Got a PlayStation 3? For those of you that have picked up Sony's shiny black plaything, we've put together a PS3-Tech top tips that you won't find in the user manual.

1)Play games from any country

Harbouring a desire to play Super Gaiden Ninja XI? Now you can. In fact, you can handily play any PS3 game from any country. On holiday in the States and spot the latest release at a bargain dollar-to-pound price? Help yourself. So far, at least, PS3 games aren't being region coded. That said PS2 and PS1 games are so you can't play a US title on a Euro console.

And let's not forget that Blu-ray movies are region-coded so the barriers aren't completely down yet.

2) The secret video reset

One of the most annoying aspects of the PS3 are its video settings. Take it up to the bedroom portable or round to a friend's house and there's a good chance that you won't be able to see anything on screen because your 'new' TV is running at a different resolution or using a different cable connection. And - because you can't see anything - you can't change it.

Until now. Shut down your PS3 then restart by pressing and holding the power button.This will reset your PS3 to its most basic 480p graphics mode so you'll be able to see enough to choose RGB SCART, component, HDMI or whatever from here.

3) See how much charge is on your pad

There's no indication of how much charge is left on the pad itself. Instead it appears on screen during games. Press and hold the PS button on any joypad. An indicator will appear, showing your pad's charge as a small battery. A full battery pic means a fully-charged pad. Neat.

4) Download game saves

Chances are someone out there has already beaten that boss for you and saved their game afterwards. Why not take advantage of it? Google 'PS3 game saves'. There are hundreds of finished and half finished game saves scattered all over the internet. Download the save you want - it'll come in a 'PS3' folder that you can lift onto a USB stick and put into your PS3. Go to the Game menu, choose your stick and the game save you downloaded should be right there. Press Triangle to copy it to your hard drive.

5) Make free video phone calls

You will need a USB headset (like the one you use for PS2 Socom) and an EyeToy camera. Plug in both via USB then go to your Friends menu. Choose a friend you've signed up earlier and press Triangle. Choose Start New Chat and type a message. Something like 'Videochat?' should do the trick. Now, providing they're in front of their powered-up PS3 (perhaps you could text them to tell them to be in position?) then they'll see your message and be given the option to accept your videochat.

Now, provided they too have a camera and headset, two windows will open, one showing you (so you can make sure you're looking your best), the other displaying your mate. Best of all you can hit Triangle again and invite more people to join your chat - up to a maximum of six. And the cost? Not a bean above your usual broadband connection charges.

6) Browse multiple internet windows

Open the browser (go to Network) and surf to a page you want. Now open up the menu with a press of Triangle and choose 'Open In New Window'. Enter another URL and then do the same again. Keep going until you've got six windows open. Now press L3 (done by clicking down the left stick). You're now in multi-page mode. Move the left stick to flick through the webpages as though they were bits of paper, then click L3 again to zoom in.

7) Upgrade your hard drive

We took the drive out of our PS3 and found it to be a Seagate Momentus 5400rpm 60GB 2.5inch SATA drive. We swapped ours out effortlessly for a Seagate Momentus 120GB 2.5inch SATA drive and it worked perfectly. Remove the cover flap on the bottom of your PS3 with a fingernail. Undo the blue screw and slide the drive over to the right and out of your PS3. Undo the four screws on the 'caddy' and remove the old drive.

Put your new drive in the caddy (it should be exactly the same size, of course) and re-do the four screws. Slot it back in and slide to the left to make the connections. Re-do the blue screw, pop the cover back on and restart your PS3. Say 'yes' to the message on screen and voila - new super-size hard-drive. (Go to Settings, System Settings, System Information to check).

8) Share your bought downloads

You can download anything you've bought from the store to five PlayStation 3s. This is useful if you've got more than one PS3 (of course) and also if you've wiped your hard-drive and don't fancy paying for the same download twice...

However, you can also choose to share your download with your mates. The PlayStation Store logs how many times each download has been downloaded by each user. On your mate's PS3 Create New User and log onto the store with your ID. You'll now be able to go to your download and see that you've already downloaded whatever it was that you paid for. You can now download it again, using another of your downloads and giving it to your mate for free. Or a small optional charge...

9) Force a PS3 to show your files

Put your photos in a folder called 'PICTURE' or your videos in a folder called 'VIDEO' or simply *force* your PS3 to look at your files on your stick regardless of what you called them or where you put them. Insert your stick and go to the menu option you want (Photos, Music, whatever). PressTriangle to bring up a menu and choose Display All.

This will show every file on the stick. It even works for a plugged-in iPod, though the multi-folder structure you'll reveal is a bit baffling. Still, your songs are in there if you've got the patience to find them.

10) Change your album art

When you import a music CD your PS3 automatically pulls down the album art and stores it with the tracks. Occasionally it gets it wrong, however, or it may simply not be able to find the art of your hipper, less commercial tracks. This is easily fixed however.

Download a pic of the art you need as a jpg on your PC and put it onto a stick (in a folder called PICTURE, ideally). Copy it to your Photo menu (press Triangle). Now go to Music and select the album folder with the offending art. Press Triangle and select Information. Go to the Photo menu and select your new picture. Bingo.

11) Customising your PS3

Try Googling 'PS3 .p3t theme' to find downloadable examples of PS3's new Themes - the alternative desktops, menus and fonts for your PS3 that have been enabled since the recent 2.0 firmware update. Read on through this article for our tips on how to transfer them to your PS3. You can even make your own Themes. All you'll need is Sony's PC-only design software.

12) Make thousands of new PS3 Friends

Taken a shine to someone you've played against online?They'll be in your Players Met menu. Or if you just want to make loads of new friends fast, then go to www.gamewith.us/ps3 and to find thousands of names to hit up and try.

13) Mastering removable media

The PS3 is compatible with many different file types,playing and displaying just about anything you can throw at it. The full list is as follows: (video) MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, AVI, Motion JPEG, AVCHD, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC - DivX and Xvid coming soon; (audio) MP3, WMA, WAV, Audio CD, SACD (60GB version only); (photo) JPEG, PNG, TIFF, GIF, BMP.

Whatever format you want to access, the trick is to put your files in the right place so that your PS3 can actually see them.

Take any removable media - be it a USB stick, Memory Card or CD-R with files on it - and lace music, pictures and videos in folders called 'MUSIC', 'PICTURE' and 'VIDEO' in the root directory of the storage device. The caps are important. The quote marks aren't.

MorePS3-based files need to be in a folder called 'PS3' in the root directory of the storage device.Then, inside this folder make sub-folders called 'EXPORT' (this is the folder toput PS1 and PS2 game saves in that you find on the net), 'SAVEDATA' (for your PS3 gamesaves), 'THEME' (for Themes) and 'UPDAT

14) Boost your WiFi

Slow downloads and dodgy PS3 connections? Try this... Firstly let's start with a bit of wireless networking 101. Try getting a direct 'line of sight' between your wireless router and your PS3. Pull them out both out from alcoves and behind dense furniture and try to minimise the number of obstacles between both boxes. (Nothing degrades your Wi-Fi signal like a nice stone fireplace....)

Next, stand your PS3 on its on end. The PS3's antenna is located in the right hand side so standing itup on its left-edge gives it a bigger spread. Ideally put your router up on a high shelf.

Finally -and this is the clever bit - take a Coke can (other soft drinks are available)and cut the top off. Cut down the sides of the cup-like can and fan out thedivisions slightly so it looks like a weird metal flower. Now make a hole inthe bottom and place your new 'high-gain antenna' over your router's stubby aerialso it pokes through. Now point it at your PS3. Sounds mad, looks awful, but you could see a 10% boost in signal strength.

15) PSP and PS3 Remote Play

One of the best features of the new firmware is the ability to turn your PS3 on and off remotely, via the internet, with your PSP.Sounds like a tiny detail, but it finally opens up Sony's Remote Play feature fully.

First get yourself a PSP. Go into the System option, select Remote Play and pair your PSP with your PS3. This used to be a slightly complex process but now it's a cinch. Once both devicesare paired together they'll 'look' for each other automatically.

Leave your PS3 on standby and just go on holiday - taking your PSP with you. Find a Wi-Fi hotspot near the beach. Connect your PSP to your PS3 using the Remote Play option. Your PS3 will switch on and its menu will appear on your PSP's screen. You can now listen to your music, look at photos or watch any videos stored on your PS3's hard disk. When you're done, switch off your PS3 and go back to sunbathing.

16) Play PS3 games remotely on your PSP

OK, so your PSP hasn't got any 'tilting' capability like the Sixaxis and Lair is pretty much unplayable on the PSP. But, in tech terms at least, it's a great indicator of the possibilities on the way. Engage Lair's Wireless Play option and you can wirelessly link your PSP to your PS3 and play (a cut down, worse looking version of)the PS3 game on your PSP.

17) Those secret button features

PS3 not behaving itself? Then give it a prod. The most common causes of PS3 crashes are during PS2 play.Or your PS3 might hang while waiting for a network disconnection to be resolved. In either scenario press and hold the power button for five seconds to force a system shutdown.

Finally, have you ever been caught out moving your PS3 from an HDMI TV to the one in the bedroom, only tofind that you're not getting any SCART output when you get there. Here's thefix: Turn on your PS3 as normal but keep your finger on the Power button. You'll get the first beep, as normal, then about eight seconds later a second beep andyour PS3 will restart - this time defaulting to the most basic, lo-res, SCART friendly TV output.

18) Do your system updates at work

With system updates clocking in around the 200MB mark (and set to get bigger) it can be a pain to have to download updates when you're stealing a quick five minutes for a game. Instead, download the updates at workand take them home on a USB stick or CD for instant installation on your PS3.

Make a folder called 'PS3' on your disc/stick and inside that one called 'UPDATE' (see tip 13). Go to http://uk.playstation.com/help-support/ps3 and find the System Software Updates box. Download the latest update and put it in your 'UPDATE' folder. When you get home choose to update your PS3 from whatever storage medium you've chosen instead of via the internet.

19) Save files from the web

Copying videos, music and photos isn't the only way to save media permanently to your console – you can also save files directly from the web. See a link to an MP3 you fancy? Simply click on the link with the X button and the PS3 will automatically offer to save it directly into your Music folder, ready to be played at any time.

It's the same story with videos – so long as the PS3 recognises the format, such as AVI or MP4 it will give you the option to save it directly to the video folder. For images, hover the pointer over a picture, press the Triangle button and select File, then Save Image and you'll have the option to save out to the photo folder.

20) Visualisations

One of the PS3's most impressive in-built features is missed by many people. The Gaia visualisation is an option when playing music, and is a high definition 3D representation of the Earth, based on NASA's stunning Blue Marble photography.

Simply hit the Square button while playing an MP3 or CD to flick through the various visualisations on offer. Be advised that Gaia is best suited to dreamy ambient tunes rather than pumping dance or heavy rock.

21) Turn DVDs into HD

Another fact that many PS3 owners miss is that their sleek black console is actually one of the finest DVD players on the market. In this era of high definition content, DVDs can look awful when they're splashed across a large LCD or plasma screen, but the PS3 has the processing grunt to polish them up to near HD quality.

While watching a DVD through an HD display, press the Triangle button and choose the AV Settings button, you will then see options for frame, block and mosquito noise reduction, and also an option to perform a full upscale on DVD content.

Video saved to storage can also be run with frame and block noise reduction by tweaking the same menu options.

22) Set up a media server

If you have a computer loaded up with music, photos and video, but don't fancy holding duplicates on a PS3 hard drive that will take up valuable space for game installs, there's a solution. Set up media streaming across your network.

What you need on your computer is software that has DNLA server capabilities such as Windows Media Player 11 or Tversity (www.tversity.com). On your computer, set the software up to share the music, video and photo folders, then on the PS3, select the Search for Media Servers option under any of the Photo, Music or Video columns on the XMB.

You should see a new option on your XMB any time your computer is switched on, which acts as the gateway to streaming your media.

23) Use other webcams

You may assume that the only webcam compatible with the PS3's video chatting capabilities is Sony's Playstation Eye. In fact, most standard PC/Mac webcams are supported, and many camera enabled games, such as Rainbow Six Vegas 2, offer similar levels of compatibility.

You can even use the Xbox Live Vision camera from Microsoft's rival Xbox 360 console if you're feeling particularly rebellious, and if your chosen camera has a microphone, that'll appear as a voice input device for chatting as well.

24) Playstation store on PC

Sometimes it's simply not convenient to download items on the PS3 particularly when downloads might be interrupted by an online gaming session or video chat.

These days, though, the PlayStation store is available on your PC or Mac and you're likely to find the interface and thumbnails load more quickly on your PC as well.

You sign in using your existing PSN account and can copy downloaded items using removable storage such as a USB drive or an SD card to transfer to your console.

25) Turn your PS3 into a PC

It's actually quite easy to turn your PS3 into a fully fledged PC, which is great for adding media and productivity flexibility to the piano black box beneath your TV. If you dig into the Settings, then System Settings menu you'll find an option to Install Other OS.

You'll need to back up the data that's currently stored on your PS3 hard drive to a USB device, but then by following some simple instructions you can download a copy of the operating system, burn it to a CD or DVD and then install it to your console's hard drive.

26) Access instant messaging

If you're a slave to Windows Live Messenger when you're online, but fancy browsing from the comfort of your sofa and television, Microsoft has a low profile version of Messenger available that is perfect for keeping in one of the PS3 browser's six available tabs as you trawl the web.

Simply head to http://mobile.live.com and select the Messenger option, then sign in as normal. Unfortunately, as yet there is no way to access Yahoo or AOL instant messaging networks via the PS3's browser.

27) Transfer classic PS1 games to PSP

You may have noticed that classic Playstation games such as Command and Conquer and Wipeout have begun appearing on the PS Store and that they can be saved to the PS3's hard drive. What you might not be aware of is that, if you have a large enough Memory Stick Pro Duo in your handheld, your purchase also gives you the right to transfer the game to a PSP registered with your PS3.

This means you can genuinely play the game either at home or away without needing internet access for Remote Play. Simply find the PS1 game in the game column of the XMB and press Triangle. You'll see the option to Copy, simply click it, connect your PSP via USB, then follow the on screen instructions.

28) Use PC peripherals

Browsing the internet on a console can be a drag, particularly if you're lumped with using a control pad and the onscreen keyboard to fill in online forms or hammer out emails.

Fortunately, the PS3 actually supports standard keyboards and mice, which work brilliantly with the PS3's in-built browser and even some games, such as Unreal Tournament 3. Sony's system will even allow you to pair up Bluetooth keyboards and mice.

If you have wired devices simply plug them into the PS3's USB ports (or a USB hub connected to the PS3 if you're short on free ports). If you're using Bluetooth peripherals head to the Settings column, then select Accessory Settings and then Manage Bluetooth Devices and follow the onscreen instructions to pair the keyboard and mouse to your console.