ps3 or dedicated blu ray player

quote:

Originally posted by scottyhammer:
Hi Guys,

I am really torn between buying a ps3 to play the occasional game and to watch blu ray discs OR just buy a dedicated blu ray player as the prices for the latter are becoming cheaper all the time im thinking nearly £300 for the ps3 isnt such a no brainer any more as i could get an x box 360 and a decent blu ray player for around the same price. what would you do ??
scotty

The PS3 has wireless connection to internet and Sony use it to update the machine quite often. It is software driven (like a small computer) so it is never be outdated (i.e., it is not a dead design). I really please with the PS3 performance. It does a good job as a blue-ray player and upscaling normal DVD.

i have heard stories that the ps3 runs very hot and has even been known to catch fire ! anyone had or heard about these problems??

quote:

Originally posted by scottyhammer:
i have heard stories that the ps3 runs very hot and has even been known to catch fire ! anyone had or heard about these problems??

Not mine. The cooling is quite good and the noise level is not noticeable beyond 2 m.

I suggest just a dedicated Blu-ray player as it looks more like hifi to me.

I've just done this!

Jon

jon,
which one did you plump for ?
scotty

Hi Scotty,

I went for the Panasonic DMP30 which costs 200 and received very good reviews. Obviously I'm not expecting a sound to match my Naim, but it will output brilliantly at 1080p and I've got a 50" arriving on Thursday!!

My advice to all is just go for it!

Jon

I also use a DMP30 with a Panasonic 50" plasma, the picture on Blu-Ray really is spectacular and the DMP30 has worked well, no glitches thus far. I added a Beresford dac and the overall package is a lot of fun.

ok guys the blu ray is fine but what about normal dvds is the picture also good and is the panny region coded as i have lots of us dvds.
thanks, scotty

quote:

I also use a DMP30 with a Panasonic 50" plasma, the picture on Blu-Ray really is spectacular and the DMP30 has worked well, no glitches thus far. I added a Beresford dac and the overall package is a lot of fun.

Vaughn3D,

Thanks for that!! I'm really excited now - what did the Beresford DAC cost as I hadn't thought of that and I may have a few spare quid????

Jon

I'm in the US and paid $237 for the dac, digital coax and delivery.

http://www.homehifi.co.uk/main/main.html

If you are a fan of concert DVDs I would highly recommend it.

scottyhammer if you look on the av forums you can find out how to make the bd-30 region free, i have a bd-30 and a ps3 i find the bd-30 to be better on bd than the ps3 but having said that it don't play games

There are a few other models to check out.

Panasonic BD-35 and BD-55 (the replacements for the 30 and 50).

Sony BDP-S350 and BDP-550.

For not much money they do very good jobs - apparently.

I have one of the first PS3's, the 60gb model with support for SACD and PS2 games. It's noisy. To the stage where I too will buy a stand-alone player at some point. I believe the newer models are much better on the noise front.

Jay

Scotty,

Lots of US discs? Forget the PS3. I haven't found a way of changing its region or making it region-free (Tuan? Do you know different?). That said, the PS3 is great in that the updates keep it up to date with blu-ray development, and I find I'm using the streaming and disc more than I expected...

Early PS3s could be very noisy and ran very hot, but the later models are fine as far as I know.

THANKS John,Jay,Frank.
I think i will go for the latest panny 35 or 55 and get an xbox360 or wii for the occasional game.

Good decision Dave. You should be able to pick up a 35 or 55 that's region free for DVDs quite easily - there's a fairly simple remote hack to do this but you need a programmable type.

The only difference between the two models is that the 55 has 7.1 analogue audio outputs for surround sound. Both models can decode all the HD sound formats, but I'm not sure if you're into the surround sound thing.

They'll also both down-sample to stereo output so you can run this through the Hi-Fi if you want.

cheers tony.
dave

X-Box pah! Wii all the way, brilliant fun for non-gaming types like me.

Agreed Frank. You need to be fit though...

the wii is for juvenile delinquants !

when you are already sceptical about the noise of a PS3, don't even think about getting an XBox (a.k.a. hairdryer)

i must say adrian that 3 of my friends boys have xboxes and none seem to be noisy. there again none of the ps3s ive seen running were NOT what i would class as loud either.

Probably the newer XBox 360s are less noisy? - I don't know...
But from the ones I have heard, it was clearly the loudest of the 3 current game consoles. Wii was the quietest. BUT because it is not HD, it has much less processor power to cool.

I had to exchange my 1st PS3/60GB because of excessive noise. The 2nd one is much better. Relatively it is O.K. for the power it has inside. Absolutely I still would like to have it more quiet.

Your mileage may vary

quote:

I'm in the US and paid $237 for the dac, digital coax and delivery.

http://www.homehifi.co.uk/main/main.html

If you are a fan of concert DVDs I would highly recommend it.

Thanks Vaughn3D!!

I'm linked up now with the Panasonic DMP 30, and I want the sound through it to come out closer to the CDS3 I use.

DOes the external DAC make a considerable difference???

Jon

If a DVD player, Blu Ray or otherwise could sound close to a CDS3 (two box with full blown separate PSU dedicated feed) I think Naim would go out of business.

The issue is 'sound for pound' of course.

I'll also be getting a Blu ray player within the next 2 months and will either get the Sony 350 or the new Panny 35 but for sound I do not have multiple speakers but will just use the analog stereo RCA to 5DIN in the pre.

B

The dac makes a nice difference when compared to the dac in the blu-ray player, but my CD5x is in a whole other league, not even close.