I've never heard that the upconversion was better on the 40GB. Where did you read that?

I've heard about a device in Europe that Sony either sells or showed that turns the PS3 into a DVR. Someone else might have more info on that.

I think I was remembering this: http://kotaku.com/gaming/who-doesn.t...ack-309990.php so apparently it's just firmware.

As for the DVR, I did find this: http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/p...re-march-2008/

Still not sure what to do.

If you really are going to need a larger HD you can always buy one from a store and format it for your PS3. It is not as locked down like the 360 so you can always go out and buy a larger one. If you really want the BC you might want to grab that 80 but make sure it will play the games you want.

I think I'll buy one and not open it till this craziness sorts itself out.

Well, my experience with Blu ray so far has been buying a standalone Sony Blu Ray and returning it because it was profile 1.0 and now my nephew wanted to buy a Blu Ray player so I told him a lot of people here recommend the PS3 40G.

So he bought it and brought it over here to take advantage of my ethernet connection to do the firmware upgrade. It connected easily enough and the process uploaded, installed and ended. We double checked on the system info and it was the latest version.

So when we try to use it, the eject button no longer works and it doesn't power off anymore. Basically the 2 touch buttons don't work. We tried the remote but it doesn't eject using that either. We're on our way to Best Buy to exchange the damn thing and hope it doesn't happen again.

So far my family's Blu-Ray experience has been a nightmare. I'm wondering how anyone can realistically expect the average buyer to put up with this foolishness.

And as I've repeatedly stated, I've had absolutely no problems of any kind with my Toshiba HD-A20 HD-DVD player.Yes, Blu people will flame me and all but i'm just recounting real experiences with my foray into Blu Ray.

Ive never heard of that PS3 problem before. Did you try unplugging it, waiting 5 minutes, and then trying again?

yes. tried everything! And yes, the buttons worked perfectly before the firmware upgrade.

I was given a PS3 recently (ok Christmas and just recently got into fiddling with the settings) and hooked it up to my TV through one of it's HDMI inputs. Now, does the PS3 also use the HDMI for sound? And if so, can I get the PS3 sound to come through the tv's Optical Out to connect to my OLD onkyo receiver and still get dolby digital sound? I tried playing Hairspray last night, and since it's encoded in 7.1 or some such DD, my receiver was playing it as Pro Logic, which sucks.

Do I need to upgrade my receiver (I Have been looking into it) but I would still like to use my equipment. My Onkyo receiver is really old, I'd say about 15 years old, and has 2 optical in, one is connected to my TV, Samsung LN-T4665F.

Thanks!

I noticed that the I/O touch button doesn't respond in some circumstances. I use it to turn on my PS3, but usually when turning it off after playing a movie or game I have to use the PS button on either the controller or the bluetooth remote and then select "Turn off system". Is this is same thing you're experiencing? I thought it was normal.

Yes, HDMI for audio and video.

Optical out from the TV depends on whether or not your TV will allow that. I know from other Panasonic plasma threads, the optical out will only output stereo from it's optical out. So you'll need to read your TV's manual to confirm unless someone here has the same TV and knows.

I'm ordering one of these from Amazon this week. Does a vertical stand come in the box?

There is no stand needed. It has little rubber feet for both the vertical and horizontal positions.

The little rubber feet are probably enough if you are standing it vertically on a hard surface. If it is on carpet and you want a little more security, GameStop sells a plastic stand for about $15. It's worth about a nickel as far as the amount of material it consists of, but it increases the stability.