I know that many people use PS3s for a home media station but are they nearly as good as quiet computers?

Are they quiet by your standards? It seems it would be handy/cheaper to use of of those instead of building a new computer.

I'm not looking for the quietest computer ever (some people cant hear theirs at like 4:00 in the morning in the suburbs with their face beside it) but I dont want to hear it while I watch movies on a reasonably low volume within 10 ft of it.

OK so I was expecting some one to have a response but I found an article that has almost no data backing it up.

I was able to find an article of a finnish gaming magazing which claims that:
Wii:
32,3dB — Playing games
22,9dB — Doing nothing

PlayStation 3:
28,7dB — Blu-Ray-movie
35,8dB — DVD-movie
35,8dB — Playing games
23,5dB — Doing nothing

Xbox 360:
38,1dB — HD-DVD -movie
35,7dB — DVD-movie
44dB — Playing games
36,0dB — Doing nothing

therefore the PS3 isnt that quiet, even if you consider 22.9dB as being the ambient (lowest score seen) that means the PS3 is 6 dB is above the ambient. easily beaten by a quiet computer.

yeah, they're pretty loud- i would say about the same as an average 120mm fan spinning at 1000rpm.

power consumption for the ps3 slim is about 70-80w in idle, and about 90w gaming. considering it's size, it was never really gonna be very quiet.

edit:
the sound character is also more annoying, a little whiny, but definitely tolerable.
disc seeking is LOUD!
note however mine is sitting atop my desk.

My xbox 360 can get oddly loud... louder then others I have heard. Mine is the generation from the ones with all the red ring problems though so i figure its possibly just overheating a bit.

You can buy a fan to mod your xbox though It's suppose to keep it cooler so it is quieter *shrug*