easyplaystation3.com

Review by A. Dent:

RATING

I will begin with the rating part so that those who are already familiar with the PS3 line may save a little time.

On balance, I found the PS3 Slim or the ‘PS3 120GB’ to be a worthy addition to the current PS3 line. It comes with several major improvements over its predecessors and the ‘trade offs’ are few and, to most us, insignificant.

This how the new model compares to its predecessors:

PS3 SLIM vs. PS3 80/160GB

+ 0/200 less

+ Smaller

+ More energy efficient

+ More quiet operation

+ Cooler

+ Smaller Cell processor manufactured using a 45-nanometer manufacturing process

+ New, more advanced HDMI 1.3 chipset

+ Easier HDD upgrade

- No Linux support

- No on-off switch in the back

- Push rather than touch ‘On’ and ‘Eject’ buttons

- Not as pretty

= Unchanged game-playing experience

= Same great Blu-ray player

= Same PSP integration

= Same WiFi, Bluetooth built-in

= Same Dualshock 3 rumble, motion sensitive controller

= Same I/O options

The PS3 Slim is a superior product when compared with the PS3 80/160GB models. This relatively inexpensive, feature packed, versatile gaming machine, multimedia hub and outstanding Blu-ray player, earns back the 5th star that I granted the Classic models and I didn’t feel that the PS3 80/160GB models deserved.

Granted, when compared to the PS3 Classic, the PS3 Slim lacks PS2 compatibility, has 2 fewer USB ports and and it lacks media card slots but these shortcomings are offset by the significantly lower price, energy efficiency, larger storage and an updated CPU and HDMI. And, keeping hope alive by feeding it rumors, who knows? Sony just might add PS2 software emulation once it stops manufacturing the PS2 sometime, next year.

MY TEST DRIVE IMPRESSIONS

The good news is that you can do just about everything you did with the PS3 80/160GB models and in the exact same way. During my test ride, I was able to play all the games I brought with me without a problem, the Bluetooth remote controller was recognized immediately and so was the Playstation Eye. Both a USB-dongle full-size wireless keyboard, a USB-connected wired keyboard and Sony’s own Bluetooth mini-keyboard worked as expected. I was able to upload pictures, videos and music from a USB thumb drive and a USB-connected SATA 2.5″ hard disk and play them in the same way I do it on my own PS3. The person who allowed me the test drive suggested that I do not sign into the PSN but I have no doubt that the Slim behaves exactly like its predecessors on the PSN, running HOME or while browsing the Net.

The Slim has the exact same ports in the back, the same buttons in front – albeit ‘push’ buttons instead of the ‘touch’ buttons, the same 2 USB ports, comes with the same Dualshock 3 controller, USB cable and Composite AV cable accessories.

The older PS3s weren’t particularly noisy but the Slim seems to be more quiet and, after several hours of play, it didn’t get as warm as my Classic. The ONLY 2 USB ports bother me a little because I brought along the Eye, a USB-wired HDD, a USB keyboard and a dongle-based wireless keyboard. That meant that I had to do a lot of plugging and unplugging when testing. In real life, it’s not so convenient to charge a controller and access more than one USB-connected peripheral. There are third party generic USB hubs (ugly) or PS3-specific port extenders and media hubs that could be used to increase the number of USB ports and bring back the media card slots.

My overall impression of the Slim is “nothing new” at least on surface. The “cooler, quieter, smaller, more energy efficient” you don’t notice while playing a game or watching a movie. The really great news about the Slim is that so many more will be able to afford it and, with a larger user base, more developers will feel more strongly motivated to publish more, better games that all of us will enjoy.

THE SLIM (PS3) vs. THE ‘XBOX 360 ELITE FALL 2009′

This is not meant to be a ‘fan’ statement. I don’t own a Wii but I do own an Xbox 360 so I will be able to discuss PS3 Slim vs. Xbox 360 Elite and, hopefully, it may help a little those undecided between the two or those thinking about getting a PS3 as a second gaming console. Please be aware that, even though I own both consoles and I try to be as objective as possible, I do tend to favor the PS3.

Parity

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- Storage: 120 GB on both systems

- CD, DVD playback: both

- Bluetooth/IR: Bluetooth included with PS3, Infrared remote for Xbox

- Community: PSN/Home memberships are free, Xbox Live includes free Silver membership and one-month Gold subscription, paid thereafter

Advantage PS3 Slim

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- Blu-ray: PS3 only. Blu-ray disks aren’t used for HD movie playback but to deliver games as well. Since they store several times more data than a DVD disk, PS3 games can be ‘bigger’ and be still delivered on one disk, eliminating the need for swapping during gameplay.

- WiFi: included with PS3, available as an add-on for Xbox.

- HDMI 1.3a on PS3 (more vivid colors, better sound) vs. HDMI 1.2 on Xbox

- Controller: wireless on both systems, rumble on both, PS3’s only is motion sensitive, rechargeable batteries built into PS3’s, Xbox rechargeable battery packs available for purchase.

- Integration with a handheld device: PS3 integrates with the PSP, the Xbox offers Zune integration. I would call it ‘advantage PS3′ because the Zune integration is limited to file transfers.

- Internal power supply: yes for the Slim, a large external ‘brick’ for the Xbox.

- Ability to upgrade the Hard Disk: the PS3 could use any cheap 2.5″ SATA on the market (a 500GB can be had for at the time of this writing and the existing PS3 disk can be recycled to upgrade a laptop or as external storage) without voiding the warranty. I am not aware Xbox HDD upgrades beyond 120GB but, judging by the 120GB upgrade HDD for the smaller models, they are likely to be proprietary, more expensive solutions.

- Slim comes with USB, Ethernet and Composite cables, Xbox has only Composite in the box.

Advantage Xbox 360 Elite Fall 2009

———————————-

- Headset: not included with PS3 but any Bluetooth device will work, wired headset included with Xbox Elite.

- Ethernet: PS3 supports Gigabit Ethernet, Xbox is limited to 100BASET-T.

- USB ports: Xbox comes with 3, Slim has only 2.

It seems that a PS3 Slim can be brought to parity with the Xbox 360 Elite by purchasing a Bluetooth headset (possibly for less than and that would make the PS3 a superior choice since the Xbox headset is wired to the controller. For the amount, the PS3 will match and surpass Xbox feature for feature if we don’t factor in exclusive Xbox games or unique Xbox Live features.

To bring the Xbox 360 Elite to parity with the PS3 one would need: a WiFi adapter () and rechargeable batteries (). I will not add the various cables to the list because, depending on setup, they may or may not be needed and PS3’s Gigabit Ethernet is not likely to make a difference in anyone’s gaming or movie streaming at this time. would bring the Xbox closer to the PS3 but the Xbox won’t support Blu-ray, does not have a motion sensitive controller, can’t function without an external power supply and, Zune withstanding, it does not integrate with a hand-held gaming device. In addition, continuing the Xbox Live Gold beyond the initial month would be another -50 per year for the life of the Elite.

I chose not to factor in the quality of available software because it’s impossible to be even remotely objective when it comes to judge Sony’s exclusives vs. Xbox exclusives. My guess is that, in the end, those who must have Halo will buy a Microsoft Xbox regardless of cost or other features and those who fall in love with Little Big Planet or Uncharted have no choice but a Sony PS3. The general consensus is that, at this time, the PS3 has the superior hardware (see above) while the Xbox has an advantage in exclusive titles and some exclusive content. In addition, many multiplatform games are developed on the Xbox first and then ported to the PS3. That can make the Xbox versions appear to be superior and, more importantly, the PS3 versions do not always take full advantage of PS3s superior hardware. This seems to be less the case as developers are becoming more familiar with the PS3 platform – the software gap, if there is one at this time, it is closing fast.

ESSENTIAL ADD-ONS AND ACCESSORIES

For those who decided that the PS3 Slim is what they wanted, the list below may help them budget for the extra purchases they may want to consider. There are surprisingly few extra a PS3 REALLY needs and I listed them in order from what I view as the more to the less important or needed. Those at the top are, in my view, more ‘essential’ than the ones at the bottom, but with the exception of the HDMI cable which is a must have for an HD TV set, you could easily do without the rest or get them later if you really feel that you want them.

- HDMI CABLE – It’s a must for anyone who already has an HD TV. It’s not included in the box and I am not going to provide a link because there are dozens of vendors at Amazon, competing and that’s a good thing because one can be had for only a few dollars. Just make sure it’s HDMI 1.3. A ‘High-Speed’ rating is not necessarily a plus if the cable you need is only 3 ft. or 6 ft. long. All HDMI 1.3 cables should be High-Speed rated and only High-Speed cables support 1080p resolutions. At these lengths, paying a premium for ‘quality’ can’t be justified because the odds for the digital signal to be misinterpreted are close to non-existent.

- REMOTE CONTROL – Unless your HD TV supports CEC (Consumer Electronics Control) which allows for the user to command and control multiple CEC-enabled boxes with one remote control and for CEC capable devices to command and control each other, Sony PlayStation 3 Blu-ray Disc Remote could make the operation of the PS3 a lot easier when you are not playing a game. It’s optimized for movie viewing but XMB navigation, running slide shows and shopping at the PSN store are easier with the remote control because it does not need two hands to be operated. In fact, it can be operated with one thumb.

- WIRELESS HEADSET – This is the one important component that the Elite bundle includes (theirs is wired) and the PS3 does not. Any Bluetooth headset would do which is why I am not going to insert a link to Sony’s product or to anyone else’s.

- SECOND DUALSHOCK 3 CONTROLLER – Even if you play solo only, a second controller may be charging while the other is in use.

- USB PORT EXTENDER – Again, there are many competing offers. I would prefer one where the ports are powered. Some singing games may come with their own extenders.

- PS3 EYE CAMERA – This is not exactly a ‘must have’ but it’s definitely a ‘very nice to have’ as the Eye is not only a camera but also a stereo microphone – depending on your needs, it may eliminate the need for a headset. I obtained mine cheaply, with a used copy of Eye of Judgment. If you decide to go that route, be VERY careful and ensure that the camera is indeed included before your order.

- MEDIA CARD READERS – They would plug into a USB port and will allow your PS3 to read/write to Media/Multimedia/Secure Digital, Memory Stick (PRO), Compact Flash, or XD Picture cards. They can be had for anything from to .

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Note 1: MY OWN BIAS

We own a ‘Classic’ 60GB PS3, currently upgraded to 320GB, DualShock 3 and complemented with various peripherals: PS3 Eye, Logitech Driving Force GT Racing Wheel, Bluetooth keyboard attachment, headset… etc. We also own an Xbox 360 Elite, 3 PSP 3000’s (got 3 kids) and a second-hand DS. We used to have a PS2 but we sold it shortly after purchasing the PS3. I’ve helped several of my neighbors purchase, install and upgrade their own PS3’s. I am posting this review because I had the opportunity to test drive a PS3 Slim for several hours a couple of nights before the official launch – someone I know works at a store that sells gaming consoles.

Speaking for myself only, I tend to favor the PS3 for several reasons and here they are:

- WiFi – This is a major convenience for me. I hate ‘wires’ and the PS3 has the WiFi built in and it’s VERY easy to set up.

- Blu-ray – I was an early adopter and I haven’t bought ‘new’ DVDs in more than a year. Having the PS3 doubling up as a Blu-ray player is another major convenience for me.

- HDD Storage upgrade – I don’t believe that 120GB is sufficient these days and our console has exceeded the 120GB threshold already after lots of downloaded games and movies and transferring thousands of photos and songs to it. A PS3 can be easily and inexpensively upgraded to 500GB today and this is a big plus.

- Little Big Planet – It’s a Sony exclusive and my kids just love this game. They would probably run away and resettle with a family that has LBP if I got rid of the PS3.

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Note 2: THE SLIM’S SPECS AND FEATURES

- 45nm, 7-core Cell processor CPU

- RSX – Based on NV47 Chip (Nvidia GeForce 7800 Architecture) for graphics

- Updated HDMI chipset (bitstreams hi-res DTS-HD, TrueHD)

- 256MB XDR Main RAM and 256MB GDDR3 VRAM memory

- 120GB Hard disk – 2.5″ SATA – can be replaced with any 2.5″ SATA and a compatible 500GB HDD can be had for about at the time I write this review

- Blu-ray 2.0 player (possibly still the best) that also plays DVDs and CDs

- Ethernet 10/100/1000Base-T wired networking

- WiFi 802.11 b/g (from 10 Mbps up to 54 Mbps) – wireless networking I couldn’t live without

- Bluetooth 2.0 for game controller, headsets, keyboards and so on

- Video resolution up to 1080p

- Audio supported: LPCM 7.1, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS, DTS-HD, AAC

- Other outputs: HDMI, Optical, Composite AV

- Other I/O: 2 High-speed USB 2.0 ports

- Power: dual 120/240V

- Power consumption: 250W

- Weight: about 7 lbs.

- Dimensions: about 12″ x 2.5″ x 12″ (my measurements)

- Included controller: DUALSHOCK 3

- Included cables: USB and Composite AV, power chord

Additional features:

- Displays JPEG stills.

- Multi-featured, surprisingly good slide show functionality.

- Plays MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4/h.264 videos.

- Bitstreams DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD to receiver

- Upconverts DVDs to 1080p over HDMI

- XMB in-game access.

- In-game and off-game text and voice chat (headset, keyboard or Eye are needed).

- Video chat with up to six people (PlayStation Eye is required)

- Can discover media servers on the home network and stream content from any DLNA-compliant device.

- Web browser (still has some usability and compatibility issues) but plays YouTube well.

- Google Web search.

- Remote play on a PSP connected to any wireless access point – play music, videos, show pics, turn on the PS3 remotely if on stand-by

- Upload PSP games purchased from the PSN Store to the PSP.

- Online software updates improve PS3 functionality and keep the Blu-ray player features current.

- Online third party updates.

- Online gameplay.

- Download and play PS3 games and demos from the PSN store.

- Download and play PSOne games.

- Download and play movies and shows from the PSN store.

- Supports HDMI Consumer Electronic Control (HDMI-CEC) – control the Slim through the remote of any CEC-enabled TV such as a Bravia.

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Note 3: HDD UPGRADE

If you are on the upgrade path, less than would buy you a 500GB drive. The one that I tested would be the 500GB Scorpio Blue Mobile Sata 5400RPM 8MB 2.5IN which replaced my laptop’s 60GB drive and a friend’s 80GB PS3 HDD. The nice thing about upgrading your disk is that you are also going to be left with a perfectly good 80GB or 0GB or 120GB 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. After I upgraded my own console to 320Gb, I used the free leftover drive as a backup device for family photos.

Review by Alric Knebel:

Let me start out by saying that I’m currently 56 years old and everything I know about video game consoles can fit on a fingernail clipping. A couple of years ago, my companion bought me a PS2, because she had recalled my mentioning in passing (after seeing advertisements for some pretty interesting sci-fi-themed games) that I was curious about what’s going on in that medium. The game technology seemed to have progressed light years since I last paid attention, sometime in the late 80s, early 90s, which went something like this: you start out with some objective, and then the game play steadily quickens until you eventually lose against the computer. It was very dull. After she bought me the PS2, the only game I bought was Grand Tourismo 4 (she had given me with the console itself Superman Returns, but I didn’t like it), with which I relaxed by racing the realistically rendered cars around some impressively detailed tracks, but never getting into the more sophisticated levels of the game. Then about four months ago, my son lent me Resident Evil 4. Of course, you gamers know this was a benchmark in game development, and can understand why I became completely immersed in it. It was truly a creepy experience. You weren’t just WATCHING a horror movie; you were IN it. Here I was, at my age, suddenly finding myself lost for literally hours a day — one weekend, twenty hours straight; my body ached — then thinking about the game when I wasn’t playing it, looking forward to the moment I could resume the story. After I beat it, I went through it three more times. Then I bought God of War II, quite by accident (I selected it for the price, a mere ), unaware that this, too, was a hit game, and another benchmark. The graphics were so good, so stunning, so grand and sweeping, I played it six times. Again, hours seemed like minutes; I’d simply lose time. I was now addicted, and taking into account how good a PS2 was, I figured that the PS3 — with its Blu-ray technology — had to be out-of-this-world incredible. Four weeks ago, I bought this PS3 slim, and it has given me enjoyment that made it worth every penny, and then some.

I can’t speak to the technical specifications of the PS3, or how it compares to other consoles. I’m writing instead to other middle-aged customers who might have stumbled on this page, perhaps shopping for some young relative — son or daughter; niece or nephew; or grandchild — to suggest that you should consider buying one of these babies for yourself. This is one powerful piece of entertainment technology. Not only does it exceed my expectations as a game console, it’s also a BD player, and using the WiFi connection, it permits access to the PlayStation Store, for free demos and exclusive content; plus BD live material, and downloading movies and TV episodes; and you can import your CDs to the PS3’s hard drive, to create playlists or just randomize the tracks for playback. It’s become a virtual media center for me.

And the game play? Oh, man. The PS3 advances even further the features that make gaming so addictive. To those of you who snuff that it’s a juvenile waste of time, I suggest you ask yourself, is it any different from watching sitcoms or reality TV? A video game requires you to REACT, to THINK, to ANALYZE. That is NOT overstating the stimulative benefits. While they are in fact merely games, game-play itself is a complete immersion in an experience, while requiring good hand-eye coordination and some mental agility. All the games I’ve played so far included puzzles as part of the story, and it’s a very satisfying feeling when you finally solve a particularly challenging one.

If the middle-aged shopper I’m imagining I’m writing to is inclined to wonder if all that tapping on those buttons in specific patterns is difficult to learn, this is my honest answer: At first, yes, it is. But eventually your fingers learn what button is where, and it becomes second nature, like typing. To those even older, it’s recommended by doctors that as you age, you need new stimuli to keep your acuity. You won’t find a more fun way to do so than this. Ignore your previous misconception that video games are for teenagers. An article in USA TODAY from 2004 stated that “. . . the average age of game players was 29 and the average age of buyers was 36, with men making up 59% of the playing audience.” So you can add about five years to those figures, making the average age of video game BUYERS about 40. I have spent untold hours on my PS3, and connected to my 47″ HDTV, it’s the ultimate entertainment. The graphics are sharp and clear, movement of characters is realistic, making it even easier to get totally engaged in the environments. I just finished Batman: Arkham Asylum, a great game with easily mastered moves, some tough puzzles, and a very dark, decayed ambiance.

True gamers who are reading this are probably chuckling right now, because this is all pretty much a no-duh to them. Well, let me offer a hardy THANK YOU for supporting the industry with enough of your dollars to permit it to advance as an entertainment medium in such awesome bounds. This is the next step toward the future of the ultimate video game experience. Oh, what will the technology deliver? A virtual reality, perhaps?

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Review by A. Dent:

< BEGIN REVIEW >

Briefly, the PS3-250 is the exact original PS3 ‘Slim’ with a twice as large hard disk.

I had the opportunity to actually see and use a PS3-250 on the Sunday prior to its launch. As I expected, the only difference between the ps3-250 and the PS3-120 is the larger disk with everything else the same. Many reviews of the PS3-120 are HERE.

< END OF REVIEW >

Once the decision was made to get a PS3, 2 important questions might be:

- Which model to buy? PS3-120 or PS3-250?

- To upgrade or not to upgrade to a 500/640GB PS3?

Based on personal experience and the experience of other PS3 owners that I know, the options are the following – remember, these are my views:

PS3-120, no upgrade

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Buy a PS3-120 and do not upgrade if you use it mainly to play movies and you rarely download games from the PSN store. It will take you very far and it should have sufficient room for storing thousands of pictures and a lot of music besides it playing Blu-ray content and CDs.

I found that 120GB would not be enough for me. After a couple of years of use, with a few downloaded games, many more demos, lots of pictures and songs and some videos the kids made with the PS3 Eye we’ve breached the 120GB threshold. I would not worry about that if all I wanted was one of the better Blu-ray players. In addition, anybody comfortable with backing up/restoring the PS3 and upgrading the disk can postpone the upgrade step for later.

PS3-250, no upgrade

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Buy a PS3-250 and do not upgrade if you do plan to download a few movies and games but not a lot of them AND/or you don’t feel comfortable with upgrading your PS3 yourself.

Anyone who is not an almost-exclusive movie viewer and doesn’t want to mess with screws and OEM disks should buy the PS3-250. It should have enough capacity to last for quite a few years with good disk space management (delete the demos and downloads you no longer need).

PS3-120 upgrade to 500/640GB

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Buy a PS3-120 and upgrade it to 500/640GB IF you don’t mind swapping the PS3’s disk. You get to upgrade your PS3-120 to quadruple capacity for very little expense and probably for less than a PS3-250 would cost you (see next paragraph). This should buy you peace of mind for the rest of your PS3’s lifespan.

Keep in mind that a 500GB HDD such as the 500GB Scorpio Blue Mobile Sata 5400RPM 8MB 2.5IN or the Western Digital 640 GB SATA OEM Notebook Hard Drive WD6400BEVT (Scorpio Blue) if you don’t mind the extra expense can be had for about 90 dollars at the time I am writing this. That would make a 500GB upgraded PS3-120 appear a little more expensive than the PS3-250 BUT you are left with a brand-new 120GB HDD (the drive originally in the PS3) when you are done and you can either sell it or use it as an external USB-powered backup drive or maybe to upgrade your laptop’s drive. This would effectively set the price of the 500GB upgraded console to match that of the PS3-250.

There are many online guides that detail the process. I will post a couple URL’s in a comment to this review.

PS3-250 upgrade to 500/640GB (not recommended)

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Do NOT buy a PS3-250 if you are planning to upgrade it to 500/640GB unless you really need a spare 250GB external HDD instead of a spare 120GB HDD and think that the price difference is worth the larger spare drive.

EVALUATION

The PS3-250 while not for everyone, deserves its 5 stars. In my view, there is enough value added by doubling the storage capacity to justify the price difference over the PS3-120.

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NOTE: If you want to upgrade you are better off if you upgrade immediately.

This way you avoid the backup/restore hassles and therefore greatly simplify the process. I would include the upgrade HDD on the same order with the new PS3 and maybe add a HDD enclosure if planning to use the drive I removed from the PS3 as an external drive.

Review by J. Gary:

I had no idea which unit to buy, the 120 or the 250 GB Playstation 3. I ended up with the 250 out of fear that the 120 would leave me desiring more space later. If you don’t know anything, here is what I see so far. On the Playstation network, you can download game demos and marketing videos for games free. I haven’t found myself doing this a lot yet. Of course, you can also delete them easily after you watch them.

Most playable games even old ones cost to download so I have decided to just buy a couple of the popular ones and am hooked on those and the stunning DVD and Blu Ray movie quality for now. You are not going to be able to download games like Modern Warefare 2 to your hard drive from the PS network that I can see. WHen you buy a game at the store or here on amazon in disc format, you have to install it first. This may take some hard drive space. So far, one game I have takes nearly 3 GB and another takes up less than 1 GB but the games also called for an update download which I don’t know how much space that took. At this rate, you could install maybe 100 store bought disc format games.

Playing movies on disc doesn’t seem to take hard drive space. You can download movies from the Playstation network. If you do much of this, I image you’ll need more space but the movies I was interested in cost the same amount to buy from amazon or wal-mart as to download so if you can wait to go to the store or recieve a package, you don’t need to download it. You can rent movies also. I imagine this is a download that is disabled after a time period or after it is viewed or something. You can also download TV shows like “The Office” for an eposode. If you want to do a lot of that, maybe the bigger HD is a good idea.

I am thinking you would do well with just the 120GB unless you know you are going to make a collection of movies and TV shows and low priced downloadable games on your Playstation.

You can also save photos on the Playstation as well as video. If this is part of your plan, well again more space may help. The PS3 has USB ports where I believe you could load photos and home movies from to view on your TV.

You can also access your applications on the www like facebook.

Bare in mind that there are a lot of folkes out there with older PS3’s that have only 40 and 80 GB drives who love their playstation and don’t feel the need for the 250 GB drive.

I don’t feel upset that I spent the extra to get the larger drive because it might be useful later, but if I knew then what I know now, I would have been comfortable buying the 120 for my purposes which is playing a small number of games (not a small amount of time, just a small number of games because they cost a lot) and watching some Blu Ray movies.

If you still find it hard to make a decision, ask yourself if you want to spend more money because both models are the same except the HD size which you can upgrade later. By the time you buy the unit, HD cable, a game, maybe another controller and remote control for Blu Ray, you’ll be in deep on the expense and maybe another isn’t acceptable.

It is a very good and fun product. After I spent all the money on what I needed, I debated on hooking it up or sending it back because it was a lot of money; I’m very glad I hooked it up and delt with the expense. It is everything I hoped.

Review by A. Dent:

I did not think I needed yet another remote control because I thought the six-axis had everything it needed for movie playing on the PS3 and, yet, I bought one. There were 2 initial reasons:

- my wife was missing a ‘magic wand’ shaped remote for playing movies

- Amazon had it at a great price in one of them lightning deals

I ended up using it myself and, in fact, using it for more than just movie playing – see below.

But, let’s do a quick inventory of features:

= It’s blue-tooth enabled and, therefore, it’s not taking any ports on your PS3. This is probably important for anyone who has a “2-USB ports console”.

= It’s wand-shaped, allowing the non-gamers to control their movie-watching activities while holding a familiar-shaped device in their hand.

= It maps ALL the six-axis buttons and performs everything a six-axis would do, except for the joystick features of R3 and L3 (but you do have the push-down or ‘click’ abilities for them).

= 2 AA battery powered (still with the original Sony batteries after 4 months of use)

= Includes additional buttons that the movie-only users would expect on a remote such as:

+ a number pad

+ eject

+ red, green, blue, yellow buttons

+ play, stop, pause

+ slow(step), scan(left/right), prev/next

+ display, top menu, pop up menu, return

+ subtitles, angle, audio

What is interesting about this remote is that you can use it for much more than movie-playing. Given that it has all the six-axis buttons, guess what? You can use it, and I do use it to:

- surf the web

- play music

- shop at the PSN store

- play certain games such as Sudoku

- turn the PS3 on/off when your six-axis controllers are in the charger and I am playing GT5 that is using a racing wheel

And, yes, you CAN turn the PS3 on and off with this remote. Turning it on is easy – you simply press the PlayStation button and the PS3 turns itself on. To turn it off, you either go as far to the left on the X-bar and all the way up and press Enter (the turn-off PlayStation icon will be highlighted) or you simply hold the PlayStation button pressed for a few seconds and then select ‘yes’ and press the X button a couple of times.

Overall: I am happy with this peripheral. Yes, it’s one more remote control but it’s a pretty good one, for the reasons I stated above.

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Notes – Aug 29, 2009, after 16 months of use

I find that I’m using the remote more and more, not only for playing movies but for navigating the XMB and at the PSN Store, also when playing music or slideshows. Due to its very convenient arrows wheel with an ‘enter’ button in the middle, navigating the PS3 and doing just about anything other than playing games is a lot easier than using the PS3 game controller. Unlike the controller which normally requires two hands to hold, this is basically a one-hand operation where you hold the remote in one hand and operate the wheel with your thumb. And because it’s Bluetooth, not IR (Infrared), you don’t even need to point it at the PS3.

And, one word on battery life. After about 15-16 months of operation, this is probably the third set of batteries so I’d estimate battery life to be about 4-6 months. Not too bad.

Review by Lisa Shea:

Most PS3 owners enjoy not only the gaming abilities of their system, but also the built in Blu-Ray DVD player. The Sony remote control accessory lets you play those movies with great ease.

The remote combines the regular buttons of our other DVD players with the funky look of the PS3. You have a red, green, blue and yellow button – labelled with their color names! You also get a circle, X, square and triangle to do a few things like brinigng up the options and back choices.

The main buttons – play, stop, forward, back – are laid out reasonably nicely at the bottom of the remote with large buttons. There are small buttons up on top for the number keys, and a very tiny eject button.

Missing completely is a power button!! You have to hit the PS button in the center and go through the regular PS3 menus to get the power to turn off. In fact, while I was writing this review, I accidentally hit a button on the remote and the PS3 turned on. We were watching regular TV, so now I have to wait until our show is over, switch over to the PS3 and use the buttons to turn the system back off again. That doesn’t make much sense at all to me.

Also, on our Oppo DVD remote, the buttons glow which makes it REALLY nice to use in the dark or dim light that most people watch movies in. This unit is completely black with black buttons. This makes it pretty much useless in low light conditions until you memorize all of the button locations. You would think by now that remote control makers would have their buttons backlit or at least glow-in-the-dark to handle this.

The unit takes two AA batteries which makes it a bit heavy, but certainly within the normal range of remotes.

It’s easy enough to sync up the remote with the PS3. It’s bluetooth powered, so you go into the PS3 menu and use the options there to indicate you have a new remote. Note that the base level PS3 will not handle this – you have to have a connection to the internet from your PS3 and run an update routine. If you don’t have an internet connection for your PS3, you have to create an update CD on your PC to do this update.

Well recommended – but it really could be much better to be great.

Review by The Matrix Fan:

Well folks, now that the dust has settled from the Sony vs. Immersion lawsuit, Playstation 3 owners are finally able to feel the vibe again!

I purchased this controller today and I knew the only way to properly road-test it was on the game that made the Dualshock famous, Metal Gear Solid. After booting up the game, I walked down the hallway and got spotted by a guard. As he shouted, “WHO’S THAT?” the controller jumped in my hand – and I knew this was a smart purchase. As the guards shot at me, I felt the feedback of the bullets, just as I had 10 years ago on my Sony Playstation.

I picked out another old school Playstation game, Tenchu: Stealth Assassins. From Ayame’s blades to Rikimaru’s sword, each sword swipe and jump had excellent feedback.

Okay, so my Playstation games worked out. But what about my Playstation 2 library?

I popped in God of War, knowing I had to feel the swing of the Blades of Chaos. The controller vibrations felt a little lighter here, but the vibrations still occurred at the appropriate times.

Then I chose Incredible Hulk Ultimate Destruction. Who better to test a vibration controller than the Sultan of Smash? All the power jumps and smashes had the vibrations intact, but they still felt a little on the light side.

All right, so far I was two for two with my Playstation and Playstation 2 test subjects. But what about my Playstation 3 games? Could I possibly hit a trifecta?

I put in Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and I decided to jump right into a heated firefight. The controller gave me feedback while shooting weapons and getting hit by enemy fire, but I knew my purchase was justified when Drake was near death: I FELT THE DUALSHOCK 3 PULSING IN SYNCH WITH DRAKE’S HEARTBEAT. It’s one thing to hear that noise and know he’s near death, it’s quite another to feel the pulse in my own hands.

Okay, so the feedback on the older games was there, but a little lighter than I remember. The reason? Well, when I decided to go wireless on my Playstation 2 system, I bought a Logitec Dualshock controller. It turns out, that controller takes two “AA” batteries, and the vibration motors inside the controller handles are slightly larger than the ones in the Dualshock 3. That’s where I felt the difference.

The Dualshock 3 vibrations may be slightly less than the Logitec controller, but it doesn’t require the purchase of batteries.

The Dualshock 3 may be slightly heavier than the SixAxis, but it doesn’t take up any extra space at all.

Sure, the price is about more than the SixAxis, but it’s a worthy upgrade for the Playstation 3 gamer who kicks it old school as well as new school. The only other drawback is the lack of an additional USB cable – but we can use the one that came with the system itself.

So what’s the final verdict?

Order it, plug it in, charge it up, and get ready for the inevitable downloads from the Playstation Store to make the older PS3 games Dualshock 3 compatible.

I wouldn’t recommend a feedback peripheral without providing my own feedback…

Enjoy!

Review by Sebastian Fernandez:

I was already extremely happy with the Sixaxis controller, but I could not resist getting the DualShock 3. Not only do you get the rumble, but also, it feels much better in your hands, even for those games that do not use this feature. The rumble function is fun, but on top of that, it helps with gameplay, because “feeling” what is happening provides a lot more feedback than just watching how your character or car reacts to the environment.

The biggest surprise of all was that the rumble works with PS 2 games in the PS 3 system. I am currently playing through “God of War”, a game which had the rumble capability in PS 2. I thought that it was unlikely that I was going to get this feature with this new controller in the PS 3, but it worked perfectly.

I know that having to buy a new controller and basically discard the one that came with the system is not the ideal situation, but I have to say this product is really worth shedding the extra bucks.

Review by Bradford Schmidt:

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 9 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 0. 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.)

Review by John Schinter:

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………

Review by Joseph Roberts:

These cables are an excellent deal and meet all of the relevant specifications that will allow you to get maximum throughput from 1080p equipment.

Don’t believe those that claim all HDMI cables are the same. They are not all the same and those that claim they are have unfortunately been misled. While I am the last person to suggest going out and overpaying for an expensive retail brand, I would definitely recommend being a little careful not to use a cable that has the potential to degrade the picture on your new HD equipment. It is even more critical for PS3 gamers because of the deep color capabilities of PS3.

Fortunately for us, HDMI.org has made separating the good cables from the best cables very simple.

According to the HDMI website, Category 2 cables are required not only to guarantee 1080P FullHD but also for high refresh rates and deep color.

The following was cut and pasted from the HDMI.org website:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Q. What is the difference between a “Standard” HDMI cable and a “High-Speed” HDMI cable?

Recently, HDMI Licensing, LLC announced that cables would be tested as Standard or High-Speed cables.

Standard (or “category 1″) cables have been tested to perform at speeds of 75Mhz, which is the equivalent of a 1080i signal.

High Speed (or “category 2″) cables have been tested to perform at speeds of 340Mhz, which is the highest bandwidth currently available over an HDMI cable and can successfully handle 1080p signals including those at increased color depths and/or increased refresh rates. High-Speed cables are also able to accommodate higher resolution displays, such as WQXGA cinema monitors (resolution of 2560 x 1600).

…………………………………………………

Q. Will my Standard cable work in High Speed applications?

Although a Standard HDMI cable may not have been tested to support the higher bandwidth requirements of cables rated to support high speeds, existing cables, especially ones of shorter lengths (i.e., less than 2 meters), will generally perform adequately in higher speed situations. The quality of the HDMI receiver chip (in the TV, for example) has a large effect on the ability to cleanly recover and display the HDMI signal. A significant majority, perhaps all, of the HDMI TVs and projectors that support 1080p on the HDMI inputs are designed with quality receiver chips that may cleanly recover the 1080p HDMI signal using a Standard-rated HDMI cable. These receiver chips use technology called “cable equalization” in order to counter the signal reduction (attenuation) caused by a cable. We have seen successful demonstrations of 1080p signal runs on a >50 ft. cable, and a 720p signal run on a >75 ft. cable. However, the only way to guarantee that your cable will perform at higher speeds is to purchase a cable that has been tested at the higher speeds and labeled as “High-Speed.”

…………………………………………………

Q. What are the technical and branding requirements for cables?

As part of the new Trademark and Logo Usage Guidelines, cables will be labeled as either Standard or High Speed.

1.Standard cables (referred to as Category 1 cables in the HDMI specification) are those tested to perform at speeds of 75Mhz, which is the equivalent of an uncompressed 1080i signal.

2.High Speed cables (referred to as Category 2 cables in the HDMI specification), are those tested to perform at speeds of 340Mhz, which is the highest bandwidth currently available over an HDMI cable and can successfully handle 1080p signals including those at increased color depths (e.g. greater than eight bits per color) and/or increased refresh rates (e.g. 120Hz). High Speed cables are also able to accommodate higher resolution displays, such as those at the latest 1440p and WQXGA resolutions (e.g. cinema monitors with a resolution of 2560 x 1600).

While many cables that are branded as Standard cables will work at higher speeds (especially at cable lengths of less than five meters), to guarantee performance, consumers should purchase a cable that is tested and rated for the specific speed required by their system.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There you have it. Word for word from the official HDMI website.

In summary, any certified HDMI cable will “generally” work fine, but use Category 2 rated cables if you want guaranteed 1080p throughput.

Mediabridge is a quality cable that meets the higher standards of Category 2. And this pricing is exceptionally good for this quality cable. There are certainly other cables around that meet this standard as well. But basically, Mediabridge is offering a high quality cable at a great price here.

Review by Tony:

These cables worked great for me…I’m getting 1080p@24hz no problem. My setup is a Samsung 52″ LCD TV (LN52A650) and a Playstation 3. Save yourself a whole lot of money and don’t get ripped off buying “Monster” or any other overpriced HDMI cable. Order processing, USPS shipping, and receipt in Texas was lightling fast(7 days). Order 2 while you’re at it…someday you’ll need another one!

Review by Sky:

Just like its most recent predecessors, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: World at War, the campaign portion of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a really fun game with extremely intense battle sequences. The downfall is that it’s very very short. So let me start by saying that if you’re not set up to, or you just don’t intend to, play the online co-op or multiplayer modes, you really want to think twice before paying full price for this game. Single players either need to rent this or wait for an inexpensive used copy to go on sale.

So you get three game options: Special Ops (online isn’t necessary, but at least two players are required for some of the missions), Multiplayer (designed to be played online; this is no fun split-screen with a max of 4 players), and the single player Campaign that took me less than 6 hours to finish.

In single player Campaign mode, you’re a first person shooter (soldier) on the frontlines, and this time the frontlines aren’t limited to overseas territories. Primarily you’re playing separate, interlacing missions all over the world as two different characters. The story takes place several years after CoD 4 ended. And just as in CoD 4 you’re with a team of characters that are truly your band of Artificial Intelligence brothers. On easier settings the AI soldiers can do practically all of the work for you on some missions; the help you might get from your team is based on the difficulty setting you’ve chosen. So unless you want to just glide through the game, definitely don’t pick the Recruit difficulty (the other difficulty options are Regular, Hardened and Vet).

I could take away a star from the overall score of this game for how short the single player mode is, but I won’t….All of a sudden it’s not so short when you go back and try to play on the Vet setting and spend the time looking for all of the Intel items.

You arrive in single player boot camp just like in all of the previous CoDs, and you get a brief tutorial on how to maneuver around, shoot your weapons & throw grenades. After boot camp you get to choose the difficulty setting, then you’re immediately strewn into various battles. (Once you’ve completed the game on any setting you can go back to various chapters to clean up any items or trophies missed, and at the start of each chapter you can choose to attempt on the higher difficulties.)

You fight your way through some intense chapters….really intense. In fact, when you first start off, there’s even a warning that you’ll be in for some VERY disturbing sequences, and you have the option to tell the game to skip “offensive material”. Ummm…no thanks. I think that this is the first game that I’ve played that offers the option to censor itself if you choose the option. The story is a bit choppy at times, but the battles are wild. The graphics are out of this world, and some of the “familiar territory” scenes will just blow you away with how much it really looks like your own back yard.

The weapons are plentiful and sophisticated. You’re shooting whichever modern-day weapon you happen to have picked up along your objective route. Objectives that guide you along are updated regularly as you complete each task throughout each chapter. And some of those tasks are brutal. There are frequent checkpoints (I think I remember even reaching new checkpoints without firing a single shot) in the campaign, so no need to worry about respawning back before what seemed to take an eternity to complete. On the other hand….

….There is the Special Ops portion of the game. I think that there are 23 different missions for you here, and you can play each one by trying to earn 1, 2 or 3 stars in each mission. Some of these are darn hard, especially the final 3-star unlocks. You will be frustrated by playing some of these a few times before you beat the levels to earn your stars. And there are no checkpoints in these missions, so if you fail in the final moments of a mission, you start over from the beginning of that mission.

Special Ops is most fun with a partner. It’s best online so that you get to play full screen, but if you have a guest over you can play split screen offline. For all you World at War players looking for Zombies, you’re out of luck here. You get Special Ops instead. There was a silly rumor that MW2 would have an “Alien Invaders” mode that would rival the Zombie mode of WaW, but that indeed was just a silly rumor.

Online Multiplayer is where you’ll get addicted. No AI brothers here…just your fellow gamers. You’d better have your FPS skills honed if you think that you’ll score better than some of the MW2 online players. A very high percentage of the online players have been honing their skills online for years now with CoD4 and World at War.

The concept with Multiplayer is certainly not new. The more you play, the higher you rank allowing you to unlock more (fine tuned) weapons. The game sets you up in matches with people at your level and rank, but that ain’t gonna help you if you’re new (you will be fondly referred to as a noob by your swell fellow online players) and you’re up against the CoD4 or WaW vets.

What makes MW2 Multiplayer more than just a new map pack for CoD4 is that the Multiplayer weapons and perk system are vastly improved. And so is connectivity (so it seems in the initial week of play after a few day one and two glitches). You get 10 times the amount of points for the kills and captures that you’re used to getting only 5 or 10 points for in CoD4 and WaW. You also now get points for not just killing and capturing, but for taking out enemy air support, coming back from deathstreaks, killing your nemesis, breaking an enemy’s streak and other stuff. Yeah, Multiplayer is good fun, habitual and bad for a marriage.

So all in all Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is major fun. The only drawbacks to this awesome game are that the campaign is really short and the multiplayer action is a bit familiar. But the MW2 Multiplayer improvements over its predecessors far out weigh the familiarity.

Modern Warfare 2 is a must for FPS fans. Add it to your cart, soldier!

Review by J. J. Marino:

My Experience:

Being I am an OG, from the 70’s my reaction times are slowing down and I know it. I actually enjoy the campaign modes in these games. Which is why I am giving it a 2 star. I am sure people will blast me because the MULTIPLAYER IS WHERE ITS AT MAN!!! OMGWTROXXORZ.!11. I agree that the multiplayer can be fun, but this is a review of the game as it stands.

Campaign Mode: ***** 5 star

First off the campaign mode. The graphics and scenes are so absolutely beautiful I would give this a 5 star hands down, it is what brought this title up from a 1 star. From the basic places like the airport in the mountains. The snow, the weather, it all seems to be so very real and inviting. When you have to take back the White House it is breathtaking from the color of the sky to the helicopters crashing all around you. Wonderful, epic and left me wanting more. Which, leads us to the reason I want to give this a 1 star.

Campaign Story: 0000* 1 star

The campaign mode is ridiculously short. I wanted to take my time taking it all in and several missions push you the whole time to GO GO GO!!! which is expected due to the insane pace of the enemies. It really sucks you in and makes you feel part of it, however, it falls horribly short due to the anemic plot and, well…shortness… The major issue with the campaign is the incredibly weak story. They never explain why anything has happened, the dialogue between the characters is full of hyperbole and patriotic fluff. I realize the world thinks Americans are a bunch of yahoo cowboys, but come on with the brainless pointless dialogue.

Sub campaign:

The Spec Ops are so-so fun, but its just a rehash of the campaign you just finished.

Now lets discuss the 10,000 pound gorilla in the room.

Multiplayer 0000* 1 star

I understand its my lack of skillzorz that makes the multiplayer frustrating. That does not mean that I have to give a game I do not enjoy anything more than I have. The new titles and other 1337 embellishments they have thrown into the multiplayer has done nothing but polish what I perceive as a pile of excrement. Playing with a friend can make multiplayer a bit more fun. Going into a game where only 2 out of 18 have a mic, where most are young kids, and some have voice modifiers so we dont know they are kids,(yea right Darth), is nothing short of pure hell. Its not fun, nor is it the reason I got this game.

After playing such epics as Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune & Uncharted 2: Among Thieves this game pales in comparison for the depth of characters, re-playability, and overall scope. I am not a glutton for punishment so games like Demon’s Souls have little appeal to me. I have a family, job and other things taking up my time, (like Amazon reviews), so a 2-3 hour frag fest where I am repeatedly killed over and over holds no appeal to me either.

For the -Not Helpful- voters:

I am sure this review will garner a fair share of negative votes. Just remember you too are entitled to your opinion and you too can write a review on any product and YOUR experience with that product. My experience with this product, while amazing, was brief and ultimately very frustrating. If this was a review of a new electric toothbrush and that toothbrush shocked you every time you used it, you too could come here and write about it was a pain to use. Reviews are not meant as an -I am a fan or I hate it-, instead it is meant as a way to let customers hear a varied and alternative view of a product. I think overall Activision did a pretty good job with this game. The soundtrack was spot on and sounded great. But making the game as a single player and a multiplayer means its not excellent at either one. Sure your Honda Civic can go off-road but eh, do you think it will hold up well?

Pros:

>> Beautiful animations

>> Epic scenes

>> Motion capture is fantastic

>> Fantastic soundtrack

Cons:

Review by A. Dent:

The following are my conclusions and observations following several hours of testing. It is possible that I missed a feature or two but I am quite confident that I was able to test all the major ones.

The setup and first impressions:

——————————-

I don’t know why, I imagined a bigger device. I am pleased to note that the keypad is a lot thinner than I imagined – about half an inch thick and pretty light.

It fits nicely on top of any standard PS3 controller thanks to a clamp that, once it clicks in, it makes the keypad appear as if it was part of the controller’s body. The three controller buttons that it covers: PS3, Select and Start are present on the pad at their expected locations but they only work when the keypad is attached to the controller. All other buttons work regardless of the keypad being attached or detached.

The keyboard is okay but it’s better suited for larger hands (or long thumbs). As a Blackberry user, I find this keyboard less comfortable than that of a classic Blackberry – but I’ve been using Blackberies for almost 10 years already so I may be a little bit spoiled or maybe biased toward their ergonomics.

As far as workmanship is concerned, my impression is one of a well-built, durable device. It integrates well, visually and functionally with the PS3 controllers.

The setup:

———-

After a couple of hours of charging through the USB port (cable not included), the keypad is ready to use. Once the On/Off switch is set to On, all that’s needed is for the keypad to be connected to the PS3 through a USB cable and the pairing is done automatically.

The workings:

————-

The keypad operates in two modes: as a keyboard or, interestingly, as a touch pad.

In keyboard mode, you get a QWERTY keyboard with well separated, round little keys. The letters, numeric and punctuation keys are where you would expect them to be but the special keys are not exactly at their familiar places and some of the less essential ones (PgUp, PgDn, End, Home and the function keys) are missing. Special characters can be entered with the help of 2 modifier keys (the Blue and the Orange).

Three special keys allow you to enable the touch pad mode or quickly jump to your PS3 message box or friends list icons – I did not find the last 2 very useful.

Until you make yourself familiar with some of the less obvious key combinations it’s a good idea to save the instructions pamphlet (a 17″x11″ folded sheet) found in the package.

The touch pad mode is very interesting in that, after pressing the ‘touch pad key’, the keyboard is disabled and a section of the keyboard emulates a laptop’s touch pad and the 2 cursor keys emulate mouse buttons and you can interact with your environment as if you were using a mouse.

I am a ‘knob’ person as far as mouse emulation is concerned but, based on my testing, the touch pad mode, while interesting and innovative, is not very well implemented. For example, while in Browser mode, it does not allow you to scroll down your browser window, something that is easily and intuitively accomplished with the R3/L3 analog sticks. The cursor, when controlled with the touch pad was jumpy, either moving from one corner of the window to another or, sometimes, not moving at all. The good news is that all the controller buttons, including the sticks, are fully functional all the time so, people like me, won’t have to use the touch pad.

Brief evaluation:

—————–

+ Bluetooth device, does not require dongles or wires

+ Replaces a full-size keyboard, well suited for entering passwords or brief messages

+ Perfectly integrated, physically and functionally with the PS3 controller – generally, it does not interfere with game play

+ Rechargeable battery

+ According to Sony (not tested by me) it can be paired with other Bluetooth devices (don’t lose that manual)

- Adds weight to the controller

- Some of the special keys are placed at unfamiliar locations

- Keys ‘real estate’ wasted by assigning 2 keys to jump to the message box and the friends list

- Touch pad does not work very well

- Small hands may find it a bit uncomfortable

Before I started writing this review, I thought I was going to award this keypad 3 stars but, once I listed the pros and the cons I see that the negatives are relatively minor. The major disappointment is the touch pad but it’s not something that I am going to miss because I am already happy with the R3/L3. 3.5 stars should be the fair score but I am rounding it up to 4 because my overall impression is positive.

With HOME now a reality, this is likely to become an increasingly useful add-on.

Review by L. T. Beasimer:

Before I received this keypad, I had a keyboard wired to the PS3 while playing games on the couch. Whenever I wanted to type a message I would get off the couch, sit on the floor, and type. When I saw this keypad I had a few reservations, but I knew I this would be a better solution.

From pulling the keypad out of the package and putting it to use is pretty simple but takes a little time. Pairing and charging work just like the controllers do. This product comes with no charge, so plug it into the PS3 and let it charge up. When ready the keypad clamps firmly into place resting on the controller with the keys away from the body. Turn the power on and it is ready to use. After calibration the keypad can be used as a touchpad with the touch of a button. Plus a couple shortcut keys are included for checking messages and viewing friends.

I usually play the PS3 at night in a dimly lit room. The keypad is laid out mostly like a normal keyboard; however there are a few minor differences. Because of my playing environment, I would find backlit keys to be a big help. Additionally the touchpad feature works, but is a bit difficult to properly navigate the finger motion to what should happen on the screen. Perhaps the touchpad feature takes more getting used to than the rest of the features.

One of my reservations was related to where the keypad rests on the controller. Being away from the body and above the R3 and L3 buttons, I was concerned they would get in the way making the keypad difficult to use. I have to admit this is not the case for me at all. The buttons are laid out so that they can be used comfortably; I had no problems pressing the keys. The keypad doesn’t get in the way for game play either.

Overall this quality constructed product is designed well. While there are a few weaknesses, Sony delivers the functionality they claim. This keypad is priced in line with other Sony PS3 products and worth the expense for me. For those that type short messages and such, the PlayStation 3 Wireless keypad is worthy of consideration.

PROS:

Fits firmly on the controller

Easy to setup and use

Well designed quality constructed product

CONS:

Keys are not backlit

Touchpad feature not so easy to use

Review by A. Dent:

RATING

I will begin with the rating part so that those who are already familiar with the PS3 line may save a little time.

On balance, I found the PS3 Slim or the ‘PS3 120GB’ to be a worthy addition to the current PS3 line. It comes with several major improvements over its predecessors and the ‘trade offs’ are few and, to most us, insignificant.

This how the new model compares to its predecessors:

PS3 SLIM vs. PS3 80/160GB

+ 0/200 less

+ Smaller

+ More energy efficient

+ More quiet operation

+ Cooler

+ Smaller Cell processor manufactured using a 45-nanometer manufacturing process

+ New, more advanced HDMI 1.3 chipset

+ Easier HDD upgrade

- No Linux support

- No on-off switch in the back

- Push rather than touch ‘On’ and ‘Eject’ buttons

- Not as pretty

= Unchanged game-playing experience

= Same great Blu-ray player

= Same PSP integration

= Same WiFi, Bluetooth built-in

= Same Dualshock 3 rumble, motion sensitive controller

= Same I/O options

The PS3 Slim is a superior product when compared with the PS3 80/160GB models. This relatively inexpensive, feature packed, versatile gaming machine, multimedia hub and outstanding Blu-ray player, earns back the 5th star that I granted the Classic models and I didn’t feel that the PS3 80/160GB models deserved.

Granted, when compared to the PS3 Classic, the PS3 Slim lacks PS2 compatibility, has 2 fewer USB ports and and it lacks media card slots but these shortcomings are offset by the significantly lower price, energy efficiency, larger storage and an updated CPU and HDMI. And, keeping hope alive by feeding it rumors, who knows? Sony just might add PS2 software emulation once it stops manufacturing the PS2 sometime, next year.

MY TEST DRIVE IMPRESSIONS

The good news is that you can do just about everything you did with the PS3 80/160GB models and in the exact same way. During my test ride, I was able to play all the games I brought with me without a problem, the Bluetooth remote controller was recognized immediately and so was the Playstation Eye. Both a USB-dongle full-size wireless keyboard, a USB-connected wired keyboard and Sony’s own Bluetooth mini-keyboard worked as expected. I was able to upload pictures, videos and music from a USB thumb drive and a USB-connected SATA 2.5″ hard disk and play them in the same way I do it on my own PS3. The person who allowed me the test drive suggested that I do not sign into the PSN but I have no doubt that the Slim behaves exactly like its predecessors on the PSN, running HOME or while browsing the Net.

The Slim has the exact same ports in the back, the same buttons in front – albeit ‘push’ buttons instead of the ‘touch’ buttons, the same 2 USB ports, comes with the same Dualshock 3 controller, USB cable and Composite AV cable accessories.

The older PS3s weren’t particularly noisy but the Slim seems to be more quiet and, after several hours of play, it didn’t get as warm as my Classic. The ONLY 2 USB ports bother me a little because I brought along the Eye, a USB-wired HDD, a USB keyboard and a dongle-based wireless keyboard. That meant that I had to do a lot of plugging and unplugging when testing. In real life, it’s not so convenient to charge a controller and access more than one USB-connected peripheral. There are third party generic USB hubs (ugly) or PS3-specific port extenders and media hubs that could be used to increase the number of USB ports and bring back the media card slots.

My overall impression of the Slim is “nothing new” at least on surface. The “cooler, quieter, smaller, more energy efficient” you don’t notice while playing a game or watching a movie. The really great news about the Slim is that so many more will be able to afford it and, with a larger user base, more developers will feel more strongly motivated to publish more, better games that all of us will enjoy.

THE SLIM (PS3) vs. THE ‘XBOX 360 ELITE FALL 2009′

This is not meant to be a ‘fan’ statement. I don’t own a Wii but I do own an Xbox 360 so I will be able to discuss PS3 Slim vs. Xbox 360 Elite and, hopefully, it may help a little those undecided between the two or those thinking about getting a PS3 as a second gaming console. Please be aware that, even though I own both consoles and I try to be as objective as possible, I do tend to favor the PS3.

Parity

——

- Storage: 120 GB on both systems

- CD, DVD playback: both

- Bluetooth/IR: Bluetooth included with PS3, Infrared remote for Xbox

- Community: PSN/Home memberships are free, Xbox Live includes free Silver membership and one-month Gold subscription, paid thereafter

Advantage PS3 Slim

——————

- Blu-ray: PS3 only. Blu-ray disks aren’t used for HD movie playback but to deliver games as well. Since they store several times more data than a DVD disk, PS3 games can be ‘bigger’ and be still delivered on one disk, eliminating the need for swapping during gameplay.

- WiFi: included with PS3, available as an add-on for Xbox.

- HDMI 1.3a on PS3 (more vivid colors, better sound) vs. HDMI 1.2 on Xbox

- Controller: wireless on both systems, rumble on both, PS3’s only is motion sensitive, rechargeable batteries built into PS3’s, Xbox rechargeable battery packs available for purchase.

- Integration with a handheld device: PS3 integrates with the PSP, the Xbox offers Zune integration. I would call it ‘advantage PS3′ because the Zune integration is limited to file transfers.

- Internal power supply: yes for the Slim, a large external ‘brick’ for the Xbox.

- Ability to upgrade the Hard Disk: the PS3 could use any cheap 2.5″ SATA on the market (a 500GB can be had for at the time of this writing and the existing PS3 disk can be recycled to upgrade a laptop or as external storage) without voiding the warranty. I am not aware Xbox HDD upgrades beyond 120GB but, judging by the 120GB upgrade HDD for the smaller models, they are likely to be proprietary, more expensive solutions.

- Slim comes with USB, Ethernet and Composite cables, Xbox has only Composite in the box.

Advantage Xbox 360 Elite Fall 2009

———————————-

- Headset: not included with PS3 but any Bluetooth device will work, wired headset included with Xbox Elite.

- Ethernet: PS3 supports Gigabit Ethernet, Xbox is limited to 100BASET-T.

- USB ports: Xbox comes with 3, Slim has only 2.

It seems that a PS3 Slim can be brought to parity with the Xbox 360 Elite by purchasing a Bluetooth headset (possibly for less than and that would make the PS3 a superior choice since the Xbox headset is wired to the controller. For the amount, the PS3 will match and surpass Xbox feature for feature if we don’t factor in exclusive Xbox games or unique Xbox Live features.

To bring the Xbox 360 Elite to parity with the PS3 one would need: a WiFi adapter () and rechargeable batteries (). I will not add the various cables to the list because, depending on setup, they may or may not be needed and PS3’s Gigabit Ethernet is not likely to make a difference in anyone’s gaming or movie streaming at this time. would bring the Xbox closer to the PS3 but the Xbox won’t support Blu-ray, does not have a motion sensitive controller, can’t function without an external power supply and, Zune withstanding, it does not integrate with a hand-held gaming device. In addition, continuing the Xbox Live Gold beyond the initial month would be another -50 per year for the life of the Elite.

I chose not to factor in the quality of available software because it’s impossible to be even remotely objective when it comes to judge Sony’s exclusives vs. Xbox exclusives. My guess is that, in the end, those who must have Halo will buy a Microsoft Xbox regardless of cost or other features and those who fall in love with Little Big Planet or Uncharted have no choice but a Sony PS3. The general consensus is that, at this time, the PS3 has the superior hardware (see above) while the Xbox has an advantage in exclusive titles and some exclusive content. In addition, many multiplatform games are developed on the Xbox first and then ported to the PS3. That can make the Xbox versions appear to be superior and, more importantly, the PS3 versions do not always take full advantage of PS3s superior hardware. This seems to be less the case as developers are becoming more familiar with the PS3 platform – the software gap, if there is one at this time, it is closing fast.

ESSENTIAL ADD-ONS AND ACCESSORIES

For those who decided that the PS3 Slim is what they wanted, the list below may help them budget for the extra purchases they may want to consider. There are surprisingly few extra a PS3 REALLY needs and I listed them in order from what I view as the more to the less important or needed. Those at the top are, in my view, more ‘essential’ than the ones at the bottom, but with the exception of the HDMI cable which is a must have for an HD TV set, you could easily do without the rest or get them later if you really feel that you want them.

- HDMI CABLE – It’s a must for anyone who already has an HD TV. It’s not included in the box and I am not going to provide a link because there are dozens of vendors at Amazon, competing and that’s a good thing because one can be had for only a few dollars. Just make sure it’s HDMI 1.3. A ‘High-Speed’ rating is not necessarily a plus if the cable you need is only 3 ft. or 6 ft. long. All HDMI 1.3 cables should be High-Speed rated and only High-Speed cables support 1080p resolutions. At these lengths, paying a premium for ‘quality’ can’t be justified because the odds for the digital signal to be misinterpreted are close to non-existent.

- REMOTE CONTROL – Unless your HD TV supports CEC (Consumer Electronics Control) which allows for the user to command and control multiple CEC-enabled boxes with one remote control and for CEC capable devices to command and control each other, Sony PlayStation 3 Blu-ray Disc Remote could make the operation of the PS3 a lot easier when you are not playing a game. It’s optimized for movie viewing but XMB navigation, running slide shows and shopping at the PSN store are easier with the remote control because it does not need two hands to be operated. In fact, it can be operated with one thumb.

- WIRELESS HEADSET – This is the one important component that the Elite bundle includes (theirs is wired) and the PS3 does not. Any Bluetooth headset would do which is why I am not going to insert a link to Sony’s product or to anyone else’s.

- SECOND DUALSHOCK 3 CONTROLLER – Even if you play solo only, a second controller may be charging while the other is in use.

- USB PORT EXTENDER – Again, there are many competing offers. I would prefer one where the ports are powered. Some singing games may come with their own extenders.

- PS3 EYE CAMERA – This is not exactly a ‘must have’ but it’s definitely a ‘very nice to have’ as the Eye is not only a camera but also a stereo microphone – depending on your needs, it may eliminate the need for a headset. I obtained mine cheaply, with a used copy of Eye of Judgment. If you decide to go that route, be VERY careful and ensure that the camera is indeed included before your order.

- MEDIA CARD READERS – They would plug into a USB port and will allow your PS3 to read/write to Media/Multimedia/Secure Digital, Memory Stick (PRO), Compact Flash, or XD Picture cards. They can be had for anything from to .

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Note 1: MY OWN BIAS

We own a ‘Classic’ 60GB PS3, currently upgraded to 320GB, DualShock 3 and complemented with various peripherals: PS3 Eye, Logitech Driving Force GT Racing Wheel, Bluetooth keyboard attachment, headset… etc. We also own an Xbox 360 Elite, 3 PSP 3000’s (got 3 kids) and a second-hand DS. We used to have a PS2 but we sold it shortly after purchasing the PS3. I’ve helped several of my neighbors purchase, install and upgrade their own PS3’s. I am posting this review because I had the opportunity to test drive a PS3 Slim for several hours a couple of nights before the official launch – someone I know works at a store that sells gaming consoles.

Speaking for myself only, I tend to favor the PS3 for several reasons and here they are:

- WiFi – This is a major convenience for me. I hate ‘wires’ and the PS3 has the WiFi built in and it’s VERY easy to set up.

- Blu-ray – I was an early adopter and I haven’t bought ‘new’ DVDs in more than a year. Having the PS3 doubling up as a Blu-ray player is another major convenience for me.

- HDD Storage upgrade – I don’t believe that 120GB is sufficient these days and our console has exceeded the 120GB threshold already after lots of downloaded games and movies and transferring thousands of photos and songs to it. A PS3 can be easily and inexpensively upgraded to 500GB today and this is a big plus.

- Little Big Planet – It’s a Sony exclusive and my kids just love this game. They would probably run away and resettle with a family that has LBP if I got rid of the PS3.

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Note 2: THE SLIM’S SPECS AND FEATURES

- 45nm, 7-core Cell processor CPU

- RSX – Based on NV47 Chip (Nvidia GeForce 7800 Architecture) for graphics

- Updated HDMI chipset (bitstreams hi-res DTS-HD, TrueHD)

- 256MB XDR Main RAM and 256MB GDDR3 VRAM memory

- 120GB Hard disk – 2.5″ SATA – can be replaced with any 2.5″ SATA and a compatible 500GB HDD can be had for about at the time I write this review

- Blu-ray 2.0 player (possibly still the best) that also plays DVDs and CDs

- Ethernet 10/100/1000Base-T wired networking

- WiFi 802.11 b/g (from 10 Mbps up to 54 Mbps) – wireless networking I couldn’t live without

- Bluetooth 2.0 for game controller, headsets, keyboards and so on

- Video resolution up to 1080p

- Audio supported: LPCM 7.1, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS, DTS-HD, AAC

- Other outputs: HDMI, Optical, Composite AV

- Other I/O: 2 High-speed USB 2.0 ports

- Power: dual 120/240V

- Power consumption: 250W

- Weight: about 7 lbs.

- Dimensions: about 12″ x 2.5″ x 12″ (my measurements)

- Included controller: DUALSHOCK 3

- Included cables: USB and Composite AV, power chord

Additional features:

- Displays JPEG stills.

- Multi-featured, surprisingly good slide show functionality.

- Plays MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4/h.264 videos.

- Bitstreams DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD to receiver

- Upconverts DVDs to 1080p over HDMI

- XMB in-game access.

- In-game and off-game text and voice chat (headset, keyboard or Eye are needed).

- Video chat with up to six people (PlayStation Eye is required)

- Can discover media servers on the home network and stream content from any DLNA-compliant device.

- Web browser (still has some usability and compatibility issues) but plays YouTube well.

- Google Web search.

- Remote play on a PSP connected to any wireless access point – play music, videos, show pics, turn on the PS3 remotely if on stand-by

- Upload PSP games purchased from the PSN Store to the PSP.

- Online software updates improve PS3 functionality and keep the Blu-ray player features current.

- Online third party updates.

- Online gameplay.

- Download and play PS3 games and demos from the PSN store.

- Download and play PSOne games.

- Download and play movies and shows from the PSN store.

- Supports HDMI Consumer Electronic Control (HDMI-CEC) – control the Slim through the remote of any CEC-enabled TV such as a Bravia.

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Note 3: HDD UPGRADE

If you are on the upgrade path, less than would buy you a 500GB drive. The one that I tested would be the 500GB Scorpio Blue Mobile Sata 5400RPM 8MB 2.5IN which replaced my laptop’s 60GB drive and a friend’s 80GB PS3 HDD. The nice thing about upgrading your disk is that you are also going to be left with a perfectly good 80GB or 0GB or 120GB 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. After I upgraded my own console to 320Gb, I used the free leftover drive as a backup device for family photos.

Review by Alric Knebel:

Let me start out by saying that I’m currently 56 years old and everything I know about video game consoles can fit on a fingernail clipping. A couple of years ago, my companion bought me a PS2, because she had recalled my mentioning in passing (after seeing advertisements for some pretty interesting sci-fi-themed games) that I was curious about what’s going on in that medium. The game technology seemed to have progressed light years since I last paid attention, sometime in the late 80s, early 90s, which went something like this: you start out with some objective, and then the game play steadily quickens until you eventually lose against the computer. It was very dull. After she bought me the PS2, the only game I bought was Grand Tourismo 4 (she had given me with the console itself Superman Returns, but I didn’t like it), with which I relaxed by racing the realistically rendered cars around some impressively detailed tracks, but never getting into the more sophisticated levels of the game. Then about four months ago, my son lent me Resident Evil 4. Of course, you gamers know this was a benchmark in game development, and can understand why I became completely immersed in it. It was truly a creepy experience. You weren’t just WATCHING a horror movie; you were IN it. Here I was, at my age, suddenly finding myself lost for literally hours a day — one weekend, twenty hours straight; my body ached — then thinking about the game when I wasn’t playing it, looking forward to the moment I could resume the story. After I beat it, I went through it three more times. Then I bought God of War II, quite by accident (I selected it for the price, a mere ), unaware that this, too, was a hit game, and another benchmark. The graphics were so good, so stunning, so grand and sweeping, I played it six times. Again, hours seemed like minutes; I’d simply lose time. I was now addicted, and taking into account how good a PS2 was, I figured that the PS3 — with its Blu-ray technology — had to be out-of-this-world incredible. Four weeks ago, I bought this PS3 slim, and it has given me enjoyment that made it worth every penny, and then some.

I can’t speak to the technical specifications of the PS3, or how it compares to other consoles. I’m writing instead to other middle-aged customers who might have stumbled on this page, perhaps shopping for some young relative — son or daughter; niece or nephew; or grandchild — to suggest that you should consider buying one of these babies for yourself. This is one powerful piece of entertainment technology. Not only does it exceed my expectations as a game console, it’s also a BD player, and using the WiFi connection, it permits access to the PlayStation Store, for free demos and exclusive content; plus BD live material, and downloading movies and TV episodes; and you can import your CDs to the PS3’s hard drive, to create playlists or just randomize the tracks for playback. It’s become a virtual media center for me.

And the game play? Oh, man. The PS3 advances even further the features that make gaming so addictive. To those of you who snuff that it’s a juvenile waste of time, I suggest you ask yourself, is it any different from watching sitcoms or reality TV? A video game requires you to REACT, to THINK, to ANALYZE. That is NOT overstating the stimulative benefits. While they are in fact merely games, game-play itself is a complete immersion in an experience, while requiring good hand-eye coordination and some mental agility. All the games I’ve played so far included puzzles as part of the story, and it’s a very satisfying feeling when you finally solve a particularly challenging one.

If the middle-aged shopper I’m imagining I’m writing to is inclined to wonder if all that tapping on those buttons in specific patterns is difficult to learn, this is my honest answer: At first, yes, it is. But eventually your fingers learn what button is where, and it becomes second nature, like typing. To those even older, it’s recommended by doctors that as you age, you need new stimuli to keep your acuity. You won’t find a more fun way to do so than this. Ignore your previous misconception that video games are for teenagers. An article in USA TODAY from 2004 stated that “. . . the average age of game players was 29 and the average age of buyers was 36, with men making up 59% of the playing audience.” So you can add about five years to those figures, making the average age of video game BUYERS about 40. I have spent untold hours on my PS3, and connected to my 47″ HDTV, it’s the ultimate entertainment. The graphics are sharp and clear, movement of characters is realistic, making it even easier to get totally engaged in the environments. I just finished Batman: Arkham Asylum, a great game with easily mastered moves, some tough puzzles, and a very dark, decayed ambiance.

True gamers who are reading this are probably chuckling right now, because this is all pretty much a no-duh to them. Well, let me offer a hardy THANK YOU for supporting the industry with enough of your dollars to permit it to advance as an entertainment medium in such awesome bounds. This is the next step toward the future of the ultimate video game experience. Oh, what will the technology deliver? A virtual reality, perhaps?

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Review by A. Dent:

< BEGIN REVIEW >

Briefly, the PS3-250 is the exact original PS3 ‘Slim’ with a twice as large hard disk.

I had the opportunity to actually see and use a PS3-250 on the Sunday prior to its launch. As I expected, the only difference between the ps3-250 and the PS3-120 is the larger disk with everything else the same. Many reviews of the PS3-120 are HERE.

< END OF REVIEW >

Once the decision was made to get a PS3, 2 important questions might be:

- Which model to buy? PS3-120 or PS3-250?

- To upgrade or not to upgrade to a 500/640GB PS3?

Based on personal experience and the experience of other PS3 owners that I know, the options are the following – remember, these are my views:

PS3-120, no upgrade

———————

Buy a PS3-120 and do not upgrade if you use it mainly to play movies and you rarely download games from the PSN store. It will take you very far and it should have sufficient room for storing thousands of pictures and a lot of music besides it playing Blu-ray content and CDs.

I found that 120GB would not be enough for me. After a couple of years of use, with a few downloaded games, many more demos, lots of pictures and songs and some videos the kids made with the PS3 Eye we’ve breached the 120GB threshold. I would not worry about that if all I wanted was one of the better Blu-ray players. In addition, anybody comfortable with backing up/restoring the PS3 and upgrading the disk can postpone the upgrade step for later.

PS3-250, no upgrade

———————

Buy a PS3-250 and do not upgrade if you do plan to download a few movies and games but not a lot of them AND/or you don’t feel comfortable with upgrading your PS3 yourself.

Anyone who is not an almost-exclusive movie viewer and doesn’t want to mess with screws and OEM disks should buy the PS3-250. It should have enough capacity to last for quite a few years with good disk space management (delete the demos and downloads you no longer need).

PS3-120 upgrade to 500/640GB

——————————

Buy a PS3-120 and upgrade it to 500/640GB IF you don’t mind swapping the PS3’s disk. You get to upgrade your PS3-120 to quadruple capacity for very little expense and probably for less than a PS3-250 would cost you (see next paragraph). This should buy you peace of mind for the rest of your PS3’s lifespan.

Keep in mind that a 500GB HDD such as the 500GB Scorpio Blue Mobile Sata 5400RPM 8MB 2.5IN or the Western Digital 640 GB SATA OEM Notebook Hard Drive WD6400BEVT (Scorpio Blue) if you don’t mind the extra expense can be had for about 90 dollars at the time I am writing this. That would make a 500GB upgraded PS3-120 appear a little more expensive than the PS3-250 BUT you are left with a brand-new 120GB HDD (the drive originally in the PS3) when you are done and you can either sell it or use it as an external USB-powered backup drive or maybe to upgrade your laptop’s drive. This would effectively set the price of the 500GB upgraded console to match that of the PS3-250.

There are many online guides that detail the process. I will post a couple URL’s in a comment to this review.

PS3-250 upgrade to 500/640GB (not recommended)

————————————————

Do NOT buy a PS3-250 if you are planning to upgrade it to 500/640GB unless you really need a spare 250GB external HDD instead of a spare 120GB HDD and think that the price difference is worth the larger spare drive.

EVALUATION

The PS3-250 while not for everyone, deserves its 5 stars. In my view, there is enough value added by doubling the storage capacity to justify the price difference over the PS3-120.

______________________________________

NOTE: If you want to upgrade you are better off if you upgrade immediately.

This way you avoid the backup/restore hassles and therefore greatly simplify the process. I would include the upgrade HDD on the same order with the new PS3 and maybe add a HDD enclosure if planning to use the drive I removed from the PS3 as an external drive.

Review by J. Gary:

I had no idea which unit to buy, the 120 or the 250 GB Playstation 3. I ended up with the 250 out of fear that the 120 would leave me desiring more space later. If you don’t know anything, here is what I see so far. On the Playstation network, you can download game demos and marketing videos for games free. I haven’t found myself doing this a lot yet. Of course, you can also delete them easily after you watch them.

Most playable games even old ones cost to download so I have decided to just buy a couple of the popular ones and am hooked on those and the stunning DVD and Blu Ray movie quality for now. You are not going to be able to download games like Modern Warefare 2 to your hard drive from the PS network that I can see. WHen you buy a game at the store or here on amazon in disc format, you have to install it first. This may take some hard drive space. So far, one game I have takes nearly 3 GB and another takes up less than 1 GB but the games also called for an update download which I don’t know how much space that took. At this rate, you could install maybe 100 store bought disc format games.

Playing movies on disc doesn’t seem to take hard drive space. You can download movies from the Playstation network. If you do much of this, I image you’ll need more space but the movies I was interested in cost the same amount to buy from amazon or wal-mart as to download so if you can wait to go to the store or recieve a package, you don’t need to download it. You can rent movies also. I imagine this is a download that is disabled after a time period or after it is viewed or something. You can also download TV shows like “The Office” for an eposode. If you want to do a lot of that, maybe the bigger HD is a good idea.

I am thinking you would do well with just the 120GB unless you know you are going to make a collection of movies and TV shows and low priced downloadable games on your Playstation.

You can also save photos on the Playstation as well as video. If this is part of your plan, well again more space may help. The PS3 has USB ports where I believe you could load photos and home movies from to view on your TV.

You can also access your applications on the www like facebook.

Bare in mind that there are a lot of folkes out there with older PS3’s that have only 40 and 80 GB drives who love their playstation and don’t feel the need for the 250 GB drive.

I don’t feel upset that I spent the extra to get the larger drive because it might be useful later, but if I knew then what I know now, I would have been comfortable buying the 120 for my purposes which is playing a small number of games (not a small amount of time, just a small number of games because they cost a lot) and watching some Blu Ray movies.

If you still find it hard to make a decision, ask yourself if you want to spend more money because both models are the same except the HD size which you can upgrade later. By the time you buy the unit, HD cable, a game, maybe another controller and remote control for Blu Ray, you’ll be in deep on the expense and maybe another isn’t acceptable.

It is a very good and fun product. After I spent all the money on what I needed, I debated on hooking it up or sending it back because it was a lot of money; I’m very glad I hooked it up and delt with the expense. It is everything I hoped.

Review by A. Dent:

I did not think I needed yet another remote control because I thought the six-axis had everything it needed for movie playing on the PS3 and, yet, I bought one. There were 2 initial reasons:

- my wife was missing a ‘magic wand’ shaped remote for playing movies

- Amazon had it at a great price in one of them lightning deals

I ended up using it myself and, in fact, using it for more than just movie playing – see below.

But, let’s