OK I am not a hardcore gamer or anything so I dont really know much about consoles.

So I was thinking about getting a PC for gaming. I wanted to upgrade my computer so thought why not get a highly upgradeable gaming PC while I am at it. Well I want a laptop now so I doubt I will be getting a gaming desktop.

Now that I want a laptop (a Mac :)), I wanted to play a lil bit of games so I thought why not get a console instead? I wont ahve to worry about upgrades and in the long run its gonna be cheaper and less hassle.

So now I wanna decide between what console to buy. I was temped by the Xbox 360 Arcade as I wqould be able to get all those great games, great graphics and all for such a cheap price. Cant I save games onto a USB flash drive or somehting?

ok which console will allow me to download game demos and play them on the console before buying the game?

Being a casual gamer what console would you recommend. As gaming wont be a very important I was htinking about putting in a little bit extra cash and getting the PS3 which would give me some really good multimedia capabilities. BUt I dont really know if I want that. Because by the time I get a 1080p TV and all that, Blu ray players would be cheaper.

The xbos is known to be easy to code. What if the PS3 coding gets easier somehow or something and all that untapped performance trumps the xbos?

Apart form gaming, what can I do with a hardrive in the console?

Do you think it would be worthwile buying a Nintendo DS lite now? The PSP looks better with its multimedia capabilities but I dont think multimedia is much of a use to me :) And once I start paying that much money for the PSP, I mgiht as well get an xbox 360 arcade and get uch better graphics and stuff jsut that I wont be able to take games along with me. (not too much of a problem).