You can also replace the "butt ugly" ceiling tiles with decorative tin tiles. And to be honest, some of the newer acoustic tiles look much better than the old stuff and they can even be painted, so I'd give them another look before dismissing them. Either of these will be much easier than either of the options mentioned above, and still allow access above. Try a google image search for "basement ceiling tiles."

Our last house had a suspended ceiling in the basement and my present home has a drywall ceiling. The drywall ceiling in a basement is a pain in the butt. In my old house if you wanted to add more cable, plumbing, or electric to the floor above you just popped out the panels. With the drywall you have to put holes in it and then patch and paint.

I thought these tongue-in-groove ceiling systems could be suspended and popped in and out - maybe I'm way off here - ?

https://www.armstrongceilings.com/residential/en-us/suspended-ceiling-systems/wood-ceiling-panels.html

mxk3, those look to install pretty much like tongue and groove flooring which means you can't be "popped out"

mattman, no, nothing wrong with drywall at all, and would likely look the best. It's just a p.i.t.a. if you need to access something right behind it compared to lifting a tile.

Failing to plan is planning to fail.

My sister was going to have her suspended ceilings in basement removed and drywalled. It had a black grid and white tiles, pretty ugly. She ended up painting the grid white and also found the tiles were paint able.. It looks great. Plus had access to do some rewiring for upstairs and leak from dishwasher only had to replace a few tiles. She is so happy she didn't drywall.

This is timely for me because we're finally looking into finishing the basement. We've had the drywall vs ceiling tile debate too. I actually don't mind the look of the unfinished ceiling, something until now I had not seriously considered. Saves some $ too. Would you paint the ductwork the same color as the ceiling or do you leave it the grey/silver it currently is?

I would go with an unfinished ceiling, painting the ductwork/pipes black or very dark brown. DH is not up for that idea, though, for whatever reason.