Lighter, More Efficient New PS3 Model Sneaks Out in Japan

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Lighter, More Efficient New PS3 Model Sneaks Out in Japan

Post by Dan @ 11:15am 22/06/11 | 13 Comments

Sony have quietly released another new hardware revision (CECH-3000B) of the PlayStation 3 console onto shelves in Japan, superseding the previous PS3 slim model with a new SKU that looks the same but weighs 2.6kg (400g less than the previous slim) and runs at a lower power consumption of 200 watts (down from 230 watts). Only a 320GB version has been announced so far for individual sale at ¥34,980 (the same price point as the current slim), however it has been confirmed that the console in the "Tales of Xillia X Edition" bundle will be a 160GB HDD version of the new model.

There are currently no details on when the rest of the world might see this new revision on local shelves, but if history is any indication, August or September are the likely bet. All PS3 accessory pricing remains currently unchanged.

playstation 3 slim sony

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Eorl
Posted 02:07pm 22/6/11

Is there actually any hardware change? Or did they just slim off a few edges?

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Mooshy
Posted 12:41am 26/6/11

Thats great if I want to lug my PS3 around in a backpack... but I don't do that very often ;) Wondering too if they have slimmed the CPU size again since it needs less juice? Makes you wonder why if they are releasing lighter, less power hunger versions, that they can't release a SUPER PS3 version with updated graphics, more memory etc..... even if the CELL processor seems to be holding its own it really would benefit from these tweaks! If Sony are still developing new and better versions of the PS3 I don't see why it would be so hard unless they are focussing more on next gen PS4 ?

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Door
Posted 01:08am 26/6/11

Mooshy, they did this with PS and PS2. It's what they do.

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SwissCM
Posted 07:14am 26/6/11

It's been done since consoles existed. Even the Atari 2600 had several revisions which decreased the size, power usage and cost of production.

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Reverend Evil�
Posted 07:37am 26/6/11

Is it true the blu ray quality on PS3's doesn't look as crisp as a stand alone blu ray player? Had a customer at work say he wasn't sold on blu ray because it didn't look much better than DVD. And his mate reckons that's because it's playing thru a PS3.

Confirm or deny?

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skythra
Posted 08:56am 26/6/11

It's been done since consoles existed. Even the Atari 2600 had several revisions which decreased the size, power usage and cost of production.

Nintendo only does this with it's gameboys.

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Mosfxx
Posted 09:05am 26/6/11

Is it true the blu ray quality on PS3's doesn't look as crisp as a stand alone blu ray player? Had a customer at work say he wasn't sold on blu ray because it didn't look much better than DVD. And his mate reckons that's because it's playing thru a PS3.

Confirm or deny?

Personal opinion here, but Sony invented Bluray? why the hell would they have a lower quality version running in the PS3? The customer is trippin' balls, should of asked the customer if he's playing Bluray movies or just DVD's in his PS3 lol.

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WetWired
Posted 10:13am 26/6/11

Still waiting on a price drop, $450+ is too much to ask for a nearly 5 year old console

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Mantorok
Posted 10:39am 26/6/11

Nintendo only does this with it's gameboys.

There's a couple of rather obvious examples you're ignoring:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Entertainment_System_(Model_NES-101)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Nintendo_Entertainment_System_(Redesigned_Model_SNS-101)
The Nintendo 64 and GameCube both had later revisions that reduced the cost by changing the internal components, but only the GameCube had any noticeable difference (the later GameCube models lacked the AV port used for the component cable). AFAIK only the Wii's optical drive has changed between revisions, in an attempt to combat piracy.

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Spook
Posted 10:47am 26/6/11

the real question is how much shinier will games be on it!?

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SwissCM
Posted 10:56am 26/6/11

Nintendo only does this with it's gameboys.

No, the NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube and Wii all had at least two hardware revisions.

The NES stayed the same throughout it's run, but it's hardware was revised with the release of the top loading version and they released another (extremely rare) top loading NES with support for Composite/RGB output.

The SNES went through quite a few different revisions, over time more and more of the ICs got merged together and it culminated in the budget mini SNES that got released near the SNES's end of life.

The N64 only had minor revisions, mainly just shuffling around ICs and stuff, nothing cosmetic.

The Gamecube also stayed mostly the same, though there was a second model which removed the capability to output a digital video signal.

The Wii's hardware was updated quite early in its life in order to keep up with the hardware mods coming out. They eventually gave up though.

Is it true the blu ray quality on PS3's doesn't look as crisp as a stand alone blu ray player? Had a customer at work say he wasn't sold on blu ray because it didn't look much better than DVD. And his mate reckons that's because it's playing thru a PS3.

Confirm or deny?

Load of shit. If it goes through a HDMI cable then there isn't going to be any discernible difference. Back in the day of DVD there was a noticeable difference in video quality between low and high end players but that's because the video signal had to be converted to analogue (CVBS/S-Video/YPbPr) which requires relatively high-end components to get good quality. Provided the BluRay player isn't processing the image in some way the data received by the TV should be exactly the same as the data stored on the disc.

last edited by SwissCM at 10:56:33 26/Jun/11

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Eorl
Posted 11:03am 26/6/11

The SNES only had 2 different revisions. One for America, and one for rest of the world. Hence the purple one for America, and the grey one for Australia/other places.

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SwissCM
Posted 07:10am 27/6/11

Left is the original US model, right is the revised US "Jr." version. There are also many motherboard revisions which consolidated the ICs in the console to lessen manufacturing costs (I have 2 PAL SNES's each with a different motherboard layout).

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