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Should I replace PS3 & ATV w/ Mini & External Blu Ray Burner?

B

BrittQ

macrumors regular
Original poster
In my living room I currently have an Apple TV and PS3 connected to my Sony Bravia.

I have only used the PS3 for playing Blu-Ray movies.

I am thinking about getting a Mini to replace the ATV as my media hub (if Apple updates the Mini).

And I was thinking about connecting an external Blu-Ray writer/reader to it to Rip/Write/Play Blu-Ray Discs. And getting rid of the PS3.

Would I encounter any problems with this? Such as, not being able to play Blu Ray movies (displayed on my television) with this set up? Any HDCP problems here?

Thank you.
 
The Playstation 3 is one of the cheapest blu-ray players available. It is also upgradeable. Meaning that it was Blu-ray 1.0 when it came out, now it uses the latest Blu-ray firmware available. Very few other players are upgradeable. You may have issues with HDCP with the Mac Mini, I don't know. I would suggest you keep what you have.

I have a Playstation 3, and I only use it for blu-ray movies. I do have a few games for it, but I don't play them.

Unless you feel the need to get something new, stay with what you have. It still works so keep it.
 
gothamm said:
why on earth would you want to do this?
Click to expand...

It's not really a crazy idea...something similar had crossed my mind.

Having said that, I think you'll find it more of a pain than it's worth unless you plan to actually use the mini for much more.

I've been toying with the idea of selling my PS3 and building a super cheap PC media server with something like LG Blu-ray/HD DVD-ROM in it mainly because the HD DVDs are soooo cheap now and I would be able to rip all the BluRays and such to a hard drive so that the discs don't get messed up from use and serve them out across my home network.

I'm sticking with the PS3 for now, though. I stream all my ripped DVDs through it and the family does play some occasional games.
 
gothamm said:
why on earth would you want to do this?
Click to expand...

+1

I dont even know why you have an apple TV in the setup at the momment, (unless you have a LOT of iTms content you cant be without), because the PS3 is a very capable media center system. If you add Medialink from nullriver to your mac you can stream anything in your iTunes library thats not protected (i.e. tv shows and movies) and anything you may download from the interweb, like .divx .avi .mp4 .m4v, .wmv .asf files from any folder on your mac or external HD to the PS3 and watch on telly.

This and connect360 are the reason i dont have an :apple:TV. and i stream from my 1TB WD external HD upstairs, HD & SD all works fine for me
 
ps3 ftw,plus you can pop in a 500gb hdd if you want. or hook up external drives etc. but its ur choice,if you have the money then do wot you want.
 
BrittQ said:
And I was thinking about connecting an external Blu-Ray writer/reader to it to Rip/Write/Play Blu-Ray Discs. And getting rid of the PS3.
Click to expand...

This indicates you will buy AnyDVD HD and use the Mini under Windows, since there are no software packages for OS X that rip or play Blu-ray discs.

Would I encounter any problems with this? Such as, not being able to play Blu Ray movies (displayed on my television) with this set up? Any HDCP problems here?
Click to expand...

No problem at all, if (1) you're using AnyDVD HD (which removes encryption and HDCP compliance), (2) you're ripping to the hard disk, (3) you're using Plex under OS X, and (4) Apple does an update with a better-performing processor. Right now, the 2 gHz Mini with Plex can play more than 90% of Blu-ray title rips at 1080p with DD or DTS audio without issue. To get that last 10% or so will require a bit of a performance boost (or software that can leverage a gpu's H.264 or VC-1 hardware acceleration).
 
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