Sony Outlines Differences Between PS3s

And tries to explain why it's not such a big deal after all.

Many people were surprised with Sony's revelation that it was planning to release two models of the PlayStation 3 - one for $500 and another for $600. There has been some confusion since the announcement and Sony's Phil Harrison chatted with US site GamePro to let gamers know what they can expect from the two versions.

We already know that the $600 model is the one Sony has been talking up all this time. It's got wireless controllers, a 60 GB hard drive, a Blu-ray drive, Ethernet and WiFi connections, an HDMI connector for the best possible picture, and a range of memory card slots, so that you can transfer photos and music to your PlayStation 3.

The $500 model, on the other hand, is mostly the same, though it reduces hard drive size to 20 GB, drops the digital HDMI connector for an analog component one, and loses the WiFi and memory card support.

"The only difference is that the high end machine uses a more convenient digital interconnect called HDMI, which is a digital standard, and the 20 GB unit uses HD component, which is an analog standard," Harrison told GamePro. "The picture quality is fantastic."

"The end user will not notice any quality difference. Perhaps if you were projecting onto a gi-normous screen you might notice some difference, but also not every HD display has HDMI. So we're providing a choice to the consumer."

Sony has been keen to point out whenever possible that the PlayStation 3 is the only system capable of delivering a "true HD" signal - which to Sony equates to 1080p, or 1,080 lines of vertical resolution. Harrison made clear that even if you do decide to opt for the cheaper model, you're not necessarily going to lose out.

"Both versions will support 1080p," he said.

Harrison also touched on the bigger hard drive in the more expensive model, touting its ability to act as a vault for your digital lifestyle:

"The 60 gig capacity is not only to download but to archive locally. The 60 gig solution will be attractive to users who want to PS3 as their primary music players, like me. I will put my entire music collection onto my PlayStation 3. I will archive all of my photos onto my PlayStation 3."

"It seems like a really insignificant feature but being able to simply slideshow your photos on your TV is actually a really compelling feature of PlayStation 3."

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games