PlayStation 4 Pro 1TB Console

The PS4 PRO is the latest release console from SONY. Although, it is not nearly as powerful as Microsoft's latest (Xbox One X) console it stands out and has more exclusive when it comes to games. Now you may be asking, why choose this over the switch, Xbox One X or even a PC gaming system? Here are 12 reasons why:1) Exclusive Games.Yes, I know Steam has more exclusives than any console out there but one thing their lack is simplicity. Sometimes you will find yourself spending more money on upgrades to be able to play a game in addition to already spending $60 or more. Whereas, you would just put the disk in and download any available update then play your game on consoles. This can be frustrating as you may be unaware of the requirements listed for the game and only to realize later you can't play your game because you do not have the latest version of ( insert here) when the game comes out. When it comes to the switch? Most of their games are exclusive because of the lack of third party supports. These exclusives are nothing special. Mostly Mario or another Zelda game. I mean if you really want to play mobile games then just use your smart phone, right? Do not expect to play AAA games on the switch as it will not probably happen. So, you can forget about Call of Duty or a Battlefield game. If any a AAA game does come out for the switch, no doubt the screen resolution would be horrible mediocre at best. The Xbox One X lacks exclusives. If you want to play Games like God of war 4, Days gone, Rachet and Clank or Blood borne then you can only play these on the PlayStation 4.2) Excellent Workmanship. More people owns more PS4s than any other consoles in the world. Ever wonder why? It is no secret that Sony makes reliable products. I have a 160GB PS3 model CECH-2501A I bought since release and you know? It still works even today. This PS3 has taken a lot of beating from fall damage to power outage and overheating, excessive dust in the vents, you name it and guess what? IT STILL WORKS. I never had to send it in for repair too. I know you might be thinking, " this is irrelevant to the PS4 PRO". My point is SONY is a reliable company that you can trust. My PS4 had suffer some water damage and I thought I would have to send it in for repair. Nope, as I am writing this it still works. Can its competitors boast of the same reliability? Remember, the red light of death? How almost 45 percent of the units had to be return for repairs. I guess that was in the past, now right? LOL!3) Price! Even though is it not the cheapest nor most expensive well at least you get what you pay for. I mean why would you pay less for less? OR you could pay a little extra for some extra power. In the end, the decision will be in the palms of the game developers, they will decide if they want their games to run at 4K @ 60, 30 frame or 1080p @ 60 or 30 frames. My point is if game developers wants to, they can make the PS4 PRO run games at 4K native or upscale with HDR. Example, Hustle Kings runs at native 4k with HDR enable while Helldivers is upscale to 4K. The developers decide.4) More Popular. More players mean more people online, which also indicate less waiting time to play your favorite PVP game. Including less dead game lobbies too. I mean no one wants to spend 30 minutes trying to find a match that will last 10 minutes or, so right? That is annoying!5) Continual updates. I am not saying that its competitors do not update their systems, no but rather SONY constantly does to ensure the smooth operation of their system software and to protect its user base from hackers. SONY has recently release update 5.50 which include super-sampling. You might already be familiar with this if you own a PC gaming system. However, if you do not own a 4K TV yet then this will certainty help you. A lot. It will clear out blur and sharping the image quality in some games so that your picture quality is enhance thus making 1080p looks even better. It is pretty cool.6) Does Not Force You To buy Gimmick To Operate. Even though it was remove and it is no longer required to operate their system but just pulling at stunt like that is scary. Remember the all-seeing eye?7) HDD Upgrade. Yes, you can upgrade your HDD size from 1tb to 2tb. Unlike its competitor, you can actually upgrade your HDD without voiding your warranty. Even Nintendo has that. You do not have to tear open your console and in which you could potentially damage something in the process simply to change a HDD. From start to finish the whole process will take about 25 minutes (including the firmware update) to swap your HDD and the most amazing thing is? YOUR WARRANTY IS NOT VOIDED!!!! Games are getting larger and larger as developers can advantages of the PRO's capabilities. Before you know it, you are out of space. Battlefield 1 and Middle-earth: Shadow of War take almost 200gb from my system that is just two games. I recommend upgrading to a bigger size HDD. If you are planning on upgrading your PS4 PRO's HDD then make sure it is a 2.5 inch (laptop HDD, NOT 3.5-inch desktop HDD), 9.5mm (or slimmer) in size and Serial ATA (Parallel ATA is not supported). You can only upgrade up to 2tb internally as 3tb and up would exceeded the 9.5mm limit for the HDD size.8) Friendly User Interface. It is surprisingly easy to navigate around. The user interface is not overly complicated where you constantly get lost or confuse. Nope. When I first had my PS4, it takes literally less than 30 minutes to learn about all the features and navigate throughout. Update 5.50 added some new features to the PS4 but nothing to complicated that will leave you in the dark. My motto for the PS4 is 'Simple, Powerful, Reliable".9) PSN Plus. PSN Plus is required to play online games. However, there are a few instances where you do not. Games like Guns Up. PSN Plus is not expensive. $60 for a year. Of course, there is also the 3 months for $24.99 or the 1 month $9.99. The 1-year membership is the best option. If choose the 3 months membership, in 1-year time you will spending $100. If you choose the 1-month membership in 1-year time you will be spending $120. The 1-year option is about a 40 percent save. The choice is yours. There is also a free trial for 14 days. Anyway, you occasionally get discounts and multiple "free" games monthly if you are a PSN Plus member. Some of the games are even AAA titles. March 2018 monthly games includes two awesome games; Bloodborne & Rachet and clank. There is a bonus feature, 10gb of cloud storage to back up your save game data.10) Support External Storage Device. If you have an old HDD or USB drive you do not have use for then you can connect it to your PS4 and format it as an external HDD to store your extra games.11) Suspend Mode. Ever been playing a game when you look at the time, realizing you are late for work or an important meeting? Let’s say your next save is very far away and you cannot afford to lose your game progression. No problem, just put the game on suspense mode then turn off the TV. Not only will it save your game data to the cloud (if you have that enable) but you will also be able to resume your game play when you turn your PS4 on. It is just like sleep mode for PC.12) Requests To Watch. Ever wonder why your friend in on top of the leader board and you're not? If this is, you and have accused a friend of cheating then you can request to watch a game play and then seeing that they are not guilty after all. Just that you need to practice a little bit more. As all gamers are noobs at the start of any game. The only PRO is the PS4 PRO, LOL. I'm just kidding. The game developers are the pros.Overall, If you want the best then this is the place as no one else can deny this truthPros:4K gaming (native or upscale)Boost modeHDR supportReliableUser friendly interfaceRemote playAC wireless settingSuper samplingExclusive gamesMedia player4K photoShare playLive streamHDMI linkRecord game play (60 minutes max at 1080p)Capture photo (up to 4k)Custom wallpaper (new feature)Voice command3 USB port (2 front, 1 back)Support Netflix, Hulu and moreInnovativeCons:No 4K blue ray driveCannot store video, music or photos on systemMedia player does support all video fileNoisy fanUnable to disable DS4 bar lightNo account share with friends

Picked up my PS4 Pro earlier today and finished up the transfer from my original PS4 purchased on launch day and tested out a handful of games listed below. Read on for my thoughts on why I think the PS4 Pro is definitely worth the upgrade whether you have a 4K tv and/or VR set or not. *Note, all testing done on a 70'' 4K Sony XBR television & 50'' Samsung 1080p plasma with the PS4 Pro connected to both my 4K HDMI 2.0/HDR capable Onkyo Receiver and directly to the TV both w/ and w/o connections via the playstation VR connection box.*TLDR at the bottomGames Tested: Uncharted 4, The Last of Us, Deus Ex, Shadow of Mordor, Robinson the Journey, PS VR Worlds, CoD Infinite Warfare, VR PlayroomPros:+ Simple process to transfer data from an older PS4 (literally took me 2 minutes to set up the transfer process)+ Fast new wifi that works great (if you've got the right ISP provider & plan) with netflix and amazon 4k streams that never stuttered+ Greatly improved "sharpness" and "crispness" with overall resolution increase with checkerboard up-scaling that is visibly superior on a technical and visual level to even Sony's XBR 4K TV internal upscaling quality and that of my high end ($800+) Onkyo receiver (will be updating with close-up pictures detailing the differences)+ Nice boost in visual quality even at 1080p thanks to super-sampling and more aggressive anti-aliasing that is easily noticeable+ Very quiet, not nearly as loud as my original PS4 or Xbox One original+ Redesigned controller with stiffer thumb-stick grips that feel more durable (hopefully won't start flaking off like some early ones did for peopl)+ Allows you to use remote-play with higher resolution support+ Reasonably priced for what it offers, and even cheaper if you can sell off your old PS4 or perhaps donate it to some kids who could use some holiday cheer this Christmas+ Sterling Archer/Maverick approved as it definitely satisfies you when you feel the need, the need for speedMixed:~ Not exactly a very inspiring design, but I mean this is a box that's quickly going to go into my AV cabinet so not a big deal~ It's got an extra USB port in the back that makes setting up PS VR easier, but it wouldn't hurt to have a few more on there (why so stingy Sony?)~ The controller actually isn't pure black, it has dark grey trigger buttons and an overall duller finish than the original PS4 controller (personally I like the full black design of the original controller but I do like those new thumb-sticks)~ Most of the big holiday titles have a PS4 Pro update, but it's kind of hard to tell which games have the update out and which ones don't yetCons:- Unable to play 4K UHD blu-ray discs. Seriously Sony? I know it's to save money, but frankly I wish Sony just took a look at the original PS4 and thought to themselves they could rebuild it (with a 4K UHD blu-ray drive), they have the technology. I estimate it would probably only cost them about 6 million dollars- Not all games work out of the box with 4K/PS4 Pro support so you need to play the waiting game for now, and some games that have been patched don't look notably better (looking at you Deus Ex)- Not all games come with a 4K 30fps vs 1080p supersampling with 60fps option so you'll still overall benefit more if you have a 4K TV with HDR- Does not support HDR when connected to the PS VR box, meaning it's kind of a big pain to switch cables if you want 4K with HDR and want to use the PS VR. I plan to test further to see if maybe using an AV receiver can help get around this but it's probably wishful thinking- Not "true" 4K, but well consider a GTX 1080 can't pump out 60fps at 4k I'd say the PS4 Pro more than holds its own given its price bracketFor Playstation VR Owners - will update my PS VR update for more detailed info+ Some PS VR games like Robinson the Journey are visually more impressive thanks to higher resolution textures+ Developer support promised for improved PS4 Pro support with VR with future titles like Farpoint~ No immediate benefit in terms of frame-rate or latency, but this isn't a big issue on PS VR on the original PS4- Still has some room to improve in terms of anti-aliasing with some titles that are supposedly PS4 Pro patched like PS VR worldsFinal Thoughts:Overall I would argue that though this isn't a "new console generation" as has been repeatedly stated by Sony officials, it almost feels like this is the way the future of consoles is going to go. For better or worse this means that there will be generational improvements with backwards support for several years with eventual dropping of support for older devices (similar to what Apple does with their iphones/ipads but with much less frequency of upgrades). Personally I welcome this if only so we never have the issue of old PS2 or PS3 games not working and having to buy "remastered" editions of games every generation when you want to play an older game. It's like PC gaming, except without any of the issues of drivers, tech support and troubleshooting and simple plug-and-play support. You'll of course get much better visual quality, performance, and overall mods and tweaks than you ever could on console but this is still a $400 box that's giving you excellent performance with some fantastic Sony exclusives.I've always found Sony to be more my style when it comes to first-party titles with games like Uncharted, Bloodborne, and Horizon Zero Dawn being very polished and just plain unique with excellent story-telling (though I do love my Halo too). If you want something a bit more "future proof" and want it today - go for the PS4 Pro. As for the pundits that say the Xbox One S can do 4K too, it's an excellent buy for a 4K blu-ray player but you'd be very mistaken to think it offers nearly the same quality of 4k upscaling in games. Sorry, have to wait for the Scorpio next year for that (which I'm interested in checking out too). You can't go wrong with either console, but for a little bit extra I'd recommend going with Sony. There's a reason most gamers this time around went with Sony. Unlike for Microsoft with the Xbox, the PS4 is the main money maker for Sony and not just a side business they can just sink money into. I'd argue there's some advantages to picking the company with much more at stake to impress their customers.TLDR: If you want to enjoy notably better looking games than ever before on a console and have the means, the PS4 Pro is the system to get this holiday season. You will see a difference whether you have a 4K TV with HDR or just a regular old 1080p TV (though you'll get more for your money with a 4K tv). Sell off/donate your old PS4 and pick up a PS4 Pro on the cheap, or if you're new to playstation this is a great package to jump in from.Additional Buyer ScenariosIf you like more unique varied action adventure games like Uncharted and Bloodborne and don't have a PC or a console and want to get something this holiday - get a PS4 ProIf you have a gaming PC and want to enjoy console exclusives like Uncharted and Bloodborne - get a PS4 Pro and skip the Xbox entirely since all future Xbox console exclusives are all coming to PC nowIf you like more traditional action shooter games like Gears of War, don't have a gaming PC or don't care for PS4 exclusives, and/or must have 4k blu-ray support - stick with Xbox One S (or just wait for the Scorpio next year actually)Great time to be a gamer whatever you choose. Feel free to ask any questions and I'll update with more tests.