116 of 126 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great collector's item, PERFECT choice for a disk upgrade, November 6, 2008
= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars
This review is from: PlayStation 3 40GB Metal Gear Solid 4 Gray Kojima Bundle (Video Game)
Necessary disclosure: I do not own this model but do I own the 60GB model, recently upgraded to 320GB. I am also very familiar with the latest 80GB model (which is basically this one with a larger disk) because one of my neighbors has one and I am the neighborhood's unofficial and unpaid 'computer' consultant :). I did some research in anticipation of us purchasing a second unit because I promised the kids 'their own' if their grades were going to meet a certain standard.
As compared to the 60GB model (see this model's pluses and minuses and what all PS3s have in common):
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+ Less expensive (I paid $599 for my 60GB PS3)
+ Improved power efficiency - 110w vs. 180w for my old 60GB
+ Dual shock controller (rumble)
+ Bundled MGS4 game and extras
+ Amazon Blu-ray movies promotion (buy 4 movies from list and get $100 off through end of 2008)
+ Mate, easier to maintain finish (can't see the fingerprints)
= Wireless Wi-Fi or wired Ethernet network connections
= Bluetooth for controllers, keyboards, earpieces, etc.
= Controllers charged via USB wires
= Free, unlimited access to the PSN network, including online play
= Full PSOne compatibility
= Blu-ray player
= DVD player
= CD player
= HDMI, component video (component wire included)
= Surround sound
= Internet browser
= Allows for installation of third-party operating systems such as Linux
= Disk is easily upgradeable without voiding warranty
= Quiet operation
- No memory card interfaces
- 50% less storage (not really a problem if you upgrade)
- 2 USB ports vs. 4 USB ports on the 60GB
- No PS2 compatibility
- No chrome trim
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STORAGE and STORAGE UPGRADE:
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This model comes with an 40GB drive. As crazy as this may sound, this is the best machine your money can buy today IF you are planning to upgrade and IF you dig MGS4. On the other hand, DO NOT buy this model if you do not consider upgrading the disk because 40GB won't take you very far.
To give you an idea of the amount of storage you may need on your PS3, I recently checked the status of my 320GB disk and I found that I had 198GB free. That means that, one year after purchasing my (then) 60GB box I was using 122GB already. The space is taken by family pictures, a little music, lots of demos, many 'disk' games that dump gigabytes of data to the disk to improve performance, many videos the kids are making with the 'Eye' camera, game saves. I suspect that 'Home', when it becomes available, may require a few more GB's for its own use so 320GB may be what you need if you don't want to constantly worry about deleting old stuff before you run out of space.
If you are on the upgrade path, $100 would buy you a 320GB drive. I used the
Western Digital WD3200BEVT 320 GB Scorpio Sata 5400 Rpm 8MB 2.5 inch myself. 1TB drives are available these days for a few $$ more and you should try to get one of those if you are planning to store lots of videos. The nice thing about upgrading your disk is that you are also going to be left with a perfectly good 40GB drive which you can place into a cheap enclosure, and the
StarTech AT2510U2 InfoSafe 2.5-Inch USB/SATA Hard Drive Enclosure worked for me. I am using the free leftover drive as a backup device for family photos.
Upgrading the disk is (relatively) easy and you can find a lot of advice on the Net. Search for "PlayStation 3 Hard Drive Upgrade (HOWTO)" for a nice video so you'll decide if you are comfortable with it. If upgrading is the first thing you do, everything becomes very easy because you need not worry about backups or restores. I upgraded my box in a couple of hours WITH the backup/restore steps.
MEMORY CARD INTERFACES:
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The lack of memory card interfaces is annoying but you can get around it. Copy your stuff to a USB drive or flash drive and... problem solved. You can then upload your things through the USB. It's somewhat inconvenient but it's no big deal.
USB PORTS:
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My old 60GB model has 4 USB ports and I am using all of them. One for the PS3 Eye (camera), a second has a wireless keyboard dongle, the third is where the racing wheel plugs in and the last one I use to charge controllers. Of course, you can and you WILL be able to live with 2 slots but it is likely that you will be doing some plugging/unplugging if you begin adding peripherals. One way around it is to get a USB port multiplexer. Another solution is seek Bluetooth peripherals (wireless) if you can find them. Bluetooth keyboards, for example, are available.
PS2 COMPATIBILITY:
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This model does not support PS2 software. Since the original PS2-compatible PS3's are hard to get, this has to be accepted as reality. I assume that Sony, after polling existing and future PS3 users, found that most users don't need PS2 compatibility. Soon after we upgraded to a PS3 my kids were playing Kingdom Hearts and Destroy All Humans but I haven't seen them doing so in quite a while. It is nice to have PS2 compatibility but its lacking would not stop me from buying a PS3.
PSOne GAMES:
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The PS3 has full PSOne compatilibity. Lots of them are available for download at the PSN store. They are quite inexpensive and some of them are still fun to play.
SUMMARY:
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- If you like MGS4 and you consider upgrading, buy THIS model.
- If you are planning to upgrade regardless, you're better off with this model because you can use the $100 you save to upgrade, you get the MGS4 and you should be able to get Drake's Fortune (new) for about $40 from Amazon. Not to mention that you don't have to wait for 3 more weeks.
- If you don't care much about MGS4 AND you feel that you can live with 160GB AND you think Drake's Fortune is a cool game, then wait for a few more weeks for the 160GB bundle.
- Get yourself a USB port multiplexer if you need more than 2 ports.
- Transfer your photos to flash drives to get around the missing memory card interfaces.
- Keep your PS2 if you have one and still wish to play PS2 games in the future.
- Enjoy your new PS3.
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Note: I am not taking off one star for the lack of PS2 compatibility. I understand that Sony must compete on price and make a profit and times are tough. However, I simply can't see why Sony cut the number of USB ports from 4 down to 2 and this explains why this unit gets 4 stars instead of 5. This is a relatively significant inconvenience and I can't see how it would cost Sony more than a dollar or 2 if it provided 4 ports instead of 2.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great value in a unique bundle, November 19, 2008
= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
This review is from: PlayStation 3 40GB Metal Gear Solid 4 Gray Kojima Bundle (Video Game)
This model is different from the current 80 gig playstation 3 in the following ways: it has a 40 gig HD, it is gun metal instead of piano black, and it includes a limited edition copy of Metal Gear Solid 4.
If you plan on using this system as a true media center, than the HD is probably too small. This would most likely be the case with an 80 gig HD as well. Fortunately, the PS3 uses laptop HDs which are plentiful and cheap. Another reviewer has already addressed this.
The system itself is beautiful and the production run of this package is supposedly very limited. This means you will have a unique PS3 many will envy. It also means that many accessories (ie: additional control, headset, etc.) will not match the color scheme. If you have never played MGS, the series is very engrossing; this game was created to sell systems. Despite the smaller HD and the lack of matching accessories, I am very pleased with this purchase.
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