Home entertainment / console help - UPDATE 15th

The Big Cheese
The Big Cheese Posts: 8,651
edited August 2010 in The Crudcatcher
It is time for me to update my home entertainment kit.

Today purchased a 32" 1080p LCD (back at mums now so room is 'tight' lol) so that blew anything larger out.

Next week am purchasing a Panasonic BlueRay player from Richer Sounds for £80.

I was then giong to buy a new Xbox for £150. Supposedly they have ironed out the problems - however, I am no epxert on such matters.

Then I got to thinking.

Isn't the PS3 a Blueray player as well?

And what are they like compared to 360s (which I have had 2 of, and both caught the 'Ring of death')

Is a blue ray player on its own better than the PS3 version? Or should I buy one separately and get the 'new and improved Xbox?'
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Comments

  • ps3 blueray isnt all its cracked upto be and ps3s have there own problems which you dont really hear about aswell, im on my second

    dont get the 149.99 xbox its only rocking a 4gb harddrive which really wont go far for another 50 quid you get the 250gb
  • ps3 blueray isnt all its cracked upto be and ps3s have there own problems which you dont really hear about aswell, im on my second

    dont get the 149.99 xbox its only rocking a 4gb harddrive which really wont go far for another 50 quid you get the 250gb

    Thats helpful, I must admit, when it was working fine, I loved the Xbox. Sure there are PS3 games only, but there are also some great games on the Xbox you cant get for the PS3.

    I was thinking of getting the new Xbox, then the Blueray player. Comes to £300.

    My only thinking was that the PS3 can be had for £249.
  • peter413
    peter413 Posts: 5,120
    I would have thought you should get a 360 elite since thats the HD xbox (I know its not blueray)

    But blueray isn't all its cracked up to be. Yes its slightly better quality picture but no sharper TBH, just more natural colours.

    And the sound, well, it can be better BUT ONLY IF YOU HAVE A VERY GOOD SOUND SYSTEM, that means not just the TV speakers, has to be full suround and again, it isn't to much better than a good suround system with an ordinary DVD.

    So would I pay extra for blueray? No. Would I use it if it was the same price as an ordinary DVD? Yes
  • tlw1
    tlw1 Posts: 22,137
    if you have still got games you like for the 360 - I would stick with that
  • IVe not really noticed any difference watching a blueray on my ps3 from the standard dvd copy

    its like a technica hdtv from tescos compared to a samsung sure there both hd but the quality is so different
  • IVe not really noticed any difference watching a blueray on my ps3 from the standard dvd copy

    its like a technica hdtv from tescos compared to a samsung sure there both hd but the quality is so different

    Everything is made by samsumg as an umbrella company, so the technica is probably a debadged version of...

    Same as Taiwanese Carbon frames, which various companies all rebadge and sell on at 100% profit ;)

    I think I shall just purchase the Blueray player, for £80 that aint bad and it can play all my DVDs as well.

    Then the Xbox Elite

    Then the home cinema setup.

    Im trying to get a part each week without going all 'Enthusiast silly money components etc'

    If I have to be back at mums at the grand old age of 36 I want to at least have 'MIssion Control/HQ' sorted(ish)

    EDIT - and also contacting Sky tomorrow to upgrade to sky HD ;)

    :lol:
  • yeah id go for the 360 (big hd version) :p and a seperate blueray

    and hahthat just reminded me of the scene in die hard 4 where willis goes to the warlocks "command centre"
  • yeah id go for the 360 (big hd version) :p and a seperate blueray

    and hahthat just reminded me of the scene in die hard 4 where willis goes to the warlocks "command centre"

    LOL - it is my fear that I will end up like that on here all the time 'back at moms'

    From now on I shall be known as 'Warlock'

    All I need is a full size Boba Fett for my room!!! :lol:
  • Goodluck with that :p
  • a.palmer
    a.palmer Posts: 504
    I'm sorry but you definitely can tell the difference quite clearly between blu-ray and DVD. I think you people need your eyes testing. My blu ray planet earth box set looks absolutely stunning played on the PS3. My vote goes to PS3, it's a lot better than XBOX
  • peter413
    peter413 Posts: 5,120
    So you live in the basement do you :wink::lol:
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    peter413 wrote:
    I would have thought you should get a 360 elite since thats the HD xbox (I know its not blueray)

    But blueray isn't all its cracked up to be. Yes its slightly better quality picture but no sharper TBH, just more natural colours.
    Sorry, but I;m going to have to beat you with the big stick of "talking crap".

    All 360s have HDMI, there is no "HD" 360.
    The Xbox to go for is the £250Gb one for £189 at Amazon.

    BD is immenselyhigher detail than DVD. I mean, Stonking - provided you have a telly that can actually display it, not some cheap piece of £200 crap from tescos.
    On a Samsung LED tv for example, the picture quality is just unnerving, it's "too" real, and takes a while to get used to. Try watching something like "I am Legend" and the picture is just eye bleedingly crisp.

    PS3 is still the BD player that all others are judged by.
  • a.palmer
    a.palmer Posts: 504
    peter413 wrote:
    So you live in the basement do you :wink::lol:

    What? Humour fail?
  • a.palmer
    a.palmer Posts: 504
    peter413 wrote:
    I would have thought you should get a 360 elite since thats the HD xbox (I know its not blueray)

    But blueray isn't all its cracked up to be. Yes its slightly better quality picture but no sharper TBH, just more natural colours.
    Sorry, but I;m going to have to beat you with the big stick of "talking crap".

    All 360s have HDMI, there is no "HD" 360.
    The Xbox to go for is the £250Gb one for £189 at Amazon.

    BD is immenselyhigher detail than DVD. I mean, Stonking - provided you have a telly that can actually display it, not some cheap piece of £200 crap from tescos.
    On a Samsung LED tv for example, the picture quality is just unnerving, it's "too" real, and takes a while to get used to. Try watching something like "I am Legend" and the picture is just eye bleedingly crisp.

    PS3 is still the BD player that all others are judged by.

    +1
  • peter413
    peter413 Posts: 5,120
    Sorry, Yeehaa's right about the 360.

    The Elite was the HD one when HD disks were still around since it could play them but now thats gone, they are as equal as each other

    DOH :oops:

    But I stand by what I said about blueray, playing an ordinary DVD back to back with a blueray disk, same tv, same PS3, there really wasn't much difference and this was on a very high end BIG TV.

    There was a small difference I admit but its not worth the extra cash IMHO
  • The Big Cheese
    The Big Cheese Posts: 8,651
    edited August 2010
    peter413 wrote:
    I would have thought you should get a 360 elite since thats the HD xbox (I know its not blueray)

    But blueray isn't all its cracked up to be. Yes its slightly better quality picture but no sharper TBH, just more natural colours.
    Sorry, but I;m going to have to beat you with the big stick of "talking crap".

    All 360s have HDMI, there is no "HD" 360.
    The Xbox to go for is the £250Gb one for £189 at Amazon.

    BD is immenselyhigher detail than DVD. I mean, Stonking - provided you have a telly that can actually display it, not some cheap piece of £200 crap from tescos.
    On a Samsung LED tv for example, the picture quality is just unnerving, it's "too" real, and takes a while to get used to. Try watching something like "I am Legend" and the picture is just eye bleedingly crisp.

    PS3 is still the BD player that all others are judged by.

    Is that a vote for the PS3 Yehaa..... ?


    Also, without breaking any confidentiallity rules here, but lets just say that one of my old clients was a superlarge japanese electronic company - a GIANT.

    All c.£500 TVs made by that company, have a bog standard set of internals and componentry/specification.

    These are then sold onto various other smaller companies, and 'housed' in different shells - then sold on for a lot less, but as it costs XYZ for Company A to make them (very little) they still make a killer ROI. The other % of their own TVs are sold to unsuspecting consumers who think that they are getting better deals as it's a 'recognised brand'.

    I am not talking crap here, this is direct from my experience of working on a processing/system alignment project with 'Company A' - its the biggest heist ever - and legal.

    I am not talking about £100-£200 TVs etc - just mid-market versions.

    So, sometimes your 'Technica' is in fact a XXX

    :lol:
  • peter413
    peter413 Posts: 5,120
    A.Palmer wrote:
    peter413 wrote:
    So you live in the basement do you :wink::lol:

    What? Humour fail?

    Die Hard 4, never seen it?
  • peter413 wrote:
    A.Palmer wrote:
    peter413 wrote:
    So you live in the basement do you :wink::lol:

    What? Humour fail?

    Die Hard 4, never seen it?

    I wish my mums had one of those large yank basements... be epic!!! 8)
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    peter413 wrote:
    But I stand by what I said about blueray, playing an ordinary DVD back to back with a blueray disk, same tv, same PS3, there really wasn't much difference and this was on a very high end BIG TV.

    There was a small difference I admit but its not worth the extra cash IMHO
    You're still full of crap. It's not even a small difference, you must surely be myopic or something.
    Oh, and by the way... some of the larger tellies are some of the poorer quality ones.
  • a.palmer
    a.palmer Posts: 504
    I have but I still fail to see what you're getting at. I'm a computer hacker nerd because I own a PS3?
  • peter413
    peter413 Posts: 5,120
    Was a 50" Toshiba Plasma TV, that bad?
  • pte1643
    pte1643 Posts: 518
    All 360s have HDMI

    Nope.

    The HDMI connectivity was added in 2007.

    I have one of the Original ones that only has the RCA connectors.
  • peter413
    peter413 Posts: 5,120
    A.Palmer wrote:
    I have but I still fail to see what you're getting at. I'm a computer hacker nerd because I own a PS3?

    If cheese truely wants to be Warlock, he must live in the basement
  • Well, have been looking around on Amazon and I am going for a blu-ray home cinema system. Seems the cheaper way to do it.

    Im no specialist, I just want something that looks (picture quality) and sounds half decent.

    So it looks like if thats the case, better off going for the XBox.

    Yehaa - do you have a linky for the 250gb for that price? I am after the new, gloss black one as it matches the rest of my kit... I am ashamed to admit.

    I think I am going to redo my bedroom in 80s black ash furniture with a Komono pinned above my bed :lol::lol::lol:
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Is that a vote for the PS3 Yehaa..... ?
    Tough one to call. If I wanted a BD player, I'd get a PS3, but then I've already got an Xbox. If I didn't have the Xbox, I'm not sure if the differenec would be so celar cut.
    As it is, I play BD on my PC (in fact, all of my television, music, photos and all comes through my PC, via media center) with a massive monitor, remote control, leather la-z-boy, and a big-ass hifi to play the sound from.
    (hey, I'm a sound engineer, we're MEANT to be geeky about things like that! :lol: )
    Also, without breaking any confidentiallity rules here, but lets just say that one of my old clients was a superlarge japanese electronic company - a GIANT.

    All c.£500 TVs made by that company, have a bog standard set of internals and componentry/specification.
    Yep, I know. In fact, Sony also manufacture computer screens for Dell, themselves, and Apple, all under different brands, with differing price ranges.
    LG also make a hell of a lot of panels for people.
    I'd even go so far as so suggest that there's only about 4, maybe 5 companies that actually MANUFACUTRE the flat panels.

    But, what I've also seen, is that the "boutique" brands will keep the highest performing batches for themselves, quite often.
    For example, you can buy the exact same computer screen panel, with different housings from two companies, and the cheaper one will be far less accurate with colour, and occasionally either washed out, or excesively contrasty.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    peter413 wrote:
    Was a 50" Toshiba Plasma TV, that bad?
    Potentially, yes. We have (coincidentally) two 47" Toshiba Plasmas at work, and both of them are washed out so bad that they just don't get used anymore. No colour definition at all.
    Depends on the age.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    pte1643 wrote:
    All 360s have HDMI

    Nope.

    The HDMI connectivity was added in 2007.

    I have one of the Original ones that only has the RCA connectors.
    Well DUH.
    If he's BUYING one now, it WILL have, won't it?

    I can't even be bothered facepalming, go do it to yourself. really hard.
  • pte1643 wrote:
    All 360s have HDMI

    Nope.

    The HDMI connectivity was added in 2007.

    I have one of the Original ones that only has the RCA connectors.
    Well DUH.
    If he's BUYING one now, it WILL have, won't it?

    I can't even be bothered facepalming, go do it to yourself. really hard.

    :lol::lol:
  • peter413
    peter413 Posts: 5,120
    peter413 wrote:
    Was a 50" Toshiba Plasma TV, that bad?
    Potentially, yes. We have (coincidentally) two 47" Toshiba Plasmas at work, and both of them are washed out so bad that they just don't get used anymore. No colour definition at all.
    Depends on the age.

    That would explain why I found blueray so bad