PS3 Slim is a perfect storm of give and take. Mostly take.
So the PS3 Slim was announced today, to mediocre fanfare.
Is it everything you’ve been hoping for?
In short, no. In long, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
The PS3 Slim, as the boys in the Sony Marketing Department have branded it, is aptly
named, both in form factor and in functionality.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the spec sheet:
Product Outline: PlayStation®3 (CECH-2000)
Product name: PlayStation®3
Product code: CECH-2000 (Charcoal Black)
CPU: Cell Broadband Engine™
GPU: RSX®
Audio output: LPCM 7.1ch, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS, DTS-HD, AAC.
Memory: 256MB XDR Main RAM, 256MB GDDR3 VRAM
Hard disk: 2.5″ Serial ATA 120GB *1
Inputs / Outputs *2 Hi-Speed USB (USB 2.0): 2
Networking: Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T) × 1; IEEE 802.11 b/g; Bluetooth® 2.0 (EDR)
Controller: Wireless Controller （Bluetooth®）
AV output Resolution: 1080p, 1080i, 720p, 480p, 480i (for PAL 576p, 576i)
AV output HDMI OUT connector *3: 1
AV output AV MULTI OUT connector: 1
AV output Digital out (optical) connector: 1
BD／DVD／CD drive (read only) Maximum read rate: BD × 2 (BD-ROM); DVD × 8 (DVD-ROM); CD × 24 (CD-ROM)
Power: AC 220 – 240, 50/60Hz *4
Power consumption: Approx. 250W
External dimensions (excluding maximum projecting part): Approx. 290 × 65 × 290 mm (width × height × length)
Mass: Approx. 3.2kg
Included *5: PlayStation®3 system × 1; Wireless Controller (DualShock®3) × 1; AC power cord × 1; AV cable × 1; USB cable × 1
As you can see, the PS3 Slim sports a very svelte form factor, weighing in at 33% smaller and 36% lighter than its predecessor. It also sports a built-in power supply, which will appeal greatly to those whose space is at a premium.
The eagle-eyed among you will notice that a couple of things are conspicuously missing from the “can do” list above. Notably among them is the ability to install a second OS on the device such as Linux.
However, the thing that caught MY eye right away is the continued lack of an IR receiver.
Sony has instead decided to include a new-ish feature called Bravia Sync, which allows Sony Bravia TV owners to use their existing Bravia remotes to control their PS3s provided the PS3 is connected via HDMI.
Bravia Sync is not limited to the PS3; it’s a technology that Sony developed and started marketing earlier last year (2008) that allows one Bravia remote to control all your Sony products. It’s not exactly a highly-touted product; a quick google turns up few Sony-supported forums and several frustration-laden posts from users trying to make the service jive with their products. In fairness, rgbFilter’s own Alex defends the product, saying “i like it with my dvd player and tv, at least the auto start feature”.
Personally, I feel like the relentless exclusion of an IR port on the PS3 is “Teh Ghey” (in the parlance of our times). IR is hardly new technology, nor is it expensive or complicated to integrate, and yet SONY continues to refuse its addition to the PS3 despite myriad requests to do so. Personally, I’m no SonyPhile, and I don’t know anyone who is. In fact, the biggest SONY booster I know, who owns a PS3 Rev A and a Sony Alpha DSLR, still rocks a Sharp Aquos TV and a Harmon Kardon receiver, which he controls via his Logitech Harmony One remote, same as I do. For SONY to assume that everyone who buys a PS3 will also buy a SONY home theatre and a BRAVIA TV is arrogant presumption on their part, and an inherent “fuck you” to the huge percentage of the population who won’t drink their kool-aid.
The Slim also sports a slightly deeper footprint than that of the standard console, which may be a problem for people with especially shallow or narrow entertainment units.
I can’t help but compare SONY’s gaming mantra to that of Microsoft’s. It seems that SONY is content with constantly stripping away functionality from the PS3 and re-packaging it in a prettier case, while MS continues to improve the 360 in both hardware and functionality while leaving well enough alone, form-factor wise. The PS3 has evolved from a device that included a 60gb HDD, 4 USB ports, and PS2 compatibility, to a device that has up to 160 GB, WiFi, but only 2 USB ports ann NO PS2 compatibility. There have been some variations along the way, but the PS3 giveth, and the PS3 taketh away, with every revision, it would seem. Of course the inclusion of BluRay is always going to be a feather in SONY’s cap, but let us not forget, that would not even been an issue had they not thrown money at it until it went away. (By the way that’s a Forbes article I linked to there, and it’s SO worth the read.)
SONY has yet to learn that with a premium price should come a premium product. Stripping the PS3 of its functional uniqueness does not create such a product.
It’s not all doom and gloom; along with the PS3 announcement comes the much-anticipated price cut that consumers have been waiting for since, oh, let’s say, forever. The oft-maligned price of the PS3 has been slashed to $299 for the 80gb “fatty” version, and is the same for the 120gb “slim” version. The 160gb “fatty” now rings in at $399. If you’re thinking to yourself, “pfft, I’ll just buy a bigger HDD for half the price and get myself the 80gb version so I can still install Linux to my heart’s content”, I’ve got some weak sauce for that steak: Sony’s new firmware, 3.0, will likely kill that functionality altogether, so if you’re using your PS3 as a living room NetBox, back up your data before downloading the (likely) mandatory upgrade.
At the end of the day, if you’re not interested in installing Linux on your PS3 (legitimately, anyway), and you’ve been on the fence about whether to pull the trigger on SONY’S gaming console, your time has come. If you’re not a Bravia owner and you hate the clutter or multiple remotes on your coffee table, you’re going to need a universal remote that supports Bluetooth, or a Logitech Harmony remote that’s compatible with the PS3 Harmony Adapter. (Again, I heartily recommend the afore-mentioned Harmony One.) But don’t delude yourself; other than more streamlined packaging, the PS3 Slim brings absolutely nothing new to the table, and in fact takes at least one great ingredient away from the equation.
RECOMMENDED: Yes, but only because the price is finally right.
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Great Article …I think also the new 2.5″ HDD will probably suck big time since they are not really relaible so we will see a lot of crashes & awful crap like that
Hurm, not sure bout that; they’ve been in the PS3s for a while. My 80gb has one. But nothing beats a 7200 SATA (except maybe an SSD, but I ain’t payin for THAT.)
I never knew that I thought they were 3.5″ 5400 or 7200 SATA
No sir, they’re 2.5″ SATAs. 🙂
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665772280#specifications
Adding Bravia Sync and ignoring IR is the same sort of walled garden mentality of that gave us Memory Stick and ATRAC, amongst other things.
in fairness sony is beginning to relent on memory sticks
http://www.everyjoe.com/thegadgetblog/new-sony-dslrs-support-sd-cards/
I can understand why SONY is trying to cross-pollinate its own brand; if I was the mega-douche CEO of a company lie SONY, I’d be tempted to do the same thing. But I’d be wrong to do it; other than Apple, I can’t think of any company that has stayed 100% proprietary and been successful at it. Olympus does it with their XD cards, and that’s FAILSAUCE.
SONY wants to be all Howard Stern, but they are far from the King Of All Media. If anything, they’re famous for ignoring the writing on the wall and sticking to their “If we build it, they will come” mantra. It’s funny; historically, SONY has really only had like 3 major successes, but they still think the wole world will come around to their way of thinking. It’s baffling.
what would you consider their major successes
mavica
playstation
walkman
Not so much the Mavica.
I was thinking the Playstation, the Walkman, and the TR-55.
I also have 2 vaio’s 😀
That’s true, I forgot 🙂
Although, full disclosure: You only have 2 Vaios cuz you’re a lucky motherfucker
one was birfed from the other…
True true
We gonna see a review of that guy soon? 🙂
I was busy then decided not to do one cuz… well the new p is comming out soon and i didnt want to make rgb look dated :/
My review here, its sweet as fuck but not worth more than $300
Wireless N is nice
and it behaves much better with windows 7 installed
I highly recommend one if you can find a way to get it for free 😀
read an article about it yesterday and i was not at all impressed. i only like that it’s $300 but, meh. if they had fixed problems with the current model then i’d be super thrilled and begging jason to buy one. as it happens, it’s exactly the same crap, only thinner. like it went on a diet but still has that dumb witted personality. grr. can you tell i’m annoyed with the ps3? it has crashed on me way too many times and i’m getting sick of it.
i just don’t get it. What exactly is wrong with the PS3 slim. What the f**k did people expect from it, the second coming ?
It’s a PS3, as the PS3 has always been, and people like Rebel Scum like PS3’s, so ther is a plus.
it’s smaller. it’s cheaper. it’s quieter. it has a bigger hard drive for less money. who cares about linux, since really it never work properly anyways (no hardware access to gfx chip etc).
Many of the features that people want are from the os, and OS 3.0 adds a lot – and i am sure there is more to come.
as far as the IR issue, yes why they don’t add one. then again Logitech has a good relationship with sony, making a lot of perpherals, and they OEM stuff for other peripheral makers too (mics in rock band etc). They make this :
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/remotes/universal_remotes/devices/5732&cl=us,en
if the slim had and IR port no more sales for this officially compatible wireless IR to bluetooth reciever
I dont see it as a bad product its just there isnt much to give credit to sony for beyond the pricecut
I have the IR adapter and it works like a charm but you are justifying sony not including IR because the consumer can shell out $55-80 for something that could be done on sony’s end for much
much
cheaper
Im no cheapskate so personally i dont care as it doesnt affect me however it would be nice to see sony go the nine for like, once!
Cheaper is the thing they did need to do, and I agree with you. The only thing I don’t like is continuing the lack of IR, IN FAVOUR of supporting f’ing Bravia Sync. There should be no need for the Logitech adapter to even exist, when the cost of an IR port on the levels Sony would be buying them comes in at less than a buck hardware wise, and a HELL of a lot cheaper in the R&D department, all for the sake of maintaining the proprietary ‘all or nothing’ approach.
For all the grief MS gets for not including WiFi in the 360, Sony deserves to be smacked around as much for the IR issue, especially when they launched it as ‘teh best’ BD player.
Oh well, I’ve gone away from using consoles or specialty media devices for media playback and I’m much happier since I decided to go with a media PC.
They do get smacked around for the IR issue
and rightfully so
speaking of which i bought a new ceiling fan that comes with a remotel, gonna try to program my harmony 1000 with it 😀
Nice. 😀
http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/21/ps3-slim-bitsreams-dolby-truehd-and-dts-hd-ma-audio-at-last/
now THIS is what IM talking about
fuck me this console is turning me into a schizo