As of now the best deal and most future proof player is ps3, and since I don't care about universal remotes and anything greater than hdmi 1.3a, it's definitely the best choice for me
Once again, I need to put in a plug for the Darklite PS3 IR remote. It works great with my universal remote, and the IR receiver is connected to the PS3 by a USB cable, so you can position the receiver anywhere you like, and keep the PS3 tucked out of sight. I have mine on a 10' cable, in fact. On/off functionality doesn't matter to me, as I leave my PS3 on continuously, running Folding@Home when I'm not watching a movie.
An HTPC blu-ray drive upgrade would be the most cost-effective. Unfortunately, there is no PC hardware capable of outputting 7.1 channel uncompressed audio over HDMI. The best you can do is 5.1 over optical/coax (toslink/SPDIF). There are a few video cards that output audio over HDMI, but is identical to the 5.1 SPDIF output. I'm waiting for PC hardware that can handle all the format has to offer.
“While it's not exactly punching it out with the heavyweights in multi-room audio, the Mint Studio does certainly hold its own with many similarly-priced iPod docks out there.”
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As of now the best deal and most future proof player is ps3, and since I don't care about universal remotes and anything greater than hdmi 1.3a, it's definitely the best choice for me
With Bluray readers dropping below the $200 price point for desktops, the HTPC solution is far more future proof as well as cost-effective.
I assume because the HTPC has in comparison to a standalone infinite RAM/Storage it could do profile 2.0 via an upgrade.
Once again, I need to put in a plug for the Darklite PS3 IR remote. It works great with my universal remote, and the IR receiver is connected to the PS3 by a USB cable, so you can position the receiver anywhere you like, and keep the PS3 tucked out of sight. I have mine on a 10' cable, in fact. On/off functionality doesn't matter to me, as I leave my PS3 on continuously, running Folding@Home when I'm not watching a movie.
An HTPC blu-ray drive upgrade would be the most cost-effective. Unfortunately, there is no PC hardware capable of outputting 7.1 channel uncompressed audio over HDMI. The best you can do is 5.1 over optical/coax (toslink/SPDIF). There are a few video cards that output audio over HDMI, but is identical to the 5.1 SPDIF output. I'm waiting for PC hardware that can handle all the format has to offer.