Sony PS3 Slim to BDP-S370 Very Bad Move

WishTree

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I have a PS3 Slim which I use primarily as Media Center. I am challenged with of the Fan Noise and decided to go for a dedicated BDP-S370 based upon the reviews. I expected low fan noise, improvement in Picture and Sound Quality as S370 is dedicated for media purposes.

I was excited about the S370 as the reviews are great and I know that it does exactly what I want (with the support for MKV, youtube integration etc). After I plugged S370 the very first annoyance I noticed is that the font quality as well as menu navigation. There is a huge difference between PS3 Menus vs S370. PS3 fonts are smooth and menu transition is extremely fluid where as S370 feels at best mediocre.

Bluray play quality is at par. I did not find any difference but the biggest draw back is the play back of SD content. S370 plays everything in a very patchy way where as PS3 is super fluid. And coming to the final nail in the coffin, SQ is too much desired for. CD playback to MP3 playback, there is some vague hollowness in the sound. I am unable to put in words, but the sound feels depth and feels very hollow.

Regarding the build quality an untrained eye can also notice very soon that S370 is compromised a lot on build.

The best thing I liked is the Youtube integration which is awesome.

I am writing this short experience, to give information for some one on the fence for such a switch or swinging between PS3 or a dedicated player.

I know that there is a price difference between the PS3 slim and S370 but given the varied things a PS3 can do today, I still feel it is a huge bargain.

PS: My only gripe about PS3 slim's fan noise is still valid. Luckily, I can feel / hear it only when I activate Mute so I will learn to live with it and S370 goes back to Amazon (Thank God to Amazon's great return policy)

PPS: When WHF gives 5 stars to a product, I guess it is very tightly tied to the category. In this case may be in sub 200Pound category of BD players this Sony shines very well.
 
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Anonymous

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I have an original PS3 fat and it is whisper quiet - even when playing
the most demaning games. Sounds like u have a faulty PS3 slim.

If ur PS3 slim is still in warranty i suggest u send it off for repair. Sony normally exchange it next day - they come round with a replacement and take your old one away.
 

Frank Harvey

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As far as movies are concerned, the older 350 outperformed the PS3, and although I'm not familiar with the 370, so should that. Is it possible there were a couple of features that weren't set correctly, as cstanwhf points out? I found the PS3 had minor glitches every now and again which the dedicated player didn't have.
 

007L2Thrill

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IMPO to get a worth while improvement in quality over the PS3 I would say you need to spend a lot more as I did, I upgraded to a DENON 2500-BT and the quality over the PS3 is massive, but players around the same price as the PS3 just will not jump out at you.

Yes the fan noise can get loud, but I only notice it when I press mute so not a biggie.

But like others have said, did you set all the options correctly?
 
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Anonymous

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How the heck are you hearing fan noise when watching a movie?
emotion-2.gif


I have seen the PS3 slim in action, and my 80GB phat one, and a mates one, and yes if you stick your ear up to it, you can hear a whir, but thats it.

People have always complained about fan noise, but I just have never heard it, while I was watching a movie or playing a game.

As far as PQ, Its nice to hear that the PS3 is still doing very well, as I was considering a change to see what it was like, but if there is little or no difference then I wont bother.

Nice 1 for the compairison that some wanted to see.
emotion-21.gif
 

WishTree

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edsib1:
If ur PS3 slim is still in warranty i suggest u send it off for repair. Sony normally exchange it next day - they come round with a replacement and take your old one away

Thank you for the advice. I am thinking the same too. My PS3 slim might be faulty on fan.
 

WishTree

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FrankHarveyHiFi:
Is it possible there were a couple of features that weren't set correctly, as cstanwhf points out?

Though I am not a big expert, I generally try all the options to check for improvements. In this case, I have set the picture output to Auto, standard and fixed resolutions and rerun the same piece of movie. The patchy artifacts never went away. the S370 Menu system is based on Xbar which is same as PS3 and so the tweaking was more or less familiar too.
 

WishTree

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canada16:
How the heck are you hearing fan noise when watching a movie?
emotion-2.gif


As you and 0072LThrill are asking me the same, I can not hear the fan noise when I am watching a movie or listening to music even at lower volumes. This thing is perceived only when nothing is played and the PS3 is running. Everything is great and enjoyable as long as some content is getting played. The worst part is when I hit the shutdown on PS3, the machine shuts down and the fan stops and it feels like an invisible pressing force is taken off from my head. It sounds strange but that is the experience. I have done the same experiment with friends at my home - none of them noticed the fan noise initially but during longer mute sessions or turning the PS3 off they realised it and say 'oh.. that was noisy'

This even forced me to consider the silent PCs but to give the context right I can hear the fan noise on my Dell XPS M1330 but it is something I got used to though would love not to have it. May be some people are more susceptible to the continuous whining noises (Many familiar examples come to my head ;) ). May be I should try to get the PS3 replaced.
 
I think PS3 is one of the most under rated blu-ray players. I struggle to notice a difference between the PS3 & my Panasonic BD60. In fact, for blu-ray playback, it was hard to notice a difference even with my friend's Denon 2500BT. I did not check panning shots closely, though. All this comparison made on my 50-inch Kuro.

But considering the versatility the PS3 offers, it's a fantastic player.
 

strapped for cash

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Interesting thread, as I was just about to take the plunge (admittedly a not very deep plunge given the budget price of the 370) and "upgrade" from my (fat) PS3. Now I'm wondering whether it's actually worthwhile?

I don't know if anybody can comment from experience here, but as my PS3 currently decodes HD audio internally, will I notice a perceptible improvement in sound quality if I'm finally able to bitstream and let my Yamaha 1065 do the decoding?

I'm not keen on a £134 experiment if I'm likely to feel underwhelmed by the results.
 
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Anonymous

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I had a PS3 phat which broke , the slim version's fan is far too noisy at mute levels, but during music playback and movies there is no way you are hearing the noise. The sound is also very impressive on the slim model on bitstream, as the phat sounded much brighters and less punchy, the loading times and menus are really fluid and fast. The only issue with the image are in fast camera movements, but detail and noise are really well controlled, music playback is decent and it is the only blu ray player on which you can play games. I have seen other blu ray players on the budget range and no one of them seemed much better then the ps3, so i am sticking with the ps3 as Blu ray player and media centre too.
 

strapped for cash

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Cheers xon501

The ability to bitstream HD audio is one of the advantages the slim has over the fat PS3. That's really why I'm considering the 370 -- I assume my Yamaha receiver will decode HD audio more effectively than my PS3.

Can anybody advise if this will offer a marked improvement?

Thanks...
 

aliEnRIK

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strapped for cash:
Interesting thread, as I was just about to take the plunge (admittedly a not very deep plunge given the budget price of the 370) and "upgrade" from my (fat) PS3. Now I'm wondering whether it's actually worthwhile?

I don't know if anybody can comment from experience here, but as my PS3 currently decodes HD audio internally, will I notice a perceptible improvement in sound quality if I'm finally able to bitstream and let my Yamaha 1065 do the decoding?

I'm not keen on a £134 experiment if I'm likely to feel underwhelmed by the results.

I have the 60Gb version of PS3 and ive got my 370 on order from amazon

I'll let you know how I get on
 

strapped for cash

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aliEnRIK:strapped for cash:
Interesting thread, as I was just about to take the plunge (admittedly a not very deep plunge given the budget price of the 370) and "upgrade" from my (fat) PS3. Now I'm wondering whether it's actually worthwhile?

I don't know if anybody can comment from experience here, but as my PS3 currently decodes HD audio internally, will I notice a perceptible improvement in sound quality if I'm finally able to bitstream and let my Yamaha 1065 do the decoding?

I'm not keen on a £134 experiment if I'm likely to feel underwhelmed by the results.

I have the 60Gb version of PS3 and ive got my 370 on order from amazon

I'll let you know how I get on

Thanks mate. I'll eagerly await your findings!

Assume that's the 60Gb fat PS3 (as far as I know, the slim versions were all better specced anyway)?
 

aliEnRIK

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strapped for cash:
Thanks mate. I'll eagerly await your findings!

Assume that's the 60Gb fat PS3 (as far as I know, the slim versions were all better specced anyway)?

FAT PS3 yes. The 60Gb had better specs in that is has 4 usb ports as opposed to 2 and SACD playback as well as backwards compatability

The only advantages of the slim are that it allows bitstreaming of HD sound and it doesnt use as much power.

Im not about to get into an argument over mains leads but one of the reasons I didnt want a slim is because they use figure of 8 mains leads whilst I use a decent braided one on my FAT
 
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Anonymous

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There is no difference in quality between bitstream on the ps3 slim, and lpcm on the ps3 fat.

Remember with ur ps3 its easy and cheap to upgrade the internal hard drive to 500gb for around £50 so dont pay extra just for a model with a bigger drive. Takes about 30 secs to do.

U wont see any improvement in audio on the s370 either.

All the player does is decode the audio and pass to it to the receiver.
 
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Anonymous

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why ? - ur only converting from one lossless digital format to another.

Similar method to zipping and unzipping a computer file. You're not doing anything to it, or changing the actual contents in any way, only the packaging.

The only point u'd expect the sound to vary is during the d/a process in the receiver.
 

f1only

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Fully agree with you aliEnRIK, about the Fat ps3. I bought the Pioneer BDP-320 for main Blu-Ray playback & the Sony BDP363 now relegated to the bedroom. I found both play blu ray titles better than my fat 60gb ps3 the sony 363 though is only marginally better at playback, not a lot to choose between them.

I only bought a dedicated Blu-Ray as i am now on my 3rd fat 60gb ps3 & i didnt want anymore games or discs gettin stuck. I dont know how reliable the newer slim versions are, had a couple of friends of mine return them after a week faulty & overheating.

I would recommend them as a budget player with games & streaming functions over buying my 363 as there isnt anything to choose really in the quality of sound or picture.
 

matengawhat

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the first thing i noticed going from a fat 60gb ps3 to a sony 760 was the improvment in sound everything just seemed so much more real and fuller - the second thing i noticed was how much better the 760 was on panning shots and fast motion - to me both pictures are pretty faultless

I have also purchased a 370 for my bedroom and whilst not connected through my amp/projector setup will say that the picture is pin sharp and is better than the ps3 - I have both connected to same screen - as i have noted in another thread I think its actually now the sreens that show up the errors more than the difference in players especially for smearing and fast motion
 
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Anonymous

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bigboss:
I think PS3 is one of the most under rated blu-ray players. I struggle to notice a difference between the PS3 & my Panasonic BD60. In fact, for blu-ray playback, it was hard to notice a difference even with my friend's Denon 2500BT. I did not check panning shots closely, though. All this comparison made on my 50-inch Kuro.

But considering the versatility the PS3 offers, it's a fantastic player.

Dr BB. Denon 2500BT? I think you need to have your eyes checked.
emotion-15.gif
 
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Anonymous

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strapped , i dont see why you cant use your yam to decode hd audio whilst playing blu-rays on your ps3 ?
 

strapped for cash

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It's because I have a fat PS3, which can't bitstream HD audio.

I'm still getting lossless audio, but with the PS3 decoding internally rather than the Yamaha (hence the receiver displays the input as Multichannel PCM when the PS3 replays lossless soundtracks).

The question I don't know the answer to is: if I bitstream audio to the Yamaha (i.e. via the 370), and my receiver therefore decodes HD soundtracks, will this produce noticably better results? Not really fussed about seeing DDHD/DTSHDMA appear on the receiver's display. I just want to make the most of the Yamaha's capabilities.
 
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Anonymous

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hmmm , dont know , the prof would be the man to answer that id say...
 

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