Help me choose a blu-ray player

[GNDN]

OK, November 17 can't come quickly enough, and I'm afraid the DVD/Blu-Ray release of ST may finally convince me to upgrade to Hi-Def.

Please share what Blu-Ray player you have, your likes and dislikes, and what you would look for if you were buying one today (or November 16! )

Thanks for any and all advice.

 

[destructive]

Playstation 3, in addition to providing exceptional Blu-ray playback (with fast start-up times), it offers excellent DVD upscaling (must use a HDMI cord), playback of a wide variety of media (file formats such as: .avi, .divx, .xvid, .mpeg, .mpg, .m2t, h.264, AVC, .m2ts, .vob, .mkv, .mxf, .jpeg, .mp3, .wma, .aac, 480i/p, 720p, 1080i/p, AVCHD and HDV video from many of today's high definition camcorders) the ability to stream said content from your PC using freeware apps such as 'PS3 Media Server', or 'TVersity', wirelessly, or through a network cable, the ability to store said content in the ps3's internal hard drive (or add an external hard drive, usb thumb drive, or change out the ps3's internal hard drive for a larger 2.5" 500gb internal drive), the system is easily upgradeable via internet, (many updates have been offered for free by Sony).
Other benefits include web browsing, free membership to the Playstaion Network (thus allowing you to download free game demos, movie trailers, etc), and of course game play of all PS1 and PS3 games

 

[Da'an]

The Playstation 3.

 

[GNDN]

Never been much into gaming, so maybe I've had a kind of prejudice that the PS3 player was more of an add-on. How is the ease of use, etc? And is there any stand alone blu-ray player that has all those features (excepting the game play, or course)?

Thanks for the info.

The internal/external hard drive options are intriguing. Are the freeware options you mention avail for MAC?

 

[destructive]

I'm not a gamer either, that was my point, the PS3 offers a whole universe of effortless, photo, music, video playblack, and web browsing, you can use it everyday and never have to touch a game, for me it's indespensible because i have a lot of HD video, from camcorders and **coughtorrentscough**, and PS3 playback is a breeze espically since i have an older PC
The onscreen menu of the PS3, the XMB (cross-media-bar) is simple and intuitive, if you don't like the included controller Sony offers a full featured remote for about $25
Not sure if the programs 'PS3 Media Server', or 'TVersity' are availble for a Mac, I'm using WinXP

 

[GNDN]

Thanks, destructive, just got thru reading a number of reviews and the PS3 certainly does seem impressive. I really like the idea of using the hard drive for storing and watching content. Wireless connectivity would be a huge plus so I'll look into that more regarding MAC, but I may have just been sold on a BD player... seems too easy lol!

 

[GhostFaceSaint]

The nice thing about a PS3 is that as you update the software through Sony or its update function you update the Blue-Ray player and improve the systems other features. Also if you have a home theater it can be a music player too, you can replace the 80GB/160GB hard-drive with a larger PC hard-drive so that you can put on the unit a ton of albums; imagine what you can hold with 320 or 500 gigabytes of memory!

 

[Mr. B]

I have two, a PS3 (awesome for reasons stated) and a Pioneer BD-51FD. I bought the Pioneer on sale ($169) so I could leave the PS3 in the living room rather than move it to my bedroom when I want to watch a BD there.

The Pioneer is a high-end player that debuted last May complete with full analog audio outputs, true 24 fps playback, Wolfson Audio DACs and all the Dolby and DTS decoding features you could want. It's a fine player but it has no ethernet functions so it can't do profile 2.0 stuff like BD-Live. Also, compared to the PS3 (my 1st experience with Blu-ray), it's incredibly slow loading like alot of stand-alone players.

If you can afford it and are not concerned with the lack of RF on the PS3, by all means get it. As it is basically a full-fledged computer it is going to load discs faster than stand-alone players and it will have firmware updates for years to come. It serves a DLNA server as well which is very useful to me. I can download [stuff] on my desktop and then watch it on the big plasma in the other room.

If I were to recommend a stand-alone player I would probably say something like the LG BD390 which has internal Wi-Fi and offers Netflix and YouTube streaming.

 

[DiSiLLUSiON]

it offers excellent DVD upscaling

DVD upscaling is near worthless with good quality, non-interlaced DVD images. And I know, I've got a good, expensive upscaling DVD player.

So the upscaling of DVD's shouldn't be a deciding factor, unless a lot of your DVD's are mediocre in quality. Still, an upscaling chip isn't exactly cheap, and there's lots of other features you can get for that money.

Beyond that, buying a PS3 as a bluray player even if you didn't play videogames used to make some sense, due to the fact that it simply was cheaper then the alternatives. However, prices have since dropped and it's no longer always the cheap choice.

 

[Amaris]

I own a Magnavox Blu-ray player from Walmart. They sell them for $169, and I love the player. All of my DVDs look fantastic, the Blu-rays I own are incredible. I have full dolby surround sound, 24 fps for cinematic quality, the whole works, DVDs load in literal seconds, and Blu-ray takes maybe, MAYBE 5-10 seconds before you're watching your movie, and it has performed magnificently. It doesn't have an ethernet port for BD Live, but every Blu-ray I have purchased has played without a hitch, so I'm not concerned about compatibility. I can't wait for the Star Trek blu-ray release. I get the feeling I'm going to wear the disc out!

J.

 

[Marc]

If I were to recommend a stand-alone player I would probably say something like the LG BD390 which has internal Wi-Fi and offers Netflix and YouTube streaming.

I'm looking to get a blu-ray player in the near future and wondering if the network connectivity really offers any benefit?

Don't really care about the any online content that might come with discs so wondering what other advantages it might have?

 

[Drogo]

Don't really care about the any online content that might come with discs so wondering what other advantages it might have?

Firmware updates for the unit? A lot of reviews recommend Internet capability for that reason alone. It's not a requirement to have it connected at all times.

 

[Vance]

Don't really care about the any online content that might come with discs so wondering what other advantages it might have?

The big advantage is firmware, since BluRay features are being added all the time. (One reason the PS3 is so good as a player, since Sony is religious about getting those features installed ASAP). A network enabled player will always be up to date (so long as you're on a network), whereas older players can make themselves useless pretty quick.

 

[scotthm]

Please share what Blu-Ray player you have, your likes and dislikes, and what you would look for if you were buying one today (or November 16! )

I don't have a Blu-ray player yet, but if I were buying one tomorrow I'd get the Oppo BDP-83 based on what I've read on the 'net about Blu-ray players. If you can stand the $500 price tag, the reviews say this is the player to have.

http://www.oppodigital.com/blu-ray-bdp-83/blu-ray-BDP-83-Review.aspx

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[Amaris]

Don't really care about the any online content that might come with discs so wondering what other advantages it might have?

The big advantage is firmware, since BluRay features are being added all the time. (One reason the PS3 is so good as a player, since Sony is religious about getting those features installed ASAP). A network enabled player will always be up to date (so long as you're on a network), whereas older players can make themselves useless pretty quick.

Not necessarily. My Blu-ray player has an SD flash drive which allows firmware updates to be installed directly from the flash card.
That being said, my Magnavox hasn't needed a firmware update once, and I've bought several new release Blu-rays.

J.

 

[clint g]

I'm going to toss another vote in for the PS3. It isn't much of a gaming device but it's a great multi-media/Blu-Ray player

 

[GNDN]

Is there a simple way (or any way?) to connect the PS3 to my wireless network? I'm all but sold on the unit, the hard drive being one of the main attractions, but where I would position it in the living room, I have no ethernet and don't really feel the desire to run cable there.

Alternative I suppose would be to have a temporary cable that I could hook up just for updates and downloads, or disconnect the unit and move it to an available cable, neither ideal.

I may be hoping for too much?

 

[Mr. B]

I'm looking to get a blu-ray player in the near future and wondering if the network connectivity really offers any benefit?

Currently, networking can offer easy firmware updates (no burning a CD for one-time use) and certain players can stream Netflix instant watching, YouTube, Pandora, etc.

The network requirement on Profile 2.0 players is in part a future-proofing for when BD-Live is no longer lame. If you can score a deal on a 1.1 player without ethernet, go for it (I did) but if you're going to pay retail price you might as well get the newest standard.

 

[Mr. B]

Is there a simple way (or any way?) to connect the PS3 to my wireless network? I'm all but sold on the unit, the hard drive being one of the main attractions, but where I would position it in the living room, I have no ethernet and don't really feel the desire to run cable there.

All PS3s except the 20gb launch console have internal Wi-Fi. The reception should be quite adequate to acquire a signal from an access point anywhere in your house.

 

[Haggis and tatties]

PS3 at present is the best BR player on the market.......If you can hold off a bit longer there are rumors of a slim version of the PS3 and price cut supposed to be announce next month.