I'm not a Sony fan. The way they must always 'own' the format has resulted in number of still born formats and pointless consumer confusion that has seldom benefitted the consumer. SACD as a knee jerk reaction to DVD-A has hardly resulted in mass market appeal for instance. They're the Coke of AV as far as I'm concerned.

So, I put my foot firmly in the HD-DVD camp and bought the most complete example to date, the Toshiba HD-EP35, only for Warner to be 'bought' by Sony, thus ensuring that Blu Ray would be required, whether I liked it or not. With heavy heart, I shelled out on a 40GB PS3, miffed that the new machine didn't support SACD (Sony's own format remember) like the 60GB fore runner.

These two machines are a far more likely combination in most homes, especially those like mine less concerned with games and rather more with movies.

I must say, where properly encoded (not MPEG 2) movies are concerned, I find there to be virtually no differences in picture and sound quality between the two. I am outputting the HD sound formats as LPCM and the picture along with it via HDMI, so only a power cable is required for each box, making for a vastly tider rack.

However, hard as it is to admit, every aspect of the PS3 has been a superior ownership experience. After idiot proof setup and online registration, connected wirelessly, I had downloaded the BR1.1 enabling v2.0 software and was up and running in under 30 minutes. All in a beautifully built, if conspicuous package that actually has a start up time that a kettle couldn't boil in.

By comparison, the Tosh resolutely refused to connect to the internet even once I'd found a long enough ethernet cable and I had to resort to ringing Toshiba for a disk by post. This was all to cure unexplained 'lock ups', lipsync and any other number of niggles in what was billed as, the most complete player to date. To cap it all, it's made from that plastic you get inside biscuit tins.

I like the Sony's 'Apple-esque' approach to ease of use and simplicity of operation that even an adult can understand. I can forgive Sony the 1.0 start, because frankly HD-DVD didn't get there much quicker in an equally affordable and complete package. It's also interesting, because I run Macs and not PCs, for exactly the same reasons and HD-DVD is the Microsoft format. Mmmm.

I'm glad I got a raft of free disks with the EP-35, because it means its price was virtually cancelled out in software that for the most part, was on my shopping list anyway. From here on in, I shall check the video encoding of a film prior to purchase and where all things are equal, I will buy Blu Ray.

In the meantime, there are some pesky 15 year olds who need their collective butts kicking in an online Motorstorm frenzy, which is something I had no intention of being interested in. Until I found out PS3 online gaming is free, unlike the MS alternative.

Russell 

I have a ps3 (60 gb)connected to a Denon 3808 and i cant get Dolby True HD.

The version i have is 2.10.Does any one know if this is the version that decodes True HD or do we have to wait even longer for an update? 

I thought it was only the DTS-HD soundtracks the PS3 doesn't support. I you sure the disk in question has a Dolby True-HD soundtrack?

Russell

Should be the same as connecting any wireless device. First of all , you do have a wireless network in your house (just making sure!)? If so, under Settings, go to Network Settings and then Internet Connection Settings. Try Easy - this should auto connect you to your wireless network once you've scanned for it, or you can just enter this in manually (you'll need to do this if you have a closed network) and entered in any security password you have on the network. If Easy doesn't work, go back and then use Custom and choose Wireless Network and either scan for or enter in your wireless network name. Next choose the type of Security on the network and then the password. Assuming you have DHCP, choose Automatic, otherwise you'll need to set up a manual IP address and the same with DNS servers. You'll also need to provide any details on proxy servers etc. etc. (if you're not sure what these are, you don't have one).

That should be it!

Very strange. Do you have MAC address filtering on the wireless network?

MAC address filtering???? not sure what that is, can you enlighten me please.

thanks!

Basically, each wireless and wired network adaptor has unique code called a MAC address. On some wireless networks you can enable filtering by MAC address as a basic security measure (it can be easily circumvented by someone in the know though). If you had it on and hadn't included the PS3's MAC address therefore, this could prevent it from joining the network. It doesn't sound like you do though!

I can't really think of anything else which would prevent it from joining I'm afraid...

Thanks for the reply, it sounds to me that it's something to do with my pc which is sending out a signal and this is being picked up by the ps 3, I'm entering all the details which it accepts but when I get to the screen where it asks me to save, I do so then it fails and I get timed out?

I'm going to go in to a bit more detail now, my pc is running via a cable for connection to the internet but yes I do have the option of running it wireless but at present it doesn't have a reciever which to plug into as its an old pc but surely this shouldn't stop the ps 3 from gaining access to the internet if it is picking up the wireless signal should it?

Yes I have a sky wireless router (netgear) although my pc is running via the ethernet cable. Playstation is in another room hence wanting to set it up via the wireless option.

cheers!

Here I go again, the latest option via playstation website says I may require me to enter the PS3 MAC address ( yes I know this has been mentioned before and thanks), I have found the mac for the ps3 but how do I enter this on to my network device? Stay with me chaps!!

Hi Chris,

I don't know the Sky router, but normally, to administrate it, you would need to go to a web browser and enter in a name or an IP address to connect to the device. You'd then enter in a username and password and in here somewhere would be the place where you would enter in the MAC address.

If you're not sure on any of this, it might be best to contact Sky as they should be familiar with the setup of their router.