I just did the update to 1.81 and started a thread on that. This machine is a real 'machine'
This was the easiest firmware update I have ever done on anything... my own computer, servers at work... CISCO routers... this was a breeze.
Phillips has a player for $600 that has five free movies IN THE BOX, which is a very attractive deal, especially considering I
still haven't gotten my five free movies from Toshiba yet... I personally feel that the format war is far from over though, but Toshiba really screwed the pooch on their five free deal.
Deep down I still like and prefer HD DVD even though I am format neutral. For me personally, more of the movies I like are on HD DVD, but I acknowledge that is existing movies... unless HD DVD keeps up with future releases that all can change. I am thoroughly impressed with the PS3 as a BD player, but my wife and I watch movies on our A2 literally every night and it looks and performs very well and at half the price of what I had to pay to become neutral. I still say a person has to look at the list of available movies on each format and compile their own list of what they like to watch before making a snap decision. Format neutral has its problems too... like standing in front of the Best Buy selections for both formats for an hour or more and not knowing what you want to buy or in what format!
I must say though, when one of the salesmen came up to me and saw I had Bluray discs and HD DVD discs in my hands and said 'Do you know those are two different formats and they won't play on the same player?' (Except for the LG, but he didn't say that)-- and I replied that I have both players, the look on his face kinda felt good in a non-biased way
Still I feel that this 'war' isn't over by any means. One camp has the movie studios, the other has the price and quality, albeit I may have just given a personal edge to the overall PS3 quality... whoever can get a player for $150 or under with sufficient titles as well as new releases will ultimately be the winner.
Black Friday will be a very important day for the High Definition War. (Anyone a Space Above and Beyond fan? This sounds a lot like the AI war
)
Sonnie... I digressed I know. The PS3 doesn't have the audio options that some of the other players have and that is something to take into consideration, but it is a very respectable unit. I hear the Samsung BP1200 is good, but personally after seeing the previous unit go south when I was testing HD TVs and it refused to recognize any disc, that left me a little leery about Samsung. Phillips has instant gratification with five free movies, and my brother bought one and is sufficiently impressed, but I don't know enough about that player to make a statement one way or the other.
The PS3 does support HDMI 1.3, and I feel it is the most upgradeable. It will all depend on what receiver you have and what the future AV receivers can do with TRUEHD. Right now the PS3 is limited audio wise, but it may not be down the road. Don't over look it just because it's a 'game console'.