Sony Playstation 3 vs HD Dvd player for HD tv & freeview explained please!

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Sony Playstation 3 vs HD Dvd player for HD tv & freeview explained please!

beforenightfalls

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Master Geek

#27927 11-Nov-2008 17:17

we've just got a new sony bravia HD tv, we are waiting for sky to be installed so we can finally watch HD tv! we are not able to use the built in freeview (as far as i'm aware) as we do not have a UHF aerial, we just have a sky dish. is there any way we can access the freeview without getting a UHF aerial? we're not keen to pay to instal the UHF to add to the value of our landlords house!

our sony tv comes with a $99 ps3 so that'll arrive in a few weeks. i'm a bit confused about what sort of dvds this ps3 can play, can it play regular dvds and upscale them to HD? can it play HD dvds? will it record tv that has been broadcasted in HD, in HD? or would we be better with a HD dvd player such as the sony DVPNS708HB that i've seen online on noel leemings website. would this dvd player let me play dvds that are not zone 4? does it come with all the necessary cables?

lots of questions, sorry just trying to get my head around this HD stuff!

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Mad Scientist
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#177372 11-Nov-2008 17:37

-is there any way we can access the freeview without getting a UHF aerial?

yes there is, install a uhf aerial. most people already have one - they have it if they can tune in to prime and maori tv clearly

-we're not keen to pay to instal the UHF to add to the value of our landlords house!

that sucks doesn't it. get a 'mobile' aerial. i can't comment whether quality is inferior - i doubt you'd notice.

- can it play regular dvds and upscale them to HD? can it play HD dvds? will it record tv that has been broadcasted in HD, in HD?

it plays NZ dvds (region 4) and upscales them. it cannot receive or record any tv. it cannot play HD DVDs (unless you mean BLuray Discs, which it can - region 4). HD DVDs are extinct so i'm sure you mean bluray. and as far as i know sony has never made any HD DVD players which are also now extinct. so again, i'm sure you mean bluray.

beforenightfalls

185 posts

Master Geek

#177376 11-Nov-2008 17:52

i have a portable tv aerial that plays prime & maori tv clearly, will this pickup TV1 etc in HD?

so the ps3 will only play zone 4 dvds and no others? will it perform all the jobs of a HDMI dvd player such as this one http://www.noelleeming.co.nz/tvs-dvds/dvd-video/dvd-players/sony-dvpns708hb-dvd-player-with-hdmi-1080p-upscaling/prod16386.html ? cheers.

Batman

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#177378 11-Nov-2008 18:10

yes it has all the basic features. i don't know what the advanced features are so i can't say - eg things like zoom, slow play, etc.

and the other thing is you need to purchase the bluray remote control.

beforenightfalls

185 posts

Master Geek

#177382 11-Nov-2008 18:21

the bluray remote isn't too expensive so no big issue there. i guess we'll wait and see how the ps3 works out and then maybe get a dvd player if its not quite up to scratch.

we've managed to pick up tv3 in high definition with the portable dish, might see if we can get a more impressive one than this one though or perhaps reposition it.

cheers.

NZRobin

161 posts

Master Geek

#177389 11-Nov-2008 18:47

we've managed to pick up tv3 in high definition with the portable dish, might see if we can get a more impressive one than this one though or perhaps reposition it.

cheers.

Sorry just to be clear did you mean you have a standard portable set top type aerial, or a dish. Because it would be interesting if you are getting analogue prime and Maori via the dish. They are normaly recieved via a UHF arial, which means if you are recieving them then your in-built digital tuner in your new bravia should play all the digital terrestrial hi-def and standard def channels.

beforenightfalls

185 posts

Master Geek

#177397 11-Nov-2008 19:34

yes its an amplified indoor antenna and it picks up all the normal channels, we just repositioned it so will have a go at trying to tune in the rest of the freeview channels, hopefully them all. i'm not sure if we'll be able to though as we're rural but if we can get the tv3 digital surely we'll be able to get some others too! tv3 looked mean for the news lol! hopefully sky come and instal the HD tv soon.

bradleycampbell

32 posts

Geek

#177434 11-Nov-2008 22:02

Just a website link here that has the regions for U.S. released blu-ray discs: http://bluray.liesinc.net/ I find it quite useful and use it when looking for region free discs. NZ PlayStation3 will only play Zone B blu-ray discs and Zone 4 standard DVDs so that is something to watch out for. Unfortunately they aren't region free for blu-ray or standard dvds :(

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pebbles

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#177440 11-Nov-2008 22:48

joker97:
and the other thing is you need to purchase the bluray remote control.

Out of interest why do you say this? As I have a PS3 which I play bluray on without a remote at all...?

lchiu7

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#177660 12-Nov-2008 22:31

pebbles:
joker97:
and the other thing is you need to purchase the bluray remote control.

Out of interest why do you say this? As I have a PS3 which I play bluray on without a remote at all...?

You are using the PS3 controller to play discs. For some it's not that intuitive. Since the PS3 doesn't use IR natively the Sony remote which uses Bluetooth is a way to control the PS3 for video playback using a more intuitive interface.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

bazzer

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#177676 13-Nov-2008 00:22

I'm sure she understood that. The point she was trying to make is that you don't need to buy the remote.

old3eyes

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#177700 13-Nov-2008 08:45

Isn't this $99 for a PS3 a bit of the rip off. In this mornings NZ Herald HN has an ad for these . The 46" TV with the PS3 is $3999. I seem to remember when this TV came out several months ago it was about $3499. Sounds like your paying $400 + $99 for the PS3..

Regards,

Old3eyes

bazzer

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#177713 13-Nov-2008 09:34

Wouldn't that be $500 + $99? Anyway, when do "promotions" ever really give you something for nothing? There's no such thing as a free lunch!

A new PS3 costs more than $599 doesn't it? Or does it? I don't follow the prices...

Probably the worst thing about this promotion is that it's such a transparent attempt to get rid of their last 40GB PS3s!

Jaxson

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#177727 13-Nov-2008 10:12

I'm at that point right now actually. I'm looking at TV's and a PS3.

Looking at either the 80gb or the 40GB version. 40GB version usually has more packaged stuff like movies as well as usual game, as they're trying to clear this I presume? Both versions are $799 in most places, give or take any run out type specials.

Just looked at Bluray players which are roughly $500 - $600 at the mo, so you're talking another $2 - $300 for games functions, plus media streaming options. Hard to know if I want this now, but picking it's worth having in the future. Samsung 1500 bluray drive can internally down sample the HD audio and output the highest possible DTS output which is cool for older receivers that can't do HD audio formats. That's about the only benefit I can see and you still have limited firmware upgrade support and slower load times than the PS3 will have.

TV's I wont go into, except to comment that yeah you do get a $99 ps3, but man you have to buy comparitively expensive TV's to get it. In my opinion.

[I have edited this to remove my wrong info about the PS3 40 and 80gb versions. These are essentially the same, just with different hard drive]

bazzer

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#177738 13-Nov-2008 10:51

Jaxson: Looking at either the 80gb version with limited software support + SACD + larger hard drive or the 40GB version with nothing.

Are you sure about this? I don't think our 80GB version is any different to the 40GB except HDD size. I'm pretty sure they didn't add back SACD and PS2 backwards-compatibility. Unless you're talking about the US version which is out of production, isn't it?

pebbles

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#177748 13-Nov-2008 11:03

As Bazzer said the 80G is nothing special - also with HD sizes the thing to remember is Sony allow you to change the HD in the PS3 without voiding the warrenty. So its not worth worrying over 40G when they're not hard to replace.

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