storing files: blob, toasted text of filesystem?

Hello everyone,

Sorry if this is a FAQ, but I've groups.googled the subject and
can't find a definite answer (if such a thing exists). I'm working
on a db in postgresql on a debian stable server, ext3 filesystem.
The db will contain files, not too many (I expect somewehere between
10 and 100 files max to be inserted daily), and not too big (mostly
pdf files, some images. The size will rarely be larger than 1Mb).

My plan was to store the files in the db as BLOBs, which seemed the
most elegant solution because these files are logically related to
objects that are in the db (customers, people etc.) Recently someone
warned me that this would have a large performance impact on the db
and said it's better to store the files on the filesystem and keep
some sort of pointer in the db.

Google was contradictory, some people even had performance problems
when using the filesystem/pointer approach and went to BLOBs for
that reason. Can anyone tell me (or point me in the right direction)
what is the best way to do this, BLOBs / filesystem+pointer /
toasted text?

Thanks!