Netflix is worth it to me if you watch lots of movies. Even though their "Watch Instantly" selection is a bit lacking, you can still get a movie in the mail and it costs $9/month. Not too shabby.

As for remotes if you have a CEC or what have you TV, probably not needed.

PS3 natively supports x.264 codecs in mp4 and a few other (no MKV) containers. Also supports divx codec in an avi container. What I mean by natively is, if you have those files on your PS3's HDD, they will play.

You can stream (via a mediaserver which will probably be running on a computer somewhere on your network) many, many container types and codec types to the PS3 just fine (I use ps3mediaserver software).

Good choice. As you said yourself, it's way cheaper than 360 and it can do so much more. One of the coolest advantages of PS3 is that you can use any USB and bluetooth devices (game controllers, keyboards, mice, headsets) and don't have to buy expensive Sony accessories unless you want to. And you can upgrade the internal hdd with any regular 2.5" sata hdd and aren't forced to purchase ridiculously overpriced proprietary hdds like Microsoft are selling for Xbox 360.

As for streaming media from your PC, you should use PS3 Media Server, it's a freeware utility which can also transcode media formats that PS3 can't natively play. http://ps3mediaserver.blogspot.com/

Fantastic! That's twice the ps3mediaserver has been mentioned and I'll definitely check it out.

ok, got my PSN ID, now all I need is the PS3. O_o

If you want Blu-Rays with Netflix there is an extra charge for them. I think it's like a couple bucks a month or something. If you are lazy about returning DVD's or only prefer to have movies on certain days(watch them friday and saturday) I would suggest getting 2 dvd's at a time as the turn around is usually three days(day you mail it, 1 day transition, 3rd day you get it). The instant watch has a lot of good content. However it lacks recent popular blockbuster movies and only occasionally has big blockbuster movies from the 2000's such as like Spiderman 2 or something. But if you're into new indy films, classic films, tv shows, documentaries, and quality films from the 90's and 80's or shitty movies from the 80's and 90's, then there is plenty of stuff to watch for you. I would suggest signing up though as i believe they offer a 14 day free trial. That would be the best way to determine if you like it or not.

yeah, I'm ok with just really utilizing the instant content as all I want it for is the movies my kids can access and older family hits are perfect. I also want television series so I can watch stuff I missed like Battlestar Galactica or Lost.

@superchunk

Well then it sounds like netflix instant streaming will have a lot of content for you :)

The netflix disc interface is a bit slow, hopefully this will get better when the netflix application becomes a part of the XMB.

did you make a list of games to get??

thats the most importand in buying a console,you say i want to play this and that and get what you will like!

that why we got this xmas a second ps3 :)

littlebigplanet and waitng modnation racers for the little ones,and we wait god of war3...
(for example there are other games also)

Yeah, I've started a wish-list here on vgc. I'll probably just buy Assassin's Creed 2 tomorrow and get others over time.

ok man,just shop smart there are alot of used good games this far in the generation and if you didnt had a hd system you have alot of options.

if you dont mind i would recomend :

little big planet

uncharted1

you can find them really cheap(lbp will have alot of patches)