There will be two versions of Sony’s PlayStation 3 when it launches in November.
Check the table below taken from Sony’s website (in PDF):
| Product Name | PlayStation 3 | ||
| CPU | Cell Processor | ||
| GPU | RSX® | ||
| Sound | Dolby 5.1, DTS, LPCM, etc. (Cell-based processing) | ||
| Memory | 256MB XDR Main RAM, 256MB GDDR3 VRAM | ||
| HDD | 2.5" Serial ATA |
20GB
|
60GB
|
| I/O | USB 2.0 |
x4
|
|
| Memory Stick/SD/Compact Flash |
No
|
Yes
|
|
| Communications | Ethernet | x1/10 Base-T, 100 Base-TX, 1000 Base-T | |
| IEEE 802.11 b/g |
No
|
Yes
|
|
| Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR) |
Yes
|
||
| Wireless Controller (Bluetooth) |
Yes
|
||
| AV Output | Screen Size |
480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
|
|
| HDMI Output |
No
|
x1/HDMI NextGen
|
|
| AV Multi Out |
Yes
|
||
| DigitalOut |
Yes
|
||
| BD/DVD/CD Drive (Read Only) | Maximum Read Speed |
BD 2x (BD-ROM) |
|
| Dimensions | Approximately 325mm (W) x 98mm (H) x 274mm (D) | ||
| Weight | Approximately 5 kg | ||
(All copyrights property of their respective owners. The table itself is Sony’s…taken from their PDF sheet and here translated into an XHTML table.)
From this we see there are two versions, one with a 20GB HD, which is the $499 model, and a 60GB model for $599. That $100 gets you far more than just a bigger hard drive though. The addition of 802.11 b/g to the higher end model is nice and I would have to guess it won’t be available with an add-on. The card reader is also a nice add-on, but that one I would guess will become an add-on, if not from Sony,than perhaps from somebody unofficially, perhaps via the USB ports.
The big thing missing from the 20GB version is HDMI output, which will be necessary for proper Blu-Ray output. While most of the studios say they will not use the image constraint token on their first batch of movies, sooner or latter they will turn it on, and then the 20GB version will not be able to output movies at their full resolution. I actually thought HDMI output was a required on the Blu-ray spec. Unless they have a spot there that you can add the HDMI output at a later date somehow, perhaps a plug-in module, then the 20GB version is worthless as a Blu-ray player for the long term. It is definitely worth the extra $100 to get the 60GB version.
The big surprise, for me at least, is the addition of SACD to it. SACD is Sony’s Super Audio CD and was one of two (the other DVD-A), still competing high end audio CD formats. Which is better depends on who you ask. Whichever is the better audio format, both are better than CD, this gives SACD a market edge. Odd nobody seems to be talking about this part of the system yet.
$600 for a Blu-ray player, awesome video game system, SACD player, and whatever other tricks Sony has up it’s sleeves is a heck of deal. Where’s my piggy bank…
Edit: The US release date will be 17 November. It will also have a motion sensing controller that looks and feels much like the current PS2 controller… motion sensing just like Nintendo’s Wii (the bad name for their next console).
