Because I do work for Microsoft, I do need to preface this entry with the disclaimer that while I do work for Microsoft, the views or opinions expressed here are my own.

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In my group of family and friends, I'm seen as the 'gadget guy', and every holiday I end up getting phone calls and emails for feedback on what to get people for Christmas.

This year, there were two recurring themes - Xbox360 vs. PS3 and HD DVD or BluRay. Part of what prompted the discussion was the fact that the PS3 is a new addition, an early Christmas present from my wife. 

The general response was "You got a PS3? Why? Don't you have 3 Xbox360s?"

The answer I gave them was one they found interesting, and someone suggested I blog about it to help other folks looking to make the same decision this holiday.

The first thing I told them was that my mindset when buying each device was different. I bought my Xbox360 primarily because it was a great next generation gaming console. I bought my PS3 primarily because it was a low-cost BluRay DVD player.

I bought the 360 for games, and I was very happy with the graphics and with the onling gaming in Xbox Live. The backwards compatibility with the original XBox is also good. There have been multiple updates to add more games to the 'supported' list, so for gaming overall the 360 rocks.

What was interesting was that I was pleasantly surprised with the non-gaming functionality. I can use it as an 'extender' for my computer, allowing me to watch the TV shows, pictures, and videos on my computer. I can also use the 360 to listed to music on my computer, including the music on my Zune player.

The 360 also allows me to download movies - regular and HD versions - directly to the hard drive. It also lets me download arcade games, music videos, game demos and game trailers directly to the device.

I later bought the HD-DVD drive add-on for the 360, and was really pleased with it. I'd won one of the first gen Toshiba HD-DVD drives, so I was familiar with HD-DVD, and to be honest I was more impressed with the Xbox360 version than the standalone player I had.

Last winter, we had a flood, and as a result our media room with the HD TV was out of commission for months. The Xbox360 and the HD-DVD worked fine upstairs and allowed me to watch my HD movies on SD while construction continued downstairs.

At Thanksgiving this year, we found another great feature. We bought the camera add-on for the 360, and sent one to my sister who lives on the east coast.  The 360 let us do video conferencing via the TV, allowing for us to see and talk to our relatives and vice versa. This is a great feature that doesn't get alot of press, but another pleasant surprise.

On top of all of this functionality, the interface for accessing everything on the 360 was super easy to use and I've just been super pleased with my 360. I purchased it as a gaming console, and ended up with an HDDVD player, real-time video conferencing, online gaming, and access to all of my photos, pictures, and video.

Now onto the PS3. 

Now, I wanted the PS3 primarily as a low-cost BluRay player, and for that function it works great. I brought the device home, installed it, and watched the new James Bond film (Casino Royale), and was very pleased. The remote (purchased separately) was not backlit like the one for the 360, which made it a bit challenging to control if you had the lights out/dimmed while watching the film. Otherwise, as a BluRay player, it works great.

Moving beyond BluRay, let's start with the upfront purchase. I had an old PlayStation2, and if we were going to get a PS3 for BluRay, it would be nice to have it's touted backwards compatibility. Fortunately, I read tech blogs which pointed out what a tricky proposition this was and showed the right path.  The PS3 sells in 80, 60, and 40 gig varieties. The 60 gig has full, hardware based backwards compatibility. The 80 gig has software based compatibility (not all games), and the 40 gig ships with no backwards compatibility. (I got the 60). I tried a couple of PS2 titles and they seemed to play fine.

But unlike the 360, I was generally disappointed when I went outside of BluRay use. 

First, there was the interface. While the 360 had a simple, easy to use interface. The PS3's interface was horrible. It is not user friendly at all.

Next, I tried a game. Resistance: Fall of Man. was a good looking action/shooter. I had a PS2 previously, and that was primarily to play games that were exclusive to the PS2. In the new generation of consoles, there aren't as many high profile exclusives on the PS3. The result many games are available on both consoles and some (like Halo3) are exclusive to the 360. When looking at the online reviews of games on both the 360 and PS3, the 360 seemed to consistently be better rated (this years Madden football game was the first big example). The reality was that because the game developers have had the Xbox360 longer they seem to be more knowledgeable and take better advantage of it than the PS3. I've heard that from a developers perspective that the PS3 is harder to write for, so I'd expect it would be awhile before there's a comfort level and parity in the games. So while Resistance was good, for anything that's out on both PS3 and Xbox360, there's no question I'll buy it for the Xbox.

I then decided to try their online store and download some game trailers and demos. The store itself was ok, but the interface was a different experience than what was on the core PS3. I decided to download one of the game demos available, Conan. The download experience was again disappointing in comparison to the 360. On the 360, games download and then they're all set to play. On PS3, it's almost like downloading it on your PC, you need to download it and then install it. Unfortunately, Conan downloaded ok but failed during installation. This has never happened on the 360. So disappointed overall.

Next, onto the media functionality. It could see my PC, and while it could show the pictures on my PC, it had trouble accessing the recorded TV shows and music on my PC. Again really disappointing.

So from a Xbox360 vs. PS3 perspective, I bought the Xbox360 for games, and ended up getting alot more. With the recent price drops on the 360, you can now get it and the HD-DVD drive for a price comparable to the PS3. When people ask me which of the two they should buy for their kids or their spouse this year, I emphatically endorse the 360.

So the next question is BluRay or HD-DVD. Sometimes this is the determining factor for their Xbox360 vs. PS3 purchase decision, other times they're looking at standalone players.

My thoughts on the matter is that eventually, HD content will be delivered on demand, eliminating the need to pick a particular format. Based on that, I lean more towads the Xbox, as they have the infrastructure in place to deliver HD content and are delivering it well today.

For picture quality, I have HD-DVD via my Xbox360 and BluRay via my PS3, both using HDMI cables to a Pioneer receiver going to a 62" 1080i screen. They both look great. If you're a hardcore film afficionado, folks debate which format is better with people siding with one of the two formats. The reality is for most people, you'll end up with a great picture regardless. The decision here is really based on content, as certain studios are releasing content only on HD-DVD, others on BluRay, and others still releasing on both. HD-DVD appears to have more studios on board (Universal, NewLine, Paramount, Warner, Image, The Weinstein Company, Rhino, Bandhi, Dreamworks, and Canal Studios), in addition to their own studio, BluRay also has Disney and 20th Century Fox.

One thing to point out about HD-DVD is that alot of discs are shipped in a hybrid format that lets you play one side in a regular DVD player and the other in HD. This is great if you travel and want to be able to watch a disc in your portable DVD player or your laptop.

From a cost perspective, HD-DVD players overall are significantly less than BluRay players. WalMart has had advertised prices below $150 vs $399 for a BluRay.

So, for the format war, my recommendation to family and friends is that unless themovies that you want in HD are only available on BluRay, HD-DVD seems the be the way to go. And if your budget can afford a BluRay player, I'd look at the Xbox360+HDVD. You'll get alot more value of it and they've consistently delivered.