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Rating: 
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Just a quick review. Amazing graphics if you have a 1080P HDTV for games and blu-ray movies. The standard DVD's really are upscaled to a great picture as well. So far I've played Metal Gear and its enough to merit the purchase. Look on amazon for the warehouse deals. They are sometimes 60 to 80 dollars cheaper than a new system. I got one for $323 from the warehouse deals and it works and looks like its a new system. I love it, get one if you can.
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For me, there is no better gaming system than this. I got the spider man 3 edition of this. My main purpose for this was to get a Blu Ray player. Looking at the other choices out there for blu-ray players, this is a no brainer. you get a top notch gaming system with the latest games (such as guitar hero III and Rock Band) along with a computer to browse the net via wi-fi, and the all important Blu Ray. The added bonus is to update the firmware, you just connect via wi-fi and download it, keeping your blu ray up to date. My other alternative was the x-box 360, which i really like the game selection and set up, but they had went with HD DVD which is a dead format, so I bought hd player dirt cheap separately, and let the x-box idea go. If you want a gaming system that is currently cutting edge, and an excellent blu ray player, than look no further, great value. fyi-only the older 60gb systems and a few of the older 80gb systems paly playstation 2 games, otherwise, PS1 games work fine. Currently there is really no advantage between the 40gb and 80gb systems.
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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.
Rating: 
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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.
**********UPDATE************
12/19/08
I am now on my second Playstation 3 after having to send the first one back for losing its audio and video output. I received the replacement unit a couple of weeks ago. Now the replacement has the same issue. After confirming that the unit would not work on two different televisions in my house, the technician said he could not in good faith authorize another replacement or refund; there was not sufficient proof that the fault was with the Playstation. The more humorous troubleshooting ideas from Sony Tech Support included 1) the idea that I separate the Playstation from any other A/V equipment by 30 feet (yes, he was serious), and 2) the suggestion that I take the unit into a Circuit City or Best Buy and see if the unit would work on their televisions. If it did, I guess the solution would be that I would drive to Best Buy anytime I wanted to use it. Throughout the course of these two hours, Sony managed to blame my TV (it works great with everything EXCEPT the Playstation), my receiver (ditto the previous comment), DirecTV (a "common" problem even though a Google or Yahoo search will turn up nothing on this "common" conflict), and finally my wireless network. In other words, everything in my home theater is faulty EXCEPT the Playstation.
After spending over 2 hours on the phone with Sony "Customer Support" trying to troubleshoot the problem I am left with the realization that I spent $400 on a unit that apparently has a 4-month life span. Maybe I'm just snakebitten but such poor customer "service" has no excuse. Tomorrow I will be getting a Panasonic DMP-BD35K to replace this piece of junk and I will wash my hands of Sony products for good. Shame on you, Sony, for not treating your customers better than this!
Revised Amazon star rating: 0 out of 5 stars
Rating: -
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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