PS3 good PC replacement?

Sheff

Sheff

Sheff

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My laptop is on its last legs, and the time has come to decide what to get next, I'm looking for something I can use in my bedroom for mostly web browsing and word processing etc, I was thinking of getting an Acer One as it's fairly cheap and is portable, but what do you all think about getting a PS3 and installing Linux? Would it be able to handle the basic functions of a pc and is wine a possibility?
 
Biggest limitation is the accessible memory is limited to 256mb, it should handle word processing, web browsing etc fine though. You'll also need a TV or monitor with DVI/HDMI HDCP support as it only outputs standard HD resolutions.

I'm not sure about Wine as I'm not entirely sure how it works, I would guess probably not as I think it requires you to be using the x86 architecture.
 
Yes, it can do all the basic functions of a PC with things like Openoffice, Firefox web browser & Thunderbird emial client + lots more.

The downsides are that the PS3 requires a distro that is compatible with the PowerPC architecture and since Apple dumped PowerPC some time ago - development on third party apps & utils has slowed / stopped. For example you cant get a fully compatible version of Flash to run as they never did one for PowerPC and the open source stuff to cater this is quite flakey.

Apart from that it seems to run ok.

Try Yellowdog for starters.

http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/products/ydl/
 
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I'm using Yellow Dog 6 on my PS3, its alright actually but due to lack of ram it can be sluggish at times. Once you install some third party RPM files (ones recommended on the official YDL forums) youll have a massive libary of software like VLC, torrent clients, messenger etc. so youll be able to do all the basic PC functions easy. Wth YDL 6 wifi worked out the box as well but NTFS drives arent supported, which is annoying! (though they are with 5.1 for some reason.:confused:) Been playing some old skool games on it lately actually like Duke Nukem 3D and Beats of Rage, apparently you can also get PS3 pads working with Linux games aswell, but haven't tried that yet.
 
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KNiVES said:
Wine is an impossibility, as far as I can see. You're better off spending money on a £200 PC that would be quicker due to extra memory and such. The PS3 has little usable memory for Linux and it's often sluggish and slow at times.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showp...groupid=43&catid=1078&subcat=&name=Primo Lite

This is a hell of a lot more suitable to your needs.
Click to expand...

Thats just a base station with no OS or display. If the OP has financial restraints and only requires casual word processing & web browsing then the PS3 might be ok. If money is not really an issue then get a new laptop.
 
I could happily browse in firefox with a messenger and a torrent client open without slow down. Open Office was fine as well.
 
wwwebber said:
Thats just a base station with no OS or display. If the OP has financial restraints and only requires casual word processing & web browsing then the PS3 might be ok. If money is not really an issue then get a new laptop.
Click to expand...

You can buy a decent enough PC and monitor for less than the price of a PS3.

edit: Just look at the PC Knives linked to.
 
My bedroom which isn't huge and wouldn't be suitable to have a PC + Monitor etc, but would quite easily be able to handle a PS3 using my tv as the monitor (plus having a PS3 would be nice :D) although not being able to install flash fully is a little discouraging, I may wait until I can see a demonstration of an Acer One in the local pc store.
 
When you can get a Crysis-on-medium pc for £400 it's hardly worth bothering.

Drop a few components to bring it to PS3 price and you're set. Gen. Hardware will sort you out.
 
wwwebber said:
Thats just a base station with no OS or display. If the OP has financial restraints and only requires casual word processing & web browsing then the PS3 might be ok. If money is not really an issue then get a new laptop.
Click to expand...

Yes but a PS3 is 300 quid at minimum. That PC is 200. Another 100 will get you a monitor, and a mouse & keyboard. Linux, you don't pay for.

You can find even cheaper PCs than that too. That PC is relatively fast, with 2 gigs of memory. Tone the dual core processor down and make the memory 1gig which is still more than enough for any Linux OS, and you would be looking at a decent setup for 250 tops, monitor and the like included.

PCs are generally nowhere near as expensive as they used to be 10 years ago, thanks to the massive uptake by the general public and the exploding popularity of such devices. They are only going to get cheaper and cheaper, even as the hardware gets more overkill for basic needs.
 
get your self a second had pc for like £50 and the ps3 for best of both worlds!

With a little bit of know how you can have a really good linux desktop on an athlon xp with 256 meg of ram (heck iv done a good install on a p2 with 64meg ram its just about looking for the right applications)

So yeah if you dont pc game (and console game) the really cheap pc and ps3 would be the best solution
 
It's quite impractical to have a pc set up in my bedroom, I am building a new one for gaming but that's another story.

All I really need is a basic PC for when I don't have access to my gaming rig and just want to browse the internet or do a bit of work, I'm leaning more towards the netbooks now however.
 
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