Let me break it down for you….I am an avid and have all the consoles so I will try and make it easy for you….
Pros: Biggest library of games (amongst the current generation)
Great online matchmaking capabilities,
Good exclusive titles like Gears of war 2, alan wake etc,
Affordable.
Xbox Live has a lot of content like movies, arcade games.
Cons:
You have to pay for the most basic of things like online multiplayer and themes (ticks me off),
A high fail rate due to the infamous RROD,
More for a hardcore FPS game
Pros:
Superior graphics, some of the best looking console games are PS3 exclusives like MGS4, Uncharted, Heavenly Sword, Gran Turismo,
It is a blu ray player, it has wi-fi and web browsing,
Integration with the PSP is a nice touch,
PSN has better casual games
The PS3 will soon have Home- a very unique free service, which will surely give Xbox Live a run for its money.
Little Big Planet looks like a good reason to buy the PS3
You can change the HDD on your own and pimp the PS3 to a 250GB HDD monster.
Sony will support the PS3 with all its upcoming movies via digital distribution and most big studios will follow.
Cons:
Online multiplayer isn’t as good as Xbox Live (should change with Home)
more expensive than the Xbox 360
the 40GB version has no backward compatibility
some games have issues as they are ported on the PS3 like Orange Box
Final Verdict:
Both are amazing consoles, the Xbox is a great gaming console but has its share of problems and the same goes for the PS3, I have both consoles and I enjoy playing them both. But to be honest the PS3 is a much safer long term investment, it will last you at least 7 years and still provide all the facilities that other consoles at that time would.
I understand and can appreciate your lean towards the PS3, I unfortunately had to choose one of the nextgen consoles to accompany my Wii. The reasons I went 360 over the PS3 was price, the limited library and the disparity of quality on cross platform titles on the PS3, my TV only goes up to 1080I, so Blu Ray is not that big of an enticement either and I don’t see devs going out of their way to make any Blu Ray games. By the time the PS3 reaches that magic price point, I’ll probably be looking at the next MS offering(720). My only real complaint was the shoddy launch systems (I personally returned two). And even though MS handled it well, it should have never happened in the first place! I have nothing personal against the PS3 or the Sony brand (I own a lot of Sony Products), but the PS3 has yet to convince me to part with my money. We all have our own criteria when it comes to purchases like these, so there really is not a wrong choice.