Help....PS3 Buying advice

[mr2bob]

Help! I need help buying my 25-year-old Daughter a PS3 for her birthday. I am not a game person, so I need some help. I have the Blu-ray part down since I have been a Video/Home Theater guy for the last 30 years. I already own a Pioneer Elite Blu-Ray player and a Sony 52XBR3 for myself. I want to get her a PS3 for her apartment. What I would like to know is which bundle or configuration is the best value. Who has the best buy at the moment or is there something coming between now and 12/16, her birthday?

Any advice would be deeply appreciated…. Thanks Bob

[darkpoet25]

Right now you can get a 40 gig PS3 for $399.99 that comes with a Spider Man 3 on Blu Ray, and an 80 gig for $499.99 with Motorstorm. I'd go with the 80 gig not only due to the extra hard drive space, but because it is backward compatible with PS2 games. That's the drawback with the 40 gig, it isn't backward compatible. My guess is Sony wanted to try to get a Blu Ray player in homes for a little less. Hope this helps. Almost forgot to tell you this too, the 5 free Blu Ray offer is good till January of next year.

[blackhawktraffic]

Originally Posted by mr2bob

Help! I need help buying my 25-year-old Daughter a PS3 for her birthday. I am not a game person, so I need some help. I have the Blu-ray part down since I have been a Video/Home Theater guy for the last 30 years. I already own a Pioneer Elite Blu-Ray player and a Sony 52XBR3 for myself. I want to get her a PS3 for her apartment. What I would like to know is which bundle or configuration is the best value. Who has the best buy at the moment or is there something coming between now and 12/16, her birthday?

Any advice would be deeply appreciated…. Thanks Bob

To be honest unless she is going to want to play ps2 games, the 40 gb is the best and cheapest option right now. I personally have a 60 gb one a love it, but i mostly got it for the Blu ray player aspect. I heard Costco has the 80 gb with 2 controllers and the Motorstorm games for 555.00 which isn't really anything great since if u added another controller its the same price.

[davidPS3]

You really have the two options, the 40 gig and the 80 gig. If you want to save some money, go with the 40 gig. I have a 60 gig and just bought my son a 40 gig. It came with Spiderman free. I would save the money and go with the lower price as you may want to get her a remote control for watching movies. A nice gift for sure from you, she will be very happy.

[CYMBOL]

There is really no "wrong" machine (unless she plays PS2 games - which automatically rules out the 40 gig since it is not backwards compatible with PS2 games).

What ever you do - be sure and get her the PS3 remote with it. That way she doesn't have to fiddle around with the controller for a remote - I found it annoying and got the remote the next day. (universal remotes do not work on the PS3 since it is blu-tooth technology - or you get an adapter and a $150 + Harmony remote, which is a bit much for just using a remote.) The PS3 remote is 25 bucks and can probably be picked up at the same place you get the PS3.

[KidOmega123]

Yeah.....I'd go with the 40g model that's bundled with Spiderman 3. Sure, it's not backwards compatible...but everyone and their mom already owns a PS2 anyways. So, it's not really a missed feature if you ask me. AND, the hardrive is always upgradle if she finds she has a need for it. At the price point it really seems to be the best value.

[Icemage]

Main differences between the various units (aside from the hard drive size):

20GB (discontinued and extremely rare if you can find one at all)
4 USB ports
No WiFi access (but does have hardwired ethernet)
No memory stick slots
95% backward compatible with PS2 games
Approx. $400 street price if you can find one

60GB (discontinued, but still available if you look hard enough)
4 USB ports
WiFi access along with hardwired ethernet
Memory stick slots for SD and Memory Stick Pro sticks.
95% backward compatible with PS2 games
Approx. $450 street price if you can find one

80GB (currently available, bundled with PS3 game Motorstorm)
4 USB ports
WiFi access along with hardwired ethernet
Memory stick slots for SD and Memory Stick Pro sticks.
60% backward compatible with PS2 games
$499 street price

40GB (currently available, bundled with Spiderman 3 Blu-ray movie)
2 USB ports
No WiFi access (hardwired ethernet)
No memory stick slots
NO backward compatibility with PS2 games
$399 street price
* Note that the 40GB unit runs both cooler and quieter, as well as using less power than all the other SKUs, since it uses smaller and more efficient Cell processor chips. Power consumption is estimated to be 120W, versus 190-200W during regular operations for the other units.

The 40GB unit is a great value if you're not interested in the PS2 backward compatibility. On top of that, Dell (of all places!) is offering an amazing deal on this unit, throwing in an HDMI cable and a copy of Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (PS3 game) for the same retail price of $399.

http://accessories.dell.com/sna/prod...1&sku=A1320793

[xtop]

i'll have to disagree with most of the other posters here and say get the 80gb. chances are if she's anything like my female gamer friends, ps2 is still going to be important. plus you get more hard drive space and a game with it.

[doctorD]

I think everyone has chimed to probably cover your questions. But depending on where you live, if you are looking for the 60GB system (what I have), either Fry's or Best Buy might still be selling them. Some Best Buys where I live still have them over by the Customer Service area.

But if your daughter doesn't have any Playstation 1 or 2 games and don't care about them, then the 40GB system is the perfect gift IMO.

[DV92Camaro]

Originally Posted by Icemage

Main differences between the various units (aside from the hard drive size):

20GB (discontinued and extremely rare if you can find one at all)
4 USB ports
No WiFi access (but does have hardwired ethernet)
No memory stick slots
95% backward compatible with PS2 games
Approx. $400 street price if you can find one

60GB (discontinued, but still available if you look hard enough)
4 USB ports
WiFi access along with hardwired ethernet
Memory stick slots for SD and Memory Stick Pro sticks.
95% backward compatible with PS2 games
Approx. $450 street price if you can find one

80GB (currently available, bundled with PS3 game Motorstorm)
4 USB ports
WiFi access along with hardwired ethernet
Memory stick slots for SD and Memory Stick Pro sticks.
60% backward compatible with PS2 games
$499 street price

40GB (currently available, bundled with Spiderman 3 Blu-ray movie)
2 USB ports
No WiFi access (hardwired ethernet)
No memory stick slots
NO backward compatibility with PS2 games
$399 street price
* Note that the 40GB unit runs both cooler and quieter, as well as using less power than all the other SKUs, since it uses smaller and more efficient Cell processor chips. Power consumption is estimated to be 120W, versus 190-200W during regular operations for the other units.

The 40GB unit is a great value if you're not interested in the PS2 backward compatibility. On top of that, Dell (of all places!) is offering an amazing deal on this unit, throwing in an HDMI cable and a copy of Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (PS3 game) for the same retail price of $399.

http://accessories.dell.com/sna/prod...1&sku=A1320793

I'm sorry Icemage but the 40GB has Wi-Fi. And from what I know the 80GB has 8% less backward compatibility compared to the 20 and 60GB models.

[mr2bob]

Wow, Thanks everyone. Great information. She does have a lot of PS2 games, so the 80Gig looks like the way to go. I have Spider-man Trilogy she can borrow. Any rumors of any special packaged bundles for Christmas. Also how are the supplies of systems. Should I buy now or wait till it's closer to her birthday, 12/16. Thanks again, Bob

[bluperch]

Just don't forget about the five free blu-ray movies. There's a thread on here somewhere with the information.

[Maxell]

80Gb PS3 + Extra controller + HDMI cable (from walmart or online if the PS3 will connect to an hdtv). Or to save money get the 40gb.

[Grisle]

Depending on which one you decide to go with your best value will be on Sonystyle.com. If you sign up for their credit card you can get $100 off whichever one you want. If you purchase anything $299 and up Sonystyle will credit you $100 towards any qualifying single sale receipt. I'm not sure if you want to get a credit card or not, but saving $100 is a great deal for me. Anyhow it all comes down to playing PS2 games and Upconverting DVDs...if you think she would want both of those go with the 80GB otherwise the 40gb is the best deal. Good luck.

EDIT: I thought I heard somewhere that the 40GB won't up-convert, but maybe someone with more knowledge can correct me if this is wrong.

[bajor27]

supplies of the PS3s they are producing haven't really been an issue since it was first released. I saw a few stores go out of stock when the price drop on the 80GB was first released, but here in Canada, we had it a few days before Sony officially announced that so it may have been some slightly paniced buying. I woudln't worry too much.

Other than the few dell deals (which are pretty great), I wouldn't expect any new bundles actually from Sony this year.

[Icemage]

Originally Posted by DV92Camaro

I'm sorry Icemage but the 40GB has Wi-Fi.

Does it? I didn't see it in the official specs when I researched my post, but I could be wrong.

And from what I know the 80GB has 8% less backward compatibility compared to the 20 and 60GB models.

The difference in compatibility is substantial. There's a small number of games that don't work with the 20/60s, and a much larger number of games that don't work with the 80s/EU 60s. Fortunately most of the incompatible games are less important titles on both lists, but there are a few standout exceptions that could be important to potential owners. I can't seem to find an updated list of compatible titles any more, but I do recall seeing that someone was tracking them up through at least firmware 1.8 or so.

[Ascended_Saiyan]

Originally Posted by Icemage

Does it? I didn't see it in the official specs when I researched my post, but I could be wrong.


The difference in compatibility is substantial. There's a small number of games that don't work with the 20/60s, and a much larger number of games that don't work with the 80s/EU 60s. Fortunately most of the incompatible games are less important titles on both lists, but there are a few standout exceptions that could be important to potential owners. I can't seem to find an updated list of compatible titles any more, but I do recall seeing that someone was tracking them up through at least firmware 1.8 or so.

The 40GB DOES have WIFi.

The 80GB has between 80 and 90% backwards compatibility with PS2 games as reported by a few sites. Most say the 80GB PS3 has around 88% PS2 backwards compatibility.

[bubs]

You can probably finance it for a year with no interest at Best Buy, that's what I did.