I mean........if you want cheap, I'd just grab a PS3. Plus, if you make sure you buy the right model, you can easily mod it, and use it as a decent retro gaming machine. Dvd, bluray, cd, plus ps3 library, and if modded a shitton more.
I'm seeing them on ebay for $70ish. But to be fair, it's a quick search, and I'm not paying attention to the model number. You'll have to do your homework.
Pretty sure the moddable ones aren't that cheap. Same with the ones that have PS2 support.
they’re all moddable, just some can do full custom firmware, others can only do HEN (like a tethered jailbreak). Sellers usually don’t distinguish tho from my experience.
It was a budget BluRay player when it came out and it's still a good budget choice today haha. The PS4 and Xbox One would also work. I see a bunch of them used locally for $100-$150 CAD. Gives a bit more modern experience and game library.
Just a couple of notes: XB1 can also read CDs while PS4 not, but PS4 has a less bloated UI; both can't do upscaling.
I still use my PS3 for this. And that thing is built like a tank. It once had a heavy CRT TV fall on it during an earthquake. It got a small scratch.
To be honest, I'd get a Blu-ray drive for a computer, rip the discs, and use Jellyfin (or Plex, Emby, etc) to host them. Way more flexible since you can watch them from any device in your house, or on a phone/tablet/Chromecast when you're not at home (assuming you have a good enough upload speed).
You don't need a dedicated home server; you can just run Jellyfin or Plex on any Windows, Linux, MacOS or FreeBSD PC, as long as it's turned on when you want to watch something.
PS3 is still great as a basic multimedia player (CD/DVD/BD), if you need 4k or upscaling look for something else; I find upscaling particularly essential when you have a lot of DVDs.
Modern TVs can handle upscaling as well, as an option to look into.
