Really confused about going PS3 (blu-ray) or X-box 360 (HD-DVD)

[Jay C Huskers]

I really love to play all kinds of games and would love to pick up a new console and I do have the original X-box. So my questions should I go with PS3 for blu-ray movies? I hear that they are the most current players out there for BD. x-box seems okay too with there version of HD. I had read they are going to have a tour of Blu-ray/Disney at the King of Prussia mall on Nov 16-18 and maybe I can get to see for myself the HD experience in person!!!!!!!!! so, I'm worried about this 1.3 HDMI getting into blu-ray players and it should be available in the PS3 model. This last question for you guys would there be any loss of going 40 or 80 gb PS3's?? I have an pS2 in my closet somewhere... I too remember getting burned by laserdisc not to long ago!!! Willing to wait awhile till the smoke clears out there. Thanks for any help you guys can give me.

[wbassett]

I'll double check, but I thought the PS3 was HDMI 1.3

Rumor is there will be an XBox 360 with an internal HD DVD drive, but not official word/date and who knows what the price will be. Hopefully not an arm and a leg, but based on the 360 Extreme, it's going to be pricy.

As far as which one to go with... you already sound like you have Xbox games, so you could go with a 360 (It will play a lot, but not all older Xbox games). Right now there isn't a lot of impressive titles for the PS3, but as a Bluray player it really is a good one.

Here's one thing to do though. Go to Amazon and look at the list of HD DVD movies and Bluray movies. You might find one format has more of the movies you personally like. Sure Bluray has a slight edge as far as volume, but volume means nothing if they don't have the titles you want. I personally have more titles on HD DVD that I like better, you may have more on BD... everyone has different tastes.

Walmart is supposedly going to be selling a sub $200 HD DVD player, so that also opens the option to do what I did... get the PS3 and the A2. If you can wait a few weeks, look for some deals for Black Friday.

[Hakka]

I'm pretty sure the broadcom chipset in the PS3 will not support HDMI 1.3. That might not be a huge issue for the ps3, 1.3 is needed to send bitstream audio to an AVR, with the CPU power the PS3 has it *should* be able to decode DTS HDMA onboard and transmit it as LPCM.
The PS3 is the only player on the market that has any chance of being upgraded to profile 1.1 and 2.0 via firmware updates.
If my AVR had HDMI I would buy one today.

I'm not sure about the HD drive in the new 360, I have been told about it before but I have never seen anything official. I'm not sure what the US pricing is like on the 360s but you can get a Toshiba for <$200 in the US, the Toshibas seem like a better option but you need to weigh up whats more important gaming or HD movies.

I would recommend the PS3 as a blu player but for HD DVD I would be leaning away from the 360.
I wouldn't worry too much about getting burned both formats are gonna be around for a while, by the time one goes away you'll probably be looking at a PS4.

Hakka.

[Scuba Diver]

I have a friend with an 360 HD. When it works it works well. It is not a faithful system. It locked up requiring the door to be opened with a paper clip multiple times. He is on his second one and it still happens.

I would agree with previous post there are better options for HD than using the 360. However, 360 has many more games to choose from.

[Jay C Huskers]

So to confirm, the PS3 possibly will pass the 1.3 HDMI??? If not, an new AVR with 1.3 19803 will take care of everything??? And pick up a subpar HD-DVD player about $200.00!!! thanks for all your inputs!!!!

[bobgpsr]

The cheapest hi quality audio upgrade to match hi def optical players is to pick up a HDMI 1.0 or 1.1 AVR that accepts LPCM audio.

The PS3 will supply up to 7.1 LPCM audio with a HDMI connection (lossless). However there is some concern that the Silicon Image (Sil 9133) HDMI output driver chip the PS3 uses, is not the right one for HDMI 1.3a advanced audio codec raw bitstream output -- even though the PS3 claims HDMI 1.3. It may never pass raw bitstream -- but LPCM is ok.

If you get the XBOX 360 HD DVD player add on -- then you just need to hook up the Toslink to your existing Yamaha AVR. The new Dolby TrueHD lossless codec gets decoded in the XBOX, mixed with HDi PiP commentary audio and re-encoded with a lossy codec for Toslink output. Your choice to use either 640 kbps DD or 1.5 Mbps dts (the max rates these legacy audio codecs allow). You will get very good quality audio.

The #1 priority to get better sound though, IMHO first, is to get a good subwoofer! You will not go wrong with a SVS sub.

[John Simpson]

Correct, the PS3 (in Australia at least) is HDMI 1.3a -- all the bells and whistles.

As a Blu-Ray player it is extraordinary... we're constantly amazed that the sound it puts out through a simple optical connection is better than my $5000 Denon DVD-5000. Electronics has come a long way over the past few years.

I don't know much about the XBox 360, but the PS3 does seem to be the most technically advanced of all the consoles. The only annoying thing is controlling movies through the game controller... something easily remedied by buying the remote control.

[Egil]

40gb vs 60gb.

The 40gb version has 2 (or, 2 less than the 60gb version) USB contacts. Not a big deal if you ask me. And the 40gb version isn't compatible with PS2 games. Also, the 40gb version has no SD card reader.

Personally, I'd go with the 40gb version, unless you can get a good deal on the 60gb version. If space is an issue, you can always buy a bigger HD online!

When it comes to games, I think the Xbox360 has the edge NOW. But, that will soon change I think! (Just look at upcoming releases) Also, the upcoming Eyetoy for PS3 seems quite amazing. I never tried the eyetoy for PS2 - but I have downloaded several trailers showing the new Eyetoy for PS3, and what it can do. Simply amazing!

YouTube - Eye of Judgement( PS3 )

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[SteveCallas]

I dunno, I don't see the PS3 library taking the lead anytime soon if at all during this console generation. The 360 already has numerous AAA titles available and has the full support of just about every developer out there. Xbox Live is established, works extremely well, and nearly every game is compatatible with it. If you want the best machine for gaming, the 360 is it right now. If you want high definition movie playback and a potential media server tha can also play some games, the PS3 is it.

With the Toshiba HD-A2 going for $99 right now, the combination of it and a Xbox 360 Pro is pretty potent.