Sony Blu Ray Players

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#162052 4-Sep-2008 10:16

Agreed mate, I'm really keen on getting bluray capability at some stage. I have a standard amp so will only be using standard DTS/Dolby output. Sounds like most blurays will have this, and some the option of an uncompressed raw 'true HD' sound but you'll need a fancy new amp. Only downside of HD is that instantly it takes the shine off your standard DVD collection!

I'm like you in that I don't really need the extra PS3 stuff, but then at the same time, if you're going to pay a certain price, then why not spend the extra bit and get it anyway. Plus Sony has the rights to Formula One games too!...

If anyone spots a similar good deal on bluray players, please let us know! There is enough support now from DVD stores starting to stock Bluray to be an option on many new releases. My only thought really is that the PS3 seems to have big support from Sony regarding feature upgrades that I think it's the safest bet to accommodate future changes in Bluray specifications.

bazzer

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#162055 4-Sep-2008 10:31

Jaxson: Agreed mate, I'm really keen on getting bluray capability at some stage. I have a standard amp so will only be using standard DTS/Dolby output. Sounds like most blurays will have this, and some the option of an uncompressed raw 'true HD' sound but you'll need a fancy new amp. Only downside of HD is that instantly it takes the shine off your standard DVD collection!

Does your amp take PCM input? PS3 (for example) will output the HD audio formats in 7.1 PCM, so the quality is identical to bitstream decoded externally.

turb

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#162058 4-Sep-2008 10:47

If anyone spots a similar good deal on bluray players, please let us know! There is enough support now from DVD stores starting to stock Bluray to be an option on many new releases.

I think the clever marketing people are going to rig the prices to extract the maximum price from us early adopters, and then bring down the price ever...so.....slowly. My bet is that the prices won't really come down until the after-xmas sales.

My local Civic Video rental shop is now buying a bluray version of every new release - they don't know when they'll get around to back-filling with the older titles.

And yes, please keep us informed of any deals you find!

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Jaxson

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#162062 4-Sep-2008 11:11

Well my current receiver does not have hdmi input for a start but to be fair I'm going to be content with 5.1 off the bluray disc, so I'm not worried about that. Check http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/1064 for a good simple write up on it. Not sure on the 7.1 PCM from my amp Bazzer, will have a read up on it later. Really I thought DVD was great when it came along, but we watched on SD TV''s back then when VCR's connected by RF. Now we're on 42" plasma's or 100"+ projectors, so bring on Bluray, it will be good no matter what we use to play it with. I just want it cheap!

bazzer

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#162064 4-Sep-2008 11:43

I think you need HDMI to have enough bandwidth for 7.1 PCM, sorry to say. But like you say, even 5.1 soundtracks are pretty good.

Jaxson

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#162096 4-Sep-2008 13:37

What's the best price anyone has seen for standalone bluray players in NZ, for NZ region discs? The ones listed earlier here, are they serviced units, and would you really want one if it has been serviced already, just to save $50?

LVMartin has sony one for $499, seems close the current model for instance.

JaseNZ

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#162098 4-Sep-2008 13:41

I chose getting a ps3 over a stand alone because of alot of the things mentioned earlier, easy firmware upgrades and one of the biggest things that come to me is i use mine for all my music needs, since it has wireless built in i have an old pc that hums away upstairs connected to a wireless router that has all my music and video clips on which can be streamed to the ps3. I am not into my games but when i have my kids come to stay once a week they of course love it for that. I find that my older 5.1 sony amp does the trick and maybe one day i would go to 7.1 but hmmmmmmm where do i put the etxra speakers the other main thing is can anybody actully list any titles out now that make use of 7.1 i thought they were all 5.1 still.

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turb

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#162112 4-Sep-2008 14:20

Jaxson: What's the best price anyone has seen for standalone bluray players in NZ, for NZ region discs? The ones listed earlier here, are they serviced units, and would you really want one if it has been serviced already, just to save $50?

LVMartin has sony one for $499, seems close the current model for instance.

I just spoke to the Sony Centre in Nugent St (09 970 1200) they say the model is the BDP S300, the 14 units they have for $449are either box-damaged, refurbished or ex-demo from Sony Style shops.

So yeah the PS3 looks very good compared to full price standalone Blu Ray player. Otherwise I'd say if you just want to play the discs for the least money then $449 looks good too!

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hazza87

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#162225 4-Sep-2008 18:57

Turb - Where is you local civic video store? The video ezy, 2 video shops, and one blockbuster near me all have an appalingly poor selection of blu ray discs. Firstsly they all have the same ones, secondly they only have the ones distributes by son (can't think why - must be some kind of deal going on with them.)

I am in Eastern Suburbs of Auckland by the way.

Rhygar

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#162385 5-Sep-2008 09:51

My local United Video down the road from where I live has a good selection of Blu-Ray movies. Probably about 30-50 titles so far. Not too many on new release but the good thing is that all the 8 day hire Blu-Ray's I can get for $1.25 on Tuesdays

To send PCM audio to a receiver you will need HDMI connection. You cannot send PCM over analog or digital. I am using the lossy core soundtracks on BD's as I don't have an HDMI capable receiver but I can say that it is still noticeably better than DVD. I believe the bitrate is much better on BD than the DVD tracks and I have found the BD core tracks to be much louder as well. Maybe it is just my player but I have to turn down the volume for BD and turn back up for DVD's. To me PQ was more important than AQ so I am happy to wait until receivers which handle the lossless tracks come down enough in price.

On a side note, Panasonic have just announced the PT-AE3000 1080p projector so let's hope we see some good deals on the PT-AE2000 projector when the new ones come to New Zealand.

Jaxson

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#162388 5-Sep-2008 10:00

I think you've hit it on the head there, well for my situation at least.

I have standard/good receiver, but it does not take hdmi in for audio decoding. I plan on using the required basic/core audio tracks and am mainly opting for an increase in picture quality.

I have the 720 panasonic 100 projector, but in projectors you would really benefit from the 1080 ones, because of the sheer size of the screens. (I've seen a fair bit lately on standard 32-42" TV screens that really don't benefit too much from 720vs1080 resolution at normal lounge viewing distances). That's simply all I could afford at the time.

I think the complaint about the price of discs is not always valid, (Yes they're too expensive, but then they are new as well). It's not like we need to own them, really you don't have to. Video stores have them available and at a much cheaper price than owning and only viewing as often as renting anyway. The plus is that DVD's have got real cheap lately, often less than $10 a disc to own.

The hunt is now on to find the best/cheapest bluray player deal, and/or the cheapest PS3 option. Hopefully the smaller HDD PS3's will be cheaper, which is fine as many would like to upgrade the internal one anyway.

Rhygar

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#162389 5-Sep-2008 10:00

If you are buying Blu-Ray movies I hope you are all buying through Amazon as even including the shipping cost it is still cheaper through Amazon. The Game Planet store has Transformers at the ridiculous price of NZ$80 when with shipping I can buy it from Amazon at around NZ$44. Also Amazon tend to have some nice deals on Blu-Rays from time to time. This is the current sale on selected titles. I picked up March of the Penguins and Space Cowboys from that sale, along with Transformers and a couple of other titles.

Jaxson

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#162409 5-Sep-2008 10:52

How do you get on with the region code thing with Bluray from Amazon? -Are you picking region 2 discs from there as most seem to be R1.

clevedon

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#162411 5-Sep-2008 10:57

Jaxson: How do you get on with the region code thing with Bluray from Amazon? -Are you picking region 2 discs from there as most seem to be R1.

Go to linesinc.net. Tells you what region all Bluray discs are - confirmed.

turb

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#162414 5-Sep-2008 11:09

hazza87: Turb - Where is you local civic video store? The video ezy, 2 video shops, and one blockbuster near me all have an appalingly poor selection of blu ray discs. Firstsly they all have the same ones, secondly they only have the ones distributes by son (can't think why - must be some kind of deal going on with them.)

I am in Eastern Suburbs of Auckland by the way.

I'm in Devonport, North Shore. They rent out PS2s also but I've been on at them to get a PS3 to rent out so we can try before we buy - no luck yet!!

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