Sony PlayStation 3

Though it has been matched and even passed by some stand-alone Blu-ray players, critics say the Sony PlayStation 3 is still 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 onboard decoders for the latest HD audio formats, but you'll need a home theater receiver that can process audio via HDMI, as the PS3 can't stream HD audio and lacks multichannel analog audio outputs. The most popular current 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 LG BD390 (*Est. $320) is feature-rich, offers both bitstreaming and multichannel 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, it is every bit as fast as the PS3 and can connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi. It also has the ability to stream videos from Netflix, CinemaNow and YouTube from the Internet directly to your TV, and many different file types from your PC. The PS3 is also available with a 160 GB hard drive (*Est. $450), 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, though some of those reviews have grown a bit old. One of the most recent reports can be found at PCWorld. Older but still helpful information can also be seen at CNET, PCMag.com, BigPictureBigSound.com and Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity. Amazon.com has a good selection of user reviews.