The new Panasonic player decodes DTS HD (not MA) and it has 7.1 analog out for analog hook-up to some of the older receivers. However, the PS3 has ethernet, a hard drive that you can change out for one as big as you want, multiple card readers (this is a blast when you want to look at pictures) HDMI 1.3 (I haven't found if the Panny has 1.3 or not) and of course the PS3 plays games.
CC congradulations and welcome to the blue side!You are going to enjoy that PS3. My recomendation is to purchase the Bluetooth remote for it ($24). It is well worth it. Get yourself a few Disney movies -- they are doing a great job with BD and have put out some decent flicks. Enjoy!!
Yep, UPS dropped off my PS3 yesterday. Pretty sleek looking heavy for its compact size. Easy setup - ethernet cable included (20GB model, no wireless), I already had an HDMI cable for video and digital optical for audio, as they're not included. It auto-detected the HDMI for video, but insisted my 1080i display was only capable of 720p. But that was with the original firmware. One of the first things I did was update to the current 1.7 FW, which was fast & easy via the ethernet. Noticeable improvement with 1.7 - it correctly identified all resolutions my display is capable of - 480i/p, 720p & 1080i. Yep I'd remembered Joe's recommendation of the BD/DVD remote control & picked one up last weekend. A little different setting it up - I'm one of the guys who follows the rule "If all else fails, read the instructions".
I'm madly pushing buttons on the remote with no response until I read the directions on how to go into the PS3 system menu and enable a Bluetooth device. The other funny thing was when I was ready to watch a movie I kept pushing the eject button to open the tray and it only beeped at me. Worried I have a defective unit I dig through the manual looking for instructions on how to open the disk tray. I couldn't find any instructions but finally decided to take a chance and just stick a disk in the slot. Yep!, it works like a CD changer in a car - you just slide a disk in the slot and use the eject button only to eject the disk. 
I had 3 BD disks to play with - X-Men 3 from Netflix, a used copy of Crank from eBay, and Talladega Nights that came with the PS3. I tried a few chapters of Crank which I had previously rented as a DVD. Excellent picture quality. It has a PCM audio track which I can only get as 2 channel through digital optical and also a Dolby Digital surround track which I can get as multi-channel through optical. While it's nice to hear all the speakers on Dolby, even with only 2 channel the PCM track blows it away. I decided to watch X-Men as it is a Fox release with DTS HD-MA audio which the PS3 can extract the "core" at 1.5mbps. The PS3 can either fully decode the DTS and send it to the receiver as PCM for amplification only, or just extract it and send to the receiver as bitstream for the receiver to decode. I tried both, and for my setup I preferred to let my receiver decode - but only a marginal difference, and probably due to all the tweaking I've done in the receiver's speaker settings. I'd previously rented the X-men 3 DVD, but couldn't watch it as the audio & video quality was awful on my 57" display. Even though it's currently possible to only extract the DTS core on BD, it sounded terrific. The video is mpeg4/AVC and my first impression was of course a vast improvement over the DVD, it looked soft compared to my experience with HD DVD. Sharpness did seem to improve as the movie progressed - or my critique was softened with a glass or two of wine.
I'd rate it mid-level with my HD DVD's.So, long story short - I'm impressed with the PS3. Nice, sturdy little unit with a lot of capabilities easy to figure out & use. As my XA1 HD DVD is first generation (Feb. 2006 build date), the PS3 is much faster to load and respond to commands from the remote. And one big improvement: You can pause the movie, go into the system menu and change audio & video settings, exit, and go right back to where you paused the movie. On my XA1, it has to start the movie all over from the very beginning. But in fairness, Sony did have an additional 7-8 months to tweak the PS3 after my XA1 was released.
And, my lack of an HDMI receiver and the PS3's lack of analog audio outputs leaves me hungering for more in the audio department. I'll be watching the "street price" of the Panasonic BD-10a. But thanks, Sony, for subsidizing the PS3 and my HD addiction. I'm glad I can enjoy both HD formats now.
