PlayStation 3 120GB System
by Sony
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Our Price: $464.00 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $199.95 (click here) Category: Video Games See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of PlayStation 3 120GB System
Customer Review: This Here PS3 Slim Rocks At This Price Point!
Summary: 5 Stars
1st off I'd like to thank all the reviewer's on this forum for your reviews. On the whole they were highly informative. No way anyone could read this forum and not come away with more than enough information to make a highly informed buying decision.
A. Dent "Aragon" I've gotta give you a gold star in particular for your review. Well done! You covered the key feature and spec differences nicely and I'd like to build on your review, if I may, from a philosophical mindset POV.
Some background.
I'm a software developer of some years. I grew up with MS. I've been developing with their products since DOS 2.0 :D. I'm an MS boy through and through. pfft, Of course my cell runs Windows Mobile. Ya, Win Mobile has given me fits a time or two, ;), but I doubt I'll ever own a phone that doesn't run Win Mobile.
I know exactly who MS is. Back in the day they kinda sucked on more than a couple levels but even then, they were still the best software company in the business. Not only has that not changed in my mind but there's no doubt to me that they are currently better at what they do than they've ever been.
Sure, there's any number of SW developers out there working for other companies who are every bit as good as any MS developer out there and oft times better but eh...
At this point, there's no other software company in the world even remotely close to where MS is at in terms of maturity and quality. When I look at what Win 7 is coupled with Visual Studio and the .net 3.5 development platform, eh, those 2 things have always been the heart and soul of who MS is and those 2 things are currently rocking it harder than they ever have, no doubts.
I've always been a hard core gamer in the PC FPS world. So naturally I've known the xBox and played games on the xBox since it's inception.
I'm just saying, I've never owned an xBox. I've known at least 6 peeps with xBoxes. Of those 6, 4 of their boxes failed. Two of them went the RROD route, another had some internal disk failure, and the other had some funky internal connection problem. None of those boxes lasted a year. All of the owners I know went through varying degrees of rig-a-ma-roll trying to get their boxes fixed and/or replaced.
The HW issues and the reasons behind the xboxes unreliability are pretty well documented. Because MS decided to farm out manufacturing early on for the xbox they never really had any true quality control over the product they were tossing out to consumers. They never had a handle. They still don't have all that much of a handle now. Given what I know about MS from the SW world and the fact that they are brand new to the HW biz ...eh, to this day I'm not feeling compelled to pick up an xbox. And no, it's not hardly about money.
To be fair, I am an FPS kinda guy. There's still never been a console + controller + game created that affords me the precision and control in the FPS genre that WASD on a keyboard and a mouse does. I'm still waiting for one?
As I speak I think everyone who owns an xbox today or buys an xbox tomorrow is STILL an early adopter. As it happens I do have more than a passing familiarity with that dynamic. I've dealt and deal with MS product continually every single day. Like I'm saying, I know who MS is. I know how much research and dev went into the xbox.
Speaking strictly within the framework of the FPS gaming genre, I think the xbox is currently the best console platform out there. As well it should be. And it starts with the box and the controller. While the xbox was not designed specifically for Halo, the thinking behind the box, gpu, and the controller were absolutely designed to optimize any and every FPS gaming experience created for the xbox platform. Again, who can argue with that strategy? In the video game industry, what's the best selling genre?
I truly believe MS has the right idea about the console platform in terms of the idea of the overall gaming experience. Also, no doubt to me that various XBL$ issues aside, the XBL platform is superior to the PSN platform as I post.
From MS's inception they've always been many things but fundamentally stupid and obstinate has never really been their hallmark. At least not for long. MS is a whole lot like the Borg. If you've got half a clue about anything they will consume your uniqueness and add it to their own.
The above said I think the xbox 360 controller currently implements a design that exploits the FPS genre best.
To also be fair to the PS platform, from the very beginning the PS controller in all it's incarnations was never designed to exploit any specific gaming genre. The PS controller has always been designed to cast a much broader net across gaming genre's.
So the question remains, given the fact that I am and will always be an MS boy, why is it I've never ever owned an xbox? Why was my very 1st console purchase evar this slimboy PS3?
Heheh, it's really a no brainier for me. This PS3 is absolutely THE best media center on the market today.
Nothing else comes close to the PS3 at this price point given what it can do. I've already got a PC for serious gaming. That said I'm about to explore the latest exclusive PS3 gaming titles to eval where the state of the art is really at.
Seriously, the xbox comes closest for about an initial 50-150+ but even then the xbox can't output any media in any format at 1080p. See, for me? That right there is a deal breaker.
MS can KMA right now. The xbox is not there yet.
I think MS might still be butt hurt to this day behind choosing the wrong side in the HD war. Whatever? Until they ship with Blu-Ray, built in WiFi at a competitive price, AND they can deliver a reliable and quality product they're dead to me in this market segment. :)
UPDATE:
I'm still completely in love with this console and what it brings to the table. I think it's definitely the best console on the market at it's current price point. Once again...
Pros:
1) Fricken Blu-Ray! Anyone with a quality 1080p TV understands exactly what I'm talking about. There are Blu-Ray players out there at this price point that only do that. And none of them are exactly superior.
2) Fricken integrated WiFi! Pardon me but I can't understand how anyone with a wireless router could not have a deep and abiding appreciation for that extremely salient point. Full on streaming capabilities out of the box. Hello?
3) Awesome gaming platform! I think it's every bit as good and viable as the xBox platform. Both platforms have their strengths and weaknesses. Both platforms have their signature series that are arguably best of breed. I think the Halo series is prolly the best FPS series created for a console. PS3 has the Metal Gear Solid and God Of War series which are arguably both best of breed within their genres.
This brings me around to cross platform games. Specifically, cross platform games that target the HW strength's of a given platform. Take a game like Ninja Gaiden II for the xBox and sigma 2 for the this slim boy. In the end, I think sigma 2 version provides a better overall gaming experience for the following reasons.
a) Again, it's a fricken 1080p game!
b) Because it was released on the xb platform 1st, Tecmo had the op to learn from their mistakes. At certain times they pushed to many polygons in the xb version and you could experience moderate to severe frame rate drops at highly inopportune times. I think the fighting platform on the slim boy has a more fluid feel. I know part of that is because generally speaking you face fewer enemies in sigma 2 but I think that's as it should be. What's the point in throwing more enemies at a gamer than the HW can effectively handle?
Here's my point. Given the fact that the xBox is not shipping with Blu-Ray and WiFi, it comes down to the gaming platform and it's reliability, right?
I'm just saying I don't see how anyone could compare the two platforms and declare the xBox the winner. What would that be based on? I mean Halo is a pretty cool game and tons of fun but so what? For me? A game like Halo could never tip the scales when it comes to buying a console. From my perspective a bitchen gaming title or 2 is not enough. There's plenty
different bitchen arse games for the PS3. I think that in terms of most bang for your buck this PS3 slim boy rules right now.
Don't get me wrong. I'm an MS fan boi through and through. Ex: I've got what was a top of the line cell 2 years ago that runs win mobile 6 that I would relly like to upgrade right now. The user interface is pretty clunky by today's standards but I'm not gonna upgrade right now for 2 reasons. 1) The cell hw still supports the HSDPA 7.2 protocol. To the best of my knowledge there are still no phones available in the US that support the latest 14.0 protocol. 2) I know the next gen cells are coming out around early September. They'll be sporting the new win 7 mobile OS (think zune) with capacitive resistance touchscreens (think iPhone) and they'll be supporting HSDPA 14.0 protocol in upgradeable firmware.
So I wait. I wait because I am an MS fanboi and on a certain indirect level they kinda own me. When I think about it, it's possible I might not be making the money I do if not for their arses. I wait because based on what I understand about what's in the pipeline, I expect the win 7 cells to rock the house. I wait because 9 of 10 times I will always choose and trust in MS. I got zero problems being an early adopter in the cell arena because MS is doing what they do best and they do not have a heavy hand in the hw.
In the end the iPhone OS is not a preemptive multitasking OS and it won't be in the near future. Nor is the droid OS. And no phones running those operating systems currently support HSDPA 7.2 let alone the latest 14.0 standard.
I realize I've digressed a bit but I did it for a reason. I'm highly disappointed with MS within the console arena right now. The PS3 slim boy 120 at it's current price point, I think, is a completely superior product to the xBox. Hands down. Any way you wanna look at it you get far more for your money with the PS3.
Until MS starts shipping consoles with Blu-Ray and WiFi around the same price point I personally don't even see them as real competition to the PS3. If they do ever get there I will snatch an xBox up right pronto like.
And it's the Blu-Ray standard that might hold the xBox back indefinitely. Like I'm saying, they're definitely still smarting behind choosing the wrong side in the HD media battle.
Whilst MS is fairly accustomed to licensing tech from various vendors, I'm pretty sure licensing Blu-Ray from Sony under these circumstances is not exactly how they're thinking. Not saying it'll never happen. Just saying MS doesn't usually look to bust out the knee pads under these circumstances. So where does that leave the xBox?
The way I see it MS has 3 options.
1) Bust with the pads for Sony.
2) Remain incompatible with Blu-Ray. Not seeing this option as a sales booster, per se.
3) Find and align themselves with a company who's got an idea about a media format that eclipses Blu-Ray by a reasonable measure.
Pretty hard to see 3 happening within the next 5 years. 2 is like meh? 2 is tantamount to anathema for the xBox. 1 is what they should do in the near term. If MS can ship a box that supports Blu-Ray with integrated WiFi around the same price point as the PS3, regardless of the quality of the product they're shipping, there's no doubt that would boost their sales immeasurably.
Cons:
XBL blows doors on the PSN. Pretty much no comparison. Tons of integration on XBL that the PSN can't be bothered with.
The PS3 browser is weak to be sure.
Customer Review: An educated debate of PS3 VS Xbox 360
Summary: 5 Stars
To start this all off I'm 26 years old and I was definitely a Sega fan boy in my childhood. However the times have changed. A brief history of the consoles I have owned would be a Nintendo, SNES, Sega Genesis, Sega CD, Sega 32x, Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo 64. Game Boy, Nintendo DS, Playstation, Playstation 2, and now, a Playstation 3.
To get straight to the meat and potatoes I dug in up to my navel in all of the resources from fan sights, to manufacturers. From reviews of customers on various websites, to You Tube. I offer for you the truth, unaltered, and fresh never frozen about the definitive console to buy.
First we would have to look at the CURRENT market. NOT 2007! Because the mass majority of consumers, specifically of the Xbox 360 are incessantly arguing the fact that the Xbox 360 has better titles. This is FALSE. The truth is, in 2007 the Xbox did affirmatively have better games. We could site the reasons for this but I'm not trying to debate the past, I am attempting to educate you on current events. Moving on. In this current time I would have to say that the Playstation 3 has better titles. Meaning, it has sufficient and some highly acclaimed 1st person shooters, it has exellent 3rd person role playing games (i.e. Drake's Uncharted, God of War 3. etc.) great fun but not overwhelmingly "kiddish" games (Little Big Planet, Fat Princess,etc.) as well as youth friendly titles (Mini Ninjas, Harry Potter, etc.).
The Xbox 360 also has a plethora of excellent titles, however, the titles mentioned above save Harry Potter are PS3 exclusives.When it comes to the Xbox 360, the theme I noticed that went unannounced was 1st PERSON SHOOTER. Yes, in all caps. It could never matter how many they have for the 360 as most are cross platform and come to both concoles. But to only have the redundancy of every new exclusive 360 title being a 1st person shooter is overwhelmingly boring. For this I'd like to site Wal-Mart. Go look for yourself. You'll see what I mean.
Reliability and power consumption 101: This needs no paragraph. In short, newer 360's do not fail at nearly the staggering rate of the original consoles from the 2007/2008 era, but they do fail. Microsoft does warranty the product for a full 3 years and they tend to have a 7 business day turnaround for repair. But do you really want to chance that. Say your all ready to go, just bought a new game so you can play online with your buddies and this has been in the works for 2 weeks. You slap in the disc, go to Xbox Live, and BAM! Nope, not not Food Network, Red Ring of Death. Better known as RRoD. Google it on your off day, it'll take that long to read it all. The PS3 "Slim" is a wrist watch in comparison power wise. Meaning no huge "brick" power supply to hide from visitors and small children, and no overwhelming heat generation to make the room smell like Pine-sol or carpet.The fan noise is also absolutely unnoticeable without walking up to the unit, pointing your ear at it and holding your breath.
Bringing me to another point Blur-ray. No, PS3 does not take wide benefit of this technology for game play yet, but all one would need to do is compare early PS2 games to the later releases to see how much improved the games are constantly getting as the developers become accustomed to pulling phenomenal graphics and game play from the Playstation 3. Lets examine the difference is when buying a used game or renting, no worries. Say that game you just bought for Xbox Live is going great, you didnt get the red ring of death and your kickin your buddies butt. Then the 360 starts grinding like late 90's pop star and presto! You now have a coaster. Have a Coke and a frown anyone? The icing on this treat is that Microsoft WILL NOT REPLACE the disc. And yeah, there's that toothpaste trick floating around on the web to fix the disc, but honestly. How often must this happen for there to be a well known trick to fix them involving toothpaste?
Media 101: Yes, hands down no competition PS3 is a media monster that you children should be afraid of. Google PlayOn. It's $30.00 and allows you to stream Hulu, NetFlix, Youtube, CBS, CNN, ESPN, and more directly to your PS3. Setup is so easy a caveman could do it (No offense Fred, and Barney) and then if you google PlayOn Plugins you will find plug ins for MTV, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, and others with NO subscription fee.
Streaming videos from you pc is too easy. Another $30.00 program called DVD Fab will allow you to convert or rip DVD's into a format perfect for streaming 100% DVD/Bluray/HD/SD/ED quality videos with "NO STUTTERING". I recommend using the PS3 setting called "PS3 VOB". It will literally only take approximately 12 minutes to burn a DVD and convert it, or approximately (no kidding here) 2 minutes to convert an existing full length movie to this PS3 VOB format. Even less time for TV Show episodes.
Hardware: This one is obvious, the PS3 has better hardware.
Warranty: Who cares, when was the last time you had a Sony anything die on you within 5 years, in addition, places like Wal-Mart offer a 3 year warranty that includes device exchange for an additional $19.95 plus tax. Tell that to your buddy when he's waiting on UPS. If it dies, go back to Wally World, and get a brand new unit. Not a refurb.
Online: Xbox 360 wins this. Xbox Live has more people. But NOT more content. It has more users using headsets but NOT more mature users. Xbox Live, if you've never used it, has a ton of people (usually juveniles) shouting explicatives and racial slurs over and over. It's true, just ask around or Google it. It also isn't free. Playstation Network is free!
Accessories: While most accessories for the PS3 will cost more, this is only because people trade in Xbox's in poor condition/ out of their warranty all the time. It is highly likely that a Xbox 360 owner will in time buy, another Xbox 360 and thus there is a higher supply of used Xbox accessories keeping the new prices lower to compete with used retailers.
Longevity of brand: If you look at current sales data, it;s not 2007 and the PS3 is outselling the Xbox.
Wrap Up: I wouldn't trade my PS3 for 4 360's, although I do thing the 360 is a really good console. At the end of the day, it's my hard earned money, and I want something that does what new electronics all advertise, work, and work right out of the box. In short, The 360is phenominaly good, but the PS3 is great. Just my .02.
Happy Shopping.
Customer Review: The best console on the market!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have actually owned my Playstation 3 for several years and I don't own this newer "Slim" version, but I have had plenty of time with the console and I would like to share my thoughts.
Several years ago I wrote a very positive review of the Xbox 360 and while I still think it is a decent console I have come to prefer the PS3 for several reasons.
First is the fact that the Playstion 3 (I'll call it PS3 from here on out) has been a much more reliable console for me. My Xbox 360 has died 2 times on me and while to their credit Microsoft fixed it for free both times I am still left with this feeling that my 360 may die on me at any time. My PS3 on the other hand has been rock solid.
The PS3 is also a much more feature-rich console. My PS3 plays three generations of games--PS1, PS2 and PS3--and two generations of movie formats--DVD and Blu-ray. The Blu-ray playback feature alone is worth around $150 to $200, since that is the amount it would cost you to get a similarly performing stand-alone Blu-ray player. On top of this it also has built-in wi-fi, the highest quality HDMI 1.3 output, and a web browser that allows you to surf the net between gaming sessions.
Another aspect of the PS3 that I really appreciate is the fact that it uses standard components for many things such as the hard drive and the USB cables that charge the controllers. If you want a larger hard drive you simply have to buy an affordable standard 2.5" SATA hard drive. If you need a longer cable for your controller you can buy a regular USB cable for a couple of dollars. The PS3 also uses standard Bluetooth keyboards and microphones. I was even able to use an older USB headset to play online.
This is in stark contrast to Microsoft's approach with the 360. Nearly every peripheral the 360 uses is a proprietary format, from the hard drive to the controller cables. On my 360 I still only have a 20GB hard drive because I bought it at launch and the 120GB proprietary hard drives that are available as an upgrade are too expensive. My cable for my controller has also been shorting out and losing connection, so I have to buy the proprietary cable that costs $20.
Now when it comes to each console's respective online gaming service some people have claimed that the 360's Xbox LIVE service is superior. However, after using both services for many hundreds of hours I believe the 360's service is very slightly better, but not $50-a-year better. In fact, the Playstation 3's online service has nearly all of the 360 service's offerings (and a few that the 360 lacks) , but is completely free. With my PS3 I can go online, play my games with friends, meet new friends, and download games, demos and movies. The PS3 even has netflix streaming.
The only real advantage Xbox LIVE has over the PSN is that you can chat with friends that are playing a different game than you. But to be honest I have rarely used this feature and when I did use it the poor quality was pretty annoying, not to mention that it makes it hard to focus on the game you are playing. The other thing that should be mentioned is that most of the big games on the PS3 have their own servers and seem to run a little better (less lag and disconnections) than the P2P networking 360 games generally use.
A couple other nice things I enjoy about the PS3 is that the items in the PSN store are priced in dollars instead of the stupid Microsoft points system used in the 360's "marketplace". On the 360 you have to buy points in set increments, so you always end up with unused points that you have to wait to use on your next purchase. You also always have to do a calculation to figure out how much a certain item in the marketplace is going to actually cost you in dollars. The PS3's approach is easier and much more straight forward.
The other thing I like is that on the PS3 you can use custom-made themes or even make your own, instead of having to buy them as is the case on the 360. There are literally hundreds or thousands of custom-made themes you can get on the internet free of cost. This means that you have a much greater chance of finding themes you really love, and it also saves you a lot of money. I should mention, however, that there are some great themes available in both consoles' stores that may be worth your money. It's just nice that on the PS3 you have the option to make your own themes or get other user-created themes for free.
The last thing I want to talk about, and by far the most important, are the games. The PS3 has simply been superb in this regard. The breadth and quality of the PS3 exclusives are unmatched in my opinion. The Xbox 360 has a few exclusives I really like, such as the Gears of War and Halo series, but over time it became obvious that the 360's exclusive offerings couldn't keep up with the PS3's output.
The problem stems from the fact that Microsoft has very few 1st party studios to create exclusive games for the 360. They even let go of Bungie (of Halo fame) who is now an independent developer. Now they are only left with Rare (whose output this generation hasn't exactly been great), Lionhead (who make the Fable series), and 343 Industries who haven't made a game, but are supposed to make any future Halo games now that Bungie is done with the series.
Sony on the other hand have somewhere around 23 studios under their umbrella making games exclusively for Playstation consoles. The result has been some of the best games of the generation, including gems such as Uncharted 2, Little Big Planet, Killzone 2, and God of War 3.
Looking forward to the future there seems to be about 3 or 4 times as many exclusives I want on the PS3 as on the 360. I'm looking forward to Halo Reach and Gears of War 3 on the 360, but other than that I don't see anything I want. On the PS3 I am looking forward to Little Big Planet 2, Gran Turismo 5, inFamous 2, Killzone 3, Twisted Metal, The Last Guardian and Uncharted 3. This has basically been the story for awhile now.
The 360 is a good console, I just wish Microsoft had worked harder to ensure a reliable console and to invest in some 1st party studios to bring us more unique gaming experiences we can't get on any other console.
As of right now though the PS3 offers the most reliability, the most features, an amazing free online service, and the most high quality and diverse lineup of exclusives.
Customer Review: A review by someone "upgrading" from 60gb to "Slim"
Summary: 5 Stars
I owned a launch 60gb system which I loved dearly - until it gave me the "Yellow Light Of Death" error, necessitating a costly repair through Sony's customer service. Sony's service returned me a refurbished 60gb unit, which I have now sold in favor of a "Slim." I simply don't trust the launch units. I baby all of my electronics, in a kid-free, smoke-free household. I am frankly convinced that an unacceptable number of 60bg units will suffer overheating failures in an unacceptable time frame.
SO...
The 120gb Slim system had an obvious appeal to me. It uses a 45nm microchip process (as opposed to the 90nm process of the original), which means smaller, cooler transistors, and lower power consumption. Accounts on the Internet point to a reduction of fully half of the power consumption between the 60 and 120gb units (check the internet for details).
Users like me will be giving up PS2 compatibility, memory card slots, and the ability to install Linux. Now, I think PS2 compatibility is great. I used it quite a bit early in my 60gb's life. But frankly, it is simply less important now than it was then. PS3 has a huge variety of software, both on disc and via download. If I simply *have* to play a PS2 game, I can break out my PS2. I used the 60gb's memory card reader twice, once to backup the hard drive (which can also be accomplished with an external USB HDD or thumb drive), and once to view HD camcorder movies (which can be accomplished by burning AVC files to DVD or copying them to a USB drive). Linux has no appeal for me, and was always a niche option.
The transfer process:
Sony does not make is easy to transfer your content from one system to another. First of all, swapping out the 120gb hard drive for a larger one is NOT the same procedure as it was for the previous systems:
1. Apparently, there is no internal flash memory for firmware. So if you put in a new hard drive, you will also need to have the latest system update on a flash drive to install onto it.
2. Switching the Blu-Ray remote from the old system to the new was not a painless process either, involving removing batteries, reformatting hard drives, and holding the remote close to the new system to "sync." Twice. And it still doesn't work instantly, it stalls the first few times you press a button.
3. Then, Sony does not allow the transfer of downloaded content from one machine to another via the backup/restore process. You can indeed put your PSN ID on a new system, but you are forced to re-download everything you got from the PSN Store. The only thing that transfers automatically are save games, photos, and other non-DRM content. You may as well not even use the backup feature, since you can not choose to only back up your own content, it will take an hour to copy all those games, and then the utility will not even transfer them. Instead, you'll be better off just copying save games individually. This can be extremely tedious and time consuming, especially if you have many items, as I did.
4. Most irritating, Singstar music files, high scores and video saves cannot be transferred from one system to another by any means. They must all be deleted and reloaded from the internal Singstore, necessitating a call to Sony's customer service department and a wait of up to a month. For music that you PAID MONEY FOR.
So let us say that the process of switching completely from one machine to another was not smooth.
The System itself:
I for one find the new aesthetics of the Slim's exterior quite attractive. It looks more like a "real" A/V component than the "phat." It doesn't have all the chrome and shiny surfaces, which were just a magnet for fingerprints and dust. Also gone are the irritating touch sensitive buttons, in favor of clickable buttons that light up when the system is on.
Every aspect of software performance (besides those removed, mentioned above) is identical between the older and newer machines. All the same games (sans PS2 games) play in precisely the same way. DVD and Blu-Ray playback is the same (and those with newer audio receivers can bitstream DTS-HD audio, which the previous machine could not). Video playback still allows 1.5 speed viewing with stereo audio, a nice timesaver. The Slim is exactly the same capable DLNA streaming client, meaning you can access your itunes library from a networked PC and stream Hulu to the machine with 3rd party software such as PlayOn. Netflix has recently put out their streaming disc, giving you the same great Netflix viewing as Xbox360 and many Blu-Ray players out on the market. The PS3, with Netflix and Hulu, has made it possible for my household to get rid of cable television - a huge cost savings which has already paid for the purchase of the console.
In terms of noise and heat, it is like night and day. As much quieter as the 60gb was over an Xbox360, the Slim is quieter still than the 60gb. After hours of gameplay, downloading, or Blu-Ray playback, the fan in my unit has not reached any higher levels. I would say it is at least half as quiet as the previous units. I have much more faith in this unit's ability to cool itself than I did with the 60gb.
In Summary:
The upgrade path is not the easiest or smoothest. But if you want to streamline your home theater experience with Blu-Ray, this machine is a significant improvement over the previous models. As a media streamer and as a game machine, performance is identical. So for me, who had a launch unit die, it was a no-brainer. If you have a later "phat" unit that has performed adequately, you probably don't need to upgrade.
New users are in for a treat. They're getting a slick, refined piece of hardware at a lower price than early adopters paid. Congratulations, your wait was worth it!
The PS3 is without a doubt the most useful game console/home theater component I've ever owned. I wish my first unit hadn't died on me. But while that event stinks, I'm happy to have such a great replacement on the market to purchase. Sony has really done almost everything right on this unit (except for ditching PS2 compatibility). At this price, it's a steal.
Customer Review: The best just got better!
Summary: 5 Stars
As a proud owner of a PS3, I was closely following developments of when the rumored (and highly-anticipated) PS3 Slim would come out. After shelling [...] for the PS3 80GB back in 2008, I was really excited to hear that Sony not only announced a smaller version of the PS3, but also implemented a [long-overdue] $100 price cut. I immediately went out and bought the Slim as soon as possible, and am very happy with it so far. Here are my impressions:
COMPARED TO PLAYSTATION 3 "FAT"
A LOT SMALLER
I heard that it was smaller, but seeing is believing! The photos don't do the system justice, and it's not really till you see and feel the difference that you are impressed with it. If you can, go into your local game store and check it out for yourself! If you've previously owned a Playstation console, you already know the difference the slimmer version makes when compared to the original, bulky ones. What's really convenient is that the slimmer PS3 not only means your video gaming is more portable, but that you have a really convenient Blu-Ray player.
NOT A FINGERPRINT MAGNET
I love the sleek look of my PS3 Fat, but don't like how it constantly needs to be cleaned. The glossy finish is a fingerprint magnet! The matte finish on the Slim is much easier to maintain. That being said, it doesn't look as shiny and cool, but I think its convenience outweighs that.
MORE STORAGE
Storage was never an issue for me on my 80GB system, but for those who wanted more storage, you get 40GB more with this system (120GB in total). It may not seem like much, but you can hold MANY movies, pictures, and music albums with 120GB. If that's still not enough, you can always install a 2.5" hard drive yourself, or better yet, plug in an external hard drive in one of the USB ports. You can easily get a portable 500GB external hard drive for less than $100, or a bigger, bulkier one with around 1TB of storage for roughly the same. That being said, I think 120GB for $300 should be more than enough for most users, and is a significant improvement over the 80GB for $400 that people were paying just a few weeks ago!
STILL NOT BACKWARDS COMPATIBLE
This is my one major gripe with the Playstation 3. It really wouldn't have killed Sony to include this feature, as the original Playstation 3's did in fact include backwards compatibility with older Playstation 2 games. A lot of people counter by either saying (1) it doesn't make sense to buy a PS3 to play PS2 games, (2) the graphics on the PS3 are better anyway so why bother with older games, and (3) including backwards compatibility would cannibalize PS3 game sales.
While those arguments might have their merits, I'm still frustrated that my massive PS2 library can't be played on the PS3, and was really hoping that Sony would include backwards compatibility on the Slim! I loved the fact the PS2 was backwards compatible with PS1 games, and really wish that Sony would reconsider this decision.
COMPARED TO OTHER SYSTEMS:
PS3 vs. WII
I think comparing the PS3 directly to the Wii is a bit like comparing apples to oranges, since they offer such different experiences. The Wii in my opinion is more family-friendly, while the PS3 is better for more graphics-intense games geared towards different gemographics. I'm a huge fan of Nintendo, and I love their very family-oriented game offerings. I own a DS and Wii and still love Mario as much as the days back when I played the original Nintendo (NES). In addition, I think Nintendo's motion-sensitive controllers for the Wii are very innovative and fun to play with! Unfortunately however, for most gamers, the difference in game quality is noticeable when comparing the two systems. The PS3 has AMAZING graphics. On an HD Television, you notice such crisp details while playing the PS3. The Wii features only Standard Definition output, which noticeably weakens it when compared to the other next-gen consoles such as the PS3 and Xbox 360.
PS3 vs. XBOX 360
Microsoft has an impressive gaming console in their Xbox 360 and there are some amazing titles exclusive to the Xbox, but in the end you get less bang for your buck when compared to the Playstation 3:
(1) Online gameplay: You can use the Playstation Network's online features without having to pay a subscription fee like you do for the Xbox. I was never a big online gamer but now I enjoy playing against opponents online.
(2) Internet connectivity: Built-in wireless internet connectivity on the PS3 is a much better bet than having to buy a wireless network adapter for the Xbox. Of course you can simply rely on a wired Ethernet connection, but this might be inconvenient depending on your set-up.
(3) High-Def Video: The Playstation 3 doubles as a Blu-Ray player. Microsoft bet on the wrong horse when they were hoping that HD-DVD would come out the winner in the high-def format wars. If you want a Blu-Ray player/video game system combo, the PS3 is a great device.
(4) Failure rate: The Xbox 360 has an absurdly high failure rate, with estimates ranging between 30 to 50% ([...]). I can't verify the numbers, but know from my friends who own the Xbox 360 that they've had a fair share of grief with their systems.
Microsoft does have a few edges, namely the upcoming Project Natal, unveiled at June's E3. While Natal may ultimately be one of the most amazing advances in video gaming, it unfortunately is still some time off from being implemented. That being said, the Playstation 3 is much more worth the cost than the Xbox 360 - at least for now.
FINAL THOUGHTS
[...] system that doubles as a Blu-Ray player. Keep in mind though that the bulk of money spent on the video game system will not be in the initial down payment, but the subsequent games, extra controllers (only comes bundled with one controller), and other peripherals/accessories. [...]. Sony's refusal to incorporate backwards-compatibility for PS2 games on the PS3, however, might make your gaming library obsolete in a few years, so if you have the money, you're best off going for the PS3 Slim. You won't regret it.