The PS3 is one of the best and most complete Blu-ray players around for $300. That being said it has one downfall. The fan noise! I have an 80 gig model. My living room is on the first floor and I moved it to the basement just last year, because I couldn't take the noise anymore when playing anything (DVD, Blu-ray a game, etc.) Good thing for the blue-tooth remotes and controllers. After that I couldn't take going up and down the stairs every time that I wanted to change the disc. I can't imagine the PS3 slim being quieter since it is in a smaller case. I suggest that you find a friend that has a PS3 and go over to their house and watch a couple of movies to see if you can live with the fan or not.
I wound up buying an Oppo player just this past summer (partly because of the fan issue) and I am much happier with the silence that I hear from this player. So, a stand-alone player is going to be better in this respect.
