Has anyone had any problems with using their PS3 as a blu ray player? Mainly my question is directed towards finding out whether using the PS3 as a Blu Ray player is going to burn the laser out? I remember when PS2 came out years ago there were some issues with the laser burning out when people used it as a DVD player. I plan on using my PS3 for both gaming and Blu Ray but am wondering whether or not I should be concerned about the laser issue.

I was an early adopter, mainly getting it for the kids for gaming. But with a full media room (see my sig) I also use as a BD player. Highly recommended. And still considered one of the best overall BD players for the money that is available. Easy FW updates thanks to wireless net access. Strong to very strong up converting SD player. Only issue for me using as an every day player is stupid blu-tooth remote. But there are a few work arounds.

The PS2 was a horrible DVD player.

The PS3 is a great Blu-ray player.

I have never heard of such a thing, have any sources?

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showpost.ph...78&postcount=1

I haven't had any issues with my PS3. I use it for gaming, blu ray movies and sometimes for DVD upconverting when I don't want to wait for my XA1

The PS3 isn't codefree (yet).

I wouldn't worry about it. The way I see it, you might cut the lifespan of the PS3 in half. However, the alternative is to buy a standalone player for the same price or even higher than the PS3. So, if you do that, you've potentially doubled the PS3's lifespan, but what is the point when you've spent twice as much? If there was a good standalone player for $200 or less, it would be different, but that's not the case.

My PS3 is 15 months old and is my full time BD and DVD player. I've also played several hundred hours of games on it and it is working great. If the laser dies it is $150 and I would rather pay that down the road that pay for a mediocre and overpriced standalone BD player.

More likely the laser transport and someone didn't understand that. Or they meant "gears, motors burning out".

Agreed, I just get frustrated when "urban legends" started by "a guy I know" become the basis for making an electronics purchase.

Hey, a guy I know saw some big lizard monster in Lake Pepin, again. Wish he would buy a camera.

As long as it is not one of those cameras that I heard takes bad pictures

The original PS2 did have disc read errors problems above the norm and there was a class action lawsuit over it. It was the RROD of last gen.

However, I think Sony learned their lesson from it. The slim PS2 was very reliable and the PSP and PS3 also seem to be built to last. I'm not worried at all about my PS3 dying from use.

Just get an RF dongle so you can use a universal remote with it.

Can you recommend a cheap one?

Well, the Nyko BluWave works for basic functionality, but you don't get the PS button (needed for power on/off), audio, subtitle, and angle buttons, the colored buttons, and a few others. The IR2BT handles all of these, but it's about $60 and is in limited quantities that sell out fast. See, it's a small company and they only make several hundred or so at a time, and people buy them up right away when they get a new batch ready.

Well, I think I stick to my PS3 remote and Harmony 550 combination. Thanks anyways.

The only disappointment I've had with my PS3 is the poor upconversion of divx files (for that I'll be keeping my Oppo around). Otherwise, the PS3 is golden in my book.

I bought the 20gb version close to the release date. I mainly used the ps3 for bluray movies and avchd movies recorded with my sony handycam hdr-ux1 HD camcorder. I must say that the quality of both were amazing. This system was never abused and it was actually, literally placed on a pedistal with my home theater setup. So it had plenty of ventilation. Last night I put in a movie, and nothing. The disk that usually comes up no longer does that. I tried every type of disk that I could find, bluray,avchd,data dvd burned with udf 2.5(ps3 readable format), data cd, and standard audio cd. none were recognized. So basically the optical drive has failed or something that allows it to read has failed. I can't tell without opening it up. I have been building computers for over twenty years so I am very familiar with troubleshooting hardware. It's out of it's warranty date but I feel as though this should still be covered. I have read tons of forums with fanboys for 360 and I could care less about that crap. Never used one myself anyway. I am in the minority who bought ps3 for it's multimedia capablities. Like mike said though the ps3 divx upconversion isn't as good as oppodigital's. I bought that years ago and still can't believe how good it does with regular dvd's and divx. Anyway , just want people to think about getting extended warranty as I believe that this is a defect in all ps3 systems from extensive reading and my own experience.I still have my old ps2 (original version) that I use for socom and have never had a problem with it. I sent sony an email with my situation, I am curious if they are going to try and pursue a 150 dollar fee. That's unacceptable and I'll do everything I can including setting up a website to let people know how to set up a class action lawsuit for a defective optical drive. Anyway, I've never been a fan of extended warranties but I really suggest anyone thinking of buying a ps3 getting one if it doesn't cost too much. Don't think the way I did, they are probably fan boys and it won't happen to my system. I treated mine with utmost care and the optical drive is now useless. At least I can still use my external usb drive to watch movies with it now. Just no games or bluray's. hope this helps some people.

I got a PS3 when Wal-Mart was running that sale the first week of this month. I was highly, highly, highly skeptical I'd ever accept using a gaming console for a media player of any kind.

I have a Toshiba-HD A20, so I'll always use that for upconverting SD-DVD's because I don't want to completely wear out my PS3 but...

...I have to say. The PS3 is a great Blu-Ray player. I'm completely content with it. I would someday like to get a stand-alone Blu-Ray player, but can wait until at least this holiday season when either something more reliable comes out, in combination with getting a player at a better price. I hear too many different issues depending on the different types of stand-alones people use, where the PS3, I hardly hear about any playback issues at all.