Blu-ray players vs PS3?

Question

I want to buy a Blu-ray player. I was looking at the Sony Blu-Ray player and other brands. What is the difference between just a Blu-ray player and PS3, which one is better and more convenient to buy? My TV is HD capable.

Answer 1

If you like gaming then defiantly get the ps3. It has the best blue ray dvd player on the market today. And its not $1200 like the other ones.

Answer 2

Do you want to be able to play video games?
If yes, the PS3 is a very good choice.
However if you are more interested in a movie going experience, a dedicated Blu Ray player is probably the way to go. At the same time, a PS3 as blu ray player isnt a bad option considering the price.

Answer 3

The PS3 is the 'gold standard' of BluRay players. When magazines review a new player, the performance is compared to the PS3 and almost always the PS3 comes out as superior.

(Those cell-processors in the PS3 give it a huge 'engine' to work with. And Sony has made sure it works well for movie playback).

And with respect to the other poster - There is a huge difference between a BluRay or HD-DVD movie and a up-converting player. A standard DVD is still based on 1940's video designed for a 9 inch tube.

Up-converting DVD players do work and look nice - but it's like magnifying newsprint and going over parts with a sharpie to 'touch up' the rough edges. It's not the same as having 1080 lines of data to start with.

Answer 4

The other answers are correct.

BUT .... before you buy Blu-Ray verify that you will in fact benefit from HD disks. "HD ready" suggest a 720p display, NOT 1080p. If so, you will get at most a slightly better picture from Blu-Ray (or HD DVD), but probably no better than from normal DVDs on an a good upconverting DVD player (e.g. the Oppo for about $200), plus you won't have to pay a premium for Blu-Ray disks (which only cover half the movies anyway ... since the rest are on HD DVD!). AND, this all assumes you have an HDMI connection on the TV (without it you likely won't get HD (since HDCP will lower resolution over Component).

Talking about HD DVD, although all the same caveats apply, players are less expensive than Blu-Ray ($200 vs $400) and unlike Blu-Ray they play CD's and have functioning extras like picture in picture and LAN connectivity to allow connection to on-line extras and firmware updates (No current blu-ray player meets the spec adopted Oct 31 ... not even Sony). This only impacts on extras, not the movie themselves ... but I'd be upset to buy a player and find I couldn't play ALL the extra features.

If you are a PS3 gamer ... go for the PS3, but if gaming is not a priority consider a stand alone player, and first at least consider HD DVD.

Assuming you can benefit from HD disks at all, the choice of Blu-Ray or HD DVD is best made not on the format per se (video and audio quality of the two formats are identical!) but more on which format gives you more of the movies you like to watch. See the link for a database of what's available on which format (Click on the HD DVD or Blu-Ray statistics links at the top of the centre column on the home page).