I need a second opinion on the best route for me to enjoy HD in my lounge. I already have a SkyHD box connected to my 1080i Samsung Tv. I have a Freecom media box connected to the Tv and set to output 1080i. This media box is connected to my PC in my study via Cat5 cable. My Pc can easily cope with streaming HD as it has a 8800GT card and 3.1ghz Quad core.

My choice is to either get a Blu-ray standalone player or to get a Blu-ray drive for my PC. If I go for the latter, I can't directly play Blu-ray through my media player as it doesn't support mkv files. I can rip and convert, but I will loose the sound and picture quality. I like the idea of a standalone player but they are obviously more expensive and I'm worried about future compatability (profile 1.0, 1.1......2.0)

Any advice??

Is the PS3 still the cheapest the way to get a standalone blu-ray player? If so, get one of them, can connect to your home network, browse net, stream files from your PC (I think). Plus, its plays games

Whats your Freecom media box?

PS3 gets a thumbs up from me, iirc its actually quite a good bluray player and better than some of the stand alone models.

I have had mine about a week and i cannot fault it!

If it helps, I think I've read somewhere that PS3 is capable/upgradable to

'profile' 2. Someone was discussing it on here a while ago.

If it helps, I think I've read somewhere that PS3 is capable/upgradable to

'profile' 2. Someone was discussing it on here a while ago.

It is indeed but whether or not thats really an advantage is another matter!

Worth noting that no other stand alone player can have its firmware upgraded to support profile 2 of course.

Ive been using my PS3 for bluray duties over the last six months or so and it does the job very well indeed.

Having said that - I now have a dedicated player (a Panasonic BD30) and it does offer better visuals imo.

The PS3 is a bargain pice of kit imo, the main reason I moved to the Panasonic was purely due to the fan noise of the PS3 - a real tension killer in the quieter parts of movies.

Lee

If it were me I too would go for a standalone player.

Wasn't aware of the fan noise issue with PS3, worth noting as my Pioneer dvd recorder

has a bit of a noisy fan, very annoying in a small room.

Have heard that Panny blue ray player is good ( and now fairly cheap)

My biggest issue is total lack of local places here to rent Blu-ray discs, don't want to

buy films, just watch them. When they do appear to rent, I'll get one.

Found a few places selling Blu-ray players for £200 now. Quite a bit cheaper than a PS3. My Media Player is a Freecom 350 but I'm running Mediagate 350HD frimware.

If it were me I too would go for a standalone player.

Wasn't aware of the fan noise issue with PS3, worth noting as my Pioneer dvd recorder

has a bit of a noisy fan, very annoying in a small room.

Have heard that Panny blue ray player is good ( and now fairly cheap)

My biggest issue is total lack of local places here to rent Blu-ray discs, don't want to

buy films, just watch them. When they do appear to rent, I'll get one.

Love film does blu ray rental

Blu-ray Discs from LOVEFiLM.com

457 blu ray titles and counting..

Also it would seem people have mixed views on the PS3 for BR playback.. Picture Quality: PS3 -vs- Standalone's - Blu-ray Forum

Think I'll go for the standaone as it's cheaper. Thinking of a Samsung BD-P1400 from Play.com (UK): DVDs, Music CDs, MP3s, Video Games, Books, Electronics & Gadgets - Free Delivery for 200 quid or a Samsung BD-P1500 for 225 quid from Computer Supplies and PC Components from Novatech