Yes, now I'm considering one, since I have a Bravia TV, the Bravia Sync feature is really the thing that does it for me. Now the PS3-as-a-Blu-player should be able to be used without touching the game controller or adding an IR add-on. The only thing that's holding me back now is that I already have a Blu-Ray player and even though I have a second TV that currently only has DVD, that's not as much a priority.

I've never paid a single dish or cable bill since I moved to the US 8 years ago. First I exclusively was watching DVDs. I was happy with that, watching movies and TV shows by the season, and getting news and magazines exclusively on the internet. Then I got married and the Beijing Olympics came, and my wife demanded to be able to watch them live. I spent $20 on a pair of amplified rabbit ears, hit SCAN on my HDTV and was amazed at all that I got, including a crisp and clear high definition NBC, which is everything that was needed at the time. Since then, the rabbit ears are still connected, we occasionaly watch the local news (in HD) and for the first time I followed a TV show while it was broadcast (Lost season 5 on ABC).

Obviously there's absolutely nothing in the world that would make me start paying a monthly fee for TV programming.

I think the original poster's point is that it provides an opportunity to set up a system with a fully spec'd receiver, real speaker cable and five speakers for about the same amount that one would pay for a HTIB. The difference is that you can upgrade from there, letting experience drive your priorities between adding a subwoofer, upgrading the front speakers, getting a new receiver compatible with a new digital format or i/o that appears in the future, wiring your walls with speaker cable, etc. I think it's a pretty smart package. It might even end up good enough for a small room.