PS3 vs Stand Alone Blue Ray?

[Samdari]

My sister in law has no working DVD player in her apartment. She has asked for a new one for Christmas.

It seems silly to get them just a DVD player, so I was thinking Blu-Ray.

Is there any reason NOT to get her a PS3 (her fiance plays games somewhat) for the Blu-Ray player?

[ISiddiqui]

Yeah, price ;).

I just got a Panasonic DMP-BD35k for $200. That deal is over, but I believe you can get a Sony from Amazon for $200 as well.

[Marc Vaughan]

PS-3 is the BEST value BluRay player you can get imho.

The playback is very good and it will automatically update via. firmware improvements when appropriate ... oh and some of the games are pretty good also ;)

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

If absolutely no one plays games, then a stand-alone player is the best deal. If someone plays games in the household, there's absolutely no reason not to get a PS3. Don't forget that Blockbuster (and likely Netflix) are both expected to enter movie streaming agreements with Sony early next year, in addition to the movie buy/rental options already available on the PSN store.

You can buy a new PS3 right now at Dell for $322.99 shipped. Use stackable coupon codes (CTV2$2HX963145 and TP5NV0VMFJ9BCZ) to get the price to that point. Coupons are good through 12/10/2008.

Link:

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?cs=19&c=us&l=en&sku=A1985585&dgc=CJ&cid=0&lid=0

[Samdari]

There is some gaming interest, but not a ton. They'll use it, but I would never get them a system for just the games.

Sony is running a promotion where if you get the PS3 Visa Card, you can order a PS3 on it for $250.

Get $150 card credit (http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&categoryId=8198552921644604396&XID=A:1563982:10610388:0100q301ash338:CJ)

They'd actually asked for a DVD player. Will the PS3 play them? Would a stand alone DVD player?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

There is some gaming interest, but not a ton. They'll use it, but I would never get them a system for just the games.

Sony is running a promotion where if you get the PS3 Visa Card, you can order a PS3 on it for $250.

Get $150 card credit (http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&categoryId=8198552921644604396&XID=A:1563982:10610388:0100q301ash338:CJ)

They'd actually asked for a DVD player. Will the PS3 play them? Would a stand alone DVD player?

Both the PS3 and stand-alone Blu-ray players will upconvert DVD's.

FWIW....I didn't mention the Sony Style deal because some people are leery of signing up for a credit card just for one purchase. If you're willing to do that, a PS3 is by far the best deal at $250. You're getting a Blu-ray player that can accept all Blu-ray firmware updates/profile changes and paying a $50 premium for a next gen gaming system.

Be sure to pick up some of the remote controls that are available for pretty cheap right now if you do decide to get them a PS3.

[cartman]

Something else to consider, is that do they have a HDTV? If not, do they plan to get one in the near future? If the answer is no, then getting them a $50 upconverting DVD player is probably the best answer.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Something else to consider, is that do they have a HDTV? If not, do they plan to get one in the near future? If the answer is no, then getting them a $50 upconverting DVD player is probably the best answer.

If they don't have a HDTV, even an upconverter won't do much for them other than serve as a DVD player. You can't make more pixels on a 480i screen.

[Raiders Army]

PS-3 is the BEST value BluRay player you can get imho.

The playback is very good and it will automatically update via. firmware improvements when appropriate ... oh and some of the games are pretty good also ;)

I would also assume that they have internet access for the firmware argument. I update mine via our wireless network, but I'm pretty sure you can update via a memory stick or CD.

[cartman]

If they don't have a HDTV, even an upconverter won't do much for them other than serve as a DVD player. You can't make more pixels on a 480i screen.

But just about any DVD player on the market now is an upconverter. They usually have a better sampling chip, and that can have an effect on the pic.

[Travis]

As well as whether or not they have a HDTV, do they also have surround sound? I'm not sure on the stand alone blu-ray players, but the PS3 decodes almost all audio codecs now and can pass them through the receiver (at least through HDMI). Take this with a grain of salt as this is only my understanding of it, but the PS3 ends up doing a lot of the work the receiver used to have to do so going the PS3 route could prolong the life of their current receiver given that they wouldn't then have to upgrade that piece to handle the HD codecs. Stand alone's may do this as well, but if not, it'd be a pretty good selling feature.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

But just about any DVD player on the market now is an upconverter.

Well, that's probably true. With upconverting DVD players for as little as $20-25, there's no need for a standard player.

[SackAttack]

I would also assume that they have internet access for the firmware argument. I update mine via our wireless network, but I'm pretty sure you can update via a memory stick or CD.

Yes, you can. This is how I updated mine when I was using a wireless network, because it took 3 hours to download the updates over wireless, or 15 minutes to download to the PC, and then another 15 to copy to a USB thumb drive and run it on the PS3.

[cartman]

As well as whether or not they have a HDTV, do they also have surround sound? I'm not sure on the stand alone blu-ray players, but the PS3 decodes almost all audio codecs now and can pass them through the receiver (at least through HDMI). Take this with a grain of salt as this is only my understanding of it, but the PS3 ends up doing a lot of the work the receiver used to have to do so going the PS3 route could prolong the life of their current receiver given that they wouldn't then have to upgrade that piece to handle the HD codecs. Stand alone's may do this as well, but if not, it'd be a pretty good selling feature.

No, the receiver still does the decoding of the audio signal. It is the receiver that knows how many speakers are hooked up, etc. Via HDMI, the receiver and Blu-Ray negotiate what the receiver is capable of decoding, and that is the audio signal that is passed. One of the big reasons for HDMI was to have HDCP security. And with HDCP, they don't want anything in a capturable form until it comes out analog.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Thought I'd toss this link in for those shopping for a Blu-ray player. There's a good comparison chart for just about everything you'd like to know when comparing Blu-ray players.........

Blu-ray.com - Blu-ray.com Exclusive: Blu-ray Player Benchmarks (http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=2138)

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Interesting news out of Japan. Blu-ray player sales are now exceeding DVD player sales.

http://www.gfkrt.com/news_events/market_news/single_sites/003339/index.en.html

It's a key threshold to pass. It'll be interesting to see how quickly it occurs in the U.S. and Europe.

The new Dark Knight release on Blu-ray is also expected to smash Blu-ray sales records on release.