Combo Player vs. Both PS3 & XBOX 360 Elite HD-DVD for same price!!!

Pros go beyond what you listed even. You get other functions that can contribute to an HT in addition to the obvious BD and HD DVD along with high def gaming.


With the PS3 for instance you get a full web browser ala 'web tv'. You can also play media files mpeg and more, music, images and video from the harddrive, download high definition trailers and even turn it into a linux computer.


With the 360 you get built-in streaming of media from an Windows PC / Network, as well as the same media options listed above but add windows media files, with windows media streaming you get even more options (including access to some pretty nice online media websites) and you get the option of downloading not only high definition trailers but also full high definition TV shows and high def movie rentals.


Both consoles are guaranteed to be updated regularly as far as their player software as well. All of these are features that can be useful in a home theater.


This is not even to mention things like online chat capabilties (including video chat) etc.


On the player side a standalone would give you a lossless audio option on some movies as opposed to DD5.1 or DTS1.5 or WMA Pro 1.5 on hd dvds. The standalone Toshiba's I hear are even better sd dvd upscalers (although the 360 is no slouch). In fact you will get 2.0 stero lossless on 360. Also some people just prefer the standalone aesthetic. I can't see much advantage beyond that really.


In general there is much more value with an elite and a PS3 as you mentioned. The value proposition is pretty lopsided unless you have no interest in any of the other functions of the consoles.

I have a PS3 and a Xbox 360 with HD-DVD add-on, and I couldn't imagine trading that for a standalone combo player. However, I'm also a gamer so the choice is easy for me.


However, if I was purely a HT enthusiast with no interest in gaming, I would probably get the standalone. For one, the remote control for the combo would be superior. The HD-DVD add-on came with a decent remote, but I just programmed all the functions into my universal remote. The PS3, however, requires the use of Bluetooth, so I'm stuck with using the PS3 controller. It's not a pretty thing. Yes, you can buy the PS3 remote as an accessory, but to me, that is a disadvantage.


For the Xbox 360 HD-DVD, the lack of support for lossless audio, even with the Elite model, is a huge negative for high-end HT enthusiasts that want the very best. For this reason alone, I think many videophiles would be turned off by this solution.


The PS3 seems to be a fine Blu-ray player, and even has SACD built-in, so certainly it's no slouch. It also seems to support any of the audio options available on BD, so there's no compromises here.


Other than that, I think it's mostly an aesthetic choice, and also a choice of convenience. Obviously with the combo player, your video and audio connections get reduced by half. Actually it's quite nice that with the combo player, all you really need is one HDMI connection. So the choice is pretty simple, I think. If you're into gaming, then the consoles are the easy pick. If you want nothing to do with gaming, then a combo is your choice. If you however have an interest in gaming, but also desire the best possible audio choices for your HD, then that's a little bit harder. Possibly you may consider a PS3 for the BD player, and a standalone HD-DVD with the lossless audio options.



Quote:
Originally Posted by JE3146 /forum/post/0


BlueTooth

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ROFL



Quote:
Originally Posted by T2k /forum/post/0


ROFL

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If you're laughing on my capitalization of the T, I got ahead of myself while typing it seems


Too many acronyms, names, codecs.. etc.. you name it....