Newbie and confused about which Blu-ray!!

Hey Guys..I am new to this forum..I am planning to buy a blue ray player. I read some of the post and I am planning to buy the Sony BDPS300 Player..What do you all say? Shall i go for it? Also my concern is I found that player here http://www.checkcost.co.uk/sony-bdps300-blu-ray-player/p/160903/ where around 21 or 22 stores are listed. In that pixmania is having this player for £206 while amazon has the same for £305.38..I want to know why is there such a huge difference in the prices between the two? Advice me guys..I am really confused..

[Wayde]

Have you considered just getting a PS3?

I'm not sure about the latest prices but the Sony BD players have usually been comparably priced to the PS3 and PS3 is known for being a remarkable BD player. It can do all the high res audio codecs like DTS HD MA now with the latest patch.

[hddummy]

PeterPoles wrote:

I want to know why is there such a huge difference in the prices between the two?

Is it a refurb maybe?

I have the Sony and have been pleased the only downfall is it is slow 1 to 2 min after pwr on before you can do anything.

[Toolatecrew]

Wayde wrote:

Have you considered just getting a PS3?

I'm not sure about the latest prices but the Sony BD players have usually been comparably priced to the PS3 and PS3 is known for being a remarkable BD player. It can do all the high res audio codecs like DTS HD MA now with the latest patch.

I agree. Unless another BD player is substantially cheaper than the PS3 or you must must be able to easily use a universal remote to control your BD player a PS3 is the way to go. Even if you never use any of its other features as a BD player alone its more easily upgraded than any other player (via internet) PQ tests say its comperable or better and it can decode all the neeed audio formats

[MatrixDweller]

I'm a PS3 fan too. Not only will you get one of the best Bluray players you'll also get a media (photo/video/music) streamer, game console, internet browser and SACD player (if 80GB version). To get those capabilities in anything else it would have to be a HTPC which could cost more than double what a PS3 costs.

[Ironeagle]

Has anyone found a list of the limitations of each of the (i think) 4 PS3 models? I mean which digital audio formats can they decode, etc.

[MatrixDweller]

- The 60GB and 80GB (MSG Bundle) can do SACD but the others cannot.
- They can all do DTS MA HD now and DTS ES as of firmware 2.41 I think.
- They all do Dolby True HD, Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby Digital.
- They can all play AAC, most sorts of MPEG video, AVCHD, AVI, DivX and WMV
- They can all play ATRAC, MP3, MP4, WAV and WMA

I have a 40GB version. The only things it doesn't do are SACD, DVD-Audio and I tried an HDCD and it didn't seem to go through to my Denon 4306. It does with my Toshiba HD-A2.

The best version seems to be the 80GB (MGS Bundle). If you can find one grab it. They will be gone pretty soon. The new 160GB version will be just like the 40GB version.

http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/current/video/filetypes.html
http://www.edepot.com/playstation3.html

[redduck21502]

MatrixDweller wrote:

- The 60GB and 80GB (MSG Bundle) can do SACD but the others cannot.
- They can all do DTS MA HD now and DTS ES as of firmware 2.41 I think.
- They all do Dolby True HD, Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby Digital.
- They can all play AAC, most sorts of MPEG video, AVCHD, AVI, DivX and WMV
- They can all play ATRAC, MP3, MP4, WAV and WMA

I have a 40GB version. The only things it doesn't do are SACD, DVD-Audio and I tried an HDCD and it didn't seem to go through to my Denon 4306. It does with my Toshiba HD-A2.

The best version seems to be the 80GB (MGS Bundle). If you can find one grab it. They will be gone pretty soon. The new 160GB version will be just like the 40GB version.

http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/current/video/filetypes.html
http://www.edepot.com/playstation3.html

I wanted to verify the TrueHD and DTS MA HD are decoded on the PS3 and transferred via PCM to the receiver. My receiver does not decode either of these and needs the signal sent to it already decoded. I believe that is what I have read about the PS3, it would send the decoded signal to my receiver for me. If so, does it push this signal out via HDMI or a Digital Optical output? So far I have managed to hook everything up via HDMI and would prefer to keep it that way.

I wish they would reduce the price to $200; hopefully the price breaks from the other game systems will force the price down on the PS3.

[MatrixDweller]

redduck21502 wrote:

If so, does it push this signal out via HDMI or a Digital Optical output? So far I have managed to hook everything up via HDMI and would prefer to keep it that way.

It does so through HDMI only. The new HD codecs require too much bandwidth to be passed over optical. Optical will do decoded/undecoded Dolby Digital and DTS. HDMI is the best way to go since you get 1080p upscaling, 1080p Bluray content and all audio formats supported by the PS3.