PS3 & Xbox 360 models?
Inquisitor77
2 x Penny Arcade Fight Club ChampionA fixed point in space and timeRegistered User regular
2 x Penny Arcade Fight Club ChampionA fixed point in space and timeRegistered User regular
OK guys, I've browsed/searched the forums and can't seem to find any preexisting threads on this stuff, so hopefully this isn't a repeat, but I'm in the market for both a PS3 and an Xbox 360.
For the life of me, I can't find any up-to-date info on the model differences, and there seem to be a bajillion of them (including all the weird custom ones that pop up). Is there anything meaningful beyond the storage capacity that I need to be worrying about here? I assume they all "play" the games just fine, but since I haven't owned either console I don't know what to expect in terms of how much storage is adequate for my needs. I will probably only have a handful of games for both systems, when all is said and done.
What would be a good deal in terms of packages? Are there things like extra controllers, bundled games, etc. that I should be looking out for? Is there a product cycle I should watch out for?
Am I over-thinking this and should just put $250 down for each and call it a day?
For the life of me, I can't find any up-to-date info on the model differences, and there seem to be a bajillion of them (including all the weird custom ones that pop up). Is there anything meaningful beyond the storage capacity that I need to be worrying about here? I assume they all "play" the games just fine, but since I haven't owned either console I don't know what to expect in terms of how much storage is adequate for my needs. I will probably only have a handful of games for both systems, when all is said and done.
What would be a good deal in terms of packages? Are there things like extra controllers, bundled games, etc. that I should be looking out for? Is there a product cycle I should watch out for?
Am I over-thinking this and should just put $250 down for each and call it a day?
Inquisitor77 on
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If you care about downloading stuff I'd get one of the newer PS3s with the bigger hard drives.
And just one man's opinion but I'd wait to get one of the new PS3 super slims until they've been in a wild for a little while and people know whether they've got any bugs.
Xenon, the original launch board. Easily distinguished by the fact that it has no HDMI port. Avoid like the plague.
Zephyr, the board built for the Elite. Had some improvements to reliability, but still flaky (mine RROD'ed eventually.)
Falcon, the 45 nm refresh of Zephyr. The improved chips make this the choice if you want an old 360 model.
There's no reason not to just pick up the newest Xbox 360 you can find. Best to grab one with a large hard drive, because they are more expensive if you buy them after the fact.
Your options for PS3 go as follows:
If you want to also play PS2 games, you want to find an original 60GB PS3 fat. The model number will start with CECHA. It contains full hardware emulation of PS2 games, because both of the main processors from the PS2 are inside it. You could also find a early 80GB PS3 fat. The model number will start with CECHE. It contains one of the two main PS2 processors and can play most (but not all!) PS2 games.
If you don't care about playing PS2 games, then you can either get one of the current slim models, or one of the upcoming slimmer models. The current slims are reliable and thin and all around good hardware (as long as you ignore what they removed from the console to make them... all of the non-PS2 compatibility stuff is pretty well fluff, though). The newer slims are untested (but probably reliable) and thinner and lighter, but also have a top-loading DVD drive, so they might not go well in a cramped entertainment center.
Regardless of which PS3 you decide you want, don't sweat the storage capacity. All PS3s just use standard 2.5" laptop hard drives, so if you want more storage just head over to Newegg and buy one.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3_hardware
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Xbox_360_retail_configurations
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360_hardware
Just for the record - not all of the original PS3's have failures - mine is still running strong. It does not have the original hard drive anymore but that is because I swapped it for an SSD one and not due to a hardware failure. Regardless I agree on going for a separate PS2 if that functionality is needed.
I also have an original 360 that runs without issues which may sound almost impossible considering their average failure rate - however it may be down to it seeing much less use than the PS3 :-)
Not to derail the topic too much, but have you found any real improvement running an SSD in it? I was thinking about it but haven't had the need to upgrade yet.
Back on topic. I have had 3 360's. None died. My original launch model is with my brother and still running strong. My original elite was traded in for the new slim model. The main reason was for the quieter running system. My original elite was pretty loud.
One other thing about the early models. At some point they added what is essentially an internal memory card. Prior to that there was no ability to save without a hard drive or memory unit. As noted above, for the 360, there's really no reason not to just pick up one of the slim models.
I also have a PS3 with full HW BC I picked up about a year ago for less than half the price it cost retail (and with a bigger drive than they originally came with). It runs fine, if not a bit loud.
The special edition consoles (like halo edition, etc) only really stand out with minor cosmetic differences. They are all the same console underneath. Storage capacity, color, controller, bundled games, etc are all something that may be different, but the underlying functionality is there.
I think I'll wait for a few weeks after the new PS3's come out to see how they hold up. Maybe that will introduce a price drop on the old inventory as well? Thanks for the heads up on the backwards compatibility as well - it's not an issue for me since I still have an old PS2 lying around somewhere, and I doubt I'll be plugging it in anytime soon... If hard drive space is mostly used for downloaded games, and I can upgrade them using standard hard drive components, then I think I'll opt for the smallest size as well.
Regarding the Xbox 360, looks like I should just pick up the latest S model.
Thanks again!
Yeah, mine's failed once; the refurb that Sony sent me back is going strong. The important lesson at hand is to ensure that you have a current backup. After having lost a bunch of my saves once, I consider Playstation Plus worth it purely for the cloud save backups (all the free games are nice too, I guess).
How much data are we talking about? Is the smallest size enough for a half-dozen games, or would I be forced to constantly delete and re-install stuff? I don't have any experience with this so I have not context on what is a meaningful HDD size...
As to space, Mass Effect 3 with some DLC took up 4-6 GB, while Borderlands 2 took up nothing. Remember all your saves are on there too and the OS and formatting of the drive. So a 160 has...130? 140? usable space.
Judging by jumping in now and you say a few games, your more than ok. You can also delete the 'installs', just the next time you play it, you'll have to wait 20 minutes again for it to re-install.
I still have a launch 60 and it's fine. It holds more than you think.
Thanks again, everyone!
In a way this is also buying advice so I think it should be okay.
The gain by going to SSD is between almost nothing and load times that are cut in half depending on the game.
The disc controller in the PS3 seemingly does not have the bandwidth to really transfer data faster than the hard drive. However seek time also matters and for some games like for example GT5 where loading means lots of small files then seek time comes into play. I'd say SSD is a luxury and having had no issues with mine for more than a year I feel safe to recommend going for it.