Blu-Ray wins on Black Friday week.

[Mornelithe]

Well, to be frank, I've not yet decided what my most primary function for my PS3 is yet. I can however, say that it's paid for itself already. Not monetarily, but what it allows me to use. One is BR movies of course, then games (of which, I think have 11 at the moment), then media center (I finally figured out...ok, so I finally looked up the instructions on the how-to's) - connected my 250g external HDD to it, has all my pictures, movies, music, etc... , video/voice conferencing. My best friend from High School moved to California many years ago, and we rarely have contact, however, he bought a PS3 also, so we both bought PSEye's, and have been talking to each other rather regularly via the cam, as well as being able to share pictures from current events and things he's missed.

So, currently I use it for BR movies, games, keeping in touch with my buddy Seth, an archive for movies, music, and video that I've accrued throughout my lifetime. Probably more information than you wanted, but it's multi-purpose architecture really is a benefit for me, probably doesn't work for everyone, but hey, that's what stand-alones are for, I guess.


Brian

[Mornelithe]

Originally Posted by kennyt

Brian,

I can tell you why to buy a stand alone over a PS3. I have owned four stand alone Blu-ray players and recently bought a PS3. (I have a small shopping problem with a propensity for sources) and the PS3 is no where near as good a Blu-ray player as even the first Gen Samsung BDP-1000. The edge detail of the PS3 is weak, and the colors somewhat flat compared to my stand alone players. FWIW when I did the A-B both players were wired with identical HDMI cables through a Meridian HDMI switcher.

I also found the bass reproduction of the PS3 to be a significant step down from my BDP-S1, and the functionality of the PS3 is not great for a player, add to that the noise of the fan in it and I think I have made several reasons to still buy a free standing player....

The PS3 is great fun for games however, and 5.1 audio with your games? Hell, that's worth the price of a PS3 just for that!

Just an FYI, they will be updating to the HD 1.1 profile this month, as well as including the DIVX update for the PS3. I'm not sure if that will help with any of the issues of weak edges and the like, but at least it'll allow the picture in picture et al, that most of the newer BR players have (or the older if you've updated the firmware).

Brian

[prerich]

Originally Posted by Mornelithe

Well, to be frank, I've not yet decided what my most primary function for my PS3 is yet. I can however, say that it's paid for itself already. Not monetarily, but what it allows me to use. One is BR movies of course, then games (of which, I think have 11 at the moment), then media center (I finally figured out...ok, so I finally looked up the instructions on the how-to's) - connected my 250g external HDD to it, has all my pictures, movies, music, etc... , video/voice conferencing. My best friend from High School moved to California many years ago, and we rarely have contact, however, he bought a PS3 also, so we both bought PSEye's, and have been talking to each other rather regularly via the cam, as well as being able to share pictures from current events and things he's missed.

So, currently I use it for BR movies, games, keeping in touch with my buddy Seth, an archive for movies, music, and video that I've accrued throughout my lifetime. Probably more information than you wanted, but it's multi-purpose architecture really is a benefit for me, probably doesn't work for everyone, but hey, that's what stand-alones are for, I guess.


Brian

Now you're talkin'! You just made me figure out what it is - its a swiss army knife (for electronics). It's not the best Blu-ray, not the best gaming console, and not the best computer but it does all three. It's a convienence item for those who like component convienence instead of media convienence. I like my media convienient but my components can be as complexed as worlds end! I'm starting to see what you're getting at (still won't buy a PS3 but like I've said before - whoever wins - go ahead and win - get it over already! Sony get the bugs out of BR - studios go to HD-DVD-or HD-DVD pack it in and share your tech with Sony (concerning smoothness of playback and interactive features). Better yet, Microsoft pay all the studios and bring back WMV-HD with protection thats satisfactory for the studios - somebody just win already!

[Lotus]

Mornelithe:

The only neutral Studio, Warner Brothers, has stated that financially they're both pretty much a wash. It costs them more to make BD discs, advertise, and distribute them. When the bottom line numbers come in BD has an extremely slight edge. This is dispite the fact that the BD version of 300 sold many many more copies than the HD DVD version. Profit was about even.

That isn't a butt kicking. It means that Universal, Paramount, and Dreamworks the HD DVD exclusives are making about the same amount of money as they would if they were BD only and that is the real bottom line.

Profit. So far it's a wash.

[TheMoose]

Originally Posted by prerich

700.00 for the top of the line PS3 is still not worth it - yet.

Where are you pricing PS3's?
The top of the line (80G) is $499 with a free game included.
The 40G is $399 with a free movie included.
Oh yea you also get 5 free Blu-Ray movies by mail with both of them.

I'm thinking there are a lot more people with PS3's that know about Blu-Rays that is being reported, for one the 40G comes with a Blu-Ray movie & unless they take the hardware out & toss everything else there is a lot of Blu-Ray info in the box & fliers about the 5 free movies.

As for the games they are great & getting better, it takes a while to learn how to best use the PS3's hardware & now that it's been out a year those games are coming out & will blow away the competition.

Originally Posted by prerich

Better yet, Microsoft pay all the studios and bring back WMV-HD with protection thats satisfactory for the studios

Why would I want to tie up my computer for several days to download a 2 hour HD movie?
We are what, 7-10 years away from having a fast enough internet in the states to support HD movie downloads.

[prerich]

Originally Posted by TheMoose

Where are you pricing PS3's?
The top of the line (80G) is $499 with a free game included.
The 40G is $399 with a free movie included.
Oh yea you also get 5 free Blu-Ray movies by mail with both of them.

I'm thinking there are a lot more people with PS3's that know about Blu-Rays that is being reported, for one the 40G comes with a Blu-Ray movie & unless they take the hardware out & toss everything else there is a lot of Blu-Ray info in the box & fliers about the 5 free movies.

As for the games they are great & getting better, it takes a while to learn how to best use the PS3's hardware & now that it's been out a year those games are coming out & will blow away the competition.



Why would I want to tie up my computer for several days to download a 2 hour HD movie?
We are what, 7-10 years away from having a fast enough internet in the states to support HD movie downloads.

Ah, ha... this is where being a techie comes in: Its not in the states yet but just wait. Technology is growing at a blistering pace. You can't keep up with the latest and greatest computer - you just try to stay real close. Here's a news flash.

"Sigbritt Löthberg's home has been supplied with a blistering 40 Gigabits per second connection, many thousands of times faster than the average residential link and the first time ever that a home user has experienced such a high speed."

This person could download a full lenght HD movie in 2 seconds. Here's the link to the rest of the story http://www.thelocal.se/7869/20070712/
I also have inside information about AT&T - they will be soon offering fiber connections to residential customers and it won't take 7-10 years - think more like 2 to 3 for saturation. I work on a T3 connection at work - and according to the rep, what they plan to do will make T3 look like DSL. Stay posted Moose, something wickedly fast this way comes.

As for my PS3 pricing I forgot about the recent discounts and price slashing. The pricing that I ref'd was 60gb/$599 the 80gb/$699 therefore my conclusion (I was actually refering to early adopters who paid top price for their units and what I could do with that type of money).

As far as games go - PS3 doesn't get it - it goes like this
1. Gameplay and fun factor
2. Graphics
3. sound

PS3 didn't get the first rule right with gamers. Eye candy is great but when the game play lags - that's bad. Nothing against the PS3 but it seems more like a swiss army knife, good at a lot of things but there's better out there. Enjoy your PS3 though - its not for everyone but its just right for some (as evident by their sales - figures generally don't lie)