this year i plan to go out on black friday to get a blu ray player where rumor has it that walmart will have them on sale at aroung $130. i know k mart will have them on sale for $160. so i did some research and they said that i need to be careful about which blu ray player to get because they are constantly updated to keep up with the new discs such as firmware ( which i know nothing about). there are some that you can't get the updates with. all of them agree that the best blu ray out there and compatible with everything is the ps3 ( which coincidentally my son likes though they don't have many kid's games). so my question for blu ray owners is what do i exactly look for to get a good deal? can i get by with a standard blu ray player or should i buck up $400 for a ps3? i don't want it to be obsolete like my hd-dvd player my ex girlfriend got me last christmas. should i go out 6 in the morning that friday at walmart (which will be the craziest place on the planet by the way) and get this if it is a deal? what is firmware and blu live? i would appreciate ANY type of help. Thanx.

If you get a regular blu-ray player, you will ALWAYS be able to view the blu-ray movie and use it's menu. You will NOT be able to use newer features that aren't already supported by the blu-ray player you will/plan on purchasing.

The advantage of the ps3 blu-ray is newer features can be added via firmware & software update. I think older models of the blu-ray can't do picture-in-picture while playing the blu-ray or something like that.

That said, I own a 360 and a ps3 and the ps3 is a very well built piece of equipment. They are both worth their money (360 a lot cheaper) but if your main goal is watching HD movies and you do not care about games or features that aren't necessary for watching the movie, go for the stand-alone.

Oh and btw, there are a lot of games available strictly for kids. I don't know what age group your kid is but the games library has grown substantially.

Posted by TMS:

get the PS3 & tell ur boy it's his early Christmas gift... he'll love u for it.

thanks guys. i think i am leaning towards a ps3 since my son wants it and i have to get a big gift for him and that will be it. i have to compete with the ex-wife who got him a wii anyway so i don't want to be the "not cool" household.

well, tms and knickbaby, tomorrow is the day that i will hopefully get the ps3. the best deal is at best buy selling the 80 g hardware with the ratchet and clank game ( which knickbaby recomended)and casino royale blu ray included for the price of just the system itself ( $399). i think i will go there in the afternoon when the crowds die down and hope everyone is after the flat screen tv's that are supposedly ridiculously low price instead of the ps3. wish me luck.

You should check amazon.com, they have a lot of ps3 and blu-ray specials.

Oh and Ratchet&Clank almost looks like a pixar movie so you see why kids would like it.