[Crimson]

pee ess three.

[mfsoa]

I had heard that PS3s make a lot of mechanical noise. My nephew returned two of them as unlistenable.

Anyone else?

-Mike

[mr_bill]

Sony BDP S350.  For the price at less than $200 how can you go wrong?
Equal Blu Ray performance and very respectabel DVD upsampling.  Unless you are a far out videophile, you may want to consider the Sony. 

[Phil A]

I have two players.  I have a PS3 in the secondary basement for a few months and I picked up a Samsung 2500 on Friday for temporary duty in the main system and eventual use in the bedroom system.  I plan to get the Oppo when it comes out in a few month.  I sit about 12 ft. from the PS3 and it is in a rack in the basement that is recessed into the wall going to the unfinished area.  I can't hear a drop of noise.  I've only had a little time to play with the Samsung.  It is an excellent DVD player.  I watched a bit of Collateral Damage and the 5th Element Superbit the other night.  I have a Marantz DV9600 in the system too (which is excellent on DVD) and was impressed with the Samsung's DVD playback.  I watched a piece of the NFL Blu-Ray that came with the Samsung and watched Hancock on Blu-Ray last night on the Samsung.  I had watched Hancock on Wed. night in the basement system where the PS3 is hooked to a Sony VPL-AW15 on an 88 inch screen.  My main system is a BenQ W5000 and a 100 inch screen.  

I was going to wait and use the Oppo Blu-Ray in both the main and bedroom systems as they back to each other and figured the PS3 was a good way to get acquainted with Blu-Ray and also perhaps use the hard drive at some point as a music server or network it to one of my PCs at some point in the future.  I got a good deal on the Samsung and the fact it has analog outs (my bedroom rec'r will be 8 yrs. old in March) and if I opt to get Netflix it will be a nice feature to be able to stream movies to it.  I have not looked into Sony's download service (I saw the announcement that it was coming about the same time I got the PS3).  While I plan to get a new bedroom rec'r in the near future (I don't use the bedroom system tons), I figured the analog outs in the Samsung 2500 are a positive too as I can wait until I can get a good deal on something that meets my needs.

[ted_b]

I had heard that PS3s make a lot of mechanical noise. My nephew returned two of them as unlistenable.

Anyone else?

-Mike

I heard them described, especially with the whine many speak of, as hair dryers (noise level) but can't speak personally so take it with a grain of salt.  They are great BD players, though...assuming you want the player to do the decoding (firmware required for DTS HD MA).  They don't bitstream to the processor. 

[Crimson]

I had heard that PS3s make a lot of mechanical noise. My nephew returned two of them as unlistenable.

Anyone else?

-Mike

I've got two of them. Neither are hidden away. One's an 80GB and the other a 40GB. One is about 15' from the listening position, and the other about 10', and I can't hear either of them.

Reasons why I love them as BD players?
-BD spec updates are done as soon as they are released via wifi. Painless.
-Super fast disc loading times.
-DLNA compliant (they see all my music and photos stored on remote NAS drives with no setup).
-They play games! (My son and I are console junkies).

[ctviggen]

George,

For what it's worth, CNNMoney selected the Playstation 3 as the "best" Bluray player:

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/moneymag/0811/gallery.blueray_players.moneymag/index.html

They review five players, ranging from $300 to $800.  In your price range, they liked the Sony BDP-S350.

[Bob in St. Louis]

I had heard that PS3s make a lot of mechanical noise. My nephew returned two of them as unlistenable.

Dead quite. Absolutely ZERO noise........Compaired to the XBox 360 that sounds like a chainsaw in a church.

Bob

[ralflar]

The "NYKO Blu Wave" remote for PS3 costs $15 at Amazon or Newegg. The USB dongle goes in the PS3. Use the remote to train your universal.
http://www.amazon.com/PlayStation-3-Blu-Wave-Remote/dp/B000R5H7KE
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16879213018

I don't have audiophile angst, a PS3 simply doesn't have the remote requirement.

Plus it is outside of the $400 range I mentioned.

George

[jonwb]

I don't have audiophile angst, a PS3 simply doesn't have the remote requirement.

Plus it is outside of the $400 range I mentioned.

George

I use this:
http://www.schmartstuff.com/sony-ps3-ir-upgrad.html
w/ my MX-500 universal remote.  Works great!

[zybar]

Thanks for enlightening me on the remote issue guys.   

George

[RAW]

I too am now in the position of needing a new BR player.
My Philips BDP9000 would not play any new Blu-ray discs that were released in the last month. i do mean none of them.
The only firm update is months old and not sure when it will be available!!

With the new discs they are wrote in a new 2.0 format which will not read even in some older machines i found out as the firm up date will not make the needed changes.

Then throw in that sony has a new 3.0 release coming out for the Audio nuts

Back to a player I am going tomorrow from the reviews I have found most are saying 3 things.

WAIT till the new 3.0 is worked out !!
Get a PS3
Get the Pany 55 as it has better video than the Sony 550 does.

Just sold my BDP9000 for $150.00 on craigs list lasted 20 minutes till they arrived and walked out with it.

Seems everyone here likes the PS3 and one got the new 160g yet?

[ooheadsoo]

my 80gb ps3 is louder than my computer and my computer isn't that quiet

[rydenfan]

George, it all depends on budget. There is no doubt that the Denon 3800 is king of the heap, but it comes at a price. I use the Pioneer Elite 95 and it is very good. Below that you want to look at the Sony S550.

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-BDP-S550-1080p-Blu-ray-Player/dp/B001FN3ZRQ/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=audio-video&qid=1228141705&sr=1-4

Edit: I use the Elite 05. The Elite 95 was the model I owned last year...

[orientalexpress]

sweet,That exactly what i look for.this going to be my first blue ray.


lapsan

[ted_b]

sweet,That exactly what i look for.this going to be my first blue ray.


lapsan

There are quite a few Ebay sellers that have it delivered for $350.  If you use today's 40% off via Paypal/Microsoft rebate combo (see Cyberdeals thread) it will net to $210-ish.  Make sure it's Paypal ("P" listings) and Buy It Now, through the Microsoft Live Search link.

[zybar]

Thanks for the suggestions everybody.

I bought the Panny 35 and paid $153 after all rebates, discounts, etc...

George

[rydenfan]

SWEET DEAL 

[jqp]

sounds like the PS3, as well as the XBox may or may not be 'loud', depending on which one you get, which can limit its value in a home theater. I would think you could take them back as defective, and get a quiet one.

I can't believe they get away with a format that is rendering players obsolete as it 'matures'!  They should compensate those who have bought players that are suddenly obsolete.

[Bob in St. Louis]

I can't believe they get away with a format that is rendering players obsolete as it 'matures'!  They should compensate those who have bought players that are suddenly obsolete.

Or have timely firmware updates that keep up with changes in technology.....
What's changing about the content/media that is keeping older models from playing newer discs?

Regarding the XBox 360 noise, after my third (dead) unit I did some searching about these consoles having internal heat issues. Affectionately known as the "RROD" (Red Ring of Death). So I bought a $20 aftermarket fan unit that installs on the back. Great unit, but it makes the overall unit even louder. This unit is the reason why my equipment rack has a tempered glass door with a rubber seal around it for noise control. 

Regarding the PS3 noise; Mine is dead quiet, however it's only a couple weeks old. Is the noise something I have to look forward to as it ages, or are those of you that have noisy ones reporting yours where noisy right out of the box?

Bob