As a concerned consumer, I would like to issue a word of caution in purchasing a PS4.
I was the owner of a PS3 for years, and was quiet content with the system. I mostly watch movies and would consider myself a slightly less than causual gamer — I enjoy a few titles but don't play that often — and so the PS3 seemed like a good Blu Ray player with the bonus of being able to enjoy a few games. When I heard that Star Wars Battlefront was coming to the PS4, I pondered over upgrading. After all Arkham Knight was out on PS4 and I enjoyed the other Batman titles. So in November I decided to upgrade to a PS4... shortly after is when I ran into problems that have costed me.
The problem started around early December, the picture started to sputter (flash or display odd colors for a brief second here and there). I thought maybe the Monster HDMI cable was going bad, so I replaced it. Sadly the problem still persisted, so I thought perhaps the HDMI input on the Television was going bad, so I swapped to HDMI input 2.
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For reference here is my setup: I run a Denon receiver with the HDMI monitor output going to HDMI 1 on a Panasonic Plasma (2012 model). Into the Denon receiver I had a PS3 plugged into HDMI 1 (now the PS4) and a Chromecast on HDMI 2. I do not subscribe to cable, satellite, nor do I view broadcast TV.
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To note, I never noticed the image sputtering when watching anything on the Chromecast. It only happened while watching movies on the PS4 or playing a game. Near the end of December, shortly after swapping to HDMI 2 on the TV, the picture just went blank and the TV went into protect. Brought the TV into a Panasonic certified repair shop. The Main Board on the TV shorted out and needed to be replaced. Cost $479.
The Panasonic wasn't terribly old, but I thought perhaps it just had a bad board. With the TV repaired I reconnected to the reciever and the television worked no problem. Then around Mid-March while playing Arkham Knight, the display went blank and the TV went into protect again. This time after I powered down the TV for a few minutes, it powered back on. So I disconnected my setup and plugged the Chromecast directly into the TV. This worked with no problems and after a week of testing I plugged the Chromecast into the reciever and reconnected the reciever to the TV. After a week of testing I then reconnected the PS4 to the reciever, this worked fine for a few weeks. But then... after 10 minutes of watching a movie, the TV went into protect again. Yet again I was in luck, I was able to power off the TV for a few minutes and then power it back up. I then connected the PS4 directly to the TV and continued watching a movie, and this time the screen went blank and the TV would not come out of protect. To the repair shop, the Main Board was shorted again and needed replacement. Cost $479.
With the TV repaired yet again, I plugged the PS4 direct to the TV. It was working fine for a few weeks until last Thursday... 20 minutes into another film and blank screen. The TV faulted yet again and its in the shop for another $479 repair. The technician says whatever is happening is being caused by an external device. He has seen others bring in TVs that have the main board shorted due to a device sending a bad signal to the HDMI port.
Suffice to say, I am very upset over my decision to upgrade to a PS4. Not only has this cost me over $1200 in damages, but I will also no longer use the system and go back to the PS3 (2008 model) which hasn't caused any issues with my TV. So I am effectively out the $400 I spent on this system as well as the cost of a second controller and a few other games.
To make matters worse, I've contacted support which has not been a painless adventure. The first rep instructed me there is nothing that can be done as clearly it is a problem of the TV and the PS4 is most likely working fine. Two reps later, I was told I could send the system in to have it checked out, however this rep neglected to email me a case number so when I recieved the shipping box I had a problem filling out the paper work. I will say, I have owned a Nintendo Wii from when it first came out and had to send it in for repair as it was overheating. Nintendo support was way friendly and kinder to deal with. They walked me through the process and had my system checked out and repaired no problem.
Bottom line, I cannot recommend buying a PS4. In addition the all of the problems it has caused to my TV, it doesn't seem to be a superior product to the PS3 in terms of build quality. The PS4 constantly runs hotter than the PS3 and the drive is much louder, even for playing movies. Also the controller disconnect prompt that displays mid-film watching is rather distracting.
I would hope SONY would improve their quality of products in the future before putting out another device. Buyer beware.