Celina

Hello
I am thinking of buying a Sony PS3 (60GB version) to play Blu ray movies on my HD ready TV. It is a bit more expensive here in the UK than some of the standalone Blu ray players, but it seems to have much more features than any standalone player i have seen. Like Wireless and Wired Networking, Internet browsing, media streaming, memory card slots for digital camera cards, bluetooth, USB and of course it can play games.

The HD picture quality on blu ray movies, from what i seen in the shop looked as good as any of the standalone players. The guy in the shop also told me the PS3 was already BD profile 2 and can be updated easily for any future BD profiles. So is the PS3 a good or even the best option at the moment for HD blu ray movie playback?

suicider785

Blu-ray players are way too expensive at the moment so buying a PS3 is the best option.

debro

The PS3 is updated occasionally with new features added & etc.

I'll also add that the PS3 can stream audio/Videos direct from an UPNP media server ... that's Tversity for windows users, or mediatomb in linux

I'm currently streaming (compressed) HD trailers, approx 2 min length, Avi's & MP3's, across a 108Mb/s Wifi bridge from my two desktop PC's, and all works great - no stutters

Unfortunately, the PS3 doesn't support every media stream format available, but you can play the majority, or figure out how to get real-time transcoding working on the servers *hint, hint*.

For the $100US or $200au (since everything in Oz is 2x the price), I wouldn't hesitate to get the PS3 again.

Don't forget the PS3 bluray remote It's cheap & makes life easy for you

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zaina

Depends!

Without knowing your HT setup is hard to say if it's the "right" choice for you.

If you have only a HDTV with no AV Receiver/speakers (only speaker from your tv) then it is a good option, (see pros cons below).

If you have a HDTV and AV receiver with HDMI then yes you will get both hidef video and audio and it's a good choice, for now.

If you have a AV Receiver without HDMI input and 5.1/7.1 speaker set, then I personally would say it's not a good option. You will have to connect the PS3 HDMI to your TV for the video and PS3 optical to your receiver for the (non hidef) audio. With this setup you can only see hidef video but you will miss the hidef audio (DTS-HD MA and DTS-HD HR etc). With the lastest firmware 2.30, PS3 can bitstream DTS-HD MA to your receiver however your receiver will produce only DTS core (not the true hidef audio). The better way to get full hidef audio (and video) is to get a standalone blu-ray player that has 5.1 or 7.1 multichannel analog output and you can connect to your non-hdmi receiver to get hidef audio.

PS3 Pros and Cons

Pros
- The first Profile 2 blu-ray player
- Fast loading time, as fast as loading DVD (standalone suffers from this)
- 8 Cells core for future use
- Plays BD-ROM (pressed blu-ray movie), BD-R/RE, BD-R/RE DL
- Plays and upconvert DVD, plays CDs
- Plays PS3 and PS2 games (some models)
- internal hdd is upgradable with SATA notebook hdd (320GB and up).
- can install Linux separately
- USB inputs: plug in your external 1TB hdd formated in FAT32 for more storage space, 32GB USB flash drive, mouse, keyboard, webcam etc
- Has CF, SD, Mini SD, Memory Stick if Blu-ray is dead replaced by Flash!
- Plays DivX, XVid, mp3 etc etc for the enthusiast!
- Wireless and wired LAN for video streaming over network (as in Debro's post), act as media server
- PSP connection
- Browse internet, chat, open office excel, word etc (linux)
- bla bla, basically it's a mini PC

Cons
- A game console, not a standalone player (user preference)
- No display led (to display HH:MM:SS of running movie etc)
- Doesn't have multichannel analog input
- no rumble on the controller
- fan noise (some model)
- external hdd only formated in FAT32, doesn't support NTSF
- Doesn't play MKV
- It's a Sony?

debro

PS3 has 54Mb/s 802.11G only -> May not be satisfactory for streaming of HD content or cause stuttering if there are other wifi networks/bluetooth devices or general noise in the radio frequency band (and there always is).

I've got mine going to a 5pt Gb switch (along with Xbox & Wii) with a 108Mb/s 802.11G *superG* bridge.

- Onscreen Display.
- Why would you want this on a Bluray player remote control anyway? At any rate, buy the Bluray remote for PS3, or buy a rumble controller, if you want to feel the vibrations while playing porno bluray movies ....
- Do any standalone bluray player play content from external HDD's?
- Hopefully MKV will be added in a firmware revision, but don't bet on it. At any rate, you can transcode these on the fly via your media server, or convert them to MPEG before burning.
- I fail to see the point, besides the Root Kits installed from CD's, and the monopolistic practices, and snooty attitudes to their customers requests.

Hopefully there will be a mod chip/modded firmware to *fix* the PS3 current ..err ... deficiencies in playbacks .....

It also has problems with some WM11 audio formats, and some xvid movies (packed bitstreams perhaps? - I haven't looked into it yet).

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Celina

Thanks for the very helpful replies.
Here is the situation. Standalone models available and within my price range.

SONY BDPS300 £299
SAMSUNG BD-P1400/XEU £299
SHARP BDHP20H £349
PANASONIC DMP-BD30EG-K £349

Sony PS3 40GB £299
Sony PS3 60GB Premium £399 (includes 2 blu ray movies and 2 games).

Given these prices. Does the Sony PS3 still look like an attractive buy?

It will be connected to a 32 inch HD ready TV. Sound system to be added soon.

debro

OMFG! You guys can still get the 60GB Models? They've got card readers & usb ports coming out of the Wazoo, and can play ye olde PS2 games too!
They've been phased out in Oz, in favour of the neutered (no card readers, only 2 USB ports & no PS2 compatability) 40GB version, otherwise I'd have paid the extra $300 (£100) to get it. Wish we could still get the full featured (60GB) models here

What's the resolution of you HD-Ready TV?
I'm guessing you don't have the $4000/ £1300 Surround Sound Audio System with DTS-HD MA and DTS-HD HR, so the above deficiencies probably won't worry you, for the moment.
The only thing might be your Sound System, does it have optical or HDMI? Or does it only have analogue audio?
Remember that the PS3 doesn't have 5.1/7.1 Analogue Audio outputs.

I'd personally get the PS3 - 60GB bundle with 2 games & Bluray movies (you get to pick, right?).

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Jesterrace

Yes, but the 60GB models (if they are similar to the ones here in the US) were more prone to hardware difficulties and louder fan noise (definitely can be an issue for movies). I know that my 60GB that I owned definitely was loud and had all sorts of bugs with the HDMI picture output. I returned it since I expected more out of a $600 investment. @selina of the standalones the Panny is the only one I would recommend. Don't touch the Samsungs with a 10 foot pole. The Sony and the Sharp are decent but not nearly as good as the Panny. If you go with the PS3 I would definitely pick up the 40GB model as it is cheaper and will be quieter. The only real bonus to the 60GB version is being backwards PS2 compatible, although there are a few titles that it has issues with.

bjd223

Sony has indicated a few times that the PS3 is the only player guarenteed to work with every future Bluray profile.

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slayerking

That it is. Its firmware gets updated at least once a month.
I have heard from sony on their forums that they intend to add a HD TV tuner to the ps3 to make it a PVR as well.
To the guy that said no rumble on the controllers you're wrong you can get dual shock controllers for the ps3.

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I think the main advantage of the 60gb is the ps2 compatibility.

The ps3 still cannot play mkv? That is sad. Therefore popcorn & co for me.

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Celina

The shop where i was looking at the PS3 only had four of the 60GB models left and i was told they would not be getting any more of them in. Again i viewed an HD movie from each of the machines i listed. They were connected with HDMI to a 50 inch panasonic full HD plasma TV. If there was any difference in picture quality between any of them i could not see it. So i purchased the PS3 60GB. The movies and games were in a separate bonus box along with an extra wireless controller. The movies are AVP and Black hawk down and the games are F1 championship edition and motor storm.

debro was right. The 60GB version has 4 USB and camera card slots and i am happy with it so far.

schoolboyeric2002

ok i have the 80gb motorstorm edition of the ps3(supposed to work with ps2 games software emulation(i have a ps2 anyways))... I love watching HD movies on it the picture is nice.... have a complaint about weight(way too heavy) and fan noise is as loud as my PC...which is too loud... i have YDL installed, nice to be able to surf the net/do documents and so on on YDL...