NEW SONY PS3 Slim Coming September 1 ($299)

[wes]

Sony announces PS3 Slim in Cologne, Germany before opening of Gamescom Expo.

August 18, 2009 | by Steve Crowe

The rumors were pretty much put to rest when the much-rumored Sony PS3 slim showed up for $299 on Kmart.com and Sears.com, but Sony officially announced the slimmer PS3 at a press conference prior to Gamescom Expo in Cologne, Germany on Tuesday.

It will be out on Sept. 1 for $299 with “all the same features” of the regular PS3. However, Sony says it is 33 percent smaller, 36 percent lighter and comes with a 120GB hard drive.

Existing PS3 systems have been slashed $100 in price in anticipation of the PS3 slim.

The PS3 Slim has built-in WiFi and 2 USB ports. But, most importantly, the PS3 logo has been redesigned and the PS3 branding has been changed from “PLAYSTATION 3” to “PlayStation 3” (see what they did there).

The PS3 Slim is designed to be used only in a horizontal position, unlike earlier PS3s. Sony is selling a $24 stand that allows you to stand the PS3 vertically.

Other features on the PS3 Slim:

BRAVIA Sync to control the PS3 XMB over HDMI with a Bravia TV remote control
System Standby to turn off the PS3 Slim when the Bravia TV is off
Quieter operation than current PS3 systems
Spec sheet (via Engadget):

CPU: Cell Broadband Engine
GPU: RSX
Audio output: LPCM 7.1ch, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS, DTS-HD, AAC
Memory: 256MB XDR Main RAM, 256MB GDDR3 VRAM
Hard disk: 120GB 2.5” Serial ATA
USB 2.0 ports: 2
Networking: Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T), IEEE 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth 2.0 (+EDR)
Controller: Wireless Controller (Bluetooth) x 1
AV outputs: HDMI x 1, AV MULTI OUT x 1, Digital out (optical) x 1
Resolutions: 1080p, 1080i, 720p, 480p, 480i (for PAL 576p, 576i)
BD / DVD / CD drive (read only): BD × 2 (BD-ROM), DVD × 8 (DVD-ROM), CD × 24 (CD-ROM)
Power: AC 220 – 240, 50/60Hz
Power consumption: Approx. 250W
External dimensions: Approx. 290 × 65 × 290 mm (width × height × length)
Included in box: PlayStation 3 system × 1, Wireless Controller (DUALSHOCK 3) × 1, AC power cord × 1, AV cable × 1, USB cable × 1

Source: http://www.electronichouse.com/article/sony_ps3_slim_coming_in_september_for_299/

If only they had incorporated SACD

[akan101]

Is the slim version out now. These prices are not yet affected here in middle east side.

[chadcummings]

It is out. Welcome to the greed of Dubai to affect the costs of electronics in the middle east. I hate going through there and seeing the prices.

[akan101]

What is the price there can you advice?

[ErikMartz]

Looks Sweet!

[SteveCallas]

I'd keep my eye on Dell.com if you want one of these. I picked one up a few days ago on sale for $275 with free shipping plus Bing 15% cash back. All said and done after tax I ended up spending ~$255.

[Jon Liu]

That's a great deal, Steve! I got one the day it released. It replaced my original 60GB PS3 and I am glad I switched. If I found a deal like that, I would've actually made money on the switch, but alas I ended up spending about $30 bucks to make the switch.

[akan101]

Jon Liu wrote:

That's a great deal, Steve! I got one the day it released. It replaced my original 60GB PS3 and I am glad I switched. If I found a deal like that, I would've actually made money on the switch, but alas I ended up spending about $30 bucks to make the switch.

Is the slim version a bit good than the previous one?

[Jon Liu]

It's great. I really like the slim design.

Heat is much less of an issue compared to my previous 60GB PS3. Noise as well. Loading on games is faster, too. One thing to mention, blu-ray movie initial load time has been reportedly slowed down. Not by much though, it's like 2 seconds more.

[MatrixDweller]

I've been reading that the PS3 slim will pass lossless audio (ie: DD True, DTS MA) as bitstream over HDMI. Can anyone confirm that?