Best Blueray player around £200

[JustinP1]

Can I be contentious and say a PS3?

[JustinP1]

dom180 said:

Yes, I currently use a PS2 for DVDs and was wondering about a 3 but GT5 isn't out yet and I'm after the best Blueray performance for about £200..

You don't think there's much difference in quality between the 3 and a dedicated player?

Edited by dom180 on Wednesday 29th September 20:19

Must be honest and say I've never done a side to side test.

However, my 7.1 system comprises of over £30k of gear and I am more than happy feeding it with blu-ray from a PS3. In fact, the week I got the PS3 my £3000 CD/DVD transport got put on a shelf as DVD playback on the PS3 was superior.

It really is a fine bit of kit, and last weekend got a free firmware upgrade which now means it is a 3D blu-ray player.

I am sure that there may be blu-ray players out there which may be slightly or subjectively better. But better enough to notice? And better enough to outweigh with the PS3 you get a load of other features? I really don't think so, certainly not in the sub £200 range.


ETA GT5 is out on November 5th...

Edited by JustinP1 on Wednesday 29th September 20:40

[DavidY]

Agree with Justin, using a PS3 in an AV system with about 25K's worth of gear (new prices, I mainly buy second-hand!!). It is at least as good as my previous Panasonic BR player which packed up after 13 months! Running PS3 Media Server on my server means that I can stream material to it in virtually any format as well.

davidy

[Maxf]

JustinP1 said:

However, my 7.1 system comprises of over £30k of gear and I am more than happy feeding it with blu-ray from a PS3. In fact, the week I got the PS3 my £3000 CD/DVD transport got put on a shelf as DVD playback on the PS3 was superior.

I used a PS3 in a fairly decent setup (not £30k though!) and thought it was awesome, until I bought a Denon BD Transport - the sound quality was much better, although I didnt notice any difference in picture quality.

[FunkyGibbon]

Another bonus to the PS3 is that it can connect to any media servers you may have on your network and stream music/video to your AV/TV system.

We actually rarely use our for games!

[TEKNOPUG]

I'd also to interested to know whether there is any benefit having components (specifically BR/TV as the OP) from the same brand? I have a Panny G20 and I'm thinking of getting a BR player soon for a similar budget. Having said that though, now that I've got SKY+ HD with the films package, I'm wondering whether I'll actually ever buy any BR's.

[dumbfunk]

I read that Sony deliberately over-specified the BD player within the PS3 in order to win the war against HD-DVD with the inference being that BluRay was so superior that even a "basic" games console can produce amazing quality.

Smart move and I'm delighted with the sound and vision reproduction from mine.



df

[.Mark]

I don't have a PS3 - yet, but we recently got a Panasonic BD80, think there is an 85 now, and it's a great player, even has 7.1 out so works really well with the home cinema.

No idea what a PS3 costs but I paid a shade uner £150 from Amazon for it.

[JustinP1]

Maxf said:

JustinP1 said:

However, my 7.1 system comprises of over £30k of gear and I am more than happy feeding it with blu-ray from a PS3. In fact, the week I got the PS3 my £3000 CD/DVD transport got put on a shelf as DVD playback on the PS3 was superior.

I used a PS3 in a fairly decent setup (not £30k though!) and thought it was awesome, until I bought a Denon BD Transport - the sound quality was much better, although I didnt notice any difference in picture quality.

That's interesting, and although I don't dispute what you are saying, I would say that certainly if the differences between sources 'should be' very small, from experience, 80% of the time when an A/B test is done any 'major' difference found is because the test between the two was not exactly like for like.

For example, it is relatively easy to make a £300 source sound instantly 'better' than a £3000 source if the output is as little as 3db louder.

Are you using the PS3 to decode or your DAC?

[parapaul]

I would happily use the PS3 for playing BluRay discs, apart from the simple fact that my LG BD player is easier and quicker to use.

[Silent1]

I'd say get a PS3 as it's almost certainly going to be the only one reliably updated for years to come, only last week did Sony release the new firmware so it can handle all 3D blu ray discs now.

[ymwoods]

Silent1 said:

I'd say get a PS3 as it's almost certainly going to be the only one reliably updated for years to come, only last week did Sony release the new firmware so it can handle all 3D blu ray discs now.

This and the fact that it will serve up future needs to. It has the same blue-ray reader as any of the other blue-ray players but is connected for the internet so it can be updated at will. All those with older blue-ray players can not have 3D now unless they go out and buy another at further cost to themselves.

Sony made the blue-ray player in the PS3 very good for the simple fact that they wanted to win the format war so the PS3 will perform just as, and if not, better than just players.

The only downfall I can think of is as noted above about the PS3 being more of turn on, put in, click to open disc, then click play on the DVD menu affair. Where as the blue-ray player will just be put the disc in and go.

[Silent1]

ymwoods said:

Silent1 said:

I'd say get a PS3 as it's almost certainly going to be the only one reliably updated for years to come, only last week did Sony release the new firmware so it can handle all 3D blu ray discs now.

This and the fact that it will serve up future needs to. It has the same blue-ray reader as any of the other blue-ray players but is connected for the internet so it can be updated at will. All those with older blue-ray players can not have 3D now unless they go out and buy another at further cost to themselves.

Sony made the blue-ray player in the PS3 very good for the simple fact that they wanted to win the format war so the PS3 will perform just as, and if not, better than just players.

The only downfall I can think of is as noted above about the PS3 being more of turn on, put in, click to open disc, then click play on the DVD menu affair. Where as the blue-ray player will just be put the disc in and go.

Settings ---> Auto Play on Disc Insert ---> Yes

Problem solved

[ymwoods]

Silent1 said:

ymwoods said:

Silent1 said:

I'd say get a PS3 as it's almost certainly going to be the only one reliably updated for years to come, only last week did Sony release the new firmware so it can handle all 3D blu ray discs now.

This and the fact that it will serve up future needs to. It has the same blue-ray reader as any of the other blue-ray players but is connected for the internet so it can be updated at will. All those with older blue-ray players can not have 3D now unless they go out and buy another at further cost to themselves.

Sony made the blue-ray player in the PS3 very good for the simple fact that they wanted to win the format war so the PS3 will perform just as, and if not, better than just players.

The only downfall I can think of is as noted above about the PS3 being more of turn on, put in, click to open disc, then click play on the DVD menu affair. Where as the blue-ray player will just be put the disc in and go.

Settings ---> Auto Play on Disc Insert ---> Yes

Problem solved

And on that note, the OP has no reason not too!

[dumbfunk]

I read a gaming mag in the Chinese take away yesterday that explained how Sony lost $300 on each PS3 they sold back when it was launched such was the over-specification of the BD player within it.

[Maxf]

JustinP1 said:

Maxf said:

JustinP1 said:

However, my 7.1 system comprises of over £30k of gear and I am more than happy feeding it with blu-ray from a PS3. In fact, the week I got the PS3 my £3000 CD/DVD transport got put on a shelf as DVD playback on the PS3 was superior.

I used a PS3 in a fairly decent setup (not £30k though!) and thought it was awesome, until I bought a Denon BD Transport - the sound quality was much better, although I didnt notice any difference in picture quality.

That's interesting, and although I don't dispute what you are saying, I would say that certainly if the differences between sources 'should be' very small, from experience, 80% of the time when an A/B test is done any 'major' difference found is because the test between the two was not exactly like for like.

For example, it is relatively easy to make a £300 source sound instantly 'better' than a £3000 source if the output is as little as 3db louder.

Are you using the PS3 to decode or your DAC?

Nothing anymore as its all boxed up gathering dust after a pretty rapid housemove (reminds me, I should get off my arse and sell everything, as I wont have another cinema for a while). I thought they were both using my onkyo dac.

[JustinP1]

Maxf said:

JustinP1 said:

Maxf said:

JustinP1 said:

However, my 7.1 system comprises of over £30k of gear and I am more than happy feeding it with blu-ray from a PS3. In fact, the week I got the PS3 my £3000 CD/DVD transport got put on a shelf as DVD playback on the PS3 was superior.

I used a PS3 in a fairly decent setup (not £30k though!) and thought it was awesome, until I bought a Denon BD Transport - the sound quality was much better, although I didnt notice any difference in picture quality.

That's interesting, and although I don't dispute what you are saying, I would say that certainly if the differences between sources 'should be' very small, from experience, 80% of the time when an A/B test is done any 'major' difference found is because the test between the two was not exactly like for like.

For example, it is relatively easy to make a £300 source sound instantly 'better' than a £3000 source if the output is as little as 3db louder.

Are you using the PS3 to decode or your DAC?

Nothing anymore as its all boxed up gathering dust after a pretty rapid housemove (reminds me, I should get off my arse and sell everything, as I wont have another cinema for a while). I thought they were both using my onkyo dac.

I would be really, really surprised if the differences between the PS3 as a transport and a Denon (or much else) was as clear as day. In fact, although not impossible, I would be surprised that in a blind test any difference could be reliably ascertained.

[T84]

Don't forget that Blu Ray players are now starting to support DLNA and will probably do a much better job than a PS3 at streaming video natively over a network.

[allgonepetetong]

T84 said:

Don't forget that Blu Ray players are now starting to support DLNA and will probably do a much better job than a PS3 at streaming video natively over a network.

Interested, please elaborate.

[FunkyGibbon]

allgonepetetong said:

T84 said:

Don't forget that Blu Ray players are now starting to support DLNA and will probably do a much better job than a PS3 at streaming video natively over a network.

Interested, please elaborate.

My PS3 streams video (well avi backups ) perfectly fine from my NAS. Sure the menu interface isn't great but it works fine.