PlayStation 3 80GB System

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A lot of people have written about the pros and cons of the PS3 vs. XBOX 360 vs. Wii. I'm not bothering with that, and assume you can find that information at elsewhere. I'm also assuming you can read all about why the PS3 would or would not fit your needs.

Instead, I'd like this review to explain what exactly this configuration is (there's a lot of confusion about that,) and why I think it hits the sweet spot. Basically, there are currently 2 versions of the PS3 on the market now. Ignoring the size of the drive for a second (because you can always swap the drive anyway, and it has no real bearing on the rest of the specs) think of them as Version A (currently available or not as the case may be in the PlayStation 3 80 GB Metal Gear Solid 4 Pack) and Version B (this one.)

The first thing that you need to understand is that there are three relevant differences between these two versions besides the included bundle and the price (the MGS one is $499 from amazon, more from third parties.)

Difference #1: Version A (MGS pack) is backward compatible with PS2 games while this one is NOT (they are both backward compatible with PS1 games however.)

Difference #2: Version A has 4 USB ports as well as memory card slots, while this version has only 2 USB ports and NO memory card slots.

Difference #3: AND THIS FOR ME IS BIG: Version A has the older and larger 90nm Cell processor, while this one has the smaller (and some say more reliable) 65nm Cell processor. Power consumption on this unit is lower as well, dropping from 200 Watts to 135 watts. The end result is a machine that runs cooler and, according to all reports as well as my personal experience, much quieter. An extremely relevant factor if you watch movies with it.

For those that have been looking for a while, this is basically the 40GB machine that was offered recently, with a larger hard drive and an upgraded controller they replaced the basic sixaxis controller with the Dualshock 3 controller (which means it has rumble.)

Now Version A is packaged with Metal Gear Solid. It has an 80GB drive like this one, and the same controller. The big differences are listed above. Until this configuration was released, the larger hard drive and Dualshock controller were 2 of the 4 reasons many people felt the MGS pack was worth the additional $100. Those two factors are now eliminated. The remaining differences are the backward compatibility with PS2 games and the MGS game itself, which can of course be bought separately.

So to sum it up, if you NEED PS2 compatibility, you might want to grab the MGS pack if you can get one that or keep your old PS2. For new buyers though, and for all of the people that are going to just play PS3 games, as well as avid movie watchers, this particular configuration is fantastic. You get the big drive, the good controller, PLUS the cooler running chip, a quieter machine and a system that uses about 33% less power.

And ok just to satisfy the basic requirements of a review, I'll list some other nice stuff: It includes a Blu-ray DVD player (one of those runs almost as much as, or more than, this entire box), the online play is FREE, wireless connectivity is built in (you don't have to buy an additional piece as with some others), reliability has been quite good (much better than some others), there are some great PS3-only titles, and you can stream media to it from your PC. There's more, but there are plenty of people outlining it.

As always, do your research and see what's best for you. Maybe the 360-only titles are must haves for you, or maybe your family fits a Wii. We have a Wii and I love it. But I also love my PS3, and in my opinion this configuration is the one to get (this month anyway.)

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Necessary disclosure: I do not own this model. I have what used to be a 60GB model, recently upgraded to 320GB the gold standard.

As compared to the 60GB model:

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+ less expensive (I paid $599 for my 60GB PS3)

+ 33% more storage

+ needs less power

+ dual shock controller (rumble)

no memory card interfaces

2 USB ports vs. 4 USB ports on the 60GB

no PS2 compatibility

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This model comes with an 80GB drive. This is nice because, most would agree, 80GB is more than 60GB. If you feel that the extra 20GB is a big deal, maybe you should think again. I upgraded my 60GB to 320GB because I was about to run out of space, with only 10GB or so left. One month or so later, I'm using more than 80GB already just downloaded the Ratchet and Clank minigame from PSN and it alone needs about 3GB. My advice is to buy this model and upgrade it yourself. It's (relatively) easy and you can find a lot of advice if you Google for it.

If you are on the upgrade path, $80 would buy you a 320GB drive. I used the Western Digital WD3200BEVT 320 GB Scorpio Sata 5400 Rpm 8MB 2.5 inch myself but that was back in June/July and I paid about $150 then; you could get much larger drives for less now. 500GB drives are available for less than $100 and you should try to get one of those if you are planning to store lots of videos. One that I tested would be the 500GB 2.5" Sata Drive which replaced my laptop's 60GB little drive and I helped a friend upgrade his own PS3 with. The nice thing about upgrading your disk is that you are also going to be left with a perfectly good 80GB or $160GB drive which you can place into a cheap enclosure, and the StarTech AT2510U2 InfoSafe 2.5-Inch USB/SATA Hard Drive Enclosure worked for me. I am using the free leftover drive as a backup device for family photos.

Upgrading the disk is (relatively) easy and you can find a lot of advice on the Net. Search for "PlayStation 3 Hard Drive Upgrade (HOWTO)" for videos that should help you decide if you are comfortable with upgrading. If upgrading is the first thing you do (before installing games or uploading personal files), everything becomes very easy because you need not worry about backups or restores. I upgraded my box in a couple of hours WITH the backup/restore steps.

The lack of memory card interfaces is annoying but you can get around it. Copy your stuff to a USB drive or flash drive and... problem solved. You can then upload your things through the USB. It's somewhat inconvenient but it's no big deal.

My old (10 months) 60GB model has 4 USB slots and I am using all of them. One for the PS3 Eye (camera), a second has a wireless keyboard dongle, the third is where the racing wheel plugs in and the last one I use to charge controllers. Can you live with 2 slots? I suppose you can but there's going to be some plugging/unplugging if you begin adding peripherals. I suppose you could get one of those USB ports multiplexers. They're ugly but... it's doable.

PS2 compatibility... can't get it. Sorry. I don't play PS2 games but my kids do. In fact, they just bought some Sonic game a couple of days ago. I was surprised but... de gustibus. They're also playing Kingdom Hearts and Destroy All Humans.

This model comes with a couple of improvements over the gold standard. It burns less electricity, which is a good thing for the rain forests, keeping them cool and maybe you save a few dollars on your electric bill. And, of course you get the advanced controller.

Briefly:

If you are planning to upgrade, the 80GB model is the way to go because it is selling for $100 less than the larger disk version and you can use the savings to pay for your disk upgrade

Get yourself a USB port multiplexer if you need more than 2 ports

Transfer your photos to flash drives to get around the missing memory card interfaces

Or or, even better, to address both the USB and the memory card issues, get the Playstation 3 Media Hub+ for 2 extra USB ports AND a card reader

Keep your PS2 if you have one and still wish to play PS2 games in the future.

Enjoy your new PS3.

Buy PlayStation 3 80GB System Now

I had sat on the sidelines of the next gen video games up until a couple of weeks ago. I had tried Wii almost as soon as it came out and was captivated by the motion sensors but the limited availability and sameness to the games as well as limited graphics was frustrating.

Xbox 360 the $50 a year subscription and more importantly it lost the Blu-ray/HD battle were big no points for me. I enjoy games, my wife does not. She does enjoy movies and the internet. When I pointed out that PS3 was a Blu-ray player (with excellent reviews) and could let us surf the internet, she was all for it.

I have an 'old' HDTV (3 years old). It has a maximum resolution of 1080i and a DVI input but no HDMI. I did some research before buying this so I bought an HDMI to DVI cable at the same time. I was worried about hooking it up and getting it to look right and also getting sound. I should not have been. It took literally a few minutes. Plugged the HDMI end into the PS3 and the DVI end into the HDTV. Received a picture (great picture) right away. It detected that 1080i was the highest resolution and I choose that.

Sound I simply choose the option to put sound out correctly and received gorgeous sound. I only use the speakers that came with the HDTV but it sounds fantastic on Blu-Ray. I can only imagine what people with surround sound systems will get.

The Blu-Ray discs are stunning. Even with 'just' 1080i. Truly beautiful. And it also up-converts very well. My favorite movies are the LOTR expanded editions. I have seen LOTR on TNT HD broadcasts. With the PS3 they look almost as good perhaps even better than the HD broadcasts. Also one of the coolest things and I have no idea if this for all Blu-Rays are just PS3 is that it remembers where you were on discs (Blu-ray and DVD discs)even if the disc was last played 8 discs ago. So say for instance you a third of the way through Fellowship. You then put a few game discs in, some other movie discs, then go back to Fellowship. It actually remembers where you left off that disc. Love it.

The internet browsing has been very cool. At first it was ok but it did not fill up the screen and the lettering was too small. But then I discovered zoom in and zoom out. And now it is really fun to browse. As an aside when I started browsing if someone was on our lap-top we would get a connection conflict and would not be able to surf on the lap-top. I called Linksys and they were able to change a bunch of settings on the router and it works just fine now, no problems on using both at the same time.

As for games I have Assassin's Creed and Oblivion now. Both look amazing. I have also downloaded demos for Mirror's Edge (stunning) and Motorstorm (fun and also amazing graphics). Even as a gamer truly I only really have time for a half dozen games every year or two or even three. A lot of these games last a long time. So in reality the 360s edge on variety is for all intents moot. I am planning to get Little Big Planet and maybe the new Spidey game when it comes down in price. That will more than hold me over to God of War and which ever other few games I will get in 2009. Having a handful of great games, to me, is more important than 50 titles coming out a year.

Bottomline is if you have an HDTV (particularly if you have a home theater set up) and no Blu-ray and enjoy gaming the PS3 is truly awesome. You get a great Blu-ray player, an 80gig hard drive, incredible gaming capabilities (just downloading the demos would be cool), internet browsing and video watching on your TV. You can also download the LIFE utility that has an incredibly cool visual globe where you can get live weather and news headlines around the world. And you can help cure diseases by linking to a Stanford project that looks at how proteins work and fold. If you allow it your processor can be added to the processing power being used for the Stanford project (when you are not gamin and such).

Sony has succeeded in making a truly great heart of your home media experience. This is so much more than Wii it isn't even close. And with Blu-ray and free Sony playstation network, it really is a much better value than any of the 360 choices you have. Right now heading into the 2008 holiday season, PS3 stands alone as clearly the best system and the best value. Not only for gamers but for the entire family.

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The Playstation 3 is an incredible Blue Ray Player, that has features NOT available in any other Blue Ray Player. I am not a game player and simply bought this unit as a Blue Ray and DVD player. However on comparison, there are so many benefits compared to other Blue Ray players.

Here are the surprise benefits you get from this INCREDIBLE technology vs. a regular Blue Ray Player:

1. Picture Quality SUPERB (Easily compares to most expensive Blue Ray Players)

2. REGULAR DVD's PLAY IN A HIGHER RESOLUTION Incredible difference to a regular DVD player.

3. Wireless INTERNET Connection Surf web on your TV. (NO WIRES REQUIRED)

4. Automatic BLUE RAY format Updates (FREE and AUTOMATIC) Upgrades as technology changes.

5. HARD Drive (80 GB) Store movies, music, etc.

6. Beautiful Black Console Doesn't look like a game player on shelf.

7. EASY to set-up (Ready in a few minutes)

8. LOWER PRICED All these unique features, at a lower price than the other Blue Ray players

I have no idea why anyone would ever consider a standard BLUE RAY or DVD player once you have had a chance to try out the features of the PS3. Having the internet on our TV allows us full access to news, weather, radio, music video's, etc.

I was told that low price BLUE RAY players cannot play many movies and DVD's because the BLUE RAY format is constantly changing and the Playstation 3 is the ONLY BLUE RAY unit to have automatic updates that will correct for new Blue Ray formats in the future.

NO COMPARISON Hands down BEST BLUE RAY Player with the most features on the market!

HIGEST POSSIBLE RATING.........

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I was debating which game console to get, the Wii, Xbox 360 or the Playstation 3(PS3). As a male with family of two kids, overall the PS3 was the best value for the money. Since PS3 and Xbox 360 are aiming for the same market, I was comparing the PS3 more to the 360:

Pros:

-Most powerful system among 3 consoles.

-Blu Ray player included, also it can be upgraded via the internet. It is full functioning Blu Ray player, not watered down, the picture quality if awesome.

-Solid hardware, Xbox 360 hardware has many problems.

-Includes wireless Wi-Fi, but with Xbox 360 you have to buy it separately.

-Free online gaming, unlike Xbox's which you have to pay each month.

-Internet web browser, which Xbox doesn't have.

-Better menus for navigation than 360.

-Controllers have not only rumble, but also motion sensor like Wii.

-Hard drive is easily upgradable and inexpensive, unlike 360 which is expensive and very hard to upgrade if you want to put your own hard drive.

-Latest movies and TV shows can purchased online, 360's Netflix has more titles but are old titles.

-Playstation Eye(motion sensing camera) accessory allows for motion games like Wii.

Cons:

-Need more latest titles of movies(but same or better than 360 or Apple TV)

-Not all movies can be rented in the first few weeks of release, but have to be purchased.

-Need more variety of games, actually true for all 3 systems.

Overall compared to Wii: Kids will want the Wii no matter what anyone says as long as their friends have it. The quality of Wii games are decreasing, game developers are not integrating the motion functionality well with the games. It feels like developers made the games and then added the motion feature as an afterthought. PS3's included controller has motion sensors like the Wii, also Playstation Eye camera has motion sensoring also. There are PS3 accessories for Guitar Hero and Rock Band which allows physical games on the PS3 like the Wii. So you can do play physical games like the Wii on the PS3.

Overall compared to Xbox 360: Even though Xbox 360 is less expensive initially, if you add everything that PS3 has, the Xbox 360 is much more expensive. People forgot this. 360 has more games than PS3 because it was introduced a year earlier, but starting in 2008 PS3 is coming out with many high quality exclusive games now that introduction period is over(PS3 has Metal Gear Solid 4, Little Big Planet, Socom Confrontation, Resistance 2, Gran Turismo 4, etc). Unless you will play Halo or Gears of War, get the PS3, it is a much better value.