Wednesday August 19, 2009

Sony PS3 slim unveiled with price cuts to $300 for both regular and slim Sony Playstation 3 editions

The new Sony PS3 slim edition has been unveiled with specfications that include a 120GB HDD and a release date of 1 Sep 2009. engadget.com reports that "Sony got on stage today at GamesCom and confirmed what we've all known deep down in our hearts: the new, slimmer PS3 is really real. It'll be out in the first week of September (September 1 in North America and Europe, September 3 for Japan), and will retail for $300. It's smaller and lighter, has a 120GB HDD, and packs "all the same features" of the regular PS3 while consuming 34 percent less power and taking up 32 percent less space." Engadget also has a Sony PS3 slim unboxing feature where it has been reported that "the buttons in the front are now physical and actually "click" in to function. The PS logo above the disc drive does not rotate for vertical use, and yes, the hard drive is swappable".

Meanwhile, Yahoo notes that "Sony Corp.'s move to cut the price of its PlayStation 3 console by $100 comes well ahead of the holiday season and should boost sales not just for Sony but the video game industry as a whole during this important period." and Electronics Arts CEO says Sony's decision to cut the price of the PlayStation 3 is a "bold move done precisely at the right time." Sony Corp. said Tuesday it is cutting the price of the console by $100, bringing the 80-gigabyte version to $299 effective immediately. A slimmer PS3 with a larger hard drive launches in a few weeks, also for $299.

- It's great that the Sony PS3 slim edition is 32% smaller, and more importantly to the environmentally-minded, uses 34% less power than its predecessor. The long-fabled price cuts help too, which is something that both consumers and games publishers including Electronics Arts have been looking out for a long time. Here are the pros and cons of the Sony PS3 slim at a glance :

Pros :

+ Cheaper at about US$300 compared to US$600 at launch of the first edition
+ 32% smaller, slimmer profile
+ Uses 34% less power
+ Matt finish makes it less of a fingerprint magnet
+ 120GB HDD improves on 80GB HDD of prior edition

Cons :

- No longer Linux compatible as earlier editions were
- No longer compatible with Sony PS2 games as earlier editions were

If you don't mind the above two minor points, which most users probably would not be too bothered about, outside of the enthusiast and retro-gaming community, then the Sony PS3 slim looks to be a great buy.

(2009-08-19 13:08:16 SGT) [Play] Permalink

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