PS3 alternatives for Streaming & Blu ray

[Vae]

I'm after some advice if anyone has some suggestions or ideas. It seems the thunder storm immediately over my house on Monday morning destroyed the HDMI sockets on my PS3 and Virgin box. Virgin will replace their box but I need to do something about the PS3 which I use for Blu-rays and streaming only:

1) Keep the PS3 (which was a 20Gb model now with a 300Gb HDD although we mainly stream from a ReadyNas Duo) and connect it via component cables to my Denon amp -
Pros - Cheap as I would only have to buy a cable and my wife wouldn't have to learn a new setup
Negs - I would lose picture quality and I'm not sure whether I would have any other issues

2) Replace the PS3 with a new 12Gb slim model (£149.99)
Pros - Lower heat production and energy usage. Situation back to normal.
Negs - Cost

3) Get a separate Blu ray player or £50 and a streamer to run XMBC. Looking at various options including the OUYA, XIOS DS Mediaplay and others in the ~£100-£150 bracket
Pros - XBMC seems to be good! An android based one would add the possibility of android apps on the TV. We can use our ipads/iphones to control XBMC. If either breaks I don't have to replace the other
Negs - Cost. Have to teach my wife another gadget. There doesn't seem to be a clear winner in terms of what to use XBMC on. I don't want anything that requires too much setup and tweaking to work.

 

[Moriath]

4) buy a second hand ps3 for next to nothing as the ps4 is out soon

 

[Ch3tan]

Have you looked into repair options?

 

[smurkin]

I would go with 1] - the loss in PQ moving to component is just psychological - at least, I tried it and couldn't tell the difference (albeit under different circumstances). Unless you want to upgrade.

 

[MYstIC G]

Have you looked into repair options?

This, Sony used to do fixed price repairs.

 

[ECA]

I would go with 1] - the loss in PQ moving to component is just psychological - at least, I tried it and couldn't tell the difference (albeit under different circumstances). Unless you want to upgrade.

Most games don't run at 1080p anyway, quite a lot are not even running at 720p. component only runs at 720p but for media what are you downloading thats>720p, the quality won't be noticeable.
tldr, You won't be losing picture quality.

 

[MYstIC G]

Most games don't run at 1080p anyway, quite a lot are not even running at 720p. component only runs at 720p but for media what are you downloading thats>720p, the quality won't be noticeable.
tldr, You won't be losing picture quality.

That doesn't hold true for Blu-Ray playback though.

 

[ECA]

Res/bitrates vary. There are loads of BDs out there that are simply on bluray to sell a bluray version, and offer no visual upgrade from the dvd version.

 

[Trem]

Not a Panasonic TV you have is it?

 

[Yaka]

tbh buy this

http://www.thelittleblackbox.nl/en/

 

[Raven]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23437476

Might be interesting when it comes out.

 

[Yaka]

its google and google loves ads. tbh not bad at that price, but would be better once it gets hacked and custom software is able to run.

 

[DaGaffer]

When my PS3 was destroyed I replaced it with a cheap Panasonic BluRay player (€80 - barely use it), an RPi with XBMC on board (the reason I rarely use the BD player - I've ripped everything) and Apple TV. In reality probably a bit more expensive overall than a PS3, but if I was doing it now I'd probably get something like an Ouya or use an Android stick so I could have Netflix (which is pretty much all I use the Apple TV for; can't remember the last time I ordered off iTunes). NB. I store all my movies on a Synology NAS, which serves XBMC to the whole house.

 

[smurkin]

component only runs at 720p but for media what are you downloading thats>720p,

*groan* I somehow managed to save that quotation (llike a spaz )


Anyway, what I meant to say is that component carries 1080p (alllthough I'm not entirely sure what and ps3 outputs over component)

 

[ECA]

You're right component can output 1080p, but it WONT.
It's part of the bluray spec, that it will not output over component over 720p. Some antipiracy nonsense.
Which also applies to ps3.

 

[Vae]

Thanks all for the comments. It now looks like 4 of the 6 HDMI ports on my amp are also blown (a Denon 1912). I was only using 2 of them (PS3 and Virgin box) so I can just move them to the still working ones but it's a pain and means I can't add any other HDMI devices.

I had initially ignored the repair aspect as the articles/forums I was reading when searching about this issue were referring to Sony repairs at $150 so it didn't seem like it would be a reasonable option. Have investigated it a bit more now and it could be an option. Only £40 from one company. The amp has a 2 year warranty so I'm exploring getting that repaired under the warranty from the company I bought it from. If that isn't an option I may try putting both through as an insurance claim. The excess is £150 so not worth it for the PS3 alone.

Not a Panasonic TV you have is it?

No a Sony but the amp is in between anyway.

http://www.thelittleblackbox.nl/en/

I have been looking at exactly that box once I moved on from looking at the XIOS DS Media Play. The more I look at XBMC the more it seems to me a much better option than using the PS3 as a media server. Always on, controllable from an app on iphone/ipad, less heat produced in my AV cabinet (well AV fireplace anyway). I may end up getting one anyway eventually.
I'm still up in the air about what to do with the PS3 but at least I have some more advice now Will probably wait on the outcome of the amp issue then decide.

 

[Hawkwind]

1st Step buy one of these -

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Monster-Def...nter/dp/B0046GMSXG/ref=pd_sim_sbs_computers_2

Not only does it give great protection but also comes with an insurance type warranty regarding equipment damaged whilst it was connected to this.

 

[Yaka]

its monster, theyd rather cunt peeps over than pay anything, and the are alternatives that do the same thing and wont rape your wallet.

unless OP loves snake oil but i doubt it