This bluray player is no more...

Flibster

Flibster

Flibster

Man of Honour
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
43,068
It has ceased to be. It's expired and gone to meet it's maker. It's a stiff...

Guess what - it's a Sony. It's just over a year old which makes it the oldest piece of Sony kit I've owned before it broke down.

So, the question is - so I go for the Sony bargain basement from Blockbusters at the moment - BDP-S350 + 6 bluray disks (only one of which I have...) for £200, a PS3, a Panasonic *who I rate much higher than Sony*, or something else entirely.

Is the PS3 any good at DVD upscaling? As I've got about 100x more DVD's that bluray's - I'd like a good upscaler.

I have been recommended a Toshiba XDE500 as an excellent upscaler - but thats only a DVD player - which means yet another piece of kit under the TV...

I'd also like it to be region free for DVD's and Blurays *if thats even possible yet* too... Not too much to ask is it? ;)
 
PS3 ticks pretty much all those boxes. DVD upscaling is pretty damn good. Not sure on region free playback, never tried mine. :)
 
Why dont you call Sony and get the original replaced / mended?

Sony have always been very reliable - and the PS3 is no different if you want to go in that direction. I believe its dvd is region free but BR is locked, however there are numerous "all region" BR's available - dvd upscaling is as good as you can wish for
 
The PS3 is a very good up scaling DVD player. I use it as my main source. good job really as that's all it gets used for these days.

If you are interested in using it for games, and the media center capabilities then the PS3 is the way to go. if all you want is the best Blu ray player and DVD upscaler for you cash id be tempted to through my money Panasonic's way.
 
skippi90 said:
Sony have never let me down.
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I'm a mug - I keep on buying Sony stuff on recommendation and generally it fails around the 6 month mark.

TV's, minidisc, cd players, amps... all deadded. The Panasonic and Marantz stuff that replaced it - perfect. *except for minidic as I just couldn't be bothered to replace that*

Actually - my large monitors are Sony jobs too - they are the oldest working Sony kit I have. Good old CRT's - They like me. :D

FrankJH said:
Why dont you call Sony and get the original replaced / mended?

Sony have always been very reliable - and the PS3 is no different if you want to go in that direction. I believe its dvd is region free but BR is locked, however there are numerous "all region" BR's available - dvd upscaling is as good as you can wish for
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No point me contacting Sony. It's out of it's warranty period and I've found that Sony are right bar stewards about this in the past.

Been looking around and it seems the dvd region free on the PS3 is shakey at best - some work, some don't. Oh joy...

kidloco said:
The PS3 is a very good up scaling DVD player. I use it as my main source. good job really as that's all it gets used for these days.

If you are interested in using it for games, and the media center capabilities then the PS3 is the way to go. if all you want is the best Blu ray player and DVD upscaler for you cash id be tempted to through my money Panasonic's way.
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Cool. I've no interest in the PS3 as a games machine at all - I have a 360 that lives in it's box in the cupboard - and I've got a media PC already. I could add a BR/HDDVD combo drive to it I suppose, but thats then more faffing around with it to get it all integrated and I just can't be bothered at the moment. ;)
 
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its just over a year old and I would think its reasonable under normal usage for such an item to last a few years at least , if you have not overused or abused it then you may have a claim against the retailer under the sales of goods act , ie. repair or replacement
 
i've just bought the panasonic bd35 and it's very good for the money (£185 i paid with 3 blurays).

It's better picture wise than the sony units and not much in it sound wise.

If you don't need a games machine, ignore the PS3 altogether, a dedicated player will be much better.
 
Flibster said:
No point me contacting Sony. It's out of it's warranty period and I've found that Sony are right bar stewards about this in the past.

Been looking around and it seems the dvd region free on the PS3 is shakey at best - some work, some don't. Oh joy...
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Fair enough - although just bare in mind someone has posted in the games section that Sony provided them with a new PS3 after theirs failed out of warrenty......

I think thats down to some dvd's being region free (which wont work on the PS3) and some being all region (which will) - from a technical point of view a huge difference, even if it isnt to the layman

Reality Bites said:
If you don't need a games machine, ignore the PS3 altogether, a dedicated player will be much better.
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Not really in my expereience - the only benefits you may get is analogue outs in stand alone players and potential for completely region free dvd playback, and the former is usually only available on more expensive players anyway.

The PS3 is still one of the best BR players available at any price point for majority of people (unless you are paying a lot more money on the connected equipment)

Not only that but you will also have a lot less hassle if anything does go wrong in the near future with immediate replacement to your door
 
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JBuk said:
its just over a year old and I would think its reasonable under normal usage for such an item to last a few years at least , if you have not overused or abused it then you may have a claim against the retailer under the sales of goods act , ie. repair or replacement
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Good luck trying, you'll usually end up in the small claims court before the retailer budges.
 
Your contact is not Sony but the retailer even when out of 1 year warranty - you have 6 years to make a claim and should get something out of it as a player should last more than a year.

FWIW there is a comparison thread over on AVF and they didn't really rate the PS3 anymore, the S350, Sammys and even a Bush all out perform it and are all silent so a better option for films.

I got a S350 from Blockbusters and it seems fine, i will wait on the final specs to settle down before getting a higher end player - hopefully load times will get better (1 area the ps3 is better than nearly all in)
 
RusH said:
My 360 recently died on me :(

Would you concider selling your 360 Flibster?
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Don't want to sell it - it's rare. It's a working launch day machine. ;)

I'll eventually set it up again - it's just I use the Wii, Megadrive, Snes and Dreamcast much more.

Currently looking into the Sony S350, Sony S550 and the Panasonic BD35
 
Shimmyhill said:
Your contact is not Sony but the retailer even when out of 1 year warranty - you have 6 years to make a claim and should get something out of it as a player should last more than a year.

FWIW there is a comparison thread over on AVF and they didn't really rate the PS3 anymore, the S350, Sammys and even a Bush all out perform it and are all silent so a better option for films.

I got a S350 from Blockbusters and it seems fine, i will wait on the final specs to settle down before getting a higher end player - hopefully load times will get better (1 area the ps3 is better than nearly all in)
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Majority of PS3's are silent also - so this shouldnt be a distinguishing factor

I would doubt anything made by Bush would ever last very long, so definitely buy that one only if you are desperately short of cash

Each to their own regarding the others - but I still think the PS3 is high in the VFM stakes and cant be sniffed at

I havent tried the Sammy or the S350, but certainly heard great things about both, esp the latter - however loading times always bugged me on my hd-dvd player (waiting a minute or longer for the player to even eject the tray really annoyed me, let alone to start playing)

Personally the slick interface, the quality of the hardware and ease of use all make the PS3 for me the perfect device - not to mention the return proceedure if a fault is found is 10 times easier with the PS3 with a replacement being bought right to your door
 
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Bad luck on the Sony front. Can't say it's my experience though. It might depend on the model as the more expensive stuff is built out of bits of old battleship. I've got 3 bits of QS gear (CD player, DVD, and AV Amp) that's all at least 4 years old and hasn't so much as missed a beat. CD player is probably aged 7+ but I bought it secondhand.

I'd be tempted to look at the Panasonic. I can't fault their aftersales - when my DVD/HDD recorder failed 4 weeks out of warranty I phoned Panasonic. Took it to a local dealer and I paid for the inspection, Panny paid for parts and fitting.
 
i must be lucky with electronics (touch wood), but I never had any Sony products die on my watch, the only piece of electronic that went up in smoke was the 360 with the red ring. I have a 8 years of mini discs that still works, a 15 years old CD player somewhere that should still work, my PS1 still works. My dad's Sony Trinitron did die, after about 15 years of service.
 
Raymond Lin said:
i must be lucky with electronics (touch wood), but I never had any Sony products die on my watch, the only piece of electronic that went up in smoke was the 360 with the red ring. I have a 8 years of mini discs that still works, a 15 years old CD player somewhere that should still work, my PS1 still works. My dad's Sony Trinitron did die, after about 15 years of service.
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Funny you should mention that - mine died last week. Clamp replacement and it's now fine (touch wood).
 
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