Review of PlayStation 3

Necessary disclosure: I do not own this model but do I own the 60GB model, recently upgraded to 320GB. I am also very familiar with the latest 80GB model (which is basically this one with a larger disk) because one of my neighbors has one and I am the neighborhood's unofficial and unpaid 'computer' consultant :). I did some research in anticipation of us purchasing a second unit because I promised the kids "their own" if their grades were going to meet a certain standard.

As compared to the 60GB model (see this model's pluses and minuses and what all PS3s have in common):
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+ Less expensive (I paid $599 for my 60GB PS3)
+ 266% more storage
+ Improved power efficiency
+ Dual shock controller (rumble)
+ Bundled Drake's Fortune and Pain voucher for a PSN download
+ Amazon Blu-ray movies promotion (buy 4 movies from list and get $100 off through end of 2008)

= Wireless Wi-Fi or wired Ethernet network connections
= Bluetooth for controllers, keyboards, earpieces, etc.
= Controllers charged via USB wires
= Free, unlimited access to the PSN network, including online play
= Full PSOne compatibility
= Blu-ray player
= DVD player
= CD player
= HDMI, component video (component wire included but no HDMI cable)
= Surround sound
= Internet browser
= Allows for installation of third-party operating systems such as Linux
= Disk is easily upgradeable without voiding warranty
= Quiet operation

- No memory card interfaces
- 2 USB ports vs. 4 USB ports on the 60GB
- No PS2 compatibility
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STORAGE and STORAGE UPGRADE:
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This model comes with an 160GB drive. This is nice because, based on my own experience, 160GB should be sufficient for a few years of use for as long as you don't plan to purchase lots of movies from the PSN store or download to many full games - if you are thiking about storing movies on your PS3 disk, consider upgrading to larger storage. However, unless you believe that Uncharted + Pain are worth the extra $100, you may be slightly better off buying the 80GB model for $100 less and then upgrading.

To give you an idea of the amount of storage you may need on your PS3, I recently checked the status of my 320GB disk and I found that I had 198GB free. That means that, one year after purchasing my (then) 60GB box I was using 122GB already. The space is taken by family pictures, a little music, lots of demos, many 'disk' games that dump gigabytes of data to the disk to improve performance, many videos the kids are making with the 'Eye' camera, game saves. I suspect that 'Home', when it becomes available, may require a few more GB's for its own use so 320GB may be what you need if you don't want to constantly worry about deleting old stuff before you run out of space.

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 Western Digital 500GB Scorpio Blue SATAII 5400RPM 2.5IN 8MB Bulk/OEM Hard Drive WD5000BEVT 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.


MEMORY CARD INTERFACES:
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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.


USB PORTS:
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My old 60GB model has 4 USB ports 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. Of course, you can and you WILL be able to live with 2 slots but it is likely that you will be doing some plugging/unplugging if you begin adding peripherals. One way around it is to get a USB port multiplexer. Another solution is seek Bluetooth peripherals (wireless) if you can find them. Bluetooth keyboards, for example, are available.


PS2 COMPATIBILITY:
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This model does not support PS2 software. Since the original PS2-compatible PS3's are hard to get, this has to be accepted as reality. I assume that Sony, after polling existing and future PS3 users, found that most users don't need PS2 compatibility. Soon after we upgraded to a PS3 my kids were playing Kingdom Hearts and Destroy All Humans but I haven't seen them doing so in quite a while. It is nice to have PS2 compatibility but its lacking would not stop me from buying a PS3.

PSOne GAMES:
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The PS3 has full PSOne compatilibity. Lots of them are available for download at the PSN store. They are quite inexpensive and some of them are still fun to play.


SUMMARY:
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- If you like Drake's and you do not consider upgrading, buy THIS model. In fact, you should buy this model regardless of Drake's because you are likely to be unhappy with an unupgraded 80GB model - like I mentioned above, I am already using over 120GB and this is BEFORE Home.
- If you are planning to upgrade, you're better off with an 80GB model selling for $100 less because you can use the $100 you save to buy yourself Drake's for about $40 and use the balance to help 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, 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.

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Note: I am not taking off one star for the lack of PS2 compatibility. I understand that Sony must compete on price and make a profit and times are tough. However, I simply can't see why Sony cut the number of USB ports from 4 down to 2 and this explains why this unit gets 4 stars instead of 5. This is a relatively significant inconvenience and I can't see how it would cost Sony more than a dollar or 2 if it provided 4 ports instead of 2.



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