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I'm looking to buy a PS3, but with all the hard drive sizes and whatever other options there are, I'm lost. Last system I bought was... crap, I don't know, so I've never really had to think about it. I inherited a PS2, which is what I use now, but I don't play online so I don't know how that works.

Anyway, here's what I'm asking. What do I look for? What hard drive size is big enough but won't destroy my wallet? I imagine 60 gigs is well enough (my computer hard drive isn't much bigger!), but with 250 gigs and all the other sizes available... is a drive size that big really necessary? With games today, would 60 gigs not be enough? What else are hard drives for except for saved games? What prices are good store prices, and what are great steals? How do I get online with this thing, and what are the monthly costs of getting onto a PS3 network? What other options are there? How can I get the data off my PS2 memory card onto a PS3 one? Are they reliable?

I'm not looking for an Xbox or a Wii or anything. I'm just shopping around for a PS3.

Me, Grimlock! wrote:I'm looking to buy a PS3, but with all the hard drive sizes and whatever other options there are, I'm lost. Last system I bought was... crap, I don't know, so I've never really had to think about it. I inherited a PS2, which is what I use now, but I don't play online so I don't know how that works.

Anyway, here's what I'm asking. What do I look for? What hard drive size is big enough but won't destroy my wallet? I imagine 60 gigs is well enough (my computer hard drive isn't much bigger!), but with 250 gigs and all the other sizes available... is a drive size that big really necessary? With games today, would 60 gigs not be enough? What else are hard drives for except for saved games? What prices are good store prices, and what are great steals? How do I get online with this thing, and what are the monthly costs of getting onto a PS3 network? What other options are there? How can I get the data off my PS2 memory card onto a PS3 one? Are they reliable?

I'm not looking for an Xbox or a Wii or anything. I'm just shopping around for a PS3.

Depends on what kind of gamer you are. I have a 40GB cos I'm a reasonably casual gamer. I'd say 60GB is probably ideal though.

Some games actually require installation, so that'll take up a small chunk of your memory. Plus, if you're a media manic, there'll be plenty of room for music and videos and photos etc.

Internet is just a matter of either plugging it in, or, if you're on wireless, just searching and connecting. PSN is totally free, you'll be glad to hear.

PS2 to PS3 is a matter of buying an adapter, I think. Alternatively, you can download game saves online.

I'd say my PS3 is very reliable. If it crashes, its cos of the game (For instances, my Saints Row 2 crashes a sore number of times but other games are fine), and there isn't much to worry about since most games auto save anyway.

Hope that helps.

Arg...

ok, do you care about backwards compatibility?

If you do... do your damnedest to track down a 60 gig model. They are the only ones which do PS2 games 100%. Some of the 80 gigs do, but not all. Sony is phasing out BC entirely soon, so be aware.

Hard drive doesn't matter too much with the PS3 since the hard drives are easily swappable to upgrade.

That being said, you will want drive space. 40 gigs may end up being small in time. There are a lot of 1 gig downloads and if you use the PS3 for media (which you should...), then you'll want space.

Online is FREE. PS3 is internet ready, wi-fi ready, and blue-tooth capable. It has USB ports which connect to any usb device.

It recognizes almost all standard media.

Keep it well ventilated, like completely in the open. It won't burn out like 360s will, but it definitely needs to breathe.

The only PS3 currently on the Market is a $399 80GB model w/o backward compatibility. But their is a $499 $160GB model coming out soon bundled with Uncharted. I can say this:

Stay away from the 20GB model. Its discontinued but if you look you can still find one. IT has flawless BC but lacks wi-fi. Definitely though if BC is important than the 60GB is the best model, but its hard to find.

BC is important because I have a bunch of PS2 games I'd still like to keep around but without the PS2. But is that too small? I'm a casual gamer, too, but I imagine I'll download something here and there. Might not use the PS3 for photos and such, but a Rock Band song here or a Marvel Ultimate Alliance character there. Does this type of thing add up a lot? And is there any way of getting it off the PS3 on, say, a recordable DVD if I need the room? I imagine PS3s don't have DVD burning capabilities.

Me, Grimlock! wrote:BC is important because I have a bunch of PS2 games I'd still like to keep around but without the PS2. But is that too small? I'm a casual gamer, too, but I imagine I'll download something here and there. Might not use the PS3 for photos and such, but a Rock Band song here or a Marvel Ultimate Alliance character there. Does this type of thing add up a lot? And is there any way of getting it off the PS3 on, say, a recordable DVD if I need the room? I imagine PS3s don't have DVD burning capabilities.

Storing things on a removable device is your best option. Just slap it on a flash drive and store it on PC I'd say.

As for memory, don't worry. Most add ons are a matter of KBs. I've got about 100+ songs on my 40GB with plenty of room left. Game installations may be a matter of Gigs, but I think developers are trying to deviate away from installation as they learn more about blu ray so they'll become rarer.

Meverix wrote:Storing things on a removable device is your best option. Just slap it on a flash drive and store it on PC I'd say.

PS3s have flash outlets? That makes things so much easier!

That begs the question, then. Could I grab user-made... say... Rock Band tracks or MUA characters from the Internet and put them in the PS3 games? Or is that just begging to corrupt my data?

Meverix wrote:As for memory, don't worry. Most add ons are a matter of KBs. I've got about 100+ songs on my 40GB with plenty of room left. Game installations may be a matter of Gigs, but I think developers are trying to deviate away from installation as they learn more about blu ray so they'll become rarer.

100+ songs of mp3 or Guitar Hero/Rock Band stuff? (Or is there a difference in size?)

Anyway, I think that clinches it. If I can save stuff on a jump drive and addons are only kilobytes, I'd say backwards compatability is more important than hard drive space. And if, for some reason, I'm wrong, as you guys say, I could always get a bigger drive.

So if I understand properly, if I want BC but want wi-fi (so I avoid the 20 gig one), then the 60 gig one is my best bet?

Yeah you can stick a flash drive or an internal HDD into the USB ports. Plenty of options as far as that goes. Coolest thing I think is the fact it uses laptop hard drives, and the instruction book tells you how to replace it. If whatever size you get isn't enough you can get a bigger one! I think eventually I'm going to go to 320GB, but right now my 40GB's doing fine.

IF BC is important to you, then good luck. At this point you're going to have to probably buy a used PS3. I think sony's pretty much axed it with no solution due to the fact the PS2 is still very much alive and selling well.

Me, Grimlock! wrote:

Meverix wrote:Storing things on a removable device is your best option. Just slap it on a flash drive and store it on PC I'd say.

PS3s have flash outlets? That makes things so much easier!

That begs the question, then. Could I grab user-made... say... Rock Band tracks or MUA characters from the Internet and put them in the PS3 games? Or is that just begging to corrupt my data?

Meverix wrote:As for memory, don't worry. Most add ons are a matter of KBs. I've got about 100+ songs on my 40GB with plenty of room left. Game installations may be a matter of Gigs, but I think developers are trying to deviate away from installation as they learn more about blu ray so they'll become rarer.

100+ songs of mp3 or Guitar Hero/Rock Band stuff? (Or is there a difference in size?)

Anyway, I think that clinches it. If I can save stuff on a jump drive and addons are only kilobytes, I'd say backwards compatability is more important than hard drive space. And if, for some reason, I'm wrong, as you guys say, I could always get a bigger drive.

So if I understand properly, if I want BC but want wi-fi (so I avoid the 20 gig one), then the 60 gig one is my best bet?

I'd imagine game data like songs for Rock Band or whatever are also a matter of kilobytes, since its both music and the information needed for the game to read it (I've never played those games). Somehow I reckon the developers will have found a way to make those tracks very small.

Song are, obviously, about 5MB on average. MP3s, that is.

60GB is definitely the one you want, I think. But as above, you may need to look out for second hand ones.

to answer another question:

they have had some reliability issues. As stated in another topic wayyyy back on page x somewhere, i am currently on my third ps3. The launch one failed to launch->warranty replacement. The second one worked perfectly for months then mysteriously bricked->warranty #2. The third is still working flawlessly. I'm scared cause now i'm out of warranties...

Since you already have a ps2, you may consider continueing to use that for your ps2/ps1 games. Not only am i to cheap to buy the adapter necessary to transfer saves, i get tired of having to set the screen so the game doesn't get cut off or have black bars on the side.

Gutter Bunny wrote:to answer another question:

they have had some reliability issues. As stated in another topic wayyyy back on page x somewhere, i am currently on my third ps3. The launch one failed to launch->warranty replacement. The second one worked perfectly for months then mysteriously bricked->warranty #2. The third is still working flawlessly. I'm scared cause now i'm out of warranties...

Since you already have a ps2, you may consider continueing to use that for your ps2/ps1 games. Not only am i to cheap to buy the adapter necessary to transfer saves, i get tired of having to set the screen so the game doesn't get cut off or have black bars on the side.

Never heard of PS3s being so unreliable. Mine's lasted six months without problems and my friends has lasted much longer, and he's a far more serious gamer.

Gutter Bunny wrote:to answer another question:

they have had some reliability issues. As stated in another topic wayyyy back on page x somewhere, i am currently on my third ps3. The launch one failed to launch->warranty replacement. The second one worked perfectly for months then mysteriously bricked->warranty #2. The third is still working flawlessly. I'm scared cause now i'm out of warranties...

Since you already have a ps2, you may consider continueing to use that for your ps2/ps1 games. Not only am i to cheap to buy the adapter necessary to transfer saves, i get tired of having to set the screen so the game doesn't get cut off or have black bars on the side.

sounds like launch model issues. That alone might be worth ditching the BC.

Essentially if you want BC you gotta get a launch model. Even the 80GB model that was released with MGS4 is still based off the same architecture. I know the 40/80/160GB model has a completly different motherboard, with a dye shrunk cell processor. went from 90nm to like 45nm I think. I do know it uses less power.

Yup, the 60 gig model seems to be almost impossible to get under $500. I might have to go with something else. Hopefully the PS2 lasts a few more years because it sucks that I can't get an updated system that will still play them. Any other suggestions? I guess I can't just grab another model and mod it by sticking in a BC chip or something?

Maybe I'll just wait until after Christmas when the whole swarm is gone.

Gutter Bunny wrote:to answer another question:

they have had some reliability issues. As stated in another topic wayyyy back on page x somewhere, i am currently on my third ps3.

You seem to leave your system on forever though...

If you don't have that bad boy well ventilated, you're planning an early death for all and any system you've got there.

Counterpunch wrote:

Gutter Bunny wrote:to answer another question:

they have had some reliability issues. As stated in another topic wayyyy back on page x somewhere, i am currently on my third ps3.

You seem to leave your system on forever though...

If you don't have that bad boy well ventilated, you're planning an early death for all and any system you've got there.

ah yes, i do leave it on for extended periods of time...it barely gets warm and is not in an enclosed area, so it should be good.

Believe it or not, this was not my habit with the one that died. I used to shut it off whenever it wasn't in use, then one day it just wouldn't turn back on...