but I won't say no!
Good luck with whichever choice you make though.

[soniqstylz]

On 7/8/2016 at 7:54 AM, game_over said:

Due to life changes this year i've went from a regular gamer to a barely-casual gamer.

 

I have quite a good PC I use/d as a HTPC, it had a 360 controller allowing me to play games from Steam. I also used it for media (netflix, plex), backups and downloading files. I'm also watching less and less shows so the PC is never switched on and non of my devices are getting properly backed up.

 

To fix this I have purchased a NAS box i can leave running 24/7 which now takes care of plex media server, backups, etc.. The PC only use is for the very little gaming I do when I get a spare 5 minutes.

 

As a result I am considering 'downgrading' to a console. 

 

Which console is the best for media content? A quick google tells me both the XBOX 360 and PS4 can play Blu-rays and both have apps for netflix and plex.

 

So which one has the edge?

 

I believe the XBOX has passthrough HDMI so I could essentially hook up my Sky box to it, are there any benefits to doing this over watching sky direct to my TV? is it a good idea to leave the XBOX switched on was much as Sky? (i.e. all day and night) ... any other differences that could help sway me?

 

The only negative I can see at the moment is losing my Steam library.

 

 

 

Hold off until the holidays.

 

X1 has a new model scheduled for August, PS4 has a new model rumored but not confirmed for October-ish.  At the very least you'll get good deals on expired stock,  but if there are upgrades to the X1 including better power efficiency that may be the better bet for you.