Seeking Blu-Ray player advice

Looking for opinions here on a Blu-ray player to buy in the near term (within six months give or take) that upconverts regular DVD's beautifully (as well as my old Toshiba XA2), and is (of course) a great Blu-Ray player that loads Blu-Ray and regular DVD discs fairly fast. HDMI connection is a must. My monitor is a 42-inch Sharp HD LCD. I like being able to use my current universal remote (so the proprietary remote included with any Blu-Ray player is mostly unimportant to me), and therefore was a bit irked to read I can't control a PS3 console with my universal remote because there is no IR sensor (oh well, can't have it all), but I'm not ruling out a PS3. I'm not concerned with the latest multi-channel audio bells and whistles because I output audio from my older PSB/NAD speakers/receiver (yes, I'm still using 2-channel stereo sound!). So, is a PS3 a good choice for me, or a stand alone Blu-Ray player? I'm not a gamer, but not adverse to not utilizing the PS3 gaming functions. If a stand alone player, which model(s)? Thanks in advance for any helpful replies.