XBOX ONE or PS4 for the boat?

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Jamesuk

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Hi,

I thought it is about time to buy an entertainment centre 'for the adult kids'.

I have (many years ago) owned a PS1 and XBOX but have not had a console since.

Anyone got any experience of these two consoles and advice?



Cheers

James
 
Tomahawk said:
How about a mark one eyeball and realtime instant feedback on a tiller and sheet instead of pretend??
Click to expand...

I quite agree, but which one would you have an XBOX or a PS4?

I just thought actually the problem with many devices like the ones above is that they require Internet connections which on a boat is either very expensive or unreliable.

Ill be back in the UK at the weekend ill check them out. Is there a sailing simulator for any if the devices? I'm just heading over to Google ;-) Cheers Nige
 
Neither work well in gravel, but the x box holds reasonably in weed.

Have you thought about a rocna instead?
 
Last edited:
Jamesuk said:
Hi,

I thought it is about time to buy an entertainment centre 'for the adult kids'.

I have (many years ago) owned a PS1 and XBOX but have not had a console since.

Anyone got any experience of these two consoles and advice?

Cheers

James
Click to expand...

I've thought about a console on board and will probably do this when I move to a larger boat.

The XBone and PS4 are medium to high end PCs so will draw a lot of power. In addition these systems in particular are much more reliant on the Internet for all their social media connectivity. Here's some Power specs of the main current consoles:

The Xbox 360 slim uses approx 90Watts peak and 70Watts menu/idle
The PS3 slim uses 97Watts peak load and 76 Watts menus/idle
The Wii uses approx 40Watts peak load and 20 Watts menus/idle
The Wii U uses approx 75watts at peak load and 40 during menus/idle
The Xbox One uses approx 119Watts peak and 70Watts menus/idle
The PS4 uses approx 140Watts peak and 80Watts menus/idle

I've not included any power standby as you wouldn't do this on a boat due to battery drain all draw power in standby (from 2Watts to 9Watts). I think it's safe to say that all consoles will need an invertor as I've not found any 12volt kits for any of the consoles listed above.

So with that, for a console on board I'd look at either the Wii U or PS3.

Wii U
Pros - It's got high def graphics, a large back catalogue of Wii games and is more family/friends friendly than the MS and Sony offerings, ok web browsing. Has a separate screen so you can remote play without needing to switch on the TV.
Cons - Doesn't play CDs, DVDs or BluRay, May not be enough space to use the motion control features, Has a separate screen so you can play remotely without the TV but needs more power to charge the tablet
Controllers: Use a *lot* of AA batteries!

Note: The Wii has exactly the same as above but without the tablet feature or the high def graphics although you do get lower power requirements and retain the family friendly easy to play games

PS3
Pros - Massive back catalogue of games the latest stuff such as GTAV & the last of us are brilliant easily on a par with the new generation of consoles graphics (at the moment), it's going cheap due to the new consoles so some serious bargains to be had, plays CD/DVD/Bluray and has a 12v, Upgrade the hard drive and you can place MP4 movies to play for everyone too
Cons - Draws more power, web browsing sucks!
Controllers: Can be charged via the Playstation or specific charging dock.

Personally I'd go the PS3 route with a couple of controllers and accept the power hit. It's the nearest you will get to "next generation" gaming without the heavy internet requirements. I don't consider the new systems (XBone/PS4) suitable for use on board due to the high reliance on the Internet and the very large (gigs worth) of downloads.

However, saying that..... At the moment I use a Playstation Vita and my daughter has the Nintendo 3DS hand held and these are brilliant for on board. I carry my Vita everywhere I go as it truly is the power of a console in your pocket.

The handhelds are portable, with some great games, headphone jacks and don't burn power when it comes to charging them. The games for these devices have improved massively and measure up to their full console counterparts very well. The Vita can also do email, web and play movies (Mp4). My daughter and I can swap devices if we fancy a different challenge and failing all that we have the essentials... mini poker kit and A chess board!

Definitely worth considering the Vita or the 3DS as an option.

Yet another alternative is a high end laptop. Has all the features of a laptop but you are able to hook a console controller and play many of the titles that appear on consoles on the laptop. This gives you a far more versatile solution for mail, Nav and gaming. However, you can't play two or more player games on a laptop unless you are very close :-) Personally, I ruled this out as I want the gaming aspect for all who visit and have a bit of fun after a meal or some drinks.

Hope this helps a little.
 
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Captain Haddock - thanks for the reply, latest and greatest but as my last console was a PS1 I think the PS3 will be amazing.

I had thought about the Internet connectivity and yes at the moment with telecommunications companies being totally stingey with data it would be impossible to run a new system at the required band width. Hopefully in 2 years we will have 200 GB monthly 4G data packages but realistically I am not interested in Internet for a console.

I'm off on my way to eBay for PS3 units. I saw a link for XBOX one £63 for a no doubt an excellent game but ouch.

Power on board is not an issue as I can't imagine playing the console at sea. Only for long periods on shore power.

Cheers for that, bargains are a good thing.
 
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