[Jboy]

Hi all, I posted a similar query some time ago but got little response so here goes... I am a complete newbie when it comes to this so any advice greatly appreciated.

I currently have a PS3 hooked up to my Panasonic 37x10 to which I have plugged a 320GB WD passport drive via USB and connected my laptop via wireless. I use this to watch downloaded films and tv shows (though dont tend to stream them wirelessly from my laptop as they buffer too much).

The picture quality is generally pretty good, however my housemate is taking his PS3 when he moves out so my question is:

What are there alternatives out there to a PS3 that will do just as good or better job? (I am not into playing games). or should I just buy a new PS3 (as although i dont play games I can play discs from time to time)????

Also is the PS3 upscaling these downloaded film files as I really am quite suprised by the picture quality (and do other systems do the same)?

My main usage will be to watch movies, Tv shows currently maxing the 320 Gb WD drive so probably looking at a 1TB size.

Many thanks in advance

[tom712]

I have a similar dilema and I'm hoping to build a HTPC (small quiet low power PC) that is better spec and more useful than a PS3 for media hub. My laptop is pretty good but doesn't have HDMI , takes all night to rip or render stuff and struggles with 1080P downloads and also filling up the external USB drive.
However, there's a couple of PS3 games I'd like to play, and the PS3 is going to be easier for other people in the house to operate.

I'm hoping to rip a load of our DVDs and music, and would look at booting to XBMC to view and play them.
I reckon I could lose the Sat box and recorder and fit a TV/Sat card in the HTPC, and hopefully have one box that uses the same if not less electricity, even if left on all night (guilty conscience). I would also like to cable it to select output video and audio to 2 rooms.

I did consider a cheap and simple media player attached to portable USB drive, such as WDTV, but think it's going to be more organized with everything happening (downloads, ripping, backups and storage) on the one box.
I could also carry on using the laptop to work with the files, have a NAS for central storage and backups, then the PS3 under the TV.

I'll let you know how I get on.

Currently looking at AMD AM3 CPUs, X2 240,245,250 45W-65W
Western Digital Green 1TB Hard disk
Micro-ATX Mainboard with on board HDMI graphics.
internal Blu-Ray drive.

[nik41]

I used a PS3 as a media player for some time - I liked it a lot until it broke down.

The new slim looks good runs much cooler i am told.

A friend has put an ASUS media player into his system (he has a PS3 aswell but is keeping that for gaming) I had a look at it at the weekend quite nice, also the Xtreamer looks quite good.

Personaly I'd go with a new PS3

[Jboy]

thanks for the comments...

I guess my problem with the playstation is that as I dont do any gaming (no interes). But I understand that it does have great upscaling???
If there is a 1TB or bigger alternative to store and playback my films via hdmi etc (that has equally good or better upscaling) I would snap it up - I just have no idea what is out there?

ideas?

[next010]

The best thing going for the PS3 is its GUI, its slick, fast and responsive. Going against it are limited media support and of course its primary purpose is games so your paying more money.

Media players tend to be one or the other not a combination of all 3 of the above.

If you want a cheap media player that will read almost all media files from your USB drive get a WDTV Live. It's GUI is nice and responsive but not as good as the PS3 obviously you can see videos of it in action on Youtube.

[Uridium]

Could always pick up a 'broken' PS3. Plenty of PS3's around with just broken Bluray drive's both here in the trading section and on fleabay.

As well as 1x good PS3 i use for disc gaming I have 2x faulty bluray drive PS3's i use round the house just for streaming and on-line stuff.

Functionally everything else works perfectly other than the drive and i picked my two up for £60 each......

[chrismilne]

Originally Posted by next010

The best thing going for the PS3 is its GUI, its slick, fast and responsive. Going against it are limited media support and of course its primary purpose is games so your paying more money.

Media players tend to be one or the other not a combination of all 3 of the above.

If you want a cheap media player that will read almost all media files from your USB drive get a WDTV Live. It's GUI is nice and responsive but not as good as the PS3 obviously you can see videos of it in action on Youtube.

i had one of the WDTV Live devices but networking was horrible (at least with win 7). it always "forgot" my drives/folders that were shared...which ended up with rebooting the computer, rebooting the device, very often. The UI is ok but not super responsive. It also stuttered on a few large files (even from local USB HD)

[trik]

This is my perception of reality:

First of all, don't worry about storage capacity, as all of these solutions support external hard drives (which any self-respecting semi-geek should own anyway).

Do not get a PS3 unless you want to play games. (If you do want to play games, get a PS3 (unless you have a really good reason for getting an Xbox)). PS3s are noisy and don't have great file support, something you'll notice when you want to read newer (HD) formats. Yes, it's possible to transmagic these files into other, playable file types either before you watch them or live on a media center, but in my opinion this is a lot of unnecessary work.

If you want the easy way out, get a media player. They understand pretty much all the files you throw at them, and many don't have fans (meaning the little round things that move air, not supporters) so they don't make noise - and they're cheap.

A PC is the most powerful and versatile option, as you can do virtually anything with it and will probably never encounter a format you can't play. On the other hand, it'll take more time and work to get set up properly, and will give you that fan noise again (unless you get really serious about your cooling system).

If you want to play Blu-rays (and DVDs (and CDs (and.. you get the idea))), get a standalone BD player. They don't cost much any more - I bet you could get a media player and a BD player for the price of a PS3.