Ok I quit

[ParadigmDawg]

Ok, I quit. I have held out as long as possible but can’t do it a second longer. I have to have a HD player and I am getting it tonight. The best bet seems to be just to get the PS3. Is the 499 buck one from Best by what I need and does it include everything I need? I thought I read something about a 60gb vs a 80gb.

 

[gus6464]

My friend has a PS3 and he loves it. One of the best features which I didn't know is that it also plays SACD's as well. And from what I have read it is the fastest loading high def player in the market right now (counting all hd-dvd and blu-ray players). As far as hard drive space you don't need anything bigger than the 60gb for now. The hard drive space is mostly for games and to hold the OS. If you want to put music and movies in it of course that won't last long but you can replace the hdd on the ps3 with any drive you want unlike the xbox360 where the hdd is locked. My friend also has one of those logitech harmony remotes and he programmed it to work with the ps3. Also sony releases new firmware every couple of months which adds new features to the player like 1080p upconvert among other things.

Ohh and the only thing you will need extra is an hdmi cable as it doesn't come with one.

 

[j_garcia]

It IS the fastest loading player. It does SACD, but if you don't have a HDMI receiver then you only get stereo. If you only plan to watch movies, 60G is plenty, and 80G isn't much more...for games and downloading and music, 60G is pushing it. I think I have about 30G of stuff on mine already. Note that the 80G is $100 more, but it does include the game Motorstorm (very fun).

I had a Harmony too and it does not work with the PS3 out of the box. PS3 is bluetooth only unless you get an IR add on.

Check out Amazon as they have a deal going on that includes the BD remote and one movie for $499. Circuit City had something similar with one extra controller instead of the BD remote I think.

 

[gus6464]

It IS the fastest loading player. It does SACD, but if you don't have a HDMI receiver then you only get stereo. If you only plan to watch movies, 60G is plenty, and 80G isn't much more...for games and downloading and music, 60G is pushing it. I think I have about 30G of stuff on mine already. Note that the 80G is $100 more, but it does include the game Motorstorm (very fun).

I had a Harmony too and it does not work with the PS3 out of the box. PS3 is bluetooth only unless you get an IR add on.

Check out Amazon as they have a deal going on that includes the BD remote and one movie for $499. Circuit City had something similar with one extra controller instead of the BD remote I think.

Ohh how much is the IR add-on for it? Also best buy was advertising five free blurays with the purchase of a ps3 too. Don't know if it's still going on but they had it last week when I went with my wife's little brother to get his xbox360 elite.

 

[j_garcia]

There isn't a specific IR add on that I know of, but you can get the old PS2 remote and a PS2->PS3 adapter to use the IR with the PS3. It isn't a 100% solution though, as you only get basic commands like Play, Menu, FF/RR, etc... some new features specific to the PS3 won't be there. The BD remote is only like $25, which is cheaper than the adapter and the old remote if you don't have the old one, and is well worth it (got mine for $17 new).

The 5 free discs deal comes with any Blu-ray player, which includes the PS3; it is a mail in thing: http://www.bluraysavings.com/

 

[BMXTRIX]

Basically, if you are buying the PS3 for Blu-ray first, then out of the box it is pretty much ready to go. If you have HDMI compatibility with your receiver, then it's just a single HDMI connection to your receiver, then on to your display. If you don't, then you will need whatever connection types you have available.

I use component video with digital optical audio and love it.

Across the board, those buying the PS3 for Blu-ray have been really happy.

The extra 100 bucks for the bigger drive + Motorstorm is, IMO, more than necessary to spend. Since PS3 uses industry standard SATA hard drives which are user installable, if you want more than 60GB then look for the biggest possible drive available. I think 120 or 160 is available aftermarket.

I am not, at all, the only one who has been nothing but satisfied with my PS3 as a Blu-ray player. Plus, the selection of movies is great, and going to only get better going into this holiday season.

 

[Duffinator]

I had a Harmony too and it does not work with the PS3 out of the box. PS3 is bluetooth only unless you get an IR add on.

Hey that's cool but problematic. I hadn't thought of bluetooth as a remote system but it makes perfect sense. I'm sure it will quickly replace IR and RF as a standard. Is anybody making bluetooth universal programmable remotes yet? Are any AVR's using bluetooth yet?

Will the PS3 output 1080i via component like HD DVD?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I just sold my PS3 to my brother for $200.
Why?
It only had two outputs: HDMI 1.3 and Optical Digital.
The internal decoders will decode DD, DD+, DTS, but I don't think it even has Dolby TruHD, DTS-HD, or DTS-HD MA.
Since it has NO analog 5.1/7.1 output, you can only get uncompressed audio via HDMI.
With the latest firmware it can now upscale DVD to 1080p.
It is LOUD when it gets hot. That fan noise is really loud!
You'd probably want to buy a separate Sony Blue-tooth remote control.

Unless you are a gamer, I would not buy the PS3.

 

[avaserfi]

I just sold my PS3 to my brother for $200.
Why?
It only had two outputs: HDMI 1.3 and Optical Digital.
The internal decoders will decode DD, DD+, DTS, but I don't think it even has Dolby TruHD, DTS-HD, or DTS-HD MA.
Since it has NO analog 5.1/7.1 output, you can only get uncompressed audio via HDMI.
With the latest firmware it can now upscale DVD to 1080p.
It is LOUD when it gets hot. That fan noise is really loud!
You'd probably want to buy a separate Sony Blue-tooth remote control.

Unless you are a gamer, I would not buy the PS3.

The only format listed that the PS3 won't internally decode is DTS-MA and people are actually expecting a firmware updated to add that ability. Also, while the fans are slightly loud I have never noticed them over a movie or game, maybe your PS3 was in poor location.

 

[mikeyj92]

You will need an HDMI cable if that is the connection you are using.

bluejeanscable or monoprice. Order today, heck order 2 or 3. You'll have it by Monday.

 

[mikeyj92]

I just sold my PS3 to my brother for $200.
Why?
It only had two outputs: HDMI 1.3 and Optical Digital.

What more do you need?

 

[Warpdrv]

too soon to jump on that bandwagon in my eyes....

I'll hold out until the format wars plays out a bit longer....

 

[j_garcia]

Here's the other thing about the PS3 - they haven't officially announced it yet, but they are almost certainly going to start a service much like Microsoft has with Xbox Live where you can download movies directly. If this interests you, then it doesn't matter if you are a gamer... I imagine this feature will be out by the holiday season.

The PS3 works fine with Dolby True HD and can pass the core 5.1 of dts-HD MA and True HD via optical....As noted, full 7.1 dts-HD MA is the only format the PS3 doesn't currently support.

The fan in HIGH mode is quite loud, but mine has almost never gone into this mode because I gave it plenty of space for air flow.

If you are only interested in BD movies, then a regular stand alone player would be the way to go - the BDP-S300/301 are selling for $449.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

If you plan on upgrading to a receiver with HDMI 1.3 (Onkyo, Denon), then the PS3 is just fine because it also has HDMI 1.3, which means it can pass all the bitstreams of TruHD, DTS-HD MA, etc. right to the receiver for decoding.

 

[j_garcia]

You can convert everything to LPCM (except dts-HD MA) right now and pass it via HDMI to a receiver that has HDMI 1.1 or better also.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

As always; you guys have been great help. A small issue came up yesterday as I was headed to BB to get the PS3. I accidentally stopped by American Iron horse choppers and started looking at bikes. I almost bought one last night but decided my wife would kill me. I had her run up there so she could talk me out of it and all she said was “these are awesome bike, you should get one”. I left without one but now I am going to sleep on it and see if I change my mind. I cant afford a PS3 and a 27K bike at the same time.

 

[Adam]

Does "27K bike" stand for $27,000 bike? Heck, get them to knock off about 2% on the price, and you've got yourself a bike and a PS3.

 

[j_garcia]

LOL. Have them built the PS3 into the bike...like that Intel bike that OCC did.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Yes it means a $27,000 bike. We are looking at getting 3 of them so I hope they will knock a lot off the price. I dont know what 27K x 3 is but it seems like quite a bit of money so they should be willing to work with me.

Does "27K bike" stand for $27,000 bike? Heck, get them to knock off about 2% on the price, and you've got yourself a bike and a PS3.

 

[Adam]

Yes it means a $27,000 bike. We are looking at getting 3 of them so I hope they will knock a lot off the price. I dont know what 27K x 3 is but it seems like quite a bit of money so they should be willing to work with me.

You make me smile, Greg. First, on your way to buy a $600 (or whatever they cost) PS3, you get sidetracked and start looking at a $27k bike. Then, you say that you can't swing both a $27k bike and a PS3...and now you're talking about getting three $27k bikes. Poor PS3. It wouldn't even come close to covering the tax on those.

BTW, this is becoming one expensive "trip to BB" isn't it?