Buying advise for a Playstation 3 (1 Viewer)

[Edwin-S]

Originally Posted by Morgan Jolley

My comment about the PS3 controller being a good remote has two reasons justifying it: I bought the PS3 as a gaming system and I am cheap. I know the layout of the buttons without having to look (unlike a remote, which is useless in the dark) and would rather spend $20 or so on something better, like a used game at GameStop. Honestly, once you figure out a few quirks of the PS3 controller for use as a remote (primarily, the button layout, "Start" = Play/Pause, "Triangle" = function menu, and "PS button" = "go back to XMB") then there's really no need for anything else.


I'm a little surprised that you guys who think the remote is a superior option wouldn't have played with the controller enough to find out how relatively simple it is to use.

You should try to avoid making assumptions. Before I got the remote, I used the PS3 controller for quite awhile to play BDs.Your #2 reason for using the controller was the exact same reason why I used it. The PS3 remote was originally 50 bucks Canadian and I was not about to pay that kind of money for a remote that was not backlit. However, I found using the controller for BDs to be awkward and a general pain in the butt, especially when I wanted to fast forward, rewind, or skip a chapter. When the remote came on sale for 25 bucks, I bought one. Once I memorized the layout, I found the conventional button layout of the remote to be more convenient than using the controller. In a pitch black room, even though the remote is not backlit, I can find all of the most commonly used buttons using touch only.

 

[John_Bilbrey]

I had been looking at BD players, and just pulled the trigger on a PS3, my Christmas/birthday present for myself. Got the new CoD, headset, and another Sony wireless controller. I hooked it up via my existing HDMI cable and digital coaxial (my receiver doesn't support HDMI audio - Onkyo TX-SR574). I must admit I was blown away at the picture quality. I haven't watch a BD movie yet, but I'm hoping I'm just as amazed at the picture quality there.

 

[Sam Posten]

Originally Posted by Yee-Ming

Not literally anymore, its picture is considered a bit soft in reviews I've read

My BS detector keeps going off every time I read this, I'm sorry but I can't believe that any legitimate site believes this to be remotely true. Source?

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Originally Posted by Morgan Jolley

My comment about the PS3 controller being a good remote has two reasons justifying it: I bought the PS3 as a gaming system and I am cheap. I know the layout of the buttons without having to look (unlike a remote, which is useless in the dark) and would rather spend $20 or so on something better, like a used game at GameStop. Honestly, once you figure out a few quirks of the PS3 controller for use as a remote (primarily, the button layout, "Start" = Play/Pause, "Triangle" = function menu, and "PS button" = "go back to XMB") then there's really no need for anything else.


I'm a little surprised that you guys who think the remote is a superior option wouldn't have played with the controller enough to find out how relatively simple it is to use.

The remote is smaller and less awkward to leave laying around with other remotes on a small table, and you only need one hand to grab and use it. (Ha ha.)


Also it's less worrisome to have floating around the TV room than a $50 Dualshock. (Someday, when you have kids in the house. . . )

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Aaron - I understand what you're saying, but you get the dualshock 3 controller with the console, whereas you need to buy the remote. Anyone who uses the PS3 for gaming (or has played PS1/2) knows the layout of the buttons and can easily figure out what they do.


I guess I'm at the stage in my life where $20+ for a remote control that will do less than something I already have, regardless of the convenience, isn't worth it. But a $500 (at the time) videogame console that has $60 games and looks best on a 1080p TV and sounds best with surround sound (all of which I have) is totally worth it. Go figure.

 

[Yee-Ming]

Originally Posted by John_Bilbrey /forum/thread/305152/buying-advise-for-a-playstation-3/30#post_3767237

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Morgan, get back to me when needing two hands to operate the remote interferes with your wife's footrub -- trust me, it'll be worth the extra $20.


As for HD audio. . .I wonder how much difference it would make in my speakers (old Paradigm Titans) at my usual listening levels (not too loud when Junior's asleep). Then again, new receivers that handle it are getting pretty inexpensive. . .

 

[Sam Posten]

I got my PS3 remote for free, watch for deals it happens a lot. It's my favorite remote, if it was backlit it would be king.


How do you manage subtitles for instance on the Dualshock? It may work for you but non AV geeks? no way.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

When running into an issue with BD or video playback on the PS3, just press Triangle and you can easily figure it out. Not just that, but since you know your way around the buttons well enough and the controls pop up on the screen, you won't need a backlit controller!


Aaron - that's a good point. However, I don't have a wife and it's not a concern

 

[Sam Posten]

Here you go on the remote:

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=809152&t=2498191

 

[Yee-Ming]

Originally Posted by Sam Posten

Not literally anymore, its picture is considered a bit soft in reviews I've read

My BS detector keeps going off every time I read this, I'm sorry but I can't believe that any legitimate site believes this to be remotely true. Source?

[/QUOTE]


http://www.xtremeplace.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=69911.0

http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/collection/1656/top_bluray_disc_players.html


To be fair, we are talking about very small differences here, no one is saying the PS3 is bad, just that the top of the line stuff (and even the mid-range) outperforms it. I remember reading another review which was a touch more critical, but I can't find it right now.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

FWIW, that PC World review is worthless in terms of performance -- all it has is a comment that the PS3's image is "good but not as pleasing as those" on some other players. No explanation offered. The other review is kind of the opposite extreme. They were looking at test discs on a 133" screen and comparing a 20GB PS3 to (among other things) a $1000 Oppo and a $5000(!) Denon. Also, they didn't recalibrate the projector when they switched sources, so the color results could be off.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

A multi-purpose $300-400 piece of electronics slightly underperforms next to equipment costing up to 12 times as much? You don't say!


I think that if you put a PS3 in your home theater, put a Blu-Ray disc in, and ask your friends/family if it looks good, they will say yes.

 

[Yee-Ming]

So we're all on the same page then... all I meant was that back in the day, the PS3 was almost literally the very best BDP available, and certainly the most VFW, nowadays it isn't among the very best, but it's still pretty good and still reasonably good VFW -- and it plays games.


BTW, the prices cited in the Xtremeplace forum thread are Singapore Dollars, not USD. Presently USD1 = SGD1.3 or so, then you have to factor in mark-up -- HT stuff tends to cost more here (e.g. the Oppo costs USD499, but SGD999 here, which does not acccord with the currency exchange rate at all).

Then again, at the rate things are going, SGD/USD is going to reach parity soon... it wasn't too long ago (3-4 yrs?) that USD1=SGD1.7+

 

[Sam Posten]

Personally I think it's coming down to personal preference rather than any specific, repeatable and irrefutable image quality differentiation.

The Samsung BD-C7900 produces images that are among the best we've seen. This $260 (as of November 22, 2010) 3D Blu-ray player also has two HDMI ports, which saves users with 3D HDTVs from having to make a difficult decision regarding audio output. It's easy to use and fast, and it comes with a good selection of Internet and multimedia capabilities. PCWorld doesn't test 3D image quality, but the 2D quality wavered between very good and superb. It always outdid our reference player, a Sony PlayStation 3, and in only one test (chapter 3 of the Phantom of the Opera DVD) was the contest even close.

It received straight Superb scores on our black-and-white Good Night and Good Luck Blu-ray test (chapter 1), as well as on our large-format test using the Blu-ray of The Searchers (chapters 4 and 20). The detail on both of these was astonishing, revealing props and minutiae not visible with the PlayStation 3. The Searchers, shot in 1956 in a large format called VistaVision, looked the way we'd expect a big-budget Western from that era to look. The deep colors showed heavy saturation without seeming artificial.

The images weren't quite as impressive in chapter 7 of the Mission: Impossible III Blu-ray. Perhaps because of that sequence's bright, Mediterranean sunlight, the scene exhibited a tad too much contrast. Detail was still excellent, though.

I'm curious if Criterion is still using the PS3 as their reference deck or not.

 

[Sam Posten]

Also, NEVER ONCE do any of those 'reviews' call the PS3 output soft. Until shown otherwise I maintain that that characterization is a leap that you've made in your own judgment somehow rather than anything a 'professional'/respectable reviewer has ever said.

 

[Tonny258]

Perfor to the PSP games I like the online game very much such as aion and I oftern buy the aion bot on the internet. it's coolllllll http://www.aionbots.com. So I have no advise for you.