OFFICIAL "HELP ME CHOOSE A PLAYER" THREAD: Can't decide? Start HERE. - Page 50

I'm helping out a neighbor with his home theater. He's an 78 year old alcoholic who is still living in the 70s. Unfortunately he is absolutely SET on Sony. Everything must be Sony. He already has a decent TV that will do 720p/1080i. Now I've convinced him to throw away the BETAMAX!!! (he has an IMPRESSIVE collection of betamax porn) and buy a bluray player. He said he wouldnt throw away the Betamax cus he's attached to it, but he does want a Bluray player.

So....What is the best Sony bluray player for $400 or less?

WTF get back this mans betamax .If was 78 and still liked porn I wouldn't want to get rid of it either..if you wanna help, get this guy a six pack a viagra perscription and a lap dance..ya darn whippersnapper!! sounds like elder abuse to me!!

PS3 40GB=$399

Won't the new 80GB be $399?

The new 80GB with Dual Shock3, a voucher for a free downloadable Pain game and free PlayStation Network membership controller is $499. The 80GB model has memory card slots that the 40GB does not have. However, in a highly recommended WIFI environment, you can access all your photos from your computer with the 40GB model. Either one is a great choice...depends on how much you want to spend. But the new 80GB seems to give a lot more bang for the buck: DualShock controller (is $54.99), dowloadable game ($9.99), yearly membership to a monhly online magazine (I believe $24.99), Metal Gear Solid ($59.99)and those memory stick slots. Here are specs:http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/...14691233368166

Apparently, the new 80gb with the lower price in the fall is not the current one with a discount but the 40gb with extra hard drive space. No SACD, no 4 USB ports, no...anything else from the current 80gb unit that is not on the 40gb unit. I was initially excited but with no SACD (if the reports are true), I'll be left scrambling to find one that does play SACD.

YES AND YES


Yes it will decode TrueHD is my understanding, (someone correct me if I'm wrong), you have to change the settings on the PS3 to LPCM from bitstreaming. You would also want to check off the settings for the different sound formats you will be using to match your speaker layout. For example I checked off all the different interpretations for a 5.1 system and any other one i could possibly be using. My Poineer VSX-92TXH Elite shows PCM on the window no matter what sound format is fed to it..
Finally I have DirectTV HD going into HDMI 1, PS3 HDMI 3, Pio's HDMI output into my XBR4 HDMI input..

FYI, CC has the BDP-S300 on sale for $339.99, the newer BDP-S350 for $399.00 and of course the PS3 for $399.00. (Hey don't knock the Betamax, I still have mine ((altho currently not hooked up)) AND IT STILL WORKS)LOL Thats nice your helping out an old man. Us old geezers (I'm over 50, can't beleive I'm saying I am an old geezer, I feel 25 in my mind) haven't really been keeping up as much as we needed to with all the fancy new high tech electronic gizmos.. I am slowly am catching up with yawl young guns..

Hey now, you're only a geezer when you go out of your way to get to the senior citizen early bird dinner specials!
As for BD players, the BDP-S350 seems to be shaping up to be a pretty good player. And apparently the load times are short enough that your friend might not doze off before the movie starts playing....

Well my friend looks like you have done some research on these puppies. IF I have to make a decision with all that quality info you posted, I to would pick the sammy just because and would take the chance on the quality part. The fact that you can upgrade the firmware attracts me tremendously, (that was another reason I went with the PS3) and the fact that it runs cooler attracts me also(oops noticed the boo-boo here, the hot part is a "minor neg" I think. Perhaps samsung has come a long way from the crap they made from what I remembered years ago hehe With what you posted and those are my choices? give the 1500 a shot..

Well I guess by now yawl know I own the PS3 40GB

I must admit that I have mine all cooped up in an entertainment center lying horizontally. In fact once it gets heated up, this things fan noise is pretty dang loud in my opinion, I think it makes more noise than my hot rod PC which has 5 fans. HOWEVER, when it is in use, with the audio set reasonable say, -20 or so, you can't hear it. In the same cabinet I have my amp, the my Pio 92TXH Elite, which I think runs rather cool and it resides on the bottom slot. With both on, I have to leave to door open on the Entertainment Center so air can circulate. At least I have the PS3 at the top slot which does have an opening in the back for air. Never the less the cabinet gets ahhh warm to what I think hot, when the PS3 gets hot, that fan rocks the house, if nothing else was running, you can hear across my family room. So in conclusion I have decided to use a pair of PC 120mm fans I have laying around and just hook them up and have them suck hot air out the back. After these mods, I'll report on if it helps any. Also considering perhaps moving PS3 out of the cabinet and/or figure out away to perhaps stand it up vertically.., bottom line I need to address this issue, hmmm to be continued..

heh heh, he said "gizmo's" a sure sign of a geezer. I'm 40 btw

I am also looking to get a blue ray in the next couple of months in time for my 41st Bday. I'm glad forums like this exist.

Indeed, my problem was I found it after buying ALL my new toys. And think about that, I'm an electronic engineer...LOL.. all these things are gadgets and gizmos to me...LMAO.. They all just have a "specific" function in life...hehe Never the less I found this site and realized, after reading many many threads, I didn't do 'to bad' for a geezer shopping in the blind...

I like the pio bdp-05fd. It seems to have it all besides 2.0. Which i could care less about. All i want is the best sound and vision for under 1k. Also looking at the sony 350. Here is the thing though, If I am planning on getting a high end processor like the onkyo 885 pre pro with the reon chip and I am feeding it via hdmi from any BD player, wouldnt the BD player video decoder be a moot point because it will be sending a digital video signal to the receiver/pre pro? When does the video decoder mean anything substantial in making a buying decision on a unit? ONly when you are going to connect it directly to the display? Im confused.

Please help

Need some help picking a Blu-Ray player for my parents. I let them borrow my Sammy BD-UP5000 and now they want a Blu-Ray player. Here is their situation:

42 inch 1080p Panasonic plasma
Stereo only sound from two large floorstanders, no surround.
Still watch alot of regular DVDs, so upscaling is important.
Has to be under $475, at that point they'd just go get a BD-UP5000 like mine.

So sound doesn't matter, only picture quality does. I would also feel better if it had an ethernet port so the player could be upgraded.

So what player would give the best picture quality balance between BD and regular DVDs?

Midnite, your right...I'm packing it up in the morning and sending her off to the grave...Gonna get the Sammy and never look back. It is funny that I am happy to be getting a second chance to recycle the $800 dollars originally spent on the Philips and that the retailer is taking care of me with one simple phone call.
Thanks for your straight forward advice!

yea we compromised...he's keeping the betamax in complete working order (along with his matching sony hifi sound processor) and getting a new bluray player, cd changer, and receiver. I'm trying to get him to buy a nice touchscreen remote like the Harmony 1000 or something, but I dont know if he wants to spend that much money. He's realllllly bad with electronics so I dont know if it will be worth it for him to buy a remote like that. He just wants to be able to hit one button for each function and have everything switch to the proper inputs and whatnot. The lower-end Harmony remotes will do that.


dude, he's 80...whats he going to do with a ps3????? lol i think we're gonna go with the BDP-S300 @ CC and use the leftover money towards a nice remote. When all is said and done, he'll be able to watch porn on any one of 4 different formats, all at the touch of a single button

Don't understand your post. The current 80GB for $499 has everything I stated. See my link.

Ovation is referring to the 80GB model that's been announced and that will release in September. It will cost $399. It will be the same as the current 40GB model, except with 80GB of hard disk space (+ a DualShock controller). Others here seem to think that the model/bundle that you described in your post will be reduced to $399, which is not the case. This is what Ovation was pointing out.

Is there a link to Ovation? I would doubt the 80GB bundle with $59.99 game, $55.00 dual shock, year membership, 4 usb ports, memory card slots could go that low. Anything's possible.

Okay, you seem thoroughly confused about this entire thing.

First, Ovation is the poster who you quoted and to which you replied "I don't understand". If you want a link to his post, click the little arrow after his name in your post three posts back.

Second, no, the CURRENT 80GB BUNDLE will not drop to $399. That's exactly what we are saying! It will remain $499. Sony announced a few days ago that they are releasing a DIFFERENT 80GB model in September. The new 80GB model (which will be released in September in case you missed it) will be functionally identical to the CURRENT 40GB model, but will contain 80GB of hard disk space. It will NOT be bundled with a game. It will NOT have the memory card slots. It will NOT have 4 USB ports (only 2, just like the current 40GB model). However, they will include a DualShock controller in the package.

Is this really that hard to grasp?

steve, read this thread.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1049342

I understand now but what I don't understand is your rudeness. You probably don't grasp that. Some people behind the comfort of their computers are far more aggressive and confrontational than they would be in person. Get it?

TY I see. Well, the deluxe 80GB at $499 offered now is a better deal IMO.

Been doing lots of reading, but wanted to get some feedback as well. Here's my setup.

Pioneer 5071 (720p/1080i)
Yamaha 663 (Can do Dolby Digital Plus, DTS HD HiRes, Dolby True HD, DTS HD Master Audio)
Klipsch Reference Speakers (52 setup)

I'm looking at either the PS3 bundle (current 80gb version), the Sony 350 or the Panasonic.

Now, from what I've read, not many people can hear the difference between PCM and bitstreaming. I'm sure there is a difference, but is there that much of a difference. If not, my other concerns would probably be upconversion and video quality.

Thoughts?

Steve, let me know if/where you find it.

1st .. I own the same AVR.. the PS3 is perfect for this AVR because it sends Lossless as PCM not bitstream.. the 663 cannot matrix 5.1 to 7.1 lossless via bitstream..

Thanks for the feedback. Also, I wouldn't be utilizing the 7.1 on this receiver, only have a 5.1 setup now and for the foreseeable future.

At one time I said the same thing... then I decided to upgrade my front speakers..they day they arrived I moved my then fronts to rears and never looked back.. I now have 7.1..

Pugnax55-my bad about the upcoming 80GB. I didn't see your reply to my post...sorry ...