Old PS3 vrs new slimline one? (1 Viewer)

[Jay H]

My friend just bought a newer PS3, the one that is pretty sleek looking as opposed to the rectangular box, but he gave me his old 60GB PS3 that he says is one of the first gen. PS3s.. What is the difference between the 2 units anyway?

I used to have an original PS, before I bought an original Xbox. I have since gone away from playing games but heck, since this was given to me, just wondering since I'm so out of touch now. I used to play those Squaresoft RPGs like Parasite Eve and recently on the Xbox, Morrowind, anything good to check out for the PS3???

Jay

 

[Morgan Jolley]

The main difference between the models is the HDD size and what games it plays. Older ones can play PS1 and PS2 games whereas the new slim model can only play PS3 games (but you can download PS1 classics from the PSN store to play on the PS3 and a PSP).

Check out GameRankings.com to see what the higher-rated PS3 games are. There's definitely a lot of good ones out there.

 

[Edwin-S]

PS3-60:

SACD support through HDMI
4 USB ports
Ability to install other OS (i.e Linux) if that interests you.
Flash card reader.
Higher power consumption
PS2 compatibility within limits
PS1 compatibility
90nM chip tech
Built like a tank

PS3-slim:

No SACD support
2 USB ports instead of four
No flash card reader
No PS2 compatibility, but PS1 compatibility maintained
Ability to install other OS dropped
Lower power consumption
45nM chip tech (hence the lower power consumption)
Built like who knows what?

 

[Citizen87645]

That's a nice friend you got there. The 60 GB model is highly valued for the backwards compatibility and SACD playback, among the other things listed.

 

[Edwin-S]

I have to agree with Cameron Yee. You have a pretty good friend there. My 60GB will have to turn into a doorstop before I replace it. Although, I might eventually get one of the Slims as insurance against Sony dropping the ability to swap drives in later iterations of the PS3. It seems Sony drops some feature with every new iteration of the PS3.

 

[Jay H]

Haha, my friend has expendable income and thinks he has to buy the latest and greatest..

he bought one of those original $600 iphones and then lost it at a party one day... then he bought another one, but at least this time, it was AFTER the price drop...

Jay

 

[WillG]

PS3-slim:

No SACD support
2 USB ports instead of four
No flash card reader
No PS2 compatibility, but PS1 compatibility maintained
Ability to install other OS dropped
Lower power consumption
45nM chip tech (hence the lower power consumption)
Built like who knows what?

The new PS3 can also bitstream HD audio where as the older ones could not (though, they could all decode HD audio internally and send the signal in PCM format through HDMI)

 

[Bob_L]

If you liked Morrowind, Jay, you'll definitely want to play "Oblivion" on the PS3. Just extraordinary. Although I'm barely into it, I also recommend "Fallout 3."

 

[Jefferson Morris]

Yeah, your friend is either really generous or didn't bother checking the specs. Sony has steadily eroded the feature set of the original PS3 to get it down in prize and size. I'll never give up my old 60-gig model.

 

[Jay H]

Thanks for the Oblivion rec, I'll have to check that out when I have time.. although Christmas is coming... I rarely have time to play video games anymore, which is the reason I never bought anything after my original Xbox...

I hope my friend doesn't ever find this forum..

Jay

 

[Bob_L]

Fortunately, Jay, you can get the Oblivion Game of the Year Edition for about $20 these days. An incredible bargain for a game with potentially hundreds (!) of hours of play. After posting yesterday, I had to pop it back into the PS3 and play for awhile. I was struck all over again by how wonderfully it looks and plays.

 

[Jay H]

Thanks Bob, my quick Amazon search for it did unearth the GotY edition. I was wondering if the games got cheap all of a sudden, I remember most of the games I bought for the Xbox were easily $50+. I think I shall have to pick it up... Sweet...

Jay

 

[Edwin-S]

No. You're right. Games are still expensive: $50+. It is just that Oblivion is a fairly old release in terms of game freshness. A couple of other decent releases with long playing times are Fallout 3 and Fable 2. I have Fallout 3 and rented F2. I actually preferred F2 to Fallout, but they are both good games. Both of those will still be a bit more expensive than Oblivion because they are newer releases. Fallout 3 is actually put out by the same company responsible for Oblivion, so the two games are similar in terms of game play.

 

[Keith_R]

My launch model 60 GB sadly died on me about two weeks ago. Sony was going to charge me $150 to fix it and I didn't feel as though it were worth it considering the amount of hours it had on it and the fact that I didn't care as much about backwards compatibility or installing Linux.

Last night, I was able to trade my broken unit to Gamestop and get enough credit that it made the 250 gb Slim model cheaper than the 120gb and I ended up with the 250 gb Slim PS3.

Thus far I think I actually like the new form factor of the slim. I thought I was going to hate it but I do indeed prefer the new finish (the old one was more stylish but prone to fingerprints and dust). I also love the smaller foot print and the overall quietness of the new ones (my old one had always been really loud).

As an aside, the ability to bitstream audio to my receiver is nice since I'd rather have my receiver do the decoding than the ps3. I know it should all sound the same but I just prefer my receiver to do the work and so far from what I've seen, I'd say that imho bitstreaming provides just a little bit more of an edge (at least on my setup).