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Buyer Rating: - * The best value for Gaming and Movies. ...
At $400 dollars, one might think this system is still expensive. But, when you break it down, it is the best value. First, this is a playstation, based off of the best selling PS and PS2, gaming systems just got better going high def on this system. Drawback, this system is not compatable with PS2 games and not all PS1 games, so hold on to that PS2. But, you'll have a hard time beating the graphics. Second, this system has the built in blu-ray player. Now that the format war is over, blu-ray is the way to get that HD fix of movies. This system plays blu-ray discs flawlessly and does an excellent job at upscaling the old DVD collection. I do have an HD-DVD player as well, and it can be touchy at upscaling, and often I need to adjust the settings to get it to work properly. The playstation is flawless, upscales easily. Looks great on my 1080p plasma. Finally, my biggest reason for the PS3, wirelessly upgrades software from my wi-fi home network. One problem of early Blu-ray and even HD-DVD players is that they have to have their software updated periodically or some of the movies would not play properly or at all. In fact, early blu-ray models dindn't even have a LAN line input, so upgrading was difficult having to wait for a software upgrade disc if possible. The playstation was easy to set up with my wireless network and in 20 minutes it downloaded and upgraded to the latest software version, no dragging it to the router to hook up a LAN line like my HD dvd player. So, this is my recommendation for anybody who wants a true home entertainment system, PS3 is the wave of the future.

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Buyer Rating: - PlayStation 3 -- a different take
Unlike most others, I bought the PlayStation 3 almost exclusively because of the Blu-Ray capabilities. Many reviews (CNet, etc) cited the PS3 as the best deal where Blu-Rays are concerned, so I bought it rather than the Panasonic Blu-Ray I was looking at originally.

Pros of PS3
- Cost. The PS3 was quite a bit cheaper than other players with similar ratings.

- The PS3 is a two-for-one deal. You get a game console plus a Blu-Ray in a single unit.

- Easy installation. One power cord and one HDMI cord. That's it.

- Resolution on games and movies is top notch. I have not noticed any audio/video synchrony problems as has been reported with other players.

Cons of PS3
- All controls with the exception of Eject are on-screen functions. In order to turn the unit off, I have to change the input source on my home theater receiver to the PS3 in order to see the screen and manipulate the functions.

- Using the PS3 as a Blu-Ray player without the Sony Bluetooth remote control ($[...]) is very cumbersome. You can use one of the game controllers (at least in theory), but I found it impossible to do. Having to purchase a remote control separately also made the PS3 less of a deal than I originally thought.

- The "memory" function where by the player "remembers" the last scene watched on a given movie drives me nuts. I hope there is a way to turn this off. The problem is compounded by the fact that it is difficult to override this feature. If I try to watch a movie that I watched previously in the PS3, the unit begins playing the disc where ever I stopped it on the previous occasion. On most units, pressing Stop twice will allow you to return to the beginning. Not so here. I end up having an argument so to speak with the PS3 via the remote control.
PS3: "I'll begin the movie here."
Me: "I want to watch it from the beginning."
PS3: "No you don't. You should begin here."
Me: "Really, I would like to start at the beginning."
PS3: "This is where you stopped it last. I think it's best to pick up where we left off."

- The PS3 runs hot. Way hot. All of my home theater equipment is in a stand with glass doors in the front and two vents in the back. Even though all of my other equipment is adequately ventilated with the doors shut, I have to keep the front doors open if I use the PS3 at all. Otherwise, it will almost certainly overheat.

Bottom line
I'm neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with this unit. If I had it to do over again, I would have gone with the Panasonic over the PS3. Am I using the PS3 as originally intended? No. Do I realize this? Yes. Still, there are reviews all over the place touting the PS3 as a great (some would say the best) Blu-Ray player out there. From a technical point of view, this is probably true. From a functionality standpoint, I find it more cumbersome to operate than a traditional Blu-Ray unit. My plan is to make do with this until other players come down in price. At that point, the PS3 will migrate to my son's room and I will replace it with a Panasonic.

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Buyer Rating: - Great Decision
Truly a entertainment System, from listening to music in my room to beating my opponents online. Great, especially when the friends come over!

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Buyer Rating: - * Pretty cool ...
Playstation is pretty cool. I was amazed by how functional it was and packed with features. It has gone from being just a game console to a full entertainment system.

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Buyer Rating: - Had To Give A Review Based On Another
"BLU-RAY:
The PS3 does have Blu-ray, which has won the format war with HD DVD. However, I don't think disc media is going to be around much longer anyway. I believe the real future in high-definition video is larger hard drives and the ability to download movies and videos directly to your console, which the 360 seems to be focusing on. It is worth noting that Netflix is going to make streaming videos available on the 360 in the fall of 2008. "

this was one of the statements given by another reviewer. i can't believe this person thinks that digital downloads will ever take the place of a disc.(hardware on any scale)peoeple want to be able to feel and touch something they've bought. there is a sense of pride in knowing it's their at your fingertips. digital downloads sounds great but there are some noteable problems. i'm only going to discuss the obvious ones. something can happen to a HDD and then you lose that digital download and possibly be forced to be buy it again...one other problem is that digital downloads don't sounds or look near as good as a blu ray/hd-dvd disc

why would anyone want to settle for less?

all in all the ps3 is a great gaming console on all levels. i don't like it as much as my 360 for gaming reasons. from a media outlook it's fantastic

also keep in mind the the ps3 is currently the only blu ray player that can be upgraded:)