Long and lengthy story, but I'm probably looking at getting a PS3 as my blu-ray player, even though I have absolutely no interest in playing games. The choice is based on price (300 pounds) and is between the PS3 and the Panasonic DMP-BD30 (they are the same price on Amazon). I've excluded the cheaper (200 pounds) Sony BDP-S300 as the features of Profile 1.1 (eg. picture-in-picture) are important to me. However, BD-Live (2.0) I don't think is important to me and the new 2.0 players are all looking at the 500 pound plus mark anyway which is more than I can afford. Audio is not a factor as I'm reduced to surround sound at the moment, so I'm happy to let the player dictate a future amp if necessary. The PS3's ability to act as a DNLA media client is also appealing, but could be over-ridden if other things are not equal. The "other things" are: upscaling talent, and remote control clunkiness.
I've read conflicting reviews about the PS3's ability to upscale standard def DVDs. As I have an embarrassingly large collection of DVDs, and non-upscaled DVD looks pretty bad on hi-def screens, upscaling is quite a factor for me. Some reviews say that the PS3 is as good as the BD30 at upscaling if not better, others that the BD30 is much better. Is there, in your collective experiences, a significant difference between the two, or is it as much to do with which screen you're using, sun spots, blood pressure etc.?
The other "other thing" is the clunkiness of the user interaction with a PS3. A standalone player has obvious ease-of-use advantages but if the PS3 experience isn't too bad, this is not a deal clincher for me. How clunky is the PS3 controller for navigating around a DVD's menus? I understand that the PS3 can be set to play a disc automatically. Unfortunately as I'm not a games player I don't have a lot of experience with games controllers beyond vague memories of repeatedly drowning Lara Croft on a PS1.
As I say, I'm pretty sure I want to go with the PS3, but would value opinions with regard to upscaling and useability from the sofa.
Alcina
I've read conflicting reviews about the PS3's ability to upscale standard def DVDs. As I have an embarrassingly large collection of DVDs, and non-upscaled DVD looks pretty bad on hi-def screens, upscaling is quite a factor for me. Some reviews say that the PS3 is as good as the BD30 at upscaling if not better, others that the BD30 is much better. Is there, in your collective experiences, a significant difference between the two, or is it as much to do with which screen you're using, sun spots, blood pressure etc.?
The other "other thing" is the clunkiness of the user interaction with a PS3. A standalone player has obvious ease-of-use advantages but if the PS3 experience isn't too bad, this is not a deal clincher for me. How clunky is the PS3 controller for navigating around a DVD's menus? I understand that the PS3 can be set to play a disc automatically. Unfortunately as I'm not a games player I don't have a lot of experience with games controllers beyond vague memories of repeatedly drowning Lara Croft on a PS1.
As I say, I'm pretty sure I want to go with the PS3, but would value opinions with regard to upscaling and useability from the sofa.
Alcina
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