What is the best Blu Ray player to buy?

Critics say the Sony PlayStation 3 is one of the better options for viewing Blu-ray Discs. Though it's not the least expensive Blu-ray player available, it's compatible with the latest Blu-ray Profiles, including BD-Live, which allows users to access additional online content. The PS3 has on-board decoders for the latest high-definition audio formats, but you'll need a home theater receiver that can process audio via HDMI, as the PS3 can't stream high-definition audio and lacks multi-channel analog audio outputs. The latest version has 80 GB of storage for downloading additional features, as well as movies, clips and games. If you don't care about gaming, the Samsung BD-P2500 (*est. $310) is feature-rich, offers both bitstreaming and multi-channel analog audio outputs, has great picture quality with both Blu-ray Discs and standard DVDs, can use a universal remote and is less expensive. While you can't use it to play video games and it is notably slower, it does have one notable plus -- the ability to stream Netflix videos directly to your TV. The PS3 is also available with a 160 GB hard drive (*est. $500), but that extra hard-drive capacity is not terribly important if you'll mainly be using it to view Blu-ray Discs.

Almost everyone who reviews home theater gear has weighed in on the Sony PlayStation 3 as a Blu-ray player. Some better reports can be found at CNET, http://www.BigPictureBigSound.com, Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity and PC World. http://www.Amazon.com has a good selection of user reviews. Many reviews predate the latest PS3 upgrade, which boosted memory to 80 GB (a 160 GB version is also available), but that change has little impact for those using the PS3 primarily as a Blu-ray player.

pros

    * Great Blu-ray playback
    * Fast disc loading and response times
    * Ethernet and Wi-Fi connectivity
    * High-definition audio decoders

cons

    * Non-standard design
    * A/V remote costs extra
    * Can't use a universal remote
    * High-definition audio only via HDMI

Your other two highest rated Blu Ray players are The Samsung BD-P2500 and Sony BDP-S550.