Thinking of getting a blu ray player...

Chronicle · 28 Jan 2008 at 18:59

Hi,
Thinking of getting a blu ray player. Most people seem to be recommending a ps3 rather than standalone player, as it plays games and is about the same price.

Does the ps3 have any significant disadvantages over other blu ray players? And how does it upscale normal dvds to 1080p?

Just bought a 360 and wii so don't really want to buy another console (wouldn't use it much and it looks ugly...), but it seems better value for money. And i think after the recent news about warner bros and their switch to blu ray means there is no point with hddvd...

badbob · 28 Jan 2008 at 19:05

Looking into BR myself, I'd use a HTPC with Blu-Ray player..that way can play all regions. Unlike a dedicated unit or PS3 which is locked into UK market.

PS3 would be my second choice.

Nymins · 28 Jan 2008 at 19:07

The PS3 is probably the best value Blu-Ray player you can get. Sony constantly update it so it will work with all Blu-Ray movies and interactive features, i think they can upgrade it to profile 2.0? Could be wrong. There are some cheap Blu-Ray players like the Sony BDP-S300 and Samsung BD-P1400 which can be had for around £199 in places. The Sony player also has an offer on for 6 free Blu-Ray movies which are the Spiderman trilogy and the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy. Those seperately would probably add up to more than £100 so its pretty good value for money.

However, the Sony and Samsung Blu-Ray players are only profile 1.0 which means that only the movies will work for newer releases. None of the special features will work afaik.

Chronicle · 28 Jan 2008 at 19:10

badbob said:
Looking into BR myself, I'd use a HTPC with Blu-Ray player..that way can play all regions. Unlike a dedicated unit or PS3 which is locked into UK market.

PS3 would be my second choice.

Hmm, i was half thinking of making my computer silent and adding another gfx card (so can have 2 monitors + tv)...but then decided too much work. I suppose all i need though is a blu ray drive & new graphics card? Are there any that support hdmi, and on pci (only 1 pci-express slot, which is already used)?

bingham67 · 28 Jan 2008 at 19:12

badbob said:
Looking into BR myself, I'd use a HTPC with Blu-Ray player..that way can play all regions. Unlike a dedicated unit or PS3 which is locked into UK market.

PS3 would be my second choice.

Your right but you can get region free Bluray quite a lot are.

http://bluray.liesinc.net/#brus

I would go with PS3 added games machine and like said above easy upgradeable i cant hear mine when watching movie.

badbob · 28 Jan 2008 at 19:14

^But some UK releases are censored. Also now with a universal display 24hz I guess there is no pal speed up, like on DVD-Video?

james.miller · 30 Jan 2008 at 11:39

i'd also go with a ps3. i have a 60gb ps3 and a htpc with a hd-dvd drive and a bluray drive. the ps3 is the least troublesome of the lot. it just WORKS, which isnt something i can say about hd video on a htpc.

chaparral · 30 Jan 2008 at 12:46

I use a PS3 for blue-ray movies as well......(HTPC can = to much hassle)

peahead · 30 Jan 2008 at 13:48

I was a early adopter of blue-ray i bought a jap 20g ps3 ragion (A) player when they first came out i get all my discs from the us as they are cheaper and have a wider selection of movies never looked back.

Chronicle · 30 Jan 2008 at 14:04

james.miller said:
i'd also go with a ps3. i have a 60gb ps3 and a htpc with a hd-dvd drive and a bluray drive. the ps3 is the least troublesome of the lot. it just WORKS, which isnt something i can say about hd video on a htpc.

What kind of problems with htpc do you get? would have thought once its set up, it just works?

don't really want a ps3 because i'd never play games on it (got xbox... prefer it i think, and as far as i know theres no games only on ps3 that are worth getting a ps3 for)

and isn't there going to be a new ps3 bundle out soon, with new controller or something?

Donk · 30 Jan 2008 at 14:29

I use a PS3 for blu-ray movies. Excellent quality for movies.

Chronicle · 30 Jan 2008 at 14:56

Looks like ps3 is everyones option... Wish the xbox had a blu ray player attachment like its hddvd one...

Does it (ps3) upscale dvds to 1080p ok?

badbob · 30 Jan 2008 at 14:59

Once a HTPC is setup is does work, however you might need to add a codec whenever something refuses to play.

It's not perfect, however I'll rather have it this way, than a unit which'll refuse to play something and there's bugger all you can do about it. Region free Blu-Ray on a PC is a major plus point.

It's not like normal DVD-Video players which are available as multi-region.

Nymins · 30 Jan 2008 at 16:50

HTPC's are good too cause you can watch your own movies on it and such. I agree that the fact that you can play US and UK blu-rays on it will be a major advantage too.

wwwebber · 31 Jan 2008 at 14:26

Chronicle said:
Looks like ps3 is everyones option... Wish the xbox had a blu ray player attachment like its hddvd one...

Does it (ps3) upscale dvds to 1080p ok?

Yes, the PS3 upscales to 1080p beautifuly

malccy · 1 Feb 2008 at 14:34

Sorry to barge in but does the PS3 also player AVI/Divx?

Shimmyhill · 1 Feb 2008 at 17:53

malccy said:
Sorry to barge in but does the PS3 also player AVI/Divx?

It will play some but is pretty picky about codec variations.

I would get a PS3 until the day a finished spec standalone is avaliable. The PS3 isnt perfect but does a good job and is at least future proof !

neil3k · 1 Feb 2008 at 18:06

I was looking into this. Is bluetooth likely to beat HD DVD?

Nymins · 1 Feb 2008 at 18:08

neil3k said:
I was looking into this. Is bluetooth likely to beat HD DVD?

Blu-ray

is basically the winner of the format war since all the major film makers have dropped HD-DVD.

wwwebber · 1 Feb 2008 at 18:09

neil3k said:
I was looking into this. Is bluetooth likely to beat HD DVD?

Are you having a laugh ? :confused: