I have $150 in sony points that will be expiring by the end of the year, so need to use them. was thinking about either a PS3 or a standalone blueray player. Since I already have a 360, probably won't use it for gaming much.

Anyway, is there much of a difference between the standalone blueray player and a PS3? If not, it seems to make more sense to get a PS3 to get the gaming element. Also, are they compatible with blueray burnt discs - 25GB BD-R (write once) and BD-RE (rewritable) discs?

Go PS3, there may be a game you want in the future, and it handles Blu-Ray pretty darn good. Also upconverts very well.

Unlike the PS2, which was a horrible DVD player, the PS3 is arguably the best Blu-ray player out there right now (not to mention the cheapest) and (with the latest upgrade) a pretty darn good upconverter for standard DVDs as well. Buy a PS3...you won't be sorry.

No brainer, go with PS3, trust me, you'll thank me later...

even you don't play game on the PS3, the PS3 is a media monster...

i'm going to use it to play the AVCHD files from the HD camcorders...

PS3 easily and not just because it plays games. It has been on the market now around 8 months and seems to be a solid piece of equipment and most importantly it is a solid Blu-ray Player with 1080p content and a very good upconverter. Oh, it will also be updated constantly and has media center functions.

PS3 is very good. I've got a highly rated upscaling Panasonic DVD player that can't compare to the capabilities of the PS3 in DVD upscaling. I'd say go for the PS3.

Mini-thread hijack, my apologies.

What kind of bookmarking ability does the PS3 have (both Blu-Ray and standard DVDs)?

None. That is one of its limitations I wish they would fix. Use the HDD for it if needed.

Well, that sucks.

Lion's Gate has added bookmarking to their recent discs like Weeds and Waiting. It's not hardware based, but it is there.

So, it really works just like my HDA2: only if the disc specifically has the bookmarking option in the menu?

I don't know how the A2 works, but on these Lion's Gate discs you use the 4 colored buttons on the remote to add/delete/play the bookmarks and a timeline menu pops up to show the locations of all of them.

I agree. I am not a game player, but the PS3 was one of the best hardware investments I've made over the years.

another PS3 vote here. plus it just looks so damn pretty.

so why would anyone buy a standalone blueray player?
also noticed that for the PS3, you would need to buy the HDMI cable separately and its not cheap
Do you need to buy a remote for the blueray playback or will the PS3 controller work just fine?

HDMI cables are cheap from Monoprice.com, & IMO you do need the Bluetooth controller (around $25). But you'll get far-and-away IMO the best HD player out there (BD or HD DVD) & it's not even close (at least until that Denon BD player comes out lol)

I got a PS3 two weeks ago thanks to the price drop.

When I popped in The Machinist, I was floored. I had always thought my Oppo was a damn good upconverting DVD player. The PS3 blew it away. I'll go so far as to say that the PS3 is probably the best upconverting DVD player on the market. And its also the best Blu-Ray player to date. Not to mention it is indeed a media monster. Cannot recommend it highly enough.

It is a very, very good upconverter, but people that have put it through some of the more rugged testing still prefer the high end players with the Silicon Optix chips. It is very close though and much cheaper than most of those players. I doubt I could see the difference on my setup.
I would also note that the PS3 still struggles with Blu-ray content in 1080i. There is very little of it available, but some anime in Japan is 1080i and the PS3 does not apparently handle it as well as other BD players.

It's funny you say that. My mom was remarking on just how nice it looked.

so what does the 60gig PS3 version come with?
I know it has the built in wireless.
Does it come with a wirless controller?
what cable(s) does it come with?

Yes.

Just composite video. If you want HDMI, you'll have to shell out for that separately.

The only reason to look towards a non-PS3 Blu-ray solution is if you won't be upgrading your receiver/pre-pro (that can handle HDMI 1.3a), but want the lossless audio offered by Blu-ray discs. The PS3 will have the audio coming through the HDMI output, and its optical audio output, but only HDMI will offer lossless audio, while you'll get a less-than-lossless audio tracks via optical (but it'll sound pretty good). If you're an audiophile, you aren't getting the most out of Blu-ray discs with the optical audio output, but for most people, it'll be good enough.

For now, the PS3 is your hands-down best bet. If you're not in the market until 2008 for a BD player, a better option may be available at that point.

I would consider the PS3, but with a receiver (Denon AVR-3300) and a RPTV (65H80) that do not have HDMI connectability, I'll have to look at a stand alone BD player instead IIRC.