Yeah, sounds like a 60g would be better...

And concerning the noise, i watched a film with my girl tonight, and the noise didnt distract us at all after i hid the 360 behind my tv, so its not that bad really...seems the 360 is quite a good machine really

I don't believe I said that. I merely said that for those people who are environmentally aware they should know that a PS3 is a wasteful way to play a movie. I am well aware that for the great majority that would not be a consideration. Thats why things are the way they are. If you find it's the best solution for you, be my guest. I think it's a fine gaming console, if somewhat over designed.

I do object to the way that Sony is always trying to cram standards down our throats. This time they won, fortunately they don't always. It went the other way with Betamax, which was, unlike blu-ray (IMHO) a technically far superior product, but the public balked and went for the economy of the longer playing VHS. That time I was on their side since VHS was almost impossible to edit.

And by the way, with standalone DVD players starting at $29.99, I wouldn't think of using a $250 gaming console to play DVDs for cripes sake.

 Well at least I've gone from clueless to merely odd. Sorry I just don't worry about what a computer has that I don't care about or need as long as it does have the things I do. My Bad! Guess what, it turns out it also has a modem I didn't pay any attention to since I haven't used dial up for years.

To me blu-ray is just another media and a not very important one because far too few people have it to use it to distribute data. I use my blu-ray burners just to offline archive old data to clear space on my servers.  Frankly, I would have preferred that Sony had lost the war because it's not the cheapest or best format for data.

If you want a blu-ray player and a video game, is it a bargain? Maybe, although according to Scientific American http://www.sciam.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=black-friday-warning-video-games-wa-2008-11-28

it is a very inefficient one since at a power hungry 150 watts, it uses 5X MORE ENERGY TO PLAY A MOVIE THAN A STAND ALONE BLU- RAY PLAYER. Given where energy prices are going, or to anyone with an environmental concern, it will be a less and less attractive platform for movie watching. It also uses 5x more energy than a Wii  to play a game, just in case energy conservation is something you think about.

For people without HD TVs, who already have or don't want a blu-ray player, and especially for the many gamers who are not allowed to monopolize the main family TV and have to play on a non-HD TV. It's just the boat anchor that made the console so overpriced.

colonelstubbs,

You can get a 20GB hard drive (refurbished) + Xbox 360 wireless controller (refurbished) for $36 here:

http://www.slickdeals.net/permadeal/16018/Xbox-360-20GB-hard-drive-refurbished---Xbox-360-wireless-controller-refurbished-36

That might meet your needs.

edit - whoops, you are in the UK.