Head to head: PlayStation 3 vs Xbox 360

Overview Model: XBox 360 Price comparison: Xbox 360 More info: XBox CPU: Custom IBM Power-PC Based CPU Three symmetrical cores running at 3.2 GHz each Two hardware threads per core; six hardware threads total VMX-128 vector unit per core; three total 128 VMX-128 registers per hardware thread 1 MB L2 cache Graphics processor: 500MHz processor, 10MB DRAM Total memory: 512MB of GDDR3 RAM, 700MHz DDR Audio: Multi-channel surround sound output Supports 48KHz 16-bit audio 320 independent decompression channels 32-bit audio processing Over 256 audio channels DVD movie playback: Remote control package required Maximum Resolution: 1920x1080 Maximum Resolution: (2x32bpp frame buffers +Z): 1920x1080 HDTV support: Yes (with additional HDTV dive) Inputs/outputs: 4 wireless game controllers, 3 USB 2.0 ports, 2 memory unit slots Communication: Built-in Ethernet port, Wi-Fi ready: 802.11a/b/g, video camera ready Disc media: DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, CD-DA, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, WMA CD, MP3 CD, JPEG Photo CD, HD-DVD (add-on drive needed)

Round One - value for money

Sitting with the two consoles in front of me the first thing I notice is build quality, and whereas the 360 looked cheap and mass produced, the PS3 looks well built and really expensive, which is just as well because it sure is! At around £425 versus the 360's £200 you'd be forgiven for thinking why such a big gap in pricing? Well, I'll attempt to explain.

First of the PS3 comes with a few things the 360 doesn't, like built-in Wi-Fi, Blu-ray disc player and free, yes free, online membership. But does that really justify an extra £225? Well in a word yes. A standalone blu-ray disc player will cost you at least that much, so if you think of it as a Blu-ray player with a games console thrown in, you're up on the deal.

Of course, if you're only interested in games, the 360's £225 price advantage means you've got that much more to spend on games - five and a half 360 games to be exact, which is a great argument in favour of the Microsoft option. But on balance, I think both consoles are evenly matched, considering what you get with each, for while the Playstation costs more, you get considerably more for your hard-earned.

Round Two - video

After turning the two consoles on, the next thing I did was turn one of them off again, because the noise of the two beasts simultaneously humming away was just too much! I'm bound to say that the Xbox was the main culprit so I started with the PS3 and Call Of Duty 3, which looked really good and played even better - pretty much what I expected from Sony's new baby.

I then switched back to the 360 with the same game and low and behold it looked and played exactly like the PS3. So let me get this straight, was all Sony's talk of ridiculous processing power and eye-melting graphics just talk? Well to be fair to Sony, next gen games require a lot more work than the previous generation, and when you go from a single CPU to the eight that are available on the PS3, it's going to take some time before the game designers can utilise all that raw power.

Both the Xbox and the PS3 have DVD playback, and as I remember the previous Xbox delivered a great visual performance. Is new big brother is no exception, in fact both consoles faired quite well, delivering an impressive level of detail, but with the Sony just taking the lead with its clever DVD upscaling software.

But the jewel in the Sony crown is of course the Blu-ray player which proved to be anything but an afterthought. The picture quality is nothing less than stunning, with a beautiful colour balance, pin-sharp images and uncompressed audio - I don't think I can go back to bland old low res DVD disc after this.

So with popcorn in hand I had to get serious and watch Casino Royal on Blu-ray with my eyes closed because I didn't want to get distracted by the overwhelming visuals, (yes I know I could have just turned the TV off). Instead I got distracted by the overwhelming sound that seemed to just keep coming, distortion-free, from all angles and with bags of headroom. All an all it was a much better experience than going to the cinema and nobody gave me a hard time when my phone rang in the middle of the film.

I did eventually open my eyes to watch the movie of course, and very good it was too, although I did notice a little eye fatigue creeping in - does it take the human eye a little time to get used to all that information, or is it just me?

Overview Model: Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3) Price comparison: Playstation 3 More info: Sony CPU: Cell processor, PowerPC-base Core @3.2GHz, VMX vector unit per core, 512KB L2 cache, 7x SPE@3.2GHz, 7x 128b 128SIMD PRs, 7x 256KB SRAM for SPE, (1 of 8 SPEs reserved for redundancy) Graphics processor: RSX @550MHz, 1.8 TFLOPS floating point performance, Full HD (up to 1080p) x2 channels, Multi-way programmable parallel floating point shader pipelines Sound: Dolby 5.1ch, DTS, LPCM, etc. (cell-based processing) Memory: 256MB XDR Main RAM @3.2GHz 256MB GDDR3 VRAM @700Mhz Inputs/outputs: USB Front x4, Rear x2 (USB2.0), Memory Stick standard/Duo, PRO x1, SD standard/mini x1, Compact Flash (Type I, II) x1 Communication: Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T) x3 (input x1, output x2), Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR) AV outputs: Screen size: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, and 1080p, HDMI out x2, AV MULTI OUT x1, DIGITAL OUT (OPT) x1 Disc media: CD PlayStation CD-ROM, PlayStation 2 CD-ROM, CD-DA, CD-DA (ROM), CD-R, CD-RW, SACD, SACD Hybrid (CD layer), SACD HD, DualDisc, DualDisc (audio side), DualDisc (DVD side) DVD: PlayStation 2 DVD-ROM, PlayStation 3 DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW Blue-ray disc: PlayStation 3 BD-ROM, BD-Video, BD-ROM, BD-R, BD-RE

Round Three - audio

As a music producer, the difference between good audio and bad audio can make or break my day so I tend to be very anal when comparing sources. First up was the 360 and to be honest I was a little disappointed, if not altogether surprised at the quality of the sound.

A couple of hundred quid will get you a very decent standalone CD player these days, but my beef with the 360 is that the audio sounds almost like an afterthought. That's kind of okay when you're playing games because your attention is drawn away from the 360's lack of sonic depth, but even when playing my test CD I found it a bit flat and unrewarding and the high end seemed to be out of step with the mid frequencies, giving the overall sound a synthetic, over-processed quality, a bit like a cheap MP3 player.

With the PS3 on the other hand, I have to say I was very impressed with the way it dealt with audio in general. As with the 360, when you're in mid fire fight, you don't really have time to stop and smell the roses, so I stuck in my favourite test CD (The Night Fly, by Donald Fagan, since you ask) and within a few seconds it was obvious that something very special was happening. It was like colonic irrigation for your ears - every guitar note seemed to hang in its own space, drums and percussion tell you exactly were they are in the stereo image and as for the bottom end, let's just say I don't think the people that live downstairs are going to send me a Christmas card this year!

The PS3's CD sound impressed me enough to compare it with my £500 Sony CD player that I use for work. Now this was a real revelation, because the PS3 beat it hands down in every way, eclipsing the fine detail delivered by my standalone player with a sound that seemed more natural and open overall.

The PS3 also plays SACD but neither Sony, nor anybody else for that matter, makes a multichannel analogue audio connection to output the multichannel tracks from the PS3. Eh - why not? As yet there is no HDMI out to digitally handle SACD audio, and the good news is that when they do add HDMI support you'll then have to buy, yes buy, a new AV receiver with HDMI capabilities, (if you don't already have one that is). Which all goes to make the inclusion of SACD seem very much an ill-considered afterthought, demanding a lot of hassle and expense for a format that never really took off in the first place. Shame.

Final verdict This test was very much focused on the audio and video capabilities of each of the contenders, with scant regard for the gameplaying merits of either console (call us perverse, but it is an AV site after all). In the event, both contenders put up a good fight, each showing off its own merits that the other struggled to match. But at the end of the day, the 360 was simply outclassed by an opponent that came into the ring with much bigger and more expensive gloves. Personally I think the PS3 is the better console at present, and that will get even better with time, but it has to be said that it is overpriced for the market it's competing in - after all how many 16 to 25-year-old game fans have got £425 pounds burning a hole in their pockets that they couldn't find a better use for, like an XBox 360 and a stack of games. If on the other hand, you've a hankering to see what Blu-ray is all about, the PS3 will give you a quality player with added gameplay.

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