tom_newton Posted June 9, 2012 Posted June 9, 2012 Just giving my Samsung blu-ray player a last chance. Should be the last rites really. Massive bag of... well. Yes. Dead slow - menus are like treacle. All the "apps" are garbage. About as reliable asking a dog to guard a pack of bacon. DVDs look crap, and sometimes it seems unable to keep up at blu-ray data rate(!) Looking for some recommendation from those I trust (points at fellow 'geeks) - preferably something that will stream iplayer, lovefilm & blinkbox. Thinking LG's BP620 - but will it be as bad as this here samsung? Or do I go to the cellar and retrieve the Cambridge Audio dvd player I never could bring myself to bin*? * plz don't tell the wife
mac_shinobi Posted June 9, 2012 Posted June 9, 2012 PS 3 - not sure about blinkbox but it does iplayer and love film and you can also play some games although you may already have a gaming machine pc for games
tom_newton Posted June 9, 2012 Author Posted June 9, 2012 Maybe. Don't like Sony much though. And don't really play video games. But its a good point.
ZeroHour Posted June 9, 2012 Posted June 9, 2012 I would probably say buy a ps3 slim as well, it really depends how much other players come in at though. You can use various DLNA servers to stream/transcode from your pc too.
Arthur Posted June 9, 2012 Posted June 9, 2012 PS3 Some people hate using the PS3 as a Blu-ray player. Not sure if Tom is one of those? Compared to a player, a PS3 is slow, noisy, a power hog, awkward/expensive to control and has an extremely limited number of streaming apps. (Source) A dedicated Blu-ray player will consume around 10 watts when playing a movie, whereas the PS3 will use anywhere between 71-178 watts depending upon which model you have. 1
SYNACK Posted June 9, 2012 Posted June 9, 2012 As much as I hate to say it I'd probably agree as well, sony themselves have messed with the blueray 'standard' so much now that they have made the PS3 the only future proof player for the disks - I guess they had to sell them somehow. If you've gone blueray then you are already subject to sony's whims as a content owner so their subjugation is your only option short of buying a new one every year/revision. With the PS3 you have to be careful of hotplugging HDMI though as the software onboard is a bit trash meaning that a disconnect forces a restart to get picture back. This can be an issue with cheaper HDMI switchers if you happen to use them.
tom_newton Posted June 9, 2012 Author Posted June 9, 2012 £129 - blu-ray vs £189 ps3. plus remote... Is the PS3 noisy?
DMcCoy Posted June 9, 2012 Posted June 9, 2012 £129 - blu-ray vs £189 ps3. plus remote... Is the PS3 noisy? Only if you put a disc in it :| 1
Soulfish Posted June 9, 2012 Posted June 9, 2012 Just bought myself a Sony BDP-S490. Supposed to have been delivered today (thanks to Amazon Prime including Saturday delivery for free ), but unfortunately HDNL have once again proven themselves to be the worlds worst delivery service. From the reviews I've read it's got one of the better feature sets at this price point. Was tempted by the LG your looking at or the the Panasonic DMP-BDT220, but the Sony seemed to have the slightly better interface. Can let you know what it's like next week when it eventually turns up
tom_newton Posted June 9, 2012 Author Posted June 9, 2012 I only let HDNL deliver to Smoothwall HQ, as they seem to know where that is(!) and there's usually someone around to answer the door so no saturday toys for me. Still conflicted with the PS3... would I really bother with any games? Are there any advantages to the PS3 or a dedicated player? Hmm.
SYNACK Posted June 9, 2012 Posted June 9, 2012 (edited) I only let HDNL deliver to Smoothwall HQ, as they seem to know where that is(!) and there's usually someone around to answer the door so no saturday toys for me. Still conflicted with the PS3... would I really bother with any games? Are there any advantages to the PS3 or a dedicated player? Hmm. The PS3 has a better upgrade path, online firmware upgrades etc. You don't need to bother with the games on the PS3 and the interface is very similar to the TV and basic blueray player. It will use more power and possibly be louder but it is the one device from the blueray launch that can still play all of the titles. Edited June 9, 2012 by SYNACK
localzuk Posted June 9, 2012 Posted June 9, 2012 I'd say go for a Sony. The BDP-S370 in particular I'd say. It is an excellent price for what it does, including DLNA support. Plus, they get constant updates, adding new features etc... 1
Dos_Box Posted June 9, 2012 Posted June 9, 2012 Hey To. You know Cambridge Audio also make Blu-ay players as well? Not cheap, but certainly well specced and regarded (I have the 650BD).
tom_newton Posted June 10, 2012 Author Posted June 10, 2012 Don't think the Cambridge Audio will have the iplayer/lovefilm supprt tho :-/
Brpilot99 Posted June 10, 2012 Posted June 10, 2012 Ditto the Cambridge Audio 650BD. Fantastic piece of kit that also plays SACD and DVD Audio discs .... Very happy with mine ..
Dos_Box Posted June 10, 2012 Posted June 10, 2012 (edited) Don't think the Cambridge Audio will have the iplayer/lovefilm supprt tho :-/ Thats what a media PC is for! Mine also has a Blu-Ray HD DVD combo drive in. HD DVD's can be picked up for a pittance brand new on eBay Edited to add: You can make a pretty decent HTPC for a few hundered that will not only do what a blu-ray player does, but give full internet and other features as well. I've made quite a few of these over the years and with a HD sattelite or Freeview card you can use it as a PVR as well. It really can be money well spent. Edited June 10, 2012 by Dos_Box
SimpleSi Posted June 10, 2012 Posted June 10, 2012 You can make a pretty decent HTPC for a few hundered I think it would be very easy to end up spending about double the cost of a blu-ray player that could do everything except the record from sat/freeview facility of a media pc (and it would look a lot prettier as well ) Si
tom_newton Posted June 11, 2012 Author Posted June 11, 2012 Media PC is a no-go - none of the streaming services work on linux, and I'm not about to admin a windows box also the wife & I have an agreement about "number of boxes allowed under the tv" so an all-in-one solution gives me more flexibility!
Achandler Posted June 11, 2012 Posted June 11, 2012 I have a Panasonic, but i have a Panasonic TV as well so I get the auto-link. But its brilliant. I find Sony products overpriced usually.
SYNACK Posted June 11, 2012 Posted June 11, 2012 I have a Panasonic, but i have a Panasonic TV as well so I get the auto-link. But its brilliant. I find Sony products overpriced usually. Ironicly Sony is one of the cheaper brands here as everyone is realising that they are junky and likely to pull half the features after you buy it as well as their propencity to support 2-3 different formats as opposed to the 30-40 supported by most other hardware. If you have a limit on boxes under the TV that is when a media PC makes the most sence as you can pretty much put everything into one box but excluding windows your versitility level hits the floor realitivly quickly.
edutech4schools Posted June 11, 2012 Posted June 11, 2012 Media PC is a no-go - none of the streaming services work on linux, and I'm not about to admin a windows box http://staticb.cdngeek.net/images/smilies/smile.png also the wife & I have an agreement about "number of boxes allowed under the tv" so an all-in-one solution gives me more flexibility! Could get xbmc XBMC they do windows, linux and apple tv version. Just add a BR drive and get a nice trackball remote. Media Centre Trackball Remote : RC Remotes : Maplin Electronics
edutech4schools Posted June 11, 2012 Posted June 11, 2012 or if you have the cash Xtreamer Ultra2 Announcement!
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