bodidly:Ok thanks for that, is there a reason why the 55 has been discontinued.
BD is still a relatively new technology that was rushed to market to compete with HDDVD. The specs for HDDVD were pretty much final and although the first players had a few bugs, most were addressed with firmware updates (seems to be the modern way!). Bluray on the other hand was released way behind the final specs. If you look at most of the current players, they're profile 1.1 and some can be updated by firmware (usually ethernet, although some may be upgradable by disc, I'm not sure) to profile 2.0. Some still don't decode all audio formats with promises of upgraded firmware in a few months. It's a bit of a mess really, which makes me glad I got in on the ground with the PS3 which has been upgradable from the start both in terms of audio decoding, added functionality and profile upgrades. The BD55 has simply been superceded by a newer model. Hopefully the technology will settle down (and prices of discs will drop. Hint, hint) and we will have a good selection of players that all do what they're supposed to do.
Keep an eye on CES to see what future players bring.