Probably ditching my PS3 for a standalone Blu-ray

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dparm

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I've had a "fat" 80GB PS3 since about mid-2008. I bought it at the time because it was the cheapest Blu-ray player available and because, well, you could play games on it.

In the last two years, I've barely played any games on it. Been using it almost exclusively for Netflix streaming, Blu-ray, DLNA, and occasionally popping in a USB flash drive with some video files. For these uses, it has been excellent. I have NEVER, and I mean NEVER had a problem with it not playing a Blu-ray disc like I hear about on standalone players. It also starts up really fast.

My gripe as of late has been that the fans will just randomly kick in while watching a movie, which is massively distracting. It also sucks power like you wouldn't believe.

So last week I traded it in to Amazon -- they gave me a whopping $220 for it (likely because it's the last PS3 that offered PS2 compatibility)! I'm debating replacing it with one of the new super-slim PS3s that are quieter and more efficient, or maybe even going for a nice standalone like an Oppo BDP103, Denon, or high-end Sony S790.

So here's where my head is at.


Super-slim PS3

PROS
-still the most compatible Blu-ray player around
-unbeatable for DLNA and video playback
-I can still play my games if I really want
-Excellent Netflix client
-only $269
-still a reference-quality player (pulldown, chroma, etc)

CONS
-power hungry compared to standalone
-still requires stupid Logitech Harmony adapter
-basically end-of-life, no more updates


Standalone player

PROS
-now match or beat PS3 for speed
-better 3D support
-low power usage
-tons of extras such as Amazon VOD, Hulu, YouTube

CONS
-possible compatibility quirks (rare on Oppo/Denon)
-spotty support for video file playback
-some players have weird firmware quirks with video quality (rare on Oppo/Denon)
-can be expensive for reference-quality player



Anyone have any thoughts? Anyone here ditch their PS3 for a standalone unit?
 
I would still go PS3.
I use mine regularly, almost never for games, but for Netflix and Blu-Ray playback. With the Bluetooth DVD remote it makes using it as simple as a standalone player.
 
Originally Posted By: NMBurb02
PS3 does Amazon VOD, Hulu, and YouTube...or at least mine does.



The newer PS3s (slim & super-slim) might add Amazon and Hulu, but my "fat" one on 4.41 didn't. It's gone now so I can't remember precisely.
 
I don't know about that In three years I've had to get the Blu-ray drive replaced twice in my son's PS3 slim. I have had to replace the power supply and hard drive as well. Of course, he is a twelve year old kid and he uses it mainly for game play. It runs very hot and does not seem to be composed of terribly durable components.

YMMV, of course.
 
Originally Posted By: DBMaster
I don't know about that In three years I've had to get the Blu-ray drive replaced twice in my son's PS3 slim. I have had to replace the power supply and hard drive as well. Of course, he is a twelve year old kid and he uses it mainly for game play. It runs very hot and does not seem to be composed of terribly durable components.

YMMV, of course.



You're in the minority, I think. The PS3s have been way more reliable than XBOX 360s. My fat PS3 ran flawlessly for 5 years, though I wasn't using it daily (maybe a few days a week for a movie or whatever).
 
Originally Posted By: EType
Isn't there a PS4 about to come out?



It's a ways off (Q4 2013, supposedly) and will probably be really expensive at first. Plus it's an unknown quantity at this point. If it turns out to be an excellent device after being out for a while, I'll consider it.

For now, I'm not giving it any consideraiton.
 
Originally Posted By: dparm
Originally Posted By: EType
Isn't there a PS4 about to come out?



It's a ways off (Q4 2013, supposedly) and will probably be really expensive at first. Plus it's an unknown quantity at this point. If it turns out to be an excellent device after being out for a while, I'll consider it.

For now, I'm not giving it any consideraiton.

In that case, maybe go with an inexpensive BR player to get you through the next 9-12 months? Or go with a later generation fat PS3 that can do Amazon VOD, Hulu, and YouTube for less than the amount you just got for yours? It still has the loud fan con (Why'd you have to mention that? Now I'll notice it all the time!), but overcomes the multiple digital video service issue. A Bluetooth remote is definitely a must!
 
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Whatever I end up getting will just hold me over until 4K TVs come down in price, and a 4K media format is agreed upon. Current-gen Blu-ray can technically handle 4K but it needs more layers and hence different lasers to read it. So until they figure that out, there's no point in spending $500 on a PS4 that might be outdated in that department very shortly.

At least with the super-slim PS3 or a decent standalone both costing $250, you don't feel as bad when the new stuff is available.


(the loud fan, BTW, is only noticeable if you have a very quiet scene in a movie or during streaming playback)
 
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Originally Posted By: dparm
The newer PS3s (slim & super-slim) might add Amazon and Hulu, but my "fat" one on 4.41 didn't.


They do have Amazon & Hulu streaming; we use ours for such a purpose frequently.

To be honest, I'm so pleased with the 2 Rokus we have (Roki?) that I wouldn't even have that as part of the equation. Use whatever Blau-Ray player you can find cheapest, easiest & has the best interface.
 
Unfortunately a lot of the cheap ones have the chroma subsampling problems, no source-direct output, or random bugs that won't play certain discs, which is why I mentioned the above Sony/Oppo/Denon players. My parents had Sony and Panasonic players that both would randomly not play certain discs, even with firmware updates. I've been spoiled with the PS3.
 
Originally Posted By: dparm
Unfortunately a lot of the cheap ones have the chroma subsampling problems, no source-direct output, or random bugs that won't play certain discs, which is why I mentioned the above Sony/Oppo/Denon players. My parents had Sony and Panasonic players that both would randomly not play certain discs, even with firmware updates. I've been spoiled with the PS3.


Mine plays anything and everything as well I agree with that. It really is an excellent Blu-Ray player!
My folks have a Samsung 5700 that works fine as well, but the "smart" portion of it is a pathetic joke, Youtube and all that stuff crashes and freezes all the time. Best used as a standalone player ONLY.
 
We bought a LG blu ray player about a month ago now. No issues,plays everything we've thrown at it,has youtube,etc and only cost 80$
 
That's what I have. Was rated the best by several reviews.

It's last years model now. The latest model the 330 has added Android mirroring.
 
Originally Posted By: dparm
Originally Posted By: NMBurb02
PS3 does Amazon VOD, Hulu, and YouTube...or at least mine does.



The newer PS3s (slim & super-slim) might add Amazon and Hulu, but my "fat" one on 4.41 didn't. It's gone now so I can't remember precisely.


I have a launch PS3 (60GB from 11/2006). Still gets all the updates and runs the same as day one. Definitely a ton of value in the PS3. I'd grab a slim and not super slim mainly because of how much they cheapened the new units. You can still find new slim ps3's.
 
We have a PS3 slim. We use it for blu-ray playback, and light gaming. By light gaming I mean games that also run well on an early Atom netbook. The only more demanding game we have is Gran Turismo. No violent games, which eliminates about 98% of the games offered for consoles. The whole setup is to entertain the children for their "computer time" quota.

About a year after purchase the optical drive started having trouble reading disks. I figured it had gathered some dust in the wrong spot, but it was impossible to open without a special tool. Fortunately, I eventually found a "cleaning CD" that solved that problem.

The fan is a bit loud, and runs non-stop to blow out all that heat it generates. It also blows in all that dust.
I find it annoying that it has only 1 GB of memory - Gran Turismo has to reload data from disk (wait, wait, sign into PSN prompt again, no thanks, again? No please! Wait some more while it reads data from the hard disk... anyone here try an SSD in a PS3?) every time unless you run the exact same track with the exact same vehicles.

In the end it's a Sony, it seems to have typical Sony product characteristics: Some good design and implementation spoiled by cost cutting in a few critical areas. (Maybe the first generation had less cost-cutting.) I make that generalization across Sony laptops, even those models in the $1,000 to $2,000 range will have some cheap parts ruin the total product. Then they wonder why they can't keep up with that A company.
lol.gif


Getting back on topic, we haven't had any other blu-ray player to compare it to, but apart from the optical drive trouble, we've been happy with the PS3 slim's blu-ray performance.
 
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