PS3 or Blu-Ray player?

In one simple answer... YES!

I hardly use my PS3 for gaming to be honest... but it is by far the most used system in my multimedia setup. Why you ask? Because it does EVERYTHING!

It plays BluRays, and supports the latest BluRay standards via automatic updates
Supports the BlueRay Live features
Supports all the HD audio formats
Built in noise reduction and image enhancement features
It will play DVDs up-scaled to High Definition (1080P) (which look b-ee-yoootifool)
Plays your music CDs (and can store them too)
Stores your photo albums
It can connect to your PC and play all your stored music, videos and downloaded TV programs over the network (thus working as a media center PC as well)
You can browse the web, and watch full screen YouTube with it, including the new YouTube HD
It can connect to the internet and download High Definition movie trailers, game trailers, game demos and other cool treats
It cures cancer when you are not using it. Sounds like I am joking, but I am not! You can connect it to a distributed computing network (Folding@Home) and get it to do protein folding when you are not using it.
Oh and I heard off someone else that it can play games.... but meh! LOL!


Here is the list of supported file formats on the PS3:

Photos/images

* JPEG (DCF 2.0/Exif 2.21 compliant)
* TIFF
* BMP
* GIF
* PNG (transparency is supported)

Music/audio

* Memory Stick Audio Format (ATRAC) (Enable playback in System Settings)
* MP3 (MPEG-1/2 Audio Layer 3)
* MP4 (MPEG-4 AAC)
* WAVE (Linear PCM)
* WMA (Enable playback in System Settings)

Video

* Memory Stick Video Format
o MPEG-4 SP (AAC LC)
o H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Main Profile (AAC LC)
* MP4 file format
o H.264/MPEG-4 AVC High Profile (AAC LC)
* MPEG-1 (MPEG Audio Layer 2)
* MPEG-2 PS (MPEG2 Audio Layer 2, AAC LC, AC3(Dolby Digital), LPCM)
* MPEG-2 TS (MPEG2 Audio Layer 2)
* AVI
o Motion JPEG (Linear PCM)
o Motion JPEG (μ-Law)
* AVCHD (.m2ts / .mts)
* DivX / Xvid
* WMV (Enable playback in System Settings)
o VC-1 (WMA Standard V2)

Basically doc, in my house the only thing that I don't use my PS3 for is Hi-Def TV... which is handled by the Set Top Box. Everything else is done on the PS3, movies, music, gaming, the works. This made it (for me) a very worthwhile investment.

One thing I would strongly recommend is making sure you have it hooked up to the internet so you can take advantage of all the updates, and new features as they come out.

Man, I should work for Sony...

-Cub. =o)

Well besides Tex, what kind of games are you into???

I'm sure there is something out there you would find appealing...

I love my PS3, but then again, I've always been a playstation-player. Used to be because of the games (Sony once had a great line-up of playstation-only games, back in the time of early 2000's)

As for games nowadays, I can highly recommend Guitar Hero 3 (Legends of Rock) but beyond that I'm more into the acquired tastes. By which I mean survival horror, war shooters like Call of Duty and sandbox games like Grand Theft Auto. The latter of which for my money plays better on consoles than the pc.

Oh, and the Final Fantasy series, of course. (Except Final Fantasy X-2. Frakk FFX-2!)

-Fred

I'm not sure where you get the extra couple of hundreds from, really.

The most bang for the buck BR player, and the most acclaimed by reviewers, is the Panasonic DMPBD35. For the price you get the best up-conversion and absolutely every possible format compatibility, as well as sound. I know we usually get ripped off here in the good ol North, but it typically retails for 329$.

The 80 gig PS3 core console navigates around 399$

Even if you're not a gamer, or console gamer, the extra features alone, or the sheer possibility of playing, makes the difference worth it, at least until players drastically go down in prices.

Thanks for the feedback on PS3. I was under the impression that they were about $600. But 399 is not that much more than a player. It probably is the way to go.

Cub says that it's worthwhile to have it connected to the Internet. Can that be done with WiFi on the PS3? I'm asking because my cable TV line comes in upstairs where my TV is, but my Internet cable comes in downstairs and goes to a wireless router. Are the PlayStations WiFi compatible?

Yes, the PS3 is Wi-Fi compatible... some of the older low-end models don't have it, but I am pretty sure they all do now. a/b/g and WPA 2 supported. I would recommend wired if possible as it performs better, but if wireless is your only option then that is fine.

-Cub. =o)

I'll add my two cents and say that I have a PS3 and love it. Granted, I had a PS2 and loved it too. Right now I am addicted to Fallout 3. I played and loved Fallout 1 and 2 on the PC, and Fallout 3 is definitely a different type of game. But, I am completely hooked.

Originally I was going to wait until more games were released (e.g. FF13 and others) before I got the PS3 but then I ended up getting it at a time when they were discontinuing the 60gb model in the UK. Since stores were doing discount deals to get rid of their stock I decided to go for it. Also at the time the only horizon was a 40gb version with no reverse compatibility and some other stuff removed to make it cheaper. I wasn't the only one:
http://blog.wired.com/games/2007/10/90- ... s3-bu.html

Anyway I have gotten Folklore for it which is a very stylish RPG game, I recommend it and you can probably get it for cheap by now. Also I like tactical RPGs and so I got Disgaea 3 (but I haven't finished previous Disgaea games so I haven't started it). I have gotten some other titles since but nothing special, unfortunately I'm not really into FPS so a lot of stuff has passed me by really. Hoping for more RPGs/tactical RPGs and so on to come out like the PS2 days (of course if you haven't played any PS2 games I definitely recommend getting some pronto, tons of great games, take too long to list them all here).
I can't wait for Silent Hill 5. And of course I'll be getting FF13 (and hoping it has better characters than FF12...). Also someday I need to get Metal Gear Solid 4 but kinda like Disgaea, I've majorly fallen behind in the series...

Recently I got Little Big Planet which is a lot of fun and I highly recommend it but if you're the type who gets addicted to online multiplayers (I seem to be turning out to be that type after getting addicted to an MMORPG and then LBP, given up both) then avoid playing with others, it is addictive fun if you get in a group who play a lot or are costume/item collectors. But still definitely play the great player-made levels online.

I actually haven't use the PS3 as a media centre at all aside from playing a CD when I first got it. I haven't got a Hi-Def TV sadly. But Cubase really should get hired for Sony because he's made me want to use it more in that way. I actually didn't know I could plug it into my PC and transfer files onto it to play (duh..!).

If you let the salesmen have their way you could end up with something like a 600$ bill, especially if you get the huge hard drive, a second controller, some HDMI wires, or some stupid bundle with games nobody buys and they're trying to get rid of.

Seems the best way with aggressive big box stores pushing every possible accessory on you is to avoid eye contact with anyone, grab a box and walk towards the cash as fast as if you were about to run away with it. Bastards have a counter-tactic for this though. The cashier is now systematically offering extended warranty on anything, if you haven't spoken with a salesman first.

If Amazon would ship everything to Canada I'd never shop in a store for electronics again. Unfortunately what they're allowed to send across the border is still heavily limited.

Playstation 3. It's the most versatile console on the market. Even if you only use the PS3 for blu-ray, it's actually been proven that the PS3 is a superior blu-ray player due to all the onboard hardware that is bundled with it which you wouldn't get in a stock standard blu-ray drive. You will never go back to DVD, I promise