Should I get a PS3 or wait for the Sony BDP-550 for blu-ray playback?

Question

Should I get a PS3 or wait for the Sony BDP-550 for blu-ray playback?

Answer 1

I agree with David in his whole answer.  I also have a Sony Bluray player and the PS3 and the PS3 is the far better player hands down.  Is faster loading, is the most easily upgraded and so far Playstation is the only one who is making regular "updates" for it's Bluray player.  get the PS3.

Answer 2

One answerer reported that the PS3 doesn't do DTS HD Master...that is false. The PS3 will decode everything internally and pass it as LPCM over the HDMI cable to your receiver (as of firmware 2.4).

So in order to make your decision you have to know if your receiver can accept LPCM over HDMI. If it can then the PS3 is an option. If it can't, but has 5.1 or 7.1 analog inputs, then I would get the BDP-550.

You may also want the BDP-550 if you have a newer AVR that can decode the new lossless audio codecs. The BDP-550 can pass the lossless audio as bitstream over HDMI whereas the PS3 cannot.

The PS3 will allow you to play games, surf the internet and is a media streamer as well. You can stream video/audio/pictures from a PC, a NAS device, a Thumbdrive or its own hard drive. The 80GB version also plays SACDs. It is a very good value and Sony is loosing money on it, hoping you will buy games and movies to make up their loss. They are in strong competition with the XBox and were with HD-DVD until last February.

The lack of IR on the PS3 is a bit of a bummer and you either have to use the controllers or buy an IR to Bluetooth converter (http://ir2bt.com/) or buy a universal remote that has infrared and bluetooth (far and few between though).

Answer 3

I would vote for the PS3 as your best bet for a Blue-Ray player because of it's quick loading, and constant updates to take advantage of BD Live, and the games of course.

BUT

The only downside is the Blue-Ray remote for the PS3 is Bluetooth (I know, a lot of blues in there), which means your universal remote won't work with the PS3. It has not IR eye.

SO I would recommend the BDP-550 if you want a console that will work with a universal (Harmony 880) remote.

Good luck with your purchase!!

Answer 4

It depends on your needs.  The PS3 is probably a better overall value, but the BDP-s550 might be bette for your specific needs.  The BDP-s550 has 7 channel analog output available, and can do DTS-HD MA, where as PS3 only does that in a bitstream.  If you plan on playing games, then get the PS3.  If not, decide wether or not the DTS-HD MA and analog output are worth it to you.

Also the PS3 has the fastest loading time of any blu-ray player I've ever seen.

Furthermore, blu-ray will be around for a long time because all the companies that spent millions of dollars developing it have to make money off of it.

Answer 5

blu-ray is not going to last very long.