The PS3 Review Thread

[Firefox]

Originally Posted by HD 335

I'm completely new to HD players and recently I received an HD DVD player as a gift. I enjoy it but there are some movies that I'd like to watch which is only available in Blu-Ray. I've been thinking about purchasing the PS3 40gig and using it primarily as my player. I'm not big on games but would play a few titles here and there. My question is it the best choice for me to buy the PS3 instead of a stand alone BD player?

Also, a friend told me about profiles and how some older models can't update?

Sell your HD DVD player or keep it, someday it will be a collectible item
I'm loving my PS3 40g as a BD player, I can't tell you on how it compares to stand alone BD players coz I have none.

[andrewski1979]

Hey all! Proud new Blu-Ray owner here (40gig PS3). So far, I'm loving it - even my wife, a very stern critic, was thoroughly impressed with the picture quality. I only have one question, which is better for audio - HDMI to a capable receiver, or TOSLINK to a receiver?? Currently, I have a Sony STR-DG600 which doesn't have HDMI, so I'm using TOSLINK for audio. Should I invest money into a newer receiver or just stick with what I have? Thanks!!

[Robert Siegel]

Congrads on your PS3...I have had mine for 4 weeks now and I think it's one fine piece of equipment, I just love it. The upscaling to 1080p for regular dvd's is among the best I have seen. Be sure to do a firmware upgrade as most come with an older firmware. It's very easy just go to the setup menu and I think the first selection is system update. Do you have cable or DSL? It goes very quickly.

I am in the same position. My receiver does not have HDMI. So all I can hear are the compressed soundtracks using the optical cable. I am seriously thinking of a new receiver but have been waiting to see what CES brings. I think I would rather go with a 2nd generation receiver that have the new sound formats and I think new ones introduced will be cheaper. I've been interested in the Onkyo receivers but have heard of problems.

If you want to hear Dolby True and PCM audio from the Playstation, you will need a new receiver with HDMI, and we all hope they will update for DTS HD and DTS Master soon. I am very anxious for that.

It's funny, I bought the machine for blu-ray, and yet since then I have become a gamer too. I bought Uncharted: Drake's Fortune for the PS3 (exclusive game) and I am so into it. This would be my first gaming since Super Nintendo, years ago (remember Super Mario Brothers? hehe).

Did you buy the blu-ray remote as well? I just got mine and am very happy with it. I got tired of using the controller.

[Greenleaf1]

I'm thinking of buying a PS3 (solely for usage as a BD player), and I'm wondering if it has the same problem that standalone players have.

That is, does it take forever to boot up and then take forever once the BD is put in? I've heard a lot of grief from others about standalones and how they're so slow, and I'm wondering if the PS3 has the same problem.

[Firefox]

Originally Posted by Greenleaf1

I'm thinking of buying a PS3 (solely for usage as a BD player), and I'm wondering if it has the same problem that standalone players have.

That is, does it take forever to boot up and then take forever once the BD is put in? I've heard a lot of grief from others about standalones and how they're so slow, and I'm wondering if the PS3 has the same problem.

PS3 loads fast, tough I never really tried timing it when it loads, I'm guessing it takes 10-15 seconds.

[Robert Siegel]

Originally Posted by Greenleaf1

I'm thinking of buying a PS3 (solely for usage as a BD player), and I'm wondering if it has the same problem that standalone players have.

That is, does it take forever to boot up and then take forever once the BD is put in? I've heard a lot of grief from others about standalones and how they're so slow, and I'm wondering if the PS3 has the same problem.

I have had my PS3 after owning and selling the Samsung 1200 and the Panny bd10a. The PS3 is superfast compared to those, I love it. Also, it has the fastest scan of any player I have seen, for regular dvd too, you can scan up to 120x, meaning you can scan through a movie very fast.

This really is a fantastic blu-ray player. Its only downfall so far is the lack of DTS HD and DTS Master audio support, which I hope will be announced at CES.

[Joe Cain]

Originally Posted by Greenleaf1

I'm thinking of buying a PS3 (solely for usage as a BD player), and I'm wondering if it has the same problem that standalone players have.

That is, does it take forever to boot up and then take forever once the BD is put in? I've heard a lot of grief from others about standalones and how they're so slow, and I'm wondering if the PS3 has the same problem.

No.

At least from what I've heard. I don't own a standalone so I can't do a direct comparison, but my PS3 has never kept me waiting long enough to wonder if the load-times should be faster.

[Verbal]

The PS3 is generally regarded as the fastest-loading (and best) Blu-ray player on the market.

This thing is a friggin' tank.

[Corrugated]

From what I have heard, the PS3 uses it's cpu and ram (which is much faster than the stand alone players) to aid in it's seek and playing functions.

[sudbury78]

I apparently can't start another thread for some reason as I am a new member of the forum. I'm in the market for a ps3 and was waiting for WB decision and now that its official, time to go blu. A few pages back in this thread someone mentioned that their 80GB did not play some ps2 games so they had to buy the now, non existant 60GB model. I was under the impressiuon that the 80GB was fully backwards compatible??? I wonder if the 40GB model will someday get an update to be BC, yet dont know if that sort of update is even possible.

Does anyone have a good board for ps3 owners? The official sony bulletin board seems filled with kids and 360 bashers, which I also own. Thanks for the input and advice!!

[usps03]

Originally Posted by Corrugated

From what I have heard, the PS3 uses it's cpu and ram (which is much faster than the stand alone players) to aid in it's seek and playing functions.

I do not feel bad for those who bought a standalone player and then complain about how slow it is. And I can't explain to them how awesome the ps3 is because that tends to cause disquietude.

[Trean]

Has there been any release from Sony as to stating that eventually they plan to give the PS3 the ability to bitstream all forms of audio including HD audio?

[blackngold75]

Thanks to everyone on this board for singing the praises of the PS3. I joined Blu-ray.com a couple of months ago, still not sure if I was ready to commit to Blu. Then, I was convinced that I wanted a player, but a standalone. But, after reading so much great feedback about it, I finally bought a PS3 at the end of November. This thing is great!!

[hoven]

Originally Posted by blackngold75

Thanks to everyone on this board for singing the praises of the PS3. I joined Blu-ray.com a couple of months ago, still not sure if I was ready to commit to Blu. Then, I was convinced that I wanted a player, but a standalone. But, after reading so much great feedback about it, I finally bought a PS3 at the end of November. This thing is great!!

I agree

[DrasticPlastic]

Originally Posted by Trean

Has there been any release from Sony as to stating that eventually they plan to give the PS3 the ability to bitstream all forms of audio including HD audio?

The PS3's hardware won't allow it to bitstream TrueHD or DTS-HD MA, so the best you will get is internal decoding output as PCM, hopefully it won't take too long for them to add DTS-HD MA decoding via firmware.

[rtrguy]

Hello fellow Blu-Ray members. I am new to the forum and new to Blu-Ray.

I started my journey with a Sony S300 standalone player but have since returned it in favor of a PS3. Wow what a difference. I could not believe the speed of the load times alone on the PS3 when compared to the S300. Plus with the PS3 you get so much more for the money... really a somewhat complete Entertainment System. There also seems to be much forward compatibility with the PS3.. more so than most stand alone players from what I have seen so far from reading the posts.

The sales guy asked me why I was going with the PS3 for a Blu-Ray player - obviously he does not know his stuff or the PS3 is a well kept secret only shared by members of this forum. He even told me that the drive component of the PS3 was inferior to the S300 - I don't believe that.

The PS3 has currently got to be one of the best players one can get especially at the low cost it can be had for. Sure it has some limitations with Audio but if that is not a concern it seems to be a very good way to go.

I was happy with my S300... but I am ecstatic with my PS3.

[Tiresius]

Hey all,

First post, so I can't start a new thread yet. For the past 4 years I've been loving HD via Cable DVR's and Tivo Series 3 when it finally shipped.

Although, I've preffered Blu-Ray from the beginning, I've pretty much sat on the sidelines with this war waiting for a winner, not willing to bet $500-1000 on either format. Having owned two beta VCRs in the early 80's and having a DVD-Audio player in my car, I know what it's like to end up a format-war victim.

From the looks of the forums I've read since last friday it's been and emotional, bloody war -kind of glad I didn't get too involved with it.

Now that it looks safe to go Blu, I'm leaning towards the PS3 as a Blu-Ray player(& gaming companion to the Wii, Gamecube & PS/2), but have some questions I'm not clear on. I have read this entire thread, as well as several in the audio section.

I have an older Denon AVR-2800 receiver, no plans($$) to upgrade soon. It's been great for Dolby Digital & DTS sound from DVD's & HDTV channels.
Since there's no HDMI on the reciever and no 5.1 analog out on the PS3, my best connection option for audio is optical digital. My understanding is that the best I will get from this is DolbyDigital 5.1.

My question is what happens when there is no DD5.1 soundtrack on the disc?

Example: Resident Evil lists Dolby TrueHD 5.1 in English and Italain and Dolby Digital 5.1 in French, Spanish & Portuguese.

Does this mean that I can only have 5.1 surround in French, Spanish & Portuguese?
If so, then for many movies am I stuck watching beautiful HD pictures accompanied by a plain old stereo soundtrack with no surround unless I buy a new receiver?

For now I'm not even worried about the hi-res audio formats, I just want to make sure I can still get at least Dolby Digital quality 5.1 until I'm ready to run a new receiver past the finance commitee... er, wife.

Thanks in advance for any help/clarifications.

[Tiresius]

Hey all,

I think I found my answer in this thread(also from today, also on older Denon receiver w/PS3):
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=31388

The way I read this, the PS3 should downconvert Dolby TrueHD to plain old Dolby Digital. I would lose extra channels and the hi-res audio, but not good old DD 5.1. Just need to set the correct setting for Toslink out in the PS3. If that's true, it's OK for now, it's what I'm used to and not a step backwards.

So, is this true, did I read(between the lines) correctly?
If someone can confirm, I'd appreciate it.

Cheers,
Ray

[PeterTHX]

All TrueHD tracks have backward compatible Dolby Digital tracks.

[Robert Siegel]

Originally Posted by Tiresius

I have an older Denon AVR-2800 receiver, no plans($$) to upgrade soon. It's been great for Dolby Digital & DTS sound from DVD's & HDTV channels.
Since there's no HDMI on the reciever and no 5.1 analog out on the PS3, my best connection option for audio is optical digital. My understanding is that the best I will get from this is DolbyDigital 5.1.

My question is what happens when there is no DD5.1 soundtrack on the disc?

You will still get regular Dolby Digital. Also, with the DTS master discs from, say, Fox, you will get regular DTS but it's usually at 1.5 mbps, which is pretty good until yoiu change your receiver for DTS master. I am in the same boat, I have an older Denon with no HDMI, so it sucks. I wish they had released a slightly more expensive PS3 with analog outputs.