PS3 vs Blue Ray DVD Player
 

I am planning on buying a blue ray now that my income is getting better. I saw on Walmart.com that they have a offer about 500 for a PS3 for a movie and a game. Is having a Playstation 3 with Blue Ray features better than owning just a standalone player?

The PS3 is one of the best if not the best Blu-Ray player out there. It doesn't hurt that it can play games as well.

Blu Ray.

Depends on what you want. PS3 is a highly functional blu ray machine that'll play anything you throw at it. It's also somewhat prepared for the future in terms of upgrades w/ Profile 2.0.

But, it has issues with being controlled by 3rd party remotes (unless you use a dongle as a workaround). It has some other minor quibbles, too.

A Blueray? You mean one of these?

http://www.centralstatescleanair.com...r-purifier.jpg


Just kidding. Well, I think a PS3 is a great choice because it will probably be updated more and it loads discs faster than standalones. I believe it generally has fewer issues with discs, but that may depend on who you ask.

However, it lacks a full IR remote solution (you can buy a dongle but some buttons are missing, such as power on/off). The Bluetooth remote is great though, and certainly worth getting if you don't mind not being able to add the PS3 to your universal remote.

Of course, you also get the gaming and media center features, and you can download HD trailers as well.

Also do I have to have a HD TV in order to be able to play Games or Movies? I have a HD TV in the living room but not in my room

No, you can play on a standard set or an HD set.

You can play it on an SD TV, but you'd essentially negate every possible benefit of it.

If you're gonna put your PS3 on your SDTV, might as well get a PS2.

I would get the PS3 just because you aside from watching Blu-rays you can play games on it too.

Don't forget that the bluetooth controller is ALSO a remote with on/off and the PS3 button! I have the NYKO IR remote and I have added its codes to my Harmony 890 - $15 solution.

The PS3 is the BEST Blu-Ray (check the spelling) player there is, and it is constantly being upgraded via firmware patches - this is actually a good thing. When I bought it, it did not upconvert regular DVDs, but then firmware update 1.80 came along and presto - now it does (via HDMI).

Eventually you should look into getting a 1080p display to hook the PS3 up to via HDMI - then you'll really see it shine! Also look into upgrading your audio system to really give you the full package, if you haven't already.

Visit http://www.us.playstation.com/PS3 for more info.

I have the PS3 and two standalones (Panny BD-10 & Samsung BDP-1000). To me the Panny has a little better picture than the PS3 and I have no interest in PIP so it stays in my main home theater. I have the PS3 in my bedroom system, where it has saved me space by replacing my DVD and the Sammy and does a wonderful job, and now we can play games on top of it all.

Doing some preliminary research, it seems the Panasonic BD30K will be my BR player if I go for one later (though I don't like that $500 price tag at all). Anyone have this play and if so, how is it?

I don't understand what you are saying here. You can now power the PS3 on and off with your 890 buy simply purchasing the Nyko? Can you give a little more detail? Another thread someone recommended a custom thing that someone developed, but if can get something readily available, I do that (reading that guys site mentions he is way behind on production).

If you don't want to steal this thread, please PM me...I would appreciate it.

Cnet says you still cannot power on/off the unit with the Nyko

Product summary
The good: Infrared remote plus USB dongle for PS3; plug-and-play installation; mimics the PS3 controller in every way; allows other universal remotes to work with the PS3; affordable.

The bad: Can't be used to turn the PS3 on or off; proprietary IR codes mean you'll be teaching your universal remote how to interact with the USB dongle.

The bottom line: The Nyko Blu-Wave Infrared Remote is a cheap and easy way to add IR remote compatibility to your PS3, but the inability to power the console on or off is an annoying limitation.

I think he was making 2 separate statements. He didn't mean to say the Nyko could turn it on or off.

they went with the PS3

http://gizmodo.com/340402/first-blu+...ct-is-that-all

Drexl, you are correct. I sent Sdallnct a PM about it.

Does anyone what the improvement is when playing a normal DVD in A Blue Ray? I heard it is suppose to help the quality and sound?

Every Blu-ray player will upconvert DVDs if that's what you're referring to. It takes the DVD resolution and pumps it up to HD resolutions with interpolation, though it's definitely not true hi-def. It helps PQ to certain degree, but there will be no difference in audio playback. You need to be connected via HDMI to take advantage of upconversion.

How does Blu-Ray look on 720p/1080i?

Does the PS3 require a proprietary HDMI cable or will the one I bought for my now returned HD-DVD player work?

You can use the HDMI cable from your HD-Dvd player with no problems.

I knew there was a reason I bought an extra HDMI cable on boxing day.

How much did you pay for it?

I know I could have ordered some $10 HDMI cables from monoprice, but I'm one of those people that don't like to shop online (I'm a weirdo). So I paid $19.97 each for 3 Philips HDMI cables at Wal*Mart on boxing day. I compared them to the Monster HDMI cables I had initially bought and quality was the same to my eyes/ears.