[Girish]

I am going to use it primarily as a blu-ray player for the movies. Am I better off buying a Blu-ray player instead? I need to hook it up with projector(which had component video), and to Proceed Mark Levinson processor which had optical and digital for audio.
BTW does PS3 come with a remote?
Thanks for help as always!!!

[Man-Fai Wong]

I'd think it should be fine as long as you don't need upconversion for DVDs and don't need 1080p output since you need analog component out.

The PS3 doesn't normally come w/ a BD/DVD-style remote -- that's a ~$20 extra/option (and uses Bluetooth, not IR) unless you happen to find some bundle sale that includes it. If you need IR remote capability (for your universal remote), you can try the 3rd party Nyko USB-to-IR remote solution (w/ a USB-to-IR dongle) though it's not a particularly complete solution since you can't power on/off w/ that.

For component output, you'll also need to buy the PS2/PS3 breakout component cable for ~$20.

For audio, you can just connect to your processor w/ standard toslink/optical for standard DD and DTS playback.

One consideration for going w/ something else other than PS3 is if you want the player to output the various lossless audio formats as 5.1 (or 7.1) analog out since it sounds like you don't have a processor that handles HDMI. Another detail to consider for the future is how critical you want to be about how the lossless audio formats are handled across HDMI if/when you upgrade your processor, ie. the PS3 decodes to multi-channel PCM before passing it via HDMI. Otherwise, it's mostly just about preferences wrt ergonomics/useability and cosmetics/aesthetics...

_Man_

[Chris S]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Girish

Am I better off buying a Blu-ray player instead?

In short, no. The PS3 has been the most robust Blu-ray player to date.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Girish

BTW does PS3 come with a remote?

No but you can use the PS3 controller. When I first got my unit I was very skeptical about this and very much wanted a real remote, however I've really come to like the quick response times of the bluetooth enabled controller and really can't find a valid reason to spend ~$20 to replace it.

[Sanjay Gupta]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris S

No but you can use the PS3 controller. When I first got my unit I was very skeptical about this and very much wanted a real remote, however I've really come to like the quick response times of the bluetooth enabled controller and really can't find a valid reason to spend ~$20 to replace it.

Believe me the PS3 remote is far more convenient than the controller for movie viewing. By the way the remote is also 'bluetooth' and therefore has the same response time and is also non-directional, like the controller. THe $20 is money well spent, ie. if you use the PS3 for movie watching.

[Girish]

Thanks for all the wonderful responses. Does it matter how many gb the PS3 ahs to be?

[Girish]

Any deals on PS3 anywhere?

[Scott-S]

Quote:

I'd think it should be fine as long as you don't need upconversion for DVDs

This statement confused me. I thought the PS3 did a great job of upscaling standard dvds. Is this not the case?

The reason I ask is that I am very close to buying one myself and if it sucks at sd-dvd upscale then I need to rethink.

[Man-Fai Wong]

Gish,

The only deal I know is Sony's own deal where you get $100 back w/ a new Sony credit card when purchasing at their own retail stores (or at the SonyStyle online store). It's good for any first-time Sony purchase of >=$299 -- and not specific to the PS3 though the PS3 would be a prime choice for it. That's what I did a few weeks ago.

There's also rumor that there will be a $100 price cut coming next Monday, so you might want to wait until next Monday or Tuesday to see if that's true. No idea if the Sony card deal would still be in effect if/when the price cut happens.

As for which one to get, if you don't care about playing old PS2 games or SACDs and don't see a need for the extra USB ports (4 vs 2) or the built-in SD card reader, then the cheaper 40GB version should be all you need -- and that's the one that comes w/ the 1-disc Spiderman BD instead of some game bundle. The harddrive can always be upgraded later, if you eventually decide you want more space for doing stuff other than strictly playing BDs -- and the upgrade is apparently very easy to do.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott-S

This statement confused me. I thought the PS3 did a great job of upscaling standard dvds. Is this not the case?

You overlooked the rest of that reply/sentence. The OP needed component out. The PS3 (and most other players) does not upconvert via component out. If you're using HDMI, then it should do well.

_Man_

[Chris S]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Girish

Thanks for all the wonderful responses. Does it matter how many gb the PS3 ahs to be?

If you are going to use it solely as a Blu-ray player it doesn't make any difference. Now if you were thinking about playing a few PS2 and PS3 games then that is a little different.

[Chris S]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sanjay Gupta

Believe me the PS3 remote is far more convenient than the controller for movie viewing. By the way the remote is also 'bluetooth' and therefore has the same response time and is also non-directional, like the controller. THe $20 is money well spent, ie. if you use the PS3 for movie watching.

Good to know that it's also a bluetooth device as I really do like that aspect a lot. I suppose it doesn't hurt that I was already somewhat accustomed to the control since I do play video games. But if I find one for cheap one day I might give it a shot based on how much you really seem to like it.