This past August Sony released a revamped, and much less expensive PS3. The unit only costs $199 and sounds like a pretty sweet deal, right? In my opinion, no.
- Only 12GB of storage
- Only 2 USB ports
- Mounting brackets, for the HDD, are not included.
Of these negatives, the only one that isn’t that big of a concern, is the number of USB ports. Now, having said that, let’s consider the cost of buying an HDD to install into the PS3. That will run you anywhere from $40 to $100 depending on the brand and size you want to install. Now, also consider that this unit does not include the hard drive mounting brackets, so you will have to pay extra for those as well. The mounting brackets can cost anywhere from $10-$25.
Does This Console Make Sense For You?
So taking these extra costs into consideration, this unit will be of no benefit to anyone that is looking to expand the storage, beyond the included 12GB. For example, Amazon has a bundle for $249, that includes Uncharted 3, and a 250GB hard drive, AND a year of Playstation Plus included. Those items, alone, make this $199 console, in my opinion, a bit too expensive for what you are getting.
Who Does It Make Sense For?
If you have little to no intention of heavy gaming, then I can see how this 12GB unit would make sense. For people who only care to use this as a media streaming device, and play games exclusively from the disc, then this system makes perfect sense. I would still like to see the price drop by another $20. That would make it a little easier to swallow. I would certainly pull the trigger.
This would also be a good replacement system for someone that already has a PS3 but wants the new console style, or maybe had their old one burn out on them. In these scenarios, they could use their existing mounting hardware, and hard disk, to put into the 12GB unit.
Are you going to get one?
I have been a complete laggard as far as this generation of gaming is concerned. As a Husband and Father, I have many priorities, but keeping up with the gaming Joneses is not one of them. As a matter of fact, I didn’t get a PS2 until 2006, and that was because they dropped the price to $129.
If the price of this 12GB unit comes down, I might seriously consider picking this up. I have 1 PS3 game, Gran Turismo 5 XL edition, but I bought it for my son, so I do not have a huge PS3 library. This unit could make sense for me, if the price is right.
