Sony has made the most sensible move by releasing the PS3 Slim. Sony PS3 Slim is more affordable and focused as compared to the original PS3 and has won the heart and mind of millions. The new PlayStation 3 slim has although cut down on some of the features of the original set, coming to think of it they were not much useful. PS3 Slim offers real and tangible benefits.
Features
The biggest difference you will come across is that of its physical design. PlayStation 3 slim is around 15 mm deeper than the original and is almost 40 mm narrower. It is about 20mm thinner than the original PS3 and gives a sleek low profile. It has a simple PS3. It fits well with the rest of your AV kit.
The new Sony PlayStation 3 has round, flat, low travel buttons which illuminate nicely when pressed. The new model has a combination of a smaller nVidia RSX GPU, a new 45nm Cell processor, and a range of efficiency enhancements and hence consumes approximately 50 per cent of the power the old model consumed. This helps you cut off a reasonable amount from your electricity bill. This can be counted as a reason why the PS3 slim carries a smaller power cable.
PS3 slim has Blu-ray playback and is reasonably speedy at loading discs and has great playback quality. Another feature of the new PS3 is that it streams out DTS-HD Master Audio bit streams and Dolby True HD to a receiver over HDMI, which is awesome news for those who have a relevant home cinema kit. PlayStation 3 Slim comes with low resolution files and cell processor up scaling and hence has excellent video and audio playback quality.
The recent 3.0 version of the firmware has added BBC iplayer support to the PS3 slim with which you can now stream from BBC directly.
Performance
The PS3 Slim scores quite high in terms of in-built functionality and usability but has still come across criticism. It is seen to be lacking in accuracy and its motion-sensitive properties are hideously under used. In context of games the new PS3 is yet to prove itself. PlayStation 3 Slim is expected to show improvement and bring changes in this view. Sony will be coming up with God of War III, Gran Turismo 5, and MAG early next year.
Expecting the Sony PS3 to give us technically advanced and better games in the long term can be too much to ask for but it definitely gives us our share of great ones.
High points
1. Excellent video and audio playback quality.
2. Cuts down on the electricity consumption by 50%.
3. It is supported by blu-ray playback. It has an excellent pick up on loading discs.
4. Playback quality gives good competition and stands equal to the other budget decks.
Low points
1. Though it is expected to improve soon, presently it has not been able to prove itself well with the games it provides.
2. Is not a great choice for a long term use.
Price
The Sony PS3 slim has a sensible price tag of £249.
