Lower-Price PS3 Mostly Upgradeable 253
jchenx writes "One of the biggest questions remaining after the Sony press conference and E3 last week was whether or not the core PS3 package could be upgraded to the premium one. It looks like that question has been answered. GI.biz reports that the core version can upgraded with WiFi and memory card adapters, as well as a higher capacity hard drive. However, HDMI output will be non-upgradeable."
Let me be the first to say: Duh. (Score:4, Informative)
Wi-Fi- Even if there was no sony specific adapter, you could always use an Ethernet bridge.
Card reader: I suppose it is nice to hear confirmation on this one. Still, it's not something I'd use that often.
Hard drive: Wasn't this announced to be removable a while ago? And if it's removable, you can be damn sure that Sony will let you spend more money than a hard drive actually costs to upgrade it.
HDMI: What's this about "mostly upgradable"? Maybe it's just me, but of the features on the $500 PS3 that're missing, this is by far the most important one. Granted, the studios don't seem to be using HDCP at the moment, but if they do eventually, you're screwed. Hello near SD resolution without buying a whole new player.
Foolish (Score:4, Informative)
The PS3 price is insane.
It's not insane historically speaking (see the charts) but it's insane to price it at $500 or $600.
The Wii is rumored to come out at $200-$250, so that's two for the price of the minimal PS3. But to compare the PS3 to Xbox 360, we have can look at it's price percentage. Between min and max, PS3's percent difference is (600-500)/500 or approximately 20%. The Xbox 360 has a difference of (400-300)/300 which is 33%. What's the point of upgrading later when another 20% of the bill will get you the full thing? To me that sounds foolish. I can definitely see that working with the Xbox but not when you're talking about prices around $600. If I'm going to pay that much, might as well throw on another $100.
I'm not concerned if it's upgradable and, frakly, I won't be too concerned with the PS3 until I see what it can do. Can it do twice what the Wii or Xbox 360 can? That remains to be seen.
HDMI Confusion (Score:4, Informative)
In regards to the PS3, you should only care about HDMI if a) that's the only input your TV supports (mine has 1 HDMI, 2 component) or b) you're concerned about buying a DRM burdened Blu-Ray movie that only allows a HDMI connection.
Re:Let me be the first to say: Duh. (Score:1, Informative)
Somebody'll probably make a USB accessory or something that accepts older memory cards, but the card reader in the 60GB version isn't it.
Re:HDMI (Score:2, Informative)
Swi
Re:Opportunity costs (Score:2, Informative)
Based on the fact that you can get BOTH of the other consoles for the price of the PS3.