New to Blu? Buy a PS3: the most featured BD hardware available... (1 Viewer)

[Phil Carter]

I assume that by "digital/HD cable" you mean cable TELEVISION access. No, I don't -- I didn't see the sense in it since I don't actually have a TV at the moment. (I recently relocated to Austin, TX from Atlanta, GA and didn't feel like moving my existing 48" 220-pound RPTV across the country, so I sold it before the move). No TV = no cable.

But hey, optical cable is cheap. I can deal with that. Hell, if I were REALLY cheap I could use the optical cable I'm currently using with my PS2; obviously I won't be using it if I'm using the PS3 at that time.

cheers,
Phil

 

[Arild]

Yep.

 

[Brent T]

I just got a PS3 last week and I am having a horrible time downloading the updates. I used a stick the first time because of my horrible down load times. Any idea why my 360 would get great down load speeds but my PS3 would drag so much?

 

[Brent T]

No ideas about my above question?

 

[Carlo_M]

Not really. I get pretty good speeds on my PS3 download times, so I'm guessing that perhaps you hit the server fairly soon after the update came out? That's usually the heaviest traffic time. I tend to wait a day or two after the updates to perform the update.

 

[Paul Hillenbrand]

PS3 Firmware version 2.53 released today:

Note: The site addresses have changed a little since the 2.50 release


Paul

 

[Ron Reda]

Has anyone had any problems with their PS3 locking up on Universal titles? I can't remember the BRs it did it on, but both of them were from Universal. I wonder if it's an authoring thing.

Also, I've experienced audio drop outs from time to time over my HDMI connection to my Integra pre-pro, again only on certain titles, most recently "The Police: Certifiable."

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Haven't noticed any problems w/ Universal titles, et al. so far though I haven't tried any BD-Live features yet. I'll let you know if I notice any problems w/ my copy of The Police: Certifiable BD once I get to it -- it's still in the mail so far. I'm using a Yamaha 663 for the prepro section in my case.


BTW, to anyone interested in the Nyko Blu-wave IR remote solution, mine seems to work just fine (w/ Universal RF20 remote) -- haven't tried playing games on my PS3, so not sure how it might be affecting my wireless game controllers.


EDIT: I should add that I have not bothered to update my PS3's software since the version that added full Profile 2.0 support and DTS-HD/MA decoding -- can't remember the number now, but probably something like v2.4 or so back around late spring or early summer.

_Man_

 

[Matt Hough]

I installed the new firmware upgrade today.

Will someone please tell me where the audio volume control is located on the menus? I've looked and looked and have yet to find it. I thought I read that one of the new features was 9 different levels of volume, but I can't find any switch in any menu. Thanks.

 

[MarkHastings]

but you still have to power the PS3 on separately, right?

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Correct, power on/off is not supported this way (although I would've thought power off should've been possible via USB). I'm not really bothered by that since I normally need to go to the components rack anyway. FWIW, I only paid ~$8 for it w/ BF pricing from Amazon, so it's hard to complain about that anyway.

For me, the bigger issue is that I no longer need to fumble w/ the unlit bluetooth remote and accidentally hit the stop button when I just want to pause (or continue from pause), especially for all the BD-J titles. That plus I can now have generally smoother control over my HT setup (outside of the few missing functions that are very minor to me). Yeah, would be better to have the IR-to-BT converter for full control of the PS3, but that costs ~$50, currently requires use of a Harmony remote (even if just to reprogram mine) and is not readily available last I checked. At some point after I rearrange the setup and room, I'll probably also use the RF-to-IR unit that came bundled w/ my RF20 remote.

_Man_

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Well, I tried my copy of The Police: Certifiable on my PS3 and did not notice any problems. FYI, I'm still using v2.3 of the PS3 software, not v2.4 as I had thought. I guess v2.3 was the one that added Profile 2.0 and DTS-HD/MA decoding.

_Man_

 

[MarkHastings]

Really? No power off? That's a bit odd. Although, that doesn't worry me too much because I'd just use the "Turn off system" selection in the menu.

 

[TonyD]

Man why havent you updated i think it's 2.52/3 now.

i just hold the ps3 button down and it asks if i want to power down.
or with the new update it added a power down in the ps3 menu area,
far left last menu at the top is an off feature.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Aaaah. Well, I guess that gives me extra incentive to finally update my PS3 again -- but only barely since I still generally need to go and switch off my B&K power amp (which unfortunately was just old enough to not support power trigger ). I also used to just use the PS3 button to power on/off, but that's not supported by the Nyko IR dongle.

And in general, I don't like to update firmware/software unless I find it necessary -- and I have not found it necessary since v2.3 so far. FWIW, I'm also still using IE6 and Office 2003 for that matter and have no inclination to migrate off of WinXP anytime soon -- also only recently upgraded from iTunes v4.x to v8.x.

_Man_

 

[MarkHastings]

^^ Yeah, but upgrading your PC to new versions could cause conflicts and slow downs, so it's understandable to be cautious of upgrading when you're system is working the way you want it to.

With the PS3, as long as there are no problems with the update version, you really don't have anything to worry about.

 

[Ron Reda]

That's my stance on PS3 updates from now on. I've experienced WAY too many issues with the 2.53 update...lock ups, video nasties on Blu-ray movies I know worked fine previously, having to hard boot, all kinds of things. There's TONS of complaints going on at the PS3 message boards so it's not just limited to my machine.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

That's precisely why I take my time w/ doing such updates (as usual). Sometimes, problems just won't show up immediately after doing updates -- it's not like I'm about to go through my entire BD collection (plus test out a few DVDs to boot) everytime I do an update afterall, especially if I intend to update often.

And again, I have not run into any problems so far w/ the old v2.3 software (and have also not seen any compelling reason to update since then).

_Man_

 

[Nick Martin]

I update every time, because I like the minor bonuses like scene selection for video files and so on, but I have not updated to this 2.53 for two reasons, one of them being the reported problems with the update, and the other being I have no need for internet flash support because I don't visit flash-enabled sites on the PS3's browser, not yet anyway.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Ooooh! Flash support for the web browser? Don't let my kids know about that or I might get some Webkinz graphics burnt into my RPTV.

_Man_