I too, am on the verge of changing over to blu ray.
I have looked at different brands and Sony does seem to be the most expensive.
I have seen some good looking Toshiba tv's that are 200htz picture refresh rate, and also a Toshiba multi region blu-ray[A,B,C] and dvd player[1,2,3,4,5,6]. I am looking at a 40+ size tv screen.
I think my main worry as well, is what my dvds are going to look like upscaled on a 40+ tv. What is the GOUT going to look like ??
I have the money to buy now, I just want to get what's right and not jump in too quick.