i own a ps3 and a xbox 360, the 360 is a launch console (still ticking) so its pretty noisy, on the other hand we got the ps3 slim, which is totally silent. for me it comes down to exclusives... mgs4, uncharted ratchet and clank. vs halo, fable, gears of war. xbox live IS BETTER than psn, you cannot get around that, on the oter hand i think the ps3 exclusives look better than the xbox exclusives... hardware wise these two consoles stand pretty darn close... ps3 has blu-ray which is a huge selling point... my advice get both of them, cause there borth great console, with a lot of great titles =) xbox better at online ps3 better at movies