To all that made recommendations, thank you very much.
I went for the Panasonic DVD-S52 in the end.
Arrived this morning and with a read through the DVD hack forum on this board (and some support from fellow forum member tricky1974) I was able to quickly make it multi-region ..... which was nice.
One thing I should mention, for others considering this player, is the width of the unit. It seems very wide and if, like me, you are purchasing it in advance of your new LCD and stand, then you might struggle to fit it in your current CRT cabinet.
It only just fits in mine with millimetres to spare either side and mine's a Panasonic cabinet.
Still ...... won't be a problem on the LCD stand.
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@ManGina - Unfortunately I'm waiting for my new 40" 1080p LCD to come back into stock at my local retailer. Looking like some time after 15th May.
This means I've not yet been able to test the upscaling capabilities through HDMI, but I did research this somewhat before I bought and I'm assured it's a good player.
For example, see this group test:
http://www.avreview.co.uk/news/article/mps/UAN/836/v/3/sp/
Connected to my current 100Hz CRT it seems every bit as good as my previous Sony player.
I'm sure it will be a more than adequate solution until such time that the PS3 firmware upgrade for upscaling is released and a multi-region hack discovered, which I'm sure will happen at some point.
EDIT:
@Tricky - just noticed you were on this thread as well as helping me with the multi-region hack ...... thanks again, much obliged.