Anyone have a ps3?

Rivrrat

I'm thinking about getting a ps3 for it's networking, Blu ray, and it's storage ability, what I don't know is if they upconvert. Can anyone enlighten me on this one?

Thanks.

wutadumsn23

Yes, they upconvert. FWIW, I love mine and IMHO it is one of the best Blu-Ray players on the market. Not a huge fan of the Slim myself, but it is the only unit in production, I have one of the good 80GB models that has reverse compatibility, SACD playback, 4 USB ports and the card readers.

-Jeff

cnh

A lot of us have PS3s...they will do Blu-ray in 720p, 1080i or the full 1080p depending on your monitor..you have to set that through its menus.

The PS3 will also upconvert your DVDs to those resolutons so they will look a bit better.

It will decode HD sound formats internally and send them out as LPCM over HDMI 5.1 or 7.1 as be the discs case.

It comes in a number of storage capacities from older models as low as 20 gigs (I think) to the most popular 80 gig model, there are also 160 gig models.

The PS3 has a wireless adapter in it so you can configure it to receive transmissions from your router---updates to its firmware are available regularly.

The hard drive in a PS3 can be REPLACED so you could upgrade to 500 gigs or more if you want to. There are instruction for what to do on Sony's site.

The PS3 uses CELL processors as their CPU which are still among the most powerful in the world. Older models will also play SACDs but more recent ones don't.

I use Google's free PS3 server software to stream movies and music from my laptop to the PS3 wirelessly.

Recently the PS3 has become Netflix capable.

Have I answered most of your questions...if not stick around and the other owners will be around!

cnh

wutadumsn23

cnh wrote: »

It will decode HD sound formats internally and send them out as LPCM over HDMI 5.1 or 7.1 as be the discs case.

It comes in a number of storage capacities from older models as low as 20 gigs (I think) to the most popular 80 gig model, there are also 160 gig models.

Right on cnh, very good post. Couple of things to add, the only models available at the major outlets nowadays is the Slim, which comes in 2 sizes. 120GB and 250GB $300, and $350 respectively is the average prices. IIRC the only "fatboy" size left on the market is the 160GB, but not sure, they may have yanked those too. Also, the new Slim adds the capability to send the HD codecs via Bitstream as well.

-Jeff

leroyjr1

The PS3 rocks. A very versatile unit and worth every penny. It's very hard to beat for the price.

Rivrrat

cnh wrote: »

A lot of us have PS3s...they will do Blu-ray in 720p, 1080i or the full 1080p depending on your monitor..you have to set that through its menus.

The PS3 will also upconvert your DVDs to those resolutons so they will look a bit better.

It will decode HD sound formats internally and send them out as LPCM over HDMI 5.1 or 7.1 as be the discs case.

It comes in a number of storage capacities from older models as low as 20 gigs (I think) to the most popular 80 gig model, there are also 160 gig models.

The PS3 has a wireless adapter in it so you can configure it to receive transmissions from your router---updates to its firmware are available regularly.

The hard drive in a PS3 can be REPLACED so you could upgrade to 500 gigs or more if you want to. There are instruction for what to do on Sony's site.

The PS3 uses CELL processors as their CPU which are still among the most powerful in the world. Older models will also play SACDs but more recent ones don't.

I use Google's free PS3 server software to stream movies and music from my laptop to the PS3 wirelessly.

Recently the PS3 has become Netflix capable.

Have I answered most of your questions...if not stick around and the other owners will be around!

cnh

Yeah, that pretty much covered everything I heven't even thought to ask yet.:p

Thanks.

And thanks to everyone else.

dvran

wutadumsn23 wrote: »

Yes, they upconvert. FWIW, I love mine and IMHO it is one of the best Blu-Ray players on the market. Not a huge fan of the Slim myself, but it is the only unit in production, I have one of the good 80GB models that has reverse compatibility, SACD playback, 4 USB ports and the card readers

+1, I have the larger 40 GB model and have it for about 2 years now, no problems whatsoever. I use it to watch standard def DVDs, Bluerays and games. It's very easy to network too, which I recommend and download all system updates.

The Blueray menus and load times are some of the quickest I've seen to jog through as opposed to some standalone players, sans Oppo. I'm sure my Onkyo up-converts nicely but the PS3 up-convert standard DVDs very nicely. I think its very close to Blueray quality.

gelinas

I have a ps3 and love it. It gets used 90% of the time for blu-ray playback.

My only 2 complaints are that the fan can be noisey at times and since it internally decodes hd audio, the light on your reciever will not show you that you are enjoying hd sound.

cheddar

gelinas wrote: »

My only 2 complaints are that the fan can be noisey at times and since it internally decodes hd audio, the light on your reciever will not show you that you are enjoying hd sound.

Just to be clear here, the current Slim production model both internally decodes HD audio and bitstreams it to a compatible receiver so you CAN see the little light come on telling you something is TrueHD or DTS-HD MA. And I have also read that they improved the fan noise. But I don't have a Slim so can't confirm it.

I really wouldn't buy an early model at this point. You're talking about consoles that came out as early as 2006 when blu-ray was in its infancy and all the blu-ray assemblies were early generations. For blu-ray players, there are other choices out there now that offer all the bells and whistles including SACD playback etc. And if you want to use it for SACD, those players will give you better quality DSD instead of converting to PCM, then sending it to your receiver. So I'm really not sure why you would want to get an old ps3 at this point. If you need those old features, just buy a seperate component or go for a higher quality universal player if you need SACD.

Where the ps3 shines is as a flexible media center. Streaming media from a computer, easily upgrading the HDD for gobs of local storage, wireless networking, frequent firmware updates that actually ADD functionality (like upcoming 3d compatibility), instead of just fixing things. I've never had a component before the ps3 that actually improved itself and kept pace with the newest hardware for a full 3 or 4 years instead of just being made obsolete in its first year of release. But the ps3 is the gift that just keeps giving for early adopters.

Unless you are very picky about your upscaling and do side by side comparisons with other upscalers you own, you really won't notice a difference between the ps3 (or most other blu-ray players) for upscaling. Most blu-ray players do a fine job upscaling. The more important question is how you will use it. If you want a full blown high quality media center with gaming and computer network capabilities, the ps3 is a no brainer, especially at its price. But there are just too many blu-ray player options now, for a little bit more, that will get you a lot more in the universal player/analog audio features department to recommend the ps3 for SACD, IMO. And I'd really stay away from used at this point as you have no idea how much abuse the early machines have gotten and how close to end of life those first generation blu-ray components are.

cheddar

Also, the blu-ray and lossless audio playback is stellar. Nothing to worry about being a 1st generation blu-ray player, especally with the bitstreaming upgrade in the Slim.

Rivrrat

All I see are the slim's now, so that's probably what i'll be getting.

Like I said, I'm really looking at this as a networking blu ray with storage capacity so I don't have to stream (although not a big deal with 20mg dsl). So, if I'm not happy with it's upconverting I'll just stick with my Oppo 981 for that.

Fongolio

I have the very sought after 80gig first gen version with four front usb's and SD card reader. It plays sacd's as well. I use mainly for it's media server capablility. As someone above mentioned, I also use Googles PS3 media server software for streaming. Excellent free program. The PS3 in my opinion is an absolute bargain for multi media playback and I find it's a great upconverter too.

cheddar

Rivrrat wrote: »

All I see are the slim's now, so that's probably what i'll be getting.

Like I said, I'm really looking at this as a networking blu ray with storage capacity so I don't have to stream (although not a big deal with 20mg dsl). So, if I'm not happy with it's upconverting I'll just stick with my Oppo 981 for that.

Then definitely get the SMALLEST HDD version you can get. Paying more for a larger Sony provided HDD just doesn't make sense. Then buy a plain vanilla laptop 500+GB SATA HDD. And install it per the very simple instructions. (Lots of youtube how to's if you're interested.) Then you don't have to worry about upgrading and transfering all your files later.

Ron-P

leroyjr1 wrote: »

The PS3 rocks. A very versatile unit and worth every penny. It's very hard to beat for the price.

Well said, in fact, I'd go as far as to say, it cannot be beat for the price.

wutadumsn23

Ron-P wrote: »

Well said, in fact, I'd go as far as to say, it cannot be beat for the price.

X2, I love my PS3 and would recommend it to anybody.

-Jeff

mykcrawford

I love my PS3 as well and have it networked wirelessly to my MacBook Pro with MediaLink and it works flawlessly for music and video. Ohh and it does pretty good for just about anything else too.

wutadumsn23

Hey fellow Spokanite (FAFB here) gotta love that PS3.

-Jeff

Rivrrat

I bought a 250g slim and a remote from Amazon on Fri. Whatever place these ship from is in Phoenix, so I'll be getting it today.

Thanks all for your help.

polktiger

Does PS3 support AC3 in an MP4 container yet? I have been encoding to AAC for use on my PS3, but really I don't keep track of the PS3 updates anymore, so I wan't sure. I kind of gave up on it supporting DTS on vob streams and quit checking the updates.

Also, for those using PS3 media server, do you play the file in the transcode folder or the normal folder? I got everything up a running with Tversity long before I was aware of PS3 media server, so I haven't spent much time with it.

Rivrrat

So, I got my PS3 today.

My first observation......This sucker's bigger than I thought it would be. That's when I realized I've never seen one before. I usually know everything about a purchase like this before I buy it, but not this time. I'm going to have to make room in the cabinet for this.

I'm going to replace my Oppo 981 with it for now, and if it upconverts as well as the Oppo, the Oppo will probably become our primary cd player, replacing an old panny dvd changer (which will get hooked up and just used for parties).

This will be interesting.

Shizelbs

The PS3 is a very good player and my DVDs look good on it.

Conradicles

Atari 2600 RULES!!!

wutadumsn23

Conradicles wrote: »

Atari 2600 RULES!!!

LOL, get with the times Foggie!! IMHO the PS3 does a very good job upconverting. Had to rent a couple of "Regular D" movies the other day because the movie store was out of their HD counterparts. I had forgotten how good of a job this thing did with upconverting, as most of the movies I usually watch lately, are Blu Ray's.

-Jeff