Last week I talked about my start for a home audio system. I've received some great comments from readers with suggestions, all of which I am currently investigating. I did not realize that this was going to be as complicated as it has turned out to be, and that there was so much more to learn about audio systems that I did not already know! It's a great project for me and one that I will go into further detail on as I get closer to a decision on what I plan to get.

But the other thing that this research got me thinking about was BluRay players. Currently I use my PS3 to watch BluRay movies, but this has created a few problems for me. First, about a year ago I was at a conference away from home for a week. My wife accidentally turned on the PS3 without realizing it and for I don't know how many days, the system was running in a rather enclosed space. Normally when I use the PS3 (or Xbox for that matter) I make sure that the cabinet doors are open, and make sure that I turn it off when I am done. By the time I got home, the PS3's fan had been running for days and the system had some severe heat issues. It still works, but the image is snowy for some reason and I am not sure how I can rectify that problem.

The second issue is the amount of power the PS3 uses while running. I try to be as energy efficient as I can be without going overboard. I turn off the lights when I leave a room, I power down my computer at night, I have a programmable thermostat to make sure that I am not heating/cooling unnecessarily. According to an article at HardCoreWare, the PS3 consumes about 182.75W of power when watching a BluRay movie. To me this just seems excessive when BluRay players in the market are closer to 45W (depending on brand and model).

So I've decided, in addition to getting an audio system, I am also going to be getting a BluRay player. Ah, the grad gift keeps giving ý

Have many of you switched over the BluRay players yet? Movie prices have started coming down a bit compared to when disks were first introduced. And players themselves have started dropping in price, to the point where you can even get a BluRay player for $100. The other nice thing I've found with a lot of movies lately is the digital edition which makes it even more tempting for me to get the BluRay version instead of the DVD because I don't have to worry about a "back up" copy.