HTPC vs PS3

[tony4704]

Hey all, wanted some opinions on which route I should go. Right now my main reason for getting either of these is for blu ray. I know that there are far more possibilities with a HTPC such as streaming, DVR, etc. Just seems so much easier to spend the 300 for the PS3 and be done with it. What do you guys recommend?

I was planning on building a windows 7 HTPC based off of this guide: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=940972

I am just thinking that as far as easy of use and clean seamless movie playing the PS3 might be better. I have never built an HTPC before so I don't actually know what front ends you use but if its anything like how it looks when i hook my PC up to the TV, then id probably lean towards the ps3. If I put a movie in, I don't want to have to try and re-size the movie player so that it fits the screen right and get knocked out of the full screen movie if a pop up from the task bar comes up. Stuff like that. Does the applications people use for their HTPC allow for seamless movie watching or not? If anyone had any pictures of their HTPC GUI/frontend that would be cool. Thanks.

 

[slackerinabox]

You know, if bluray is your primary goal, why not get a bluray player? Though the PS3 is far more seamless than my HTPC for B.R playback. Arcsoft's bluray software isn't bad, but it's still not a completely MCE integrated experience... It's just clumbsy to me, alt tabbing at times...And I have yet to get 5.1 over HDMI working, so there's all the more wires... Bah, just get a ps3 or a bluray player.

 

[kalrith]

When the PS3 first came out, it was hands down the best buy for BD players. Although it's still a good BD player, it's probably not the best choice if that's all your wanting. Same with an HTPC. For the same price or less, you can get a better BD player. However, if you also want to use a PS3 or HTPC for things that a BD player could not do, then that would be a good reason to get one. I bought my PS3 for both games and BDs. I use my HTPC for OTA, internet TV, torrents, music, media server for my other two PCs, etc.

If you have no need for any of these other uses, then as freedomsbeat mentioned, just get a stand-alone BD player.

 

[sivart]

I've had both, but now only have an HTPC. Then again, I have a BD / HD DVD combo player for my HD needs. I was trying to use the PS3 as a media streamer directly from my D-Link NAS. Couldn't stream all of my files without using another PC 'between' the NAS and PS3. Defeated the purpose, so I went pure Windows 7 Media Center and an HTPC.

For me, the HTPC was the best deal and changing over to a HTPC made me $15 after I sold my PS3. This may not work the best for you.

If all you want to do is play Blu-ray and DVD's (and maybe stream Netflix), then a stand alone Blu-ray player (non-PS3) would probably be your best (and most economical) choice.

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

If you want easy go with the PS3 or Blu-ray player. HTPC's are work. They're worth it, but they're work.

 

[alyarb]

HTPCs might be a little work initially, but if you have a good bluetooth keyboard or a remote you like, they are more than worth it because you have also consolidated your web/email/comms/work/games onto potentially the same machine.

also consider the samsung BD-P3600. it's only $200 and it has the ability to play any mpeg4/avi/MKV file that you burn to any optical media. it will play all your media files over local ethernet and it will play youtube/netflix over the internet. all that aside, I think seamless MKV support is the new dealbreaker on media players, and i think HTPCs are simply the best media players. For the cost of a good bluray player you could just buy a radeon 4350 and a pair of 1.5tb disks.

 

[Rifter]

My PS3 works great for media playback, i installed a 500GB HDD and loaded it with my whole DVD collection, and a bunch of TV shows. That said my next home PC will be a HTPC, but for the bedroom not the living room.

 

[wiretap]

A proper HTPC will give the best results. For the best results, rip the HD movies to the hard drive without all the encryption garbage. You won't need to update a player, you won't need to get up from the couch to put in disks, you won't have load times, etc. A nice front end to use with 7MC is MediaBrowser. I've set up many clients and friends with it, and they all love it. It's easy to use, and gives a seamless experience. Another route to take is with the new version of MyMovies. It has a very nicely integrated front end with 7MC and a full cataloged back-end. Open media center.. scroll through the movie posters to select your movie.. hit play.. done.

 

[slackerinabox]

A proper HTPC will give the best results. For the best results, rip the HD movies to the hard drive without all the encryption garbage. You won't need to update a player, you won't need to get up from the couch to put in disks, you won't have load times, etc. A nice front end to use with 7MC is MediaBrowser. I've set up many clients and friends with it, and they all love it. It's easy to use, and gives a seamless experience. Another route to take is with the new version of MyMovies. It has a very nicely integrated front end with 7MC and a full cataloged back-end. Open media center.. scroll through the movie posters to select your movie.. hit play.. done.

Disagreed - for watching bluray movies, a HTPC is way overkill and still not completely seemless. I'm hoping the next version of windows will have BR playback integrated but, for now, you must use a 3rd party app (such as powerdvd or arcsoft). Which means multiple programs and.. oye.. it's just annoying!

Want "pop in a disk and hit play" playback and don't need media streaming? Get a bluray player

Want seemless bluray plus decent media streaming (mkv or xvid) plus maybe the occasional game, get a PS3. Netflix is inclued, but consider getting PS3 Media Server for local media plus PLAYON for HULU/youtube/MTV/ETC. For some reason, however, playon has been clunky for HULU lately, though it could be an issue with my computer.

Want tv recording (ota or unencrypted cable for now, cablecard units are being released, but they're like $400), media (mkv playback, etc.), web video, etc. delivered in a relatively easy to use but still keyboard required environment? Get a HTPC. I have bluray rom on my HTPC but rarely use it, because I always feel there's a compromise there. I just use my rom for ripping to mKV (I hate dealing with arcsoft, though it's the most integrated option), but that takes a few hours per disk.

 

[Golgatha]

I have both. For playback of rented Blu-ray discs, I do normally use the PS3. For my own media library, I use the HTPC. For me, my HTPC runs Skype 24/7/365 for our home phones, runs Tversity to stream files to the PS3 and XBox 360 (easier for wife and kids to use), gets me extra PPD on Folding@Home, acts as a Blu-ray jukebox, and is a nice place to offload transcoding video files. It is also the absolute best way to manage Netflix, Hulu...Internet streaming media in general because they all just work from a PC based web browser without any fuss.

However, if you mainly just want to playback Blu-ray discs. IMO, there is always a compromise with the audio quality unless you happen to get something that just works. Getting HD Audio from a HTPC has been such a frustration for me, that I just don't even mess with it anymore and let the PowerDVD v8 software convert to 5.1 DD+ (1.5Mbps over optical is still pretty darned decent) for all my ripped images. If you just want Blu-ray playback, I'd still get a PS3 because it is the easiest to update and most frequently updated player on the market. You can stream most media files easily to it for no extra charge using a variety of freeware available on the web as well.

I'm personally waiting for the next generation nVidia stuff so I can get HD Audio from a single video card and get PPD from Folding@Home. I did try a 4350 Radeon card and the result was 2.0 stereo audio. I could not get 5.1 to work for anything, much less anything HD Audio Master, etc. As others have said, a HTPC is worth it, but it is a lot more work and time spent (aka frustration) getting it configured correctly. Once it is setup correctly, it is a beautiful thing however.

 

[wiretap]

Disagreed - for watching bluray movies, a HTPC is way overkill and still not completely seemless. I'm hoping the next version of windows will have BR playback integrated but, for now, you must use a 3rd party app (such as powerdvd or arcsoft). Which means multiple programs and.. oye.. it's just annoying!

Want "pop in a disk and hit play" playback and don't need media streaming? Get a bluray player

Want seemless bluray plus decent media streaming (mkv or xvid) plus maybe the occasional game, get a PS3. Netflix is inclued, but consider getting PS3 Media Server for local media plus PLAYON for HULU/youtube/MTV/ETC. For some reason, however, playon has been clunky for HULU lately, though it could be an issue with my computer.

Want tv recording (ota or unencrypted cable for now, cablecard units are being released, but they're like $400), media (mkv playback, etc.), web video, etc. delivered in a relatively easy to use but still keyboard required environment? Get a HTPC. I have bluray rom on my HTPC but rarely use it, because I always feel there's a compromise there. I just use my rom for ripping to mKV (I hate dealing with arcsoft, though it's the most integrated option), but that takes a few hours per disk.

A PS3 doesn't play half the shit that a HTPC does. Media streaming blows and often has to be transcoded.

 

[slackerinabox]

A PS3 doesn't play half the shit that a HTPC does. Media streaming blows and often has to be transcoded.

A HTPC is 10x more frustrating than a PS3, if bluray watching is your only qualification.

My parents love to watch streaming web video from india, which an HTPC is really your only option. I had an HTPC and it's nifty, but bluway watching on it was a joke... The video never seemed to be as good as a standalone (I swear Arcsoft downsamples), getting surround sound to work properly was a bitch, and a keyboard was always necessary because you never know when Arcsoft or Power dvd will crash, meaning you have to leave the Media Center environment.

My setup:
1. OFFICE: HTPC that I removed the tuner from and changed to a media server (PS3 Media Server + playon installed). Bluray drive only gets used to rip movies

2. BEDROOM: WDTV Live- Used to be the house of our HTPC, but the wire mess/fan noise/keyboard got annoying to me and my wife, so we simplified.

3. Living ROOM: PS3 for games/bluray and hulu (playon), Asus O-Play for transcoding free MKV playback

My living room setup could technically be simplified using a HTPC, but I don't like fan noise, complexity, or extra wires/dongles hanging around.

The PS3 can be used for MKV playback, and does it well, I just prefer the o-play because subtitles are handled better and the PQ is a hair better

 

[slackerinabox]

And people who say using a HTPC is completely seamless process are not being completely honest. To me, seamless means that you use your remote and one interface for EVERYTHING. You can't do that yet - you need a mouse, you need a keyboard, you need multiple applications (Windows Media Center for local content, blu ray player software for blu rays, Chrome for web video). I eventually found using MCE kinda silly unless you use a tuner, so I just had video files in folders, which looked realllly low-tech and clumsy. My friend, who swears by MCE, also does the same thing..

Can people put up with that? Of course! If esoteric web content and piracy is your main source of content, then a HTPC makes sense. But if you only use Blurays or netflix streaming, a standalone makes much more sense.

 

[wiretap]

I find getting up and loading a Blu-ray disk by hand and waiting for a PS3 to load and update less seemless than just opening 7MC and flipping through cover art of Blu-ray movies and clicking play. Ripping disks is basically an automated process now..

 

[slackerinabox]

I find getting up and loading a Blu-ray disk by hand and waiting for a PS3 to load and update less seemless than just opening 7MC and flipping through cover art of Blu-ray movies and clicking play. Ripping disks is basically an automated process now..

EXACTLY, you don't watch blu ray disks... You're not answering the ops question, you're just saying that the OP should change his viewing habits.

If you watch BLURAY disks, get a bluray player or ps3
If you watch rips and web content, get a HTPC
If you watch rips and are ok with a server/client relationship, get a WD TV Live

 

[slackerinabox]

Also, there are input options that work well for HTPCs. I used a $50 keyboard/mouse combo thingie with media controls. I've been through 2 of them because I tend to fall asleep and drop my keyboard (bedroom). Or you can buy a logitech dinovo keyboard, but that's about the same cost as a friggin blu ray player, which is really goofy to me (and a flaw of HTPCs in general: spending so much money to replicate the functionality of something much cheaper and efficient).

 

[DaveSimmons]

For blu-ray the PS3 is still a great choice because:
- it gets firmware updates all the time, and will always be a player studios test their discs against
- the Cell runs the Java & script code faster than most players

As a bonus you get a good upscaling DVD player, Netflix streaming (which some players do as well), media playback from your PC, and you can even play a game on it.

At $320 (with blutetooth remote) the price is higher than cheap blu-ray players but less than a decent HTPC with blu-ray reader and a legal OS.

 

[wiretap]

EXACTLY, you don't watch blu ray disks... You're not answering the ops question, you're just saying that the OP should change his viewing habits.

If you watch BLURAY disks, get a bluray player or ps3
If you watch rips and web content, get a HTPC
If you watch rips and are ok with a server/client relationship, get a WD TV Live

Oh, I though we were talking strictly about seamless playback. Nevermind then.

 

[Golgatha]

My living room setup could technically be simplified using a HTPC, but I don't like fan noise, complexity, or extra wires/dongles hanging around.

The PS3 can be used for MKV playback, and does it well, I just prefer the o-play because subtitles are handled better and the PQ is a hair better

Hmm, I suppose my HTPC is quieter than most. My HTPC uses a 500w PC Power and Cooling Silencer and Zalman HSF and Video Card HSF, both at 5V. My Antec Solo case has sound dampening material on the side panels. The case fans are Antec tri-cools set to their lowest RPM setting. No components are thermally stressed at all with this configuration. All that did cost a bit of money to implement, but the result is a computer that is quieter than my PS3 or XBox 360 for sure.

As far as wires go, there is a HDMI, optical, and power cable connected to the HTPC. The keyboard and mouse are actually a Logitech DiNovo Mini, so that is just a USB wireless adapter, which is smaller than a stick of gum, and is sticking out of one of the rear USB ports.

 

[kalrith]

And people who say using a HTPC is completely seamless process are not being completely honest. To me, seamless means that you use your remote and one interface for EVERYTHING. You can't do that yet - you need a mouse, you need a keyboard, you need multiple applications (Windows Media Center for local content, blu ray player software for blu rays, Chrome for web video). I eventually found using MCE kinda silly unless you use a tuner, so I just had video files in folders, which looked realllly low-tech and clumsy. My friend, who swears by MCE, also does the same thing..

Can people put up with that? Of course! If esoteric web content and piracy is your main source of content, then a HTPC makes sense. But if you only use Blurays or netflix streaming, a standalone makes much more sense.

An HTPC is seamless for everything you can do with a BD player. I can set up my HTPC so that I can watch any media files (music, video, etc.), watch OTA, and watch BD all with my Harmony remote from my couch. If I want to do more than that, it does require a keyboard and mouse; however, those are things that simply can't be done on a stand-alone BD player. If we're shooting for an apples-to-apples comparison, then saying that I need a keyboard and mouse to browse the internet on an HTPC is moot when comparing it to a stand-alone BD player.

As I've already said, if the ONLY the thing the OP wants to do is play BDs, then a stand-alone BD player is a better choice than an HTPC or a PS3. If he wants to play games; watch torrents; watch internet TV; play ripped DVDs, CDs, and BDs; or any of the many things your can do with an HTPC (and to a lesser extent with a PS3), then one of those is a better choice than a stand-alone BD player.

I guess what I'm getting at is that some people think that an HTPC is the right answer to every situation and others think that an HTPC is never the right answer. Neither is true. The right answer could be HTPC, game console, media extender, or stand-alone BD player depending on the situation.

 

[mmntech]

The ps3 is certainly one if if not the best bluray player in it's price range. Loads movies fast. It will handle media just fine provided you're not using obscure formats. Like the others said, you need to figure out what you need it to do. If you want a full computer in your living room, htpc is the way to go. However, I think it's best to go with dedicated boxes if you just want to watch bd movies and record tv. I disagree with people saying streaming hd movies online is better. There is a quality difference. They compress the hell out of the streamed stuff.

 

[tony4704]

Cool thanks guys for all the info. Looks like I will get a ps3 for watching rented blu-ray disks and a HTPC (eventually) for doing everything else!

 

[sivart]

Cool thanks guys for all the info. Looks like I will get a ps3 for watching rented blu-ray disks and a HTPC (eventually) for doing everything else!

Are you sure you read the posts correctly? Most basically said stand-alone if all you want is to play Blu-ray.

Plus add an extra $20-$30 for the PS3 Blu-ray remote (if you want a traditional...i.e. not a game controller...for the remote)

 

[kalrith]

Are you sure you read the posts correctly? Most basically said stand-alone if all you want is to play Blu-ray.

Plus add an extra $20-$30 for the PS3 Blu-ray remote (if you want a traditional...i.e. not a game controller...for the remote)

Also, if you do have a need for an HTPC (i.e. you read what we use our HTPCs for and want to do that as well) and you would just use a PS3 for Blu-ray, then you should just get a Blu-ray player for the HTPC and skip the PS3/BD player altogether.

However, as sivart already stated, it sounds more like you just want to play BDs (Blu-ray Discs), and if that's the case, then you'll be best served by a stand-alone BD player other than the PS3.

OK, after rereading the OP, it sounds like you're already planning to build an HTPC for reasons probably not mentioned in this thread, but you're concerned with having to resize the desktop every time you watch a BD. I don't have a BD player on my HTPC, but I'm pretty sure that with a good interface, the BDs will play full-screen without having to resize the window every time. I personally do everything media-related on my HTPC in MediaPortal and control it with my Harmony remote. I would think that I could just add a BD option to MediaPortal and be able to control that from my couch as well. It's a really slick interface, and I find it a huge advantage to be able to use one interface for live TV, recorded TV, music, torrents, and probably BDs if I didn't already own a PS3 before building the HTPC.

 

[slackerinabox]

Just wanted to add - if you have a harmony remote, get the nyko bluray remote for PS3. It's basically a crappy remote with a IR dongle. Harmony has the commands preconfigured so just plug in the dongle, program for the nyko and, boom - control your PS3 on your Harmony for $15!

The only problem is that you can't turn your system on and off with it, but I just leave mine on. Which I'm sure is terrible in some way, but I don't really care about the unicorns I'm killing by wasting electricity