[sc:entertainment-category ]Back when this console cycle first started I made a post about the PS4 and said it was time to make up my mind about it.
That didn’t happen 🙂
In fact I’ve been waffling on if I was going to buy a new game console at all since then but I’ve finally broken down and picked up an Xbox One.
There were a few things that finally convinced me to bite the bullet:
- My PS3’s Bluray drive has gone flaky, I can’t watch more than about 30 minutes of a movie before it freezes up.
- Having the 360 and PS3 really makes a cabling nightmare around the entertainment system.
- Windows 10
So it came down to a choice, PS4 or Xbox One?
At the end of the day I use my console more for media than gaming and so the choice was simple, the Xbox One.
First Impressions
Ok, the Xbox One is big, really big. Much bigger than I would have expected honestly, but that’s not really an issue for me, I have lots of space.
What confuses me about the size is that even with how big it is, the power brick is external and huge as well. You’d think they could have integrated it in to the main unit.
One other nitpick that I had heard about was the fact you couldn’t stand it on its side, which is true and kind of strange really. But it works fine laying flat so again, not a big deal.
Beyond that, the software is slick, the games are impressive and it does integrate well with all of my other components.
Voice control is a little hit and miss, but the auto detection of who’s in the room is a neat trick and seems pretty consistent.
The media player and Bluray payer both work well and didn’t have any issue connecting to my media server.
All in all it was an easy setup.
Next Steps
There are a few things left to do:
- Route my Bell ExpressVu signal though the Xbox to get the integrated TV experience.
- Connect the Xbox One through my stereo instead of directly to the TV to get surround sound.
- Find something to do with an old 260/PS3 🙂
