Some general Blue Ray questions

I really have not looked much at the blue ray side of things, I kicked things off with hd-dvd and originally had a bad A1 and just recently purchased an Xa2 which I love and is the best upconversion I have seen.


Now I am looking at the blueray side I hope to purchase one before the end of the year. My concerns are audio and price.


I really do like the ps3 but I only have analog and optical connections on my receiver, does the ps3 currently have any hdmi formats I would be missing because I would have to use optical? What I do like is I also get a video game system. And also if hdmi does have other audio features how big of difference is this. I really would rather just get the ps3 because of its features, updates, stability ect..


I noticed the Samsung 1000 is selling cheap and has analog out, does it support any advanced audio features? If I went with the samsung I would probably end up purchasing a wii then on the side.


Im sorry I did a bit of a search but it was tough collecting all the data, I have spent my time on HD dvd and am finally happy, with upscaling, and HD that I want to look at blue ray now.