I will shortly be investing in a 37" TV and All-in-one-Blu-ray Home Cinema
system, I have a budget of about £900.
I'm looking at the Panasonic SC-BT200 as I'm keen on the reported USB and
SD card inputs but am concerned about lack of HDMI inputs on this system.

I want to connect V+(HD) Box and later a PS3 to the same system which
appears to have just 2 optical and no HDMI inputs!

How would I connect everything (is this expecting too much from an
all-in-one?) or do I need to rethink up to a separate BR Player and AV
receiver?
Could I feed a multi-HDMI box with the outputs of the SC-BT200, the cable
box and PS3, straight into the single HDMI input on the TV?

Thanks for any advice.

In uk.media.home-cinema, "SubZer0" wrote:

I will shortly be investing in a 37" TV and All-in-one-Blu-ray Home Cinema
system, I have a budget of about £900.
I'm looking at the Panasonic SC-BT200 as I'm keen on the reported USB and
SD card inputs but am concerned about lack of HDMI inputs on this system.

I want to connect V+(HD) Box and later a PS3 to the same system which
appears to have just 2 optical and no HDMI inputs!

How would I connect everything (is this expecting too much from an
all-in-one?) or do I need to rethink up to a separate BR Player and AV
receiver?
Could I feed a multi-HDMI box with the outputs of the SC-BT200, the cable
box and PS3, straight into the single HDMI input on the TV?

I don't have any experience of that particular all-in-one, but I've had an
all-in-one for a couple of years (and a few days ago, upgraded to separate
AV / Speakers).

All-in-one's always have limited input options, and to be fair, I'm not
sure how you'd best go about connecting those three things together.
However, many TV's have multiple HDMI inputs (my LG has 3). So if you're
keen on the all-in-one, I'd suggest making sure the TV has at least 3 HDMI
inputs and then connecting each device's HDMI directly into the TV, and
optical out from the PS3 and V+ box into the Panasonic (assuming the V+ has
optical out, I know the PS3 does).

You can get budget AV/Speaker setups for around £400 in total, but you'd
then need to buy a Blu-ray player (or use the PS3, like I do) and a TV on
top of that. I just bought a Yamaha AV and Tannoy speaker set for £450
which is easily noticeably better sound than my previous all-in-one.
--
Tony Evans
Saving trees and wasting electrons since 1993
blog - http://perceptionistruth.com/
books - http://www.bookthing.co.uk/
[ anything below this line wasn't written by me ]

"Tony" wrote in message
...

All-in-one's always have limited input options, and to be fair, I'm not
sure how you'd best go about connecting those three things together.
However, many TV's have multiple HDMI inputs (my LG has 3). So if you're
keen on the all-in-one, I'd suggest making sure the TV has at least 3 HDMI
inputs and then connecting each device's HDMI directly into the TV, and
optical out from the PS3 and V+ box into the Panasonic (assuming the V+
has
optical out, I know the PS3 does).

You can get budget AV/Speaker setups for around £400 in total, but you'd
then need to buy a Blu-ray player (or use the PS3, like I do) and a TV on
top of that. I just bought a Yamaha AV and Tannoy speaker set for £450
which is easily noticeably better sound than my previous all-in-one.

Thanks for the response.

It's not set in stone that I MUST have an all-in-one, it's just that with
limited budget I had assumed this would be better value for money and easier
to set up.
Also, I'd been concentrating so hard on finding TV/BluRay/5.1spks
compatibility that I'd pretty much got tunnel vision about the alternatives.

I don't really want to compromise on a 'budget' system but given that I have
a budget, I may have to!
Thanks for the suggestions, I'll certainly broaden my search criteria and
look at 'separates' also from now on.

Incidentally, I had heard that the BluRay drive in the PS3 is fairly low
end...and not up to the quality of a dedicated box.
I have no experience of differing qualities (if there is such a thing) -
would I notice anything?

Cheers

In uk.media.home-cinema, "SubZer0" wrote:

"Tony" wrote in message
...

All-in-one's always have limited input options, and to be fair, I'm not
sure how you'd best go about connecting those three things together.
However, many TV's have multiple HDMI inputs (my LG has 3). So if you're
keen on the all-in-one, I'd suggest making sure the TV has at least 3 HDMI
inputs and then connecting each device's HDMI directly into the TV, and
optical out from the PS3 and V+ box into the Panasonic (assuming the V+
has
optical out, I know the PS3 does).

You can get budget AV/Speaker setups for around £400 in total, but you'd
then need to buy a Blu-ray player (or use the PS3, like I do) and a TV on
top of that. I just bought a Yamaha AV and Tannoy speaker set for £450
which is easily noticeably better sound than my previous all-in-one.

Thanks for the response.

It's not set in stone that I MUST have an all-in-one, it's just that with
limited budget I had assumed this would be better value for money and easier
to set up.

The only reason I bought an all-in-one originally was to find out if I even
liked surround sound in our small lounge. I'd read so much about needing
the right shape room, needing the speakers to be set the right distance
apart, etc., etc. that I wasn't sure we'd benefit.

The all-in-one proved that just about any surround sound system in any
shaped room is an improvement over TV speakers.

The all-in-ones are great as a taster, and if your budget is limited to
£200, but if you can stretch to £300 or £400, then separates are
definitely the way to go for number of inputs alone.

Incidentally, I had heard that the BluRay drive in the PS3 is fairly low
end...and not up to the quality of a dedicated box.
I have no experience of differing qualities (if there is such a thing) -
would I notice anything?

Hmm, I'm no expert, just a lover of movies, but my understanding is that
the PS3 blu-ray player is perfectly fine, if not as good as any £2-£300
player. The major advantage with the PS3 player is that firmware updates
are always available as well, if the Blu-ray features change (which they
do).
--
Tony Evans
Saving trees and wasting electrons since 1993
blog - http://perceptionistruth.com/
books - http://www.bookthing.co.uk/
[ anything below this line wasn't written by me ]

Tony wrote:
In uk.media.home-cinema, "SubZer0" wrote:

"Tony" wrote in message
...
All-in-one's always have limited input options, and to be fair, I'm not
sure how you'd best go about connecting those three things together.
However, many TV's have multiple HDMI inputs (my LG has 3). So if you're
keen on the all-in-one, I'd suggest making sure the TV has at least 3 HDMI
inputs and then connecting each device's HDMI directly into the TV, and
optical out from the PS3 and V+ box into the Panasonic (assuming the V+
has
optical out, I know the PS3 does).

You can get budget AV/Speaker setups for around £400 in total, but you'd
then need to buy a Blu-ray player (or use the PS3, like I do) and a TV on
top of that. I just bought a Yamaha AV and Tannoy speaker set for £450
which is easily noticeably better sound than my previous all-in-one.
Thanks for the response.

It's not set in stone that I MUST have an all-in-one, it's just that with
limited budget I had assumed this would be better value for money and easier
to set up.

The only reason I bought an all-in-one originally was to find out if I even
liked surround sound in our small lounge. I'd read so much about needing
the right shape room, needing the speakers to be set the right distance
apart, etc., etc. that I wasn't sure we'd benefit.

The all-in-one proved that just about any surround sound system in any
shaped room is an improvement over TV speakers.


Yup. If you connect for just sound alone an all-in-one unit will improve
the sound... as long as you don't get one with an eternal buzz/hum like
I've heard on all-in-one computer type sound systems.
You want to have a few digital sound inputs at a minimum if you're gonna
use it with Blu-Ray/ DVD. ...One drawback is it's often not wife/kid
friendly if they need to remember to switch on the stereo and set it to
the right channel/band, etc.

A system that takes video input and outputs it can be better for that
reason, but I'm not sure you'll get an all-in-one with 4 x hdmi ports.


The all-in-ones are great as a taster, and if your budget is limited to
£200, but if you can stretch to £300 or £400, then separates are
definitely the way to go for number of inputs alone.

Incidentally, I had heard that the BluRay drive in the PS3 is fairly low
end...and not up to the quality of a dedicated box.
I have no experience of differing qualities (if there is such a thing) -
would I notice anything?

Hmm, I'm no expert, just a lover of movies, but my understanding is that
the PS3 blu-ray player is perfectly fine, if not as good as any £2-£300
player. The major advantage with the PS3 player is that firmware updates
are always available as well, if the Blu-ray features change (which they
do).

I've never heard of anyone dissing the PS3 as a Blu-Ray player. In fact
I've only heard it spoken of in terms of "the best".

Have you ever switched on a blu-ray player and waited for the disc to
load up? It's been a while since I have, but early models at least used
to take at least 3 minutes before it would begin to play _anything_...
then the copyright notices, etc. would begin.
I don't know if it takes that long on newer models, but I imagine they'd
need ram to do it more quickly, which might rule out the lower priced ones.

With hdmi connection on a screen capable of showing 1080p, properly set
up, using the PS3 Bluetooth remote there is absolutely no difference
between a PS3 and any "best" standalone player.

Even solely as a Blu-Ray player I reckon the PS3 is head and shoulders
above all the rest. As Tony said, firmware updates are virtually
guaranteed where and when necessary. ...And you also have the option of
using it as a video and music media centre if/when the fancy takes you.

The _only_ reason I'd consider buying anything other than a PS3 is if
there was a well-priced blu-ray player that was multiregion. It's
against the blu-ray specs I know, but it was also against the DVD specs.
...(?)

I use the PS3 for blu-ray (you might have guessed), but because the
format is more restricted and expensive I still get stuff on DVD at
times. I don't think it's a DVD replacement... not until the players are
cheap enough to justify having one in a number of rooms in the house
-and multiregion.

-Kevin.

--
Underwear -The Whole Shocking Truth!
http://www.stanleyrumm.com

In uk.media.home-cinema, "SubZer0" wrote:

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll certainly broaden my search criteria and
look at 'separates' also from now on.

Did you choose anything in the end?
--
Tony Evans
Saving trees and wasting electrons since 1993
blog - http://perceptionistruth.com/
books - http://www.bookthing.co.uk/
[ anything below this line wasn't written by me ]

"Tony" wrote in message
...
In uk.media.home-cinema, "SubZer0" wrote:

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll certainly broaden my search criteria and
look at 'separates' also from now on.

Did you choose anything in the end?

No mate...still looking.

Room is being rewired, redecorated and refurnished in approx 3 weeks.
I have about that long to decide what to get.