In the market.

[umainebearman]

Now I'm in the market for a BR player only cause I have the money HA!

PS3 questions -

Do you have buy the remote seperately to make this thing work or is it included?

Also is there a 5 free disk offer like the other players??

I came close a couple of times in the last couple days on pulling the trigger on the PS3 but have not yet. Game disks will never see the inside of this if I do get it. If it comes with a controller I would take it to gamestop and get some credit for it. I want a good blu ray player that will play the first blu ray disk that was released and one that gets released 2 weeks from now. If its the PS3 so be it.

I have an older reciever Sony STR-DE845 so I'm not going to get all the new sound formats and stuff out of it. I am however looking to upgrade that.

So any suggestions?

[Derb]

I think the 5 free deal is over.

I recently got the BDP-S300 as a back-up & there wasn't any mail-in offer inside.

The PS3 comes with 1 controller which you could trade in for a BD remote to save some cash.

You do not need the PS3 BD remote to watch movies but it sure is better than the using the game controller.

The Triangle button is the only option to eject the disc from the main screen where as the PS3 BD remote has its own eject button. Also all 4 color buttons are there which makes it faster to navigate through BD-java stuff.

If you hate the Sony brand name, just think its a re-badged IBM computer.

[Astrakan]

Originally Posted by umainebearman

So any suggestions?

My only suggestion would be to keep the controller. I'm in the same exact boat as you, in that I'm looking to get a PS3 as a Blu-ray player before long. I'm also someone who prefers the 360 (the controller, Xbox Live, achievements...) so I don't see myself buying any multiplatform games on the PS3.

However, there's always the odd exclusive that will catch my interest. So far there's only one, Uncharted, but over the course of the console's lieftime I'm sure there'll be a few more.

Considering the small amount of money a controller trade-in is likely to net you, I don't see the harm in keeping it.

KM

[biglyle]

The 5 free deal is over. I won my PS3 at a Christmas party and sent in the 5 free offer on Dec 28. I got my 5 free on Thursday of last week and not one movie was from the list I chose. Same thing happened with the HD DVD deal oddly enough. I am 0-10

I also second the remote. It is worth the extra cash just for ease of use.

[billnye97]

Umain, I agree with Astrakan about keeping the remote. I bought a PS3 just for the Blu Ray player but I ended up buying the exclusive PS3 games (Ratchet and Clank, Uncharted, Motostorm, and Metal Gear Solid). Everything else I have bought for the 360. The controller isn't that hard to use for the remote, maybe a little inconvenient. I haven't encountered any problems with any of the blu ray's that I have. Just make sure you update the firmware when you set it up. All in all it's a great player and even if there is a 1% chance you might be interested in a game I would go for it.

[chlngr1970]

Since you plan on upgrading your AVR in the future, the PS3 will make the most sence for you. As for now, who needs lossless anyway

Depending on what your remote budget is, you might consider the IR2BT adapter. It converts a standard IR code to the PS3s Blue Tooth signal, and makes your quest for a universal remote MUCH easier.

j

[umainebearman]

DAMN IT! NOW I'M LOOKING AT AVRS!!!! I did find a decent Sony (I've had very good luck with the one I have now so...)in my price range, its the Sony STR-DG720.

Now I was reading one of the reviews on Circuit Citys site. Is it true with one of the latest PS3s firmware updates that the PS3 will decode Dlby Digital TrueHD and DTS HD? If thats true than my decision on this combo is probably made.

I'm getting buyers anxiety already and haven't bought a damn thing.

[plissken99]

Yep, the PS3 now decodes all the audio formats. I can't recommend it highly enough for a BD player, the response time is excellent, and it remembers where you are after the discs are ejected(I dunno how long it's memory is, but I plugged in Dirty Harry and started at the end, and I've watched like 6 movies since then).

As for AVRs, I haven't found Sony to sound as good as some other brands. If you have an Ultimate Electronics or other high end store like that, they should be able to show you quick A-B comparisons between recievers. I'm a Denon man myself, in an AB comparison against Yamaha and Pioneer, the difference was night and day.

[dugpa]

Just don't plan on watching any dvds on it, otherwise you'll go blind (or more likely wish you were!) But horrible upconversion aside, the PS3 is probably the way to go for now. If you can wait till fall, there will be more profile 2.0 players out there to choose from. I'm holding out for the Sony BDP-S550 myself.
Never been a big fan of Sony's receivers, but it's how it sounds to your ears that's important so I say go with it.

[umainebearman]

I am seriously doing this Sh*t backwards!

I have a friend who game me a site that has great prices on a/v cables ( HDMI Cable, Home Theater Accessories, HDMI Products, Cables, Adapters, Video/Audio Switch, Networking, USB, Firewire, Printer Toner, and more! if anyone's interested)so I bought a couple of them. Hey 3.25 for an hdmi cable why not.

Then I decided to get the receiver. Like I said before I've had good luck with Sony recievers so I'll stick with them.

I haven't even ordered the damn Sony BR3 player (thats what I'm gonna call it, sorta in denial) yet. Guess thats my next step right?

And Dugpa I have read about the horrid dvd playback of the BR3. I'm not worried about that, my old JVC progressive scan dvd player does just fine. Unless I find out the 360 does upconvert without the HDAO.

I'm kinda scared at this point cause my last try at a HD player failed miserably. I bought the 360 AO and not 1 week later the shit hit the fan! YEAH WARNER I'M LOOKIN AT YOU! Funny thing is I went to trade the thing in at Gamestop and some customer there bought it off me for $80. Plus since I bought it from Amazon I got a $50 credit cause hd dvd went tits up.

Now I guess I have to pull the trigger on an actual player.........

[LeChuck]

I don't know if I have some settings wrong, but the PS3 is a lot better DVD player than my A30. I just tested it the other day while watching some PBS documentary and on the A30 it almost seemed to be showing every other frame, it was really choppy. On zooms, rather than smooth like on the PS3, there was a slight pause every second as it zoomed in, which happened a lot because this is a PBS documentary. Honestly, even without comparison to anything else, the PS3 looks good during SDDVD playback.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by LeChuck

I don't know if I have some settings wrong, but the PS3 is a lot better DVD player than my A30. I just tested it the other day while watching some PBS documentary and on the A30 it almost seemed to be showing every other frame, it was really choppy. On zooms, rather than smooth like on the PS3, there was a slight pause every second as it zoomed in, which happened a lot because this is a PBS documentary. Honestly, even without comparison to anything else, the PS3 looks good during SDDVD playback.

PBS is video-based material (30fps), and this is why the PS3 may have looked good. Where the PS3 has major issues is film-based material (24fps), and this is the area where the PS3 failed to measure up even to $99 Walmart DVD upconverters in the Secrets progressive benchmarks.

On the other hand, I don't think you are really getting the most out of DVD anyway unless you have a high end scaler chipset, like Reon/Realta, in the mix somewhere being fed 480i via HDMI; though you can't do that with the PS3, either...

[elfman]

Here's the solution that I used to allow IR control of my PS3 (via my Pronto Pro remote):
RC Article: Adding IR Remote Control Capabilities to the PlayStation 3 (1)
A bit limited, but works fine and I got the ps2 remote and adapter off of ebay for like $20...

[chlngr1970]

This is a solution. The one I mentioned above might be more expensive, but it does so without wires. Nothing to plug into the PS3. It just converts the signal from IR, to Blue Tooth. This is a much cleaner solution IMHO.

But, I have never heard anything bad about Monoprice. My only hope is their HDMI cables are better than the ones I got at a local shop for ~$5...

And, one of our members just got the 820, IIRC, and is quite happy with it. I say go for it if it fits your needs. Make sure that your retailer has a good return policy, in case you are not happy with it ( but I bet you will be )

j

[umainebearman]

Well the last Sony receiver I got was from Circuit city and I got the extended warranty and only 1 thing went wrong with it, they fixed it and had it back to me in a week. I did the same this time. I got both the PS3 and the receiver from CC with the EW. I got the receiver for under $300 because the company I work for has a discount plan through several companies and 7% off anything is good. Unfortunately it was only good on the receiver it couldn't be applied to the PS3 so I had to do that on a seperate order which I thought was weird.

Now I have a receiver, a PS3, and a few hdmi cables all on there way. Unfortunately I gots no blu rays to play. Guess I need to get cracking on that.

Anyone know a quick way to find out the Mac address of the PS3? I have my wireless router set up to only accept mac addresses I assign. I'm gonna get the PS3 updated and everything and then hopefully have clear sailing from there.

[dugpa]

Monoprice is great. I have a bunch of their HDMI cables and did an a/b comparison with them and a couple of Monster ones I had. No difference. I use their cables for various work projects and they've never let me down yet. Proof that with the expensive cables you're paying for the name more often than not.

[chlngr1970]

Originally Posted by umainebearman

Well the last Sony receiver I got was from Circuit city and I got the extended warranty and only 1 thing went wrong with it, they fixed it and had it back to me in a week. I did the same this time. I got both the PS3 and the receiver from CC with the EW. I got the receiver for under $300 because the company I work for has a discount plan through several companies and 7% off anything is good. Unfortunately it was only good on the receiver it couldn't be applied to the PS3 so I had to do that on a seperate order which I thought was weird.

Cool, good luck, and let us know how it is working for you!

Now I have a receiver, a PS3, and a few hdmi cables all on there way. Unfortunately I gots no blu rays to play. Guess I need to get cracking on that.

Both Netflix and Blockbuster rent them. That makes it easy to see what you want to buy, opr pass on...

Anyone know a quick way to find out the Mac address of the PS3? I have my wireless router set up to only accept mac addresses I assign. I'm gonna get the PS3 updated and everything and then hopefully have clear sailing from there.

The MAC address is device specific. It should be in the menue. That just means that you have to wait till you get your PS3 to find it...

j

[sub780lime]

On an added PS3 note, I bought a third-party remote for 10 bucks that is infrared as opposed to blutooth (it has a little infrared usb that plugs into the front) and I can now program my universal to my BD player.

[umainebearman]

Could Sony have crammed any more setting to adjust on the PS3?? Holy crap!

Well everything went pretty smoothly setting it up. I think I got lucky when I found the Mac address but the wireless setup was very easy. Sony could have at least provided a charged controller. Its a very quiet piece of hardware of course I didn't run it for long. Maybe I'm just not used to the menu system but the 360s dash is much simpler but then again the 360 doesn't have br so....

As far as the receiver is concerned, I couldn't be more happy with it. I was afraid I was going to have to go through a whole long set up thing with it. You know adjust the speaker volume, tell the unit how far the speakers are from listening position, blah blah blah. Luckily Sony has a new (I'm assuming new) auto calibration tool. There a small round microphone with about a 10 foot cord that plug into it's own port on the front of the receiver, you put the mic in the position where your ear level would generally be and run the auto calibration program. It sets volume and distance for you. It left the center channel a little loud but other than that it worked great.

There is only 1 complaint I have though there's no digital (tos link) in for the dvd only coax. So now I'm gonna have to sacrifice. Either watch dvds on the PS3 which is indeed a horrible experience, or us a coax audio wire for my dvd player.

[chlngr1970]

Glad to hear you are having a good experience with your setup. I did an install not to long ago with a Denon AVR 5803 where the guys PS3 went tits up and he had to send it back to them...his retailer wouldn't exchange it for him. I dunno who he bought it from, but that is NOT what I call good customer service...

What kind of DVD player do you have? Is it an upcon? If not, does the PQ from your DVD player look better than your PS3? You can probably pick up a descent upcon player for DVD for about $100US. I think the Pioneer player is about $150US...

j

[umainebearman]

My dvd player is an older one. Actually its only the second one I've owned and I got into dvd in 1990. It's a Jvc xv-s65 (gold model) it says its progressive scan but who really knows.

I put Fellowship of the Ring EE in the PS3 and started it at the Prologue and could tell right away that it did not look as good as the jvc. I have been looking into a good up convert and Ruined keeps talking about Reon chip sets. Well what upcons have that chip in it??

I think I need to get at least a couple of Br disks before buying another dvd player. You know just to get some use out of the BR 3. I've narrowed the first purchase down to a few but you never know what will end up in the bag when I walk out.

[plissken99]

Originally Posted by umainebearman

My dvd player is an older one. Actually its only the second one I've owned and I got into dvd in 1990. It's a Jvc xv-s65 (gold model) it says its progressive scan but who really knows.

I put Fellowship of the Ring EE in the PS3 and started it at the Prologue and could tell right away that it did not look as good as the jvc. I have been looking into a good up convert and Ruined keeps talking about Reon chip sets. Well what upcons have that chip in it??

I think I need to get at least a couple of Br disks before buying another dvd player. You know just to get some use out of the BR 3. I've narrowed the first purchase down to a few but you never know what will end up in the bag when I walk out.

I'm sure Ruined will weigh in with specifics, but he'll recommend a seperate scaler with a Reon chipset in it, so you can enjoy top knotch PQ on all your video sources. Not a bad idea by any means, or your looking at picking up a Toshiba XA2 with Reon, think they can be found for under $300 still used.

Yeah the auto calibration tool is very nice, my Denon 3805 was among the 1st to feature it when I bought it in 03 or 04 I think, my 3806 has an improved version of it that calibrates for up to 6 listener positions!

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by umainebearman

I put Fellowship of the Ring EE in the PS3 and started it at the Prologue and could tell right away that it did not look as good as the jvc. I have been looking into a good up convert and Ruined keeps talking about Reon chip sets. Well what upcons have that chip in it??

The Oppo 983 ($399) is the only DVD upcon readily available that has "Reon-quality" upconversion builtin.

Otherwise you need to get a DVD or BD player that has 480i HDMI output and pair it with a Reon/Realta scaler to get top notch upscaling (far better than your JVC).

The best way to do this IMO is by pairing a Pioneer BDP-51FD ($599) with an Onkyo 875 (~$1000). Then you get a great standalone Blu-ray player supporting "Source Direct" that can output both 1080i BD (remember all 30fps BD are interlaced) and 480i DVD over HDMI for proper deinterlacing/upcon - as well as a new nextgen receiver with Reon builtin for upconverting ALL of your sources. You also consolidate BD/DVD all to one player, no need for seperate units. Based on initial reports it looks like the BDP-51FD will be similar to PS3 in speed and offer more A/V quality options such as 8bit>12bit color upconversion for BD discs that exhibit banding as well as the aformentioned source direct resolution output options for use with scalers.

Another option is the Gefen standalone Realta scaler ($699) but for another $300 its more worthwhile to get the 875 IMO. Lastly, there is the Toshiba HD-XA2, but that is out of production and costs well over $400 - plus it is very slow in comparison to the other players being discussed.

[ganthc]

Originally Posted by umainebearman

My dvd player is an older one. Actually its only the second one I've owned and I got into dvd in 1990. It's a Jvc xv-s65 (gold model) it says its progressive scan but who really knows.

I put Fellowship of the Ring EE in the PS3 and started it at the Prologue and could tell right away that it did not look as good as the jvc. I have been looking into a good up convert and Ruined keeps talking about Reon chip sets. Well what upcons have that chip in it??

I think I need to get at least a couple of Br disks before buying another dvd player. You know just to get some use out of the BR 3. I've narrowed the first purchase down to a few but you never know what will end up in the bag when I walk out.

That's interesting, because from what I can tell, the JVC doesn't upconvert the image at all. It is merely a progressive scan player that shouldn't provide a better image than the ps3...or am I missing something?

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by ganthc

That's interesting, because from what I can tell, the JVC doesn't upconvert the image at all. It is merely a progressive scan player that shouldn't provide a better image than the ps3...or am I missing something?

If it doesn't upcon, that simply means his TV does a better job than PS3 at upcon.