I'd have to agree that buying a stand alone player isn't generally the best option, considering that the PS3 is still largely considered one of the best blu-ray players available; however, if you're looking for a strictly economical option, than stand alone's are a good choice. As people have said, they're much cheaper than PS3s. Either way, I've been working with Warner Home Video on some blu-ray projects and I've got to say that regardless of player, the format is definitely worth it.

I find it kind of funny how people are still debating whether or not blu-ray will stick around. Let's just be clear, it isn't going anywhere. The two biggest competitors to the format are highdef downloads and solid state formats like flash drives. The thing is, broadband speeds aren't nearly fast enough yet for realistically downloading high def content, not to mention it takes up huge amounts of disc space. Most people just can't cope with that. Solid state drives are making advances, but they are still waaaay too expensive to be comparable with BR, not to mention- BR size capabilities are increasing exponencially faster than flash drives. A 50gb flash drive is no where near the same price as a 50gb BR disc.

The only argument most people have for it is that DVD is "good enough" and that's fine. For most consumers, DVD is fine because they don't have an HDTV (only ~14% of US households do). However, once people begin to upgrade their TV's to high def sets (and I think everyone can agree that HDTV's are not going to become obsolete any time soon), then they're going to want a format that really takes advantage of the new tech... "Does anyone watch movies on VHS? Why not? They're certainly cheaper than DVD's..... " -Because it's obsolete. Give it time, BR isn't going anywhere but up.

I've actually been working with Warner Home Video on some BR projects and they're fully backing the format for years to come.