View Full Version : Returned HD-DVD player. What should I buy? PS3?
Bought a 360 HD-DVD player about a month ago for under $200. It was great. Shrek 3 and other animated movies looked amazing. Now I can't live without real HD movies (not the compressed cable crap)
Got a refund from BB thanks to the extended holiday return policy. I have $200 and I'm willing to add up to another $200 for some bluray.
But for $400 it seems that the PS3 is the best deal. Is it the best choice?
evilchris
01-11-08, 03:54 AM
If you have a great interest in the 1 or 2 decent PS3 games out there, then yes, it is the best deal. If you *only* want the BD playback, get a standalone for less.
If you have a great interest in the 1 or 2 decent PS3 games out there, then yes, it is the best deal. If you *only* want the BD playback, get a standalone for less.
Would a standalone be better? The PS3's get firmware updates and from what I hear BD player firmware are not implementing all the possible features. If I get a standalone player I would be stuck right?
Can you recommend a player?
crainger
01-11-08, 08:04 AM
Stand alones are better. As Chris mentions software based players like the PS3 and 360 addon have a soft image that you just don't get with a standalone. Compare DVD playback on a PC compared to a decent player and you will see what he means.
Chris will do the recommending. I can't comment as we are pretty much still stuck with $1200 first gen players here. ::(:
Peoples-Agent
01-11-08, 10:21 AM
Is there a single BD player that is firmware upgradeable? ...surely there is.
I would rather buy a standalone over a PS3 after thinking about it, but not if it won't do me for a few years.
Bad_Boy
01-11-08, 10:30 AM
get a ps3.
id get a PS3 to futureproof my purchase. id trade a little bit of quality for upgrade ability tbh.
evilchris
01-11-08, 02:35 PM
It isn't futureproof imo, but of course nothing ever is.
LurkerLito
01-11-08, 02:43 PM
At this moment I'd suggest the PS3 if you need to get one now. It's not futureproof but the most future proof player out there. It can decode TruHD to PCM, but won't do DTS-MA till a later firmware update (most likely not till you see it in standalone players) and also upgradeable to Profile 2.0.
But for a standalone, I'd recommend a Panasonic BD-30 if you have a receiver or prepro that can decode TruHD and DTS-MA, otherwise it would be better off waiting for the Panasonic BD-50 which at the moment sounds like the best upcoming player.
PS3 especially if you don't have the equipment to take advantage of standalone players. Not saying you might not but some have a Kia TV's and 10watt speakers yet seem to be torn as to if they should get the best or near the best. Its a great player for the price along with the other features which the PS3 has.
Standalone players if you want to wait several minutes from when popping in the disc to the movies plays. PS3 if you want playback quite instantly.
I have no idea what evilchris means when he says that the PS3 is not futureproof (more than a SA player at the least) and he rarely seems to elaborate on his statements unless you ask him to..
Stand alones are better. As Chris mentions software based players like the PS3 and 360 addon have a soft image that you just don't get with a standalone. Compare DVD playback on a PC compared to a decent player and you will see what he means.
Chris will do the recommending. I can't comment as we are pretty much still stuck with $1200 first gen players here. ::(:
Are you trying to compare the an external HD DVD drive with the PS3 bluray internal? While I can grant the fact that X360 playback is software based, I'd like to see some documentation of the PS3 being purely software playback as well or at least there being a difference in the picture unless you have a really large screen, like 50k$projector 100" size screen. The PS3 BD playback was planned from the beginning and a central part of Sony's stradigy was to offer people high quality blueray movie playback in the PS3. The reason why PS3 loads any movie a lot faster than any SA player is allegedly the Cell processor. How do you know that the PS3 hardware is not being utilized and is actually optimized for Bluray playback?
I'm not trying to say that the standalones are not any better at all, not the expensive line of BD players at least, but from what I've heard from people that has both, the difference is simply not there. Greatest difference at the moment is the PS3's inability to support DTS-HD MA and we don't know if it will in the future. What it will do is upgrade to a 2.0 player via firmware update.
I can hardly see why anyone would want anything but a PS3 as a BD player right now besides if you have some kind of inherent hate for gaming or consoles (*cough Jack Thompson cough*) or if you're simply aiming for a super high end hifi setup.
So based on what I have read (I haven't seen the difference side-by-side yet) my clear recommendations go to the PS3. As a bonus you'll also have a true HD console that IMO is kind of beginning it's development where Xbox360 has peaked, technically speaking.
evilchris
01-11-08, 03:58 PM
The PS3 is not futureproof because the HDMI chip it uses is completely unable to bitstream anything. If new codecs are added, you cannot just pray that Sony decides to make an onboard SOFTWARE decoder for it, like you are praying for with DTS-MA.
I currently run a Panasonic BD-30, and it allows me 100% access to *all* sound formats BD has. Your PS3 does not. I do not want to listen to DTS core when MA is available. It also does not take "several minutes" to load a movie. It is a 1.1 player that is superior to PS3 in both picture and sound. Facts.
The PS3 is not futureproof because the HDMI chip it uses is completely unable to bitstream anything. If new codecs are added, you cannot just pray that Sony decides to make an onboard SOFTWARE decoder for it, like you are praying for with DTS-MA.
I currently run a Panasonic BD-30, and it allows me 100% access to *all* sound formats BD has. Your PS3 does not. I do not want to listen to DTS core when MA is available. It also does not take "several minutes" to load a movie. It is a 1.1 player that is superior to PS3 in both picture and sound. Facts.
You are then one of the few people I have seen that claims to own both a PS3 and SA Blu-ray player and also claims that there is any noticable difference in video quality. It's not that I don't believe you by default, it's just that you're in minority to the about 10 individual statements I have heard from other people on a hifi board.
As to the exact details on PS3's audio capabilities I'll let that topic be for someone with more knowledge than me. If you have a really beefy audio setup I guess you could argue that a SA BD player would be better right in this moment, but I have read posts of people claiming to get uncompressed audio out of their PS3's somehow, I think they were using it in conjunction with a receiver though I'm not sure. We may have an firmware update in the future, who knows. We didn't have DVD upscaling or 24fps playback from the beginning either, though I wouldn't bet on it. But I'd still say that the audio decoding capabilities of the PS3 has more to do with your needs (but in a sense you can say it's futureproof if you intent to buy some badass audio equitment some day, but we still don't know the true potential of PS3 until later) while the garanteed profile 2.0 support makes it literally more futureproof.
I also haven't heard of any SA BD player that doesn't take something around several minutes from when you put in the disc to the film is actually playing, but yours may be one of the faster? Still everyone is saying that the PS3 loads movies significantly faster than anything else out there.
I would get a PS3 or in the event of this OP having some very serious hifi equipment at home, wait for the first highend 2.0 players to score good reviews across the board, but that's just me :)
evilchris
01-11-08, 04:22 PM
You are then one of the few people I have seen that claims to own both a PS3 and SA Blu-ray player and also claims that there is any noticable difference in video quality. It's not that I don't believe you by default, it's just that you're in minority to the about 10 individual statements I have heard from other people on a hifi board.
As to the exact details on PS3's audio capabilities I'll let that topic be for someone with more knowledge than me. If you have a really beefy audio setup I guess you could argue that a SA BD player would be better right in this moment, but I have read posts of people claiming to get uncompressed audio out of their PS3's somehow, I think they were using it in conjunction with a receiver though I'm not sure.
I had a 40GB PS3 for 3 days. Returned to Fry's due to unacceptable fan noise and soft picture compared to my SAL at the time, a BD-10AK.
PS3 can do uncompressed and THD over LPCM to any HDMI 1.1 and up receiver. It cannot bitstream any advanced codecs, however. This is a hardware issue. The untapped power of tEH cELL can not get over the HDMI transmitter limitation of the PS3. DTS-HD MA is dead in the water, the only hope is software decoding in the future and sending via LPCM already decoded.
I had a 40GB PS3 for 3 days. Returned to Fry's due to unacceptable fan noise and soft picture compared to my SAL at the time, a BD-10AK.
PS3 can do uncompressed and THD over LPCM to any HDMI 1.1 and up receiver. It cannot bitstream any advanced codecs, however. This is a hardware issue. The untapped power of tEH cELL can not get over the HDMI transmitter limitation of the PS3. DTS-HD MA is dead in the water, the only hope is software decoding in the future and sending via LPCM already decoded.
Fair enough. I don't really get the complaint on the fan noise however, PS3's are really quiet in action (more quiet than our HDD recorder just besides it) and certainly the 40gb version should be the most silent of all PS3 models. Was it that bad, was it just a defective unit or do you just have an extremely low tolerance for noise?
evilchris
01-11-08, 04:36 PM
Fair enough. I don't really get the complaint on the fan noise however, PS3's are really quiet in action (more quiet than our HDD recorder just besides it) and certainly the 40gb version should be the most silent of all PS3 models. Was it that bad, was it just a defective unit or do you just have an extremely low tolerance for noise?
I don't keep my equipment under the screen or beside it, that is a visual distraction. My rack is behind my seating. During a movie, the PS3 would reach fan speed 2. This was audible in non action movies.
I actually power down my DVR when watching movies so I don't have to hear that damn HDD.
I don't keep my equipment under the screen or beside it, that is a visual distraction. My rack is behind my seating. During a movie, the PS3 would reach fan speed 2. This was audible in non action movies.
I actually power down my DVR when watching movies so I don't have to hear that damn HDD.
Ok.. well each to his own I guess. You must really have a nice setup with all those strict standards of yours ;)
As mentioned unless this guy is completely and utterly oblivious to gaming, I'd go with the PS3 simply because you get a gaming console of the future for the same price. Then if you decide to go total gung-ho on hifi you can always buy a highend bluray player and use the PS3 as secondary. That's just in my opinion :)
PS3 especially if you don't have the equipment to take advantage of standalone players. Not saying you might not but some have a Kia TV's and 10watt speakers yet seem to be torn as to if they should get the best or near the best. Its a great player for the price along with the other features which the PS3 has.
I have a 4 year old 5.1 Receiver. No HDMI, only optical and digital audio. DTS decoder. So, I think a PS3 will help because it can decode those fancy new format.
My wife is like, "A PS3?! You already have a 360 why do you need a PS3?!"
It's hard to get the wives to believe that the PS3 is mainly for Blu-ray playing. :D
My wife is like, "A PS3?! You already have a 360 why do you need a PS3?!"
ROFL owned:
evilchris
01-11-08, 06:08 PM
I have a 4 year old 5.1 Receiver. No HDMI, only optical and digital audio. DTS decoder. So, I think a PS3 will help because it can decode those fancy new format.
My wife is like, "A PS3?! You already have a 360 why do you need a PS3?!"
It's hard to get the wives to believe that the PS3 is mainly for Blu-ray playing. :D
The PS3 will do you no good then. Does your receiver have 5.1 analog inputs? If so, try a Sharp BD-HP20. Good price, and you can get Uncompressed 5.1 as well as Dolby TrueHD over its 5.1 analog outputs. If you don't have HDMI the PS3 can only deliver you DD 5.1 and DTS over optical. It decodes TrueHD but can only send it as LPCM over HDMI. Same with Uncompressed.
six_storm
01-11-08, 06:08 PM
ROFL owned:
Yeah, I can hear my fiancee saying that . . . :(
If you don't have HDMI the PS3 can only deliver you DD 5.1 and DTS over optical. It decodes TrueHD but can only send it as LPCM over HDMI. Same with Uncompressed.
I have a samsung 46" 65F LCD TV. I have HDMI to the TV and toslink out from the TV. I figure the PS3 will send at least 5.1 to the TV and I'll get it from the optical out into my receiver. Is that right?
I'm happy with 5.1 DTS. I can't imagine anything sounding much better to my rather unsophisticated ears.
I'm almost ready to pull the trigger on the PS3. I sure miss my HD-DVD but at least the war ended before my Best Buy return window closed. I only own Happy Feet. The detail on thos sea lions was awesome.
I think a lot of people are in my situation. HDTV is great but the cable stuff is a little weak. Only a high def player really shows off the clarity of HD.
Butter Bandit
01-11-08, 10:20 PM
You won't be disappointed with the PS3. It works well, and hey, it also plays games.
For the price, the PS3 as a Blu-Ray player can't be beat.
evilchris
01-11-08, 10:47 PM
You won't be disappointed with the PS3. It works well, and hey, it also plays games.
For the price, the PS3 as a Blu-Ray player can't be beat.
As a Blu-ray player, it is beat by several cheaper standalones in PQ and AQ.
I have a 4 year old 5.1 Receiver. No HDMI, only optical and digital audio. DTS decoder. So, I think a PS3 will help because it can decode those fancy new format.
My wife is like, "A PS3?! You already have a 360 why do you need a PS3?!"
It's hard to get the wives to believe that the PS3 is mainly for Blu-ray playing. :D
I got lucky in that....the PS3 is my wife's console! (nana2)
The 360 is mine :D
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