Now that Blue Ray is the winner of high definition I guess its time to break down and get one. But I have no idea which one. I have looked online and the highest rated Blue Ray player is the Playstation 3. I really have no need for a game system, I spend enough time on the computer just surfing the net. What do you guys think is a good one? Not to spendy either, I am not looking to spend over 400 and quite honestly 300 would be better.

 

Sony makes good electronics.

 

Not for sure if the deal is going on, but sometimes the sony store thats online has deals if you sign up for their credit card. Remember reading this on the IGN forums.

Next to my truck, electronics are my fav! The PS3 is extremly nice due to its many many features. Internet browser, synch to another computer and play mp3's and vids through your network, dvd upscaling to hd resolutions and the list keeps growing as sony adds more features.

The blu ray features on the PS3 also can be upgraded through their firmware upgrades.

Now Im wishing I wouldnt have bought one of the $100 HD-DVD players at wal mart!

 

Sony PS3.. It does the job and priced right. It can also surf the net with limitations, so you can watch youtube and stuff. If your tv is clear enough, you can use it for forums as well and attaching a keyboard and mouse is plug and play. I would recommend the 40gb version, less fan noise. Oh yah.. got linux on mine too.. if your into that kinda geek stuff.. one more thing, it plays video games..

Just my opinion.

good luck..

 

less fan noise? I thought it just didnt have the memory card reader or wifi.

 

The 40gb has a newer processor that uses less power so it doesn't produce as much heat as the original processor. I personally haven't heard the difference, but a co-worker has a 80gb and specifically complained about the fan noise. I haven't notice any fan noise with my 40gb.

The biggest downside for the 40gb, is it can't play PS2 games. It also can't play SACD, but who's gonna miss that?

It does have WIFI. It doesn't have a memory card reader or extra USB ports but that can be added as well and the HD is user upgradable.

 

Well might not have the choice on the 80, heard they might discontinue that sku now. Who knows though, I have an original 60 launch version, love it and wouldnt trade it for the world. They really know how to make good products and learned from the past. Definitly no red rings of death here

 

The 60 I have is pretty quite, doesnt sound like a holset spooling up or an xbox on the fringe. hehe

 

Just a note on PS3. Mine stopped reading discs and sent it back for warrenty, and who now's were it is. Did some research and its very common on the 40's to sieze up after installing the 2.01 latest upgrade. Its a bummer when you come home with No Country for Old Men on Blue-Ray and can't play it!!!!!!!!

 

some good advice on buying HD dvd players...DONT.

not yet at least, wait till the prices drop some more. paying a grand for a dvd player that in 3-6 months is gonna cost 300 would just be stupid. think of all the people that bought thousand dollar HD DVD players (the actual HD HDdvd players) and then had them rendered obsolete.

another thing to keep in mind. in the near future, HD movies are gonna be available for download, then you just link up your computer to your tv and you are good to go.


but if you MUST have one now, LG is top of the list right now I believe.

oh, and good sound system is almost a must if you are watching HD, if you are buy something for its high quality video, dont forget they put a lot of effort into the sound side of it as well.

good luck choosin!

 

Well I have a Toshiba A30 HD-DVD player. It's a nice player, but I'm a bit disappointed at how slow it starts from the time I put a disc in until the main menu comes up. My old player was about 15 seconds or less, this one has to be close to 2 minutes. Is that how all HD/B-R players are? I bought it about two months before the blu-ray format prevailed and "won." I was under the impression not long before I bought the player that HD-DVD was leading, so I went ahead and got the player as I had just bought a brand new 42" flat panel, Digital cable with HD, so I needed to complete the package I guess. Boy do I wish I would have waited. I can still get the 5 free HD-DVD's, for a total of 7 as the player came with two. I am really hoping the the remaining HD-DVD's go way down in price. I'm just not going to pay full price or even over half to get movies for an obsolete player.
I don't have much of a choice but to keep it, I haven't checked to see if they are worth anything to anyone surfing e-bay. We have a smaller flat panel in the bedroom and I might stick the HD-DVD player in there (plus it's upconverting) and replace it with a Blu-ray player in the big room. I'm going to wait though, probably another 6-9 months before I get one. See if the prices go down a little more. I already wasted enough. I'm happy with my tv though, lol!
It just ticks me off that they all didn't learn from the betamax/vhs war 25+ years ago. After researching I can clearly see the advantage that blu-ray format had to begin with. But what drew me to an HD-DVD player was that it seemed like there were 3-4 times more titles available for HD over B-R. What a waste of consumer's money. It'd be nice if the companies like Toshiba that manufactured HD players to give you something for trading an old HD player for a Blue-Ray player if they make them anytime soon. Fat chance of that, eh?

 

So the consensus is that even though I dont play video games much beyond Astroempires on my computer that the Playstation is the best of the bunch for Blu-Ray.

 

Blu-Ray DVD capability is the main reason I bought a PS3.
I suck at video games that have more than an 1 joystick and 1 fire button. Give me Space Invaders on Atari 2600 and I can kick butt, the new games I usually can't even figure out how to set all the settings correctly to even start the game

However, Guitar Hero III is pretty cool,
~Rob

 

buy a ps3. you'll be happy you did. i got the 80 gig. and absolutely love it. add a good stereo on it and your laughing. im running my 2 15's 4 10's and 4 mids and 4 highs, holly crap its fun. make sure to get an hdmi cable huge difference in picture quality.

for hdmi cable the sony playstation one is the best value. it also comes with a longer usb cord. in canadian dollars a regular no name hd cable was going for 100 bucks meanwhile the ps3 one was 39.

 

Give us some more information, like what kinda TV this is gonna hook up to and what kinda sound system... and of course, price.

If I were to get a set top box, the Denon DVD-2500BTCI would be my choice for performance to value. The only downside to this player is it lacks analog output for audio, but their higher end the 3800 onewill get you some high quality analog out if youre an audio nut.


I guess the PS3 would work too, but i was a little upset it didnt make espresso too.