First thing, stay away from home theater in a box (HTIB) systems. These systems just don't offer you any real quality. Most of them also don't actually come with a real reciever. You really need a real receiver that will allow for future upgrades and will allow you to connect anything to it.

Secondly, stay away from Bose. They are rubbish. You can get a $600 system that easily outperforms their $2000 systems. Do a little research at the AVS forums, as I really don't have time to explain the 101 reasons why you should stay away from anything Bose.

What I would recommend. Look at getting an Onkyo reciever in their 500 or 600 series class. Onkyo's give you great quality, are very easy for novices to hook up, and are priced right. Check these out:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B001VEI2KO/ref=asc_df_B001VEI2KO1552192?ie=UTF8&condition=new&creative=395165&creativeASIN=B001VEI2KO&linkCode=asm&tag=cnet_mp-3652-20

http://www.abt.com/product/52617/Onkyo-TXNR609.html?utm_source=scshopping&utm_medium=sc&utm_campaign=shoppingcom

You can google ONkyo receivers and look for the ones in the 500 to 600 series. As for speakers, check out some 5.1 Polk Audio, Boston Acoustics, or Energy speakers. Any of those paired with an Onkyo will blow your mind.

Check out this Energy system:

http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/features/542253461/energy-take-classic-5-1?srccode=cii_13736960&cpncode=29-11768499-2&v_c=Shopping

Between the Energy speakers, an Onkyo receiver, and some HDMI cables and speaker wire from Monoprice.com, you can have a system that will make the neighbors jealous all for around $500 to $900.

Enjoy!

I would sell your system ASAP and buy a new model. The 60 gig backwards compatible units get a decent buck from trade in stores. I had my 20 gig stop reading blu-ray discs. I trouble shot it down to the blu ray laser being bad. I replaced it and was back up and running just fine. I have never heard of anyone reformatting and that actually working for reading discs. Perhaps, you had a bug when downloading an update? Keep alert and if you start having more problems, I would sell your system while it still works to get teh most back from your local trade in shop.

[QUOTE="HuhJustaBox"]

[QUOTE="tonitorsi"]

Next generation is much, much closer than we think.

Everything points to Nintendo unveiling a new Nintendo console this E3. Should Sony respond?

Things haven't work out amazingly well for Sony this gen. But they came back with amazing lineexclussives this generation and have built an INSANE plethora of 1st party exclussive bigger than Nintendo and MS combined.

Next gen we'll be seeing thegoods of these 1st and 2nd party developer studios.Unlike before,Sony is now in a position to have an amazing launch line up of games more thanworth buying. (which was one of the PS3's disasters at launch)

And developers like Crytek are already demanding 8 GB of Ram for next gen consoles and already are showed their next-gen build. And DICE as well are demanding new tech.

Areyou ready for another PlayStation console?

momentum_god

This is the first time in my gaming life (I started on the NES), that I am really not that excited for the next generation. I think that this gen still has much more to give before it is over. We are approaching the land of diminishing returns as far as visuals with graphics. The PS1 generation was the grand entrance into 3d gaming. The PS2 made the enviornments look more life like, but characters didn't move well or look that detailed. The PS3 generation has made the environments look life like and the characters now move and look very close to reality. Just look at Uncharted, MGS, Mass Effect, etc.

I just think that we are approaching a time where graphical upgrades are going to become more and more minor in terms of the generational evolution of the past. As for launch lineup when the PS4 comes out... no console has ever come out and set the world on fire. Personally, I don't follow the hype of the media and I was very pleased with PS3s first year of games, Resistance, Motorstorm, Heavenly Sword, Uncharted, and Ratchet. To me that was a very good first year. But all first years are never nearly as good as later years in the life cycle... so I wouldn't get your hopes up too high.

Actually, Uncharted came out in November of 2007 and PS3 launched in November of 2006. By my math, Uncharted still came out at around the 1 year mark.

We can kind of guess they won't do it on their own. I wouldn't know how to go about starting this but I think it's a good idea.

I know we get the service free anyway but at the very least PS plus users should get something because they pay. It would be great for consumer relations if everyone got something.

dizzyrhino

I am so sick of all of these people thinking that they are entitled to free stuff. You should be ashamed of yourself for acting in such a manner. You are not paying for PSN, and yet you still want something out of this mess. You are a prime example of why the world is having economic problems (everyone is entitled to have everything mentality). This problem is going to cost sony a lot of money to repair and strengthen their security. Then to add insult to injury, you want something for nothing. Go play some single player games, or dare I say go outside and enjoy the weather.

Next generation is much, much closer than we think.

Everything points to Nintendo unveiling a new Nintendo console this E3. Should Sony respond?

Things haven't work out amazingly well for Sony this gen. But they came back with amazing lineexclussives this generation and have built an INSANE plethora of 1st party exclussive bigger than Nintendo and MS combined.

Next gen we'll be seeing thegoods of these 1st and 2nd party developer studios.Unlike before,Sony is now in a position to have an amazing launch line up of games more thanworth buying. (which was one of the PS3's disasters at launch)

And developers like Crytek are already demanding 8 GB of Ram for next gen consoles and already are showed their next-gen build. And DICE as well are demanding new tech.

Areyou ready for another PlayStation console?

tonitorsi

This is the first time in my gaming life (I started on the NES), that I am really not that excited for the next generation. I think that this gen still has much more to give before it is over. We are approaching the land of diminishing returns as far as visuals with graphics. The PS1 generation was the grand entrance into 3d gaming. The PS2 made the enviornments look more life like, but characters didn't move well or look that detailed. The PS3 generation has made the environments look life like and the characters now move and look very close to reality. Just look at Uncharted, MGS, Mass Effect, etc.

I just think that we are approaching a time where graphical upgrades are going to become more and more minor in terms of the generational evolution of the past. As for launch lineup when the PS4 comes out... no console has ever come out and set the world on fire. Personally, I don't follow the hype of the media and I was very pleased with PS3s first year of games, Resistance, Motorstorm, Heavenly Sword, Uncharted, and Ratchet. To me that was a very good first year. But all first years are never nearly as good as later years in the life cycle... so I wouldn't get your hopes up too high.

Hi! I am 16 F WA and I really am looking for someone to help! You see today is christmas as you all know, and I need DESPERATE help! I got call of duty black ops, assasins creed 2, and a few other games, but my console will not operate correctly. You see, I need someone who can repair the part where you can enter the game because I cannot enter in my game! ALSO, Note that I have problems with my lense, and it can only read my ps2 games! But I cannot even do that now! I am sooo upset that I cannot play! because this is my first owned consul since my ps2! I gave a call to sony and they made me do EVERYTHING i already knew to do, and I even reset my consul. (Also includes placing PS3 into stand by mode and selecting option 3). The ps3 has been updated and everything. I am so tired and upset and I just give up! PLEASE anyone help. Any numbers where I could possibly call you and negotiate a price to repair anything wrong with it and replace the parts. Maybe a 50-60$ reward, thats alot of cash for teens who know how to repair today. Come on boys! Help me out! :) Thanks! NiyahmarieMissBlackOps

I had the same laser problems as you have. I purchased a refurbished laser and fixed that problem with the help of youtube videos. If you can't enter a game and your laser is shot, I would just send it in to Sony to fix. A refurbished laser is going to run you $70-90 alone. I think Sony charges around $150 to fix everything that could be wrong with your system. It sounds like even if you knew how to fix said problems, just purchasing the parts alone is going to cost more than what Sony charges to do the fix.

It sounds like you are going to have to bite the bullet and shell out $150. Get a part time job (you can start working at 15 in most states) to get the money.

[QUOTE="HuhJustaBox"]

[QUOTE="IndianaPwns39"]

The level offered in the demo isn't a good representation of the entire game. There are better environments and rich worlds to explore later on, so if that's your biggest complaint I'd say stick with the preorder.

As for the voice acting, it's also "eh" on the final product. Some voice actors in the game annoyed me (Miranda for one) but I found to be passable. Others were amazing. And the biggest one, male voice actor Shepard, is incredibly annoying and emotionless. In fact, he was so bad I restarted ME1 half way through and played as female Shepard, who is a bit better overall imo.

cainetao11

So the worlds do get more interesting? The demo had me playing on a ship that everything was gray and drab looking. Do you get to go to different worlds and explore in different more detailed enviornments, (i.e. cities, frozen tundras, wooded areas, swamps, etc.)?

Sounds like I better keep the preorder. I guess the demo just didn't give me a big enough taste of what the game is really like. Thanks!

The level offered in the demo isn't a good representation of the entire game. There are better environments and rich worlds to explore later on, so if that's your biggest complaint I'd say stick with the preorder.

As for the voice acting, it's also "eh" on the final product. Some voice actors in the game annoyed me (Miranda for one) but I found to be passable. Others were amazing. And the biggest one, male voice actor Shepard, is incredibly annoying and emotionless. In fact, he was so bad I restarted ME1 half way through and played as female Shepard, who is a bit better overall imo.

IndianaPwns39

So the worlds do get more interesting? The demo had me playing on a ship that everything was gray and drab looking. Do you get to go to different worlds and explore in different more detailed enviornments, (i.e. cities, frozen tundras, wooded areas, swamps, etc.)?

I know that many RPG's take a while to really get into. What really shines in the ME2 universe? Does the gameplay get intense? Without ruining the story, what makes it good? I loved Fallout3 and New Vegas. Is ME2 kind of similar?

So I thought I would love this game. Have it preordered, but after the demo I am wondering if I should cancel the preorder. I found the levels to be very drab, boring, and generic looking. I found the voice overs to be incredibly lackluster. The gameplay seemed to be very generic as well.

If you have played this game for the 360, am I missing something? I heard so many great things about it, almost bought a 360 because of what I heard about the game. Is the demo not a good representation of the game? What am I missing here? If you have played the game on the 360, could you give me your thoughts?