Thinking on the same lines as you for a media player. Do keep me posted on what your decision tree looks like.
There is an Iomega 1TB player going cheap (7K) with a HDD at Croma. Tho, it has some really bad reviews.
Also, wanted to check people already using such devices. Can these devices play files from a network share (assuming a wired sub-network on a router acting as a repeater bridge and download station)