I appreciate the comparisons of start-up times and image quality. In agreement with the article, my PS3 is a little louder than I'd desire for home theater equipment, although as long as you're sitting a healthy distance away, its acceptable.
However, I do agree with posters above that the PS3 shouldn't be marked down too heavily for lack of a Blu-Ray remote or component video. Currently, for example, at the BestBuy website, a PS3 console, the remote, and the component cable can be purchased for $450, which is well under the article's $600 price limit. My understanding is that without a HDCP compliant connection, all you get is a downsampled movie, so S-video and composite are non-factors. Now that I think of it, my PS3 didn't include an HDMI cable ... should the HDMI functionality be discounted?
Also, do the other dedicated Blu-ray players have the periodic updates that the PS3 has? Perhaps I missed it, but I don't remember the article covering this topic. Sony recently added support for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio to the PS3. Perhaps corrections for the rendering issues can be solved through updated firmware.