When it comes to video players, equal support of codecs does mean an equal product, by and large. All the rest is just bells and whistles on top of this core functionality. Think about how you use a video player.
1. Open video file.
2. Press play.
That's it. As long as the video player plays the file without incident, you don't really interact with it much. This is different from, let's say, spreadsheet software, where you're frequently interacting with the UI.
Most people use VLC as standalone video player.
@Terminills: I hate to say this but HenryCase has a good point, most people do use VLC as a standalone player. I know loads of people who use VLC daily (or close to daily). They use it because it plays damn near every bit of video thrown at it and the only button that matters is the play button. They also don't post on VLC forums and only visited the website once. That was when they downloaded VLC in the first place. These people are typical users, not people like you, HenryCase, or most other users of this forum. They are the same people who keep asking you to fix their damn PC when it goes wrong.
As for media players, I find my original XBox with XBMC far more reliable for streaming than the PS3 and for the price you can get them for (£10 on ebay.co.uk being commonplace) you might as well stick one in every damn room. Add some NAS solution for storage of those ripped BD's and it's job done without your PC wasting electricity.
