Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Another way to view Japanese material

So here’s just a tiny dilemma I had that ended with a simple yet satisfying solution.

For the longest time, the only way I could watch anything Japanese was through the computer. I would download countless videos to my laptop, watch them whenever I found the time, and store them on external hardrives. The problem is, while I do like to focus my full attention on shows, especially if I’m watching them for the first time, I also like to do menial tasks or doing some homework while watching TV. Oftentimes, I need my computer for these tasks. This would lead to me turning on the TV (and watch stuff in English) while I checked my email or organized my homework or something. The fact that my laptop is pretty small also made it harder to do things like clean my room while still enjoying a Japanese show, which would also lead to my turning on American TV. This is a habit I do try to get rid of.

My savior in this particular predicament? To my surprise, it ended up being the PS3. I hadn’t realized this until recently, but most of the video files that you store on a hardrive can be read on the PS3 – just plug it into the USB drive! Now, not only can I watch my shows on a bigger TV screen (which is a huuuge plus, I have to say), it also frees up my computer so I can multitask. Also, because of the larger size, it’s easier to watch a drama with your friends without crowding around a small computer screen. I do like the PS3 interface a lot, so everything is just made much more seamless and pleasant and I can free up the space on my computer.

This is just a simple idea if you happen to have a PS3 or similar system as well – who would have thought you could watch Japanese TV with it?

4 comments:

  1. That's a great idea! I wonder if xbox 360 has that capability... haha

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm pretty sure it'll also work on the xbox, actually! You should try it :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. The 360 totally has the capacity! That's how I watch my Japanese stuff off my external hard drive. :)

    You'll need to download the plug-in-whatever from XBox Live (you can get a one-month trial account for free, which is what I did, and the plug-in itself is free). Judging between my XBox and the PS3, I have a feeling that the 360 can't play /quite/ as many file types as the PS3 can, but I rarely ever have problems. And when I do, I just convert the file into a different format. ^^

    Have fun with your 360! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great! Thanks guys I'll be sure to check it out :)

    ReplyDelete