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Sony adds credence to FCC filings of an 80GB PS3

A spokesperson for Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. said today that the company is considering launching a new version of PlayStation 3 with a larger hard disk drive.

“For users who vigorously store (games and other entertainment content) in the PS3, 20-giga is probably going to be too small, and even 60-giga may not be big enough eventually,” Sony Computer Entertainment spokesman Satoshi Fukuoka said in a Reuters report.

“We are not likely to change its core components and functions such as the Cell, RSX, Blu-ray drive and network capability. But outside that realm, addition and deletion is quite possible,” he said.

Fukuoka’s comments come just a week after SCEA confirmed that the 20GB PS3 is discontinued in the North American market, though it will still be offered in Japan. The European PlayStation 3 has already experienced hardware ‘deletion,’ as the console does not include the Emotion Engine and Graphics Synthesizer chips used for hardware PlayStation 2 emulation.

Adding the plausibility of a larger hard disk drive are Sony’s filings with the FCC detailing a PlayStation 3 console with an 80GB drive, which another Sony spokesperson commented on saying that the “Application to the FCC has been made with various possibilities in mind, however, it does not lead to a new product announcement at this time.”

Sony competitor Microsoft will be launching on April 29 an upgraded version of the Xbox 360 with HDMI and a 120GB hard disk drive, perhaps providing some of the motivation behind Fukuoka’s comments.

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Why?
By epsilonparadox on 4/17/2007 1:31:40 PM , Rating: 3
I don't get it. You can replace the HDD already.




RE: Why?
By NagoyaX on 4/17/2007 1:59:48 PM , Rating: 2
exactly, that was what i wondered the whole time I read the article. What's the point of selling a PS3 with a bigger HDD when one can add it themselfs. Heck, you can even pulg in a external HDD if you want.

Unlike M$ which uses thier own port >.< Sony does not. I own an Xbox 360 and its nice an all but too much control though i do see why.


RE: Why?
By deeznuts on 4/17/2007 2:05:57 PM , Rating: 5
How many people do you know who can't change the time on their VCR? These are for people who can't change their own HDDs. How many people buy dells and have people come over and pay them to add a DVD burner? Do you think every console gamer is an avid computer enthusiast?

C'mon guys if you think just a little bit before posting you don't look so short-sighted.

As to the point of the 80GB, again most are not thinking it through. It was mentioned above. They can keep the pricepoint the same, $599 while adding a larger hard drive, and it probably only is a marginal increase in cost, considering the scale Sony buys their parts.


RE: Why?
By Chaser on 4/17/2007 2:18:27 PM , Rating: 1
Keep in mind here that the expert opinions expressed regarding the PS3 is clearly how every mainstream buyer that walks into a Best Buy feels. Whether its a hard drive upgrade, Cell processor speed measurements and of course the horribly absurd price too.


RE: Why?
By Aikouka on 4/17/2007 3:30:32 PM , Rating: 3
Deez, being someone who's worked with computer hardware for awhile, computers are not a difficult item to work with... even for a novice user. I still believe that geeks (like myself) would like to have you believe that working with a computer's innards is difficult, or else the GeekSquad-esque people of the world are out of a job.

I had a friend who isn't the most technical person in the world build an entire machine without help. He originally asked me if I'd come down (note: it would've been a 6 hour drive :P) to help him build it. I told him that it's really a lot easier than it used to be 7-10 years ago and that I guarantee he can do it himself. Lo-and-behold, he built the PC just fine.

Things are getting even easier as newer specifications are removing the "hardships" of installing hardware, such as the fact that you don't need to adjust jumpers on SATA HDDs like you had to with the PATA variants. Also the differences that concepts such as Plug-n-Play have made is huge. Being able to just install hardware, turn the machine on and its ready to use in seconds after initialization... well that was unheard of 7-10 years ago.

The reason some people would rather pay someone to do it isn't difficulty... that's like someone saying they have Jiffy Lube change their oil because it's difficult (which unless you drive a small Asian K-car and have hands like Andre the Giant... it isn't). They'd either do it because of peace of mind (knowing that the job is supposedly done right), they don't have the time or because they're lazy.

Also, if you can't change the time on your VCR, you're too lazy to do what we geeks have also coined as "RTFM." Sony even tells you how to change the HDD in the manual as mentioned in this comment thread just like VCR manufacturers tell you how to set the time.

There's also the fact that some people may not even realize that you can change the HDD out by yourself and a larger HDD released from Sony might be the only option that they think they have. This is what we call ignorance ;).


RE: Why?
By deeznuts on 4/17/2007 3:56:33 PM , Rating: 5
I see your view, but The point isn't whether or not it is hard or easy to put together a computer. I built mine after watching someone do it once, and I've never built one before.

It's the perception of difficulty. People don't want to open up their PS3. Plain and simple. Some people like to tinker while others don't even want to take a screwdriver to it. Just because it can be done doesn't mean people would do it.

I'm pretty sure most routine plumbing jobs can be done by the owner but they don't do it.

Anyone can add or change a HDD but that doesn't mean they will.

My mom doesn't know how to email or use the internet, while my dad does but he calls me when his comp doesn't turn on because the floppy is in the drive (I've changed the boot sequence).

Everybody here should be comfortable changing the HDD of the PS3. Not everyone walking into Best Buy to buy a PS3 is. Are you suggesting Sony leave them in the cold? Or offer a bigger HDD?


RE: Why?
By jtesoro on 4/17/2007 9:51:48 PM , Rating: 2
Agree. Sure, people can do hard disk upgrades (or change oil) themselves. But that's almost irrelevant. The point is there is a market for this product and Sony is addressing it.


RE: Why?
By Munkles on 4/18/2007 9:45:51 AM , Rating: 2
Aikouka,

As a current Geek Squad employee, Agent in good standing, former Double Agent, and current Sleep Agent you couldnt be more wrong.

Unfortunatley not every Geek Squad employee shares the vision, but the Idea behind the Geek Squad isnt to keep the masses in a state of illusion about computer hardware/software. Its to help those people that are either too busy, or never had the oppurtunity to learn how to do their own work. We are a 24/7 rapid response computer task force that polices unruley technology.

One of the most important jobs of any agent is to teach, his clients about the computer, to train them to be an educated and capable user. We just handle the work that they cannot.

In my case; as a double agent, I did a LOT of work for extremely intelligent people doctors, professors, etc who while incredibley bright and intelligent had no time or energy to work on their problems. These peoples time was more valuable to them then sitting down with google for a night of research. To a lot of people, a night they can spend with their family while having a well trained, well mannered agent fix their issues is a god-send.

I routinely tell people how to do their own work, with a slight disclaimer that If they do not feel comfortable doing it that they do NOT and instead have us do it for them. 99% of the time we can fix whatever issues someone has but if they blow their memory, or fry thier mobo becauase they install a wireless card backwards.... not much we can do.

I cant speak for every Agent out there, but I can speak for the Geek Squad when I say that we are honestly, in the market to teach people, and police technology. Yes as any company we have a bottom line to worry about but, we do that through taking care of our clients.


RE: Why?
By damncrackmonkey on 4/18/2007 4:21:37 PM , Rating: 2
$130 to install Windows? That makes it rather difficult for me to believe that you're in the market to 'teach people.'


RE: Why?
By geddarkstorm on 4/17/2007 3:50:33 PM , Rating: 2
I certainly wouldn't call myself a genius, but I had no problems assembling my own computer from scratch (and I have no training or class background whatsoever in that field) with no outside help other than my own common sense. Plugging in wires is a piece of cake; changing the time on a VCR is more difficult solely because the controls with which to interface with the VCR are usually very cumbersom and VCR specific.

People aren't so stupid or incompetent on the whole that they couldn't change a PS3 HDD on their own, but I do have to agree though as likely they'll be too lazy to bother.

If they do uprate the standard HDD on the PS3, I sure hope they lower the price of the current HDD PS3's... that's definitely a major benefit to average consumers from such a move.


RE: Why?
By frobizzle on 4/17/2007 3:59:36 PM , Rating: 2
While I agree that working inside a PC is a piece of cake, not everyone shares that opinion with you. It is the reason why there are still so many people throwing away money on a piece of crap like AOL for Internet service. They are (or simply do not think they are) competent to do that sort of work.

To make that statement on this forum (that virtually anyone can do it) is not going to hold a lot of value. This is a geek forum and I would guess that most of us here have built many PCs over the years.


RE: Why?
By SigmaHyperion on 4/17/2007 5:24:59 PM , Rating: 4
Come one. That's like saying "Why buy a new Dell when you can just upgrade the processor/hard-drive/RAM/whatever?"

Yet, somehow, Dell manages to sell millions and millions of PC a year.

It isn't a question of how "easy" it is. It's a question of just how many people are willing/going to do it.

95% of people who buy PS3s don't even know that they CAN upgrade the HD. Of those that know, half don't care, a quarter think it's cool but will never do it, and a tiny, tiny percentage of all owners will actually upgrade the thing.


RE: Why?
By VIAN on 4/17/2007 6:39:23 PM , Rating: 2
I think that adding HD cables to the system would have been a wiser choice than adding another 20GB. But then again, what were they gonna advertise. "It really does HD this time." No, I think 80GB is another way to get more exposure. Because if consumers are too stupid to not read the manual to install a newer HDD, then they're probably stupid enough not to know that you need HD cables to see the HD difference.

If they were that worried about lazy consumers, they would've just released a plug it in type deal, similar to the 360. And then, why 80GB. If they've used up 60GB, you think 80 is going to be enough. Sony would've been smarter to release a 120GB version.

If they wanted to make it fool proof, this is one thing the 360 almost got right. And that is to sell Sony made HDD that you just plug in for a price. 20GB would be the stock, and then sell 60GB and 120GB in the stores for about 75 and 150 respectively.


RE: Why?
By ogreslayer on 4/17/2007 6:32:36 PM , Rating: 2
Exactly I'd like a barebones one with no hard drive at all


RE: Why?
By sxr7171 on 4/18/2007 12:05:15 AM , Rating: 2
If it's the same price why not?


RE: Why?
By Mithan on 4/19/2007 12:53:23 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
I don't get it. You can replace the HDD already.


Yes, but then you have a 60 gig that you payed for, sitting there doing nothing and you have to spend more money buying another one.

I dont have a problem with this decision, but they are goin to need to go with a 120g version at least. It will need to be big enough where people wont want to upgrade it again...


80 vs 60 vs 20
By AnnihilatorX on 4/17/2007 1:26:13 PM , Rating: 2
20GB and 60GB HDD can be obtained with near nothing from car boot sales. 80GB is no improvement at all. Come'on, what era are we in now?

I prefer Sony to have a PS3 configuration without HDD built in so that I can buy my own 180GB HDD




RE: 80 vs 60 vs 20
By Araxen on 4/17/07, Rating: 0
RE: 80 vs 60 vs 20
By dome1234 on 4/17/2007 1:39:21 PM , Rating: 4
I don't think sony's selling "sony quality assured" hdd out there for the ps3. In the manual, you can find instruction to change the hdd on your own to whatever size (no idea the limit) you wish.

Making hdd a standard makes life easier for dev.

i'm guessing they're changing the current usd599 sku from 60 to 80G to sweeten the deal without a price drop. I'm thinking pr crap. The additional 20G probably cost them peanuts compared to a full blown price drop.


RE: 80 vs 60 vs 20
By TheDrD on 4/17/2007 2:48:21 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Making hdd a standard makes life easier for dev.


Well the 60GB HD could come standard while the consumer could add their own HD that way the Dev would know the customer had at least 60GB


RE: 80 vs 60 vs 20
By awer26 on 4/17/2007 2:03:50 PM , Rating: 2
The PS3 uses a 2.5" HDD, not a 3.5" and the largest one is 200GB currently.

Honestly, they should not include any HDD and let the user add his own (and take $150 off the price). I'd want to either add a 2.5" 160GB drive anyway or make the PS3's HDD cover into a eSATA port and use an external 3.5" HDD.


RE: 80 vs 60 vs 20
By Thmstec on 4/17/2007 9:06:39 PM , Rating: 2
you can easily use a 3.5 with a simple adaptor, I'm running a 300GB 3.5 already.


RE: 80 vs 60 vs 20
By chick0n on 4/18/07, Rating: -1
RE: 80 vs 60 vs 20
By Goty on 4/17/2007 10:40:26 PM , Rating: 2
The HDD is probably one of the lease expensive components in the whole console, so releasing a version without a hard drive probably wouldn't reduce the cost enough to make it worthwhile.


Cost
By BMFPitt on 4/17/2007 2:47:42 PM , Rating: 4
I don't get why nobody has said this. The bulk wholesale price difference between 80GB and 60GB is probably close to zero for them. They get to make a better version and either keep prices the same or charge a small premium (nobody would pay $100 for the extra 20GB except the dumbest of the dumb) for it.




RE: Cost
By deeznuts on 4/17/2007 3:58:48 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
I don't get why nobody has said this. The bulk wholesale price difference between 80GB and 60GB is probably close to zero for them. They get to make a better version and either keep prices the same or charge a small premium (nobody would pay $100 for the extra 20GB except the dumbest of the dumb) for it.
Because I already said it above ;)


RE: Cost
By deeznuts on 4/17/2007 3:59:27 PM , Rating: 2
Forgot the quote:

quote:
They can keep the pricepoint the same, $599 while adding a larger hard drive, and it probably only is a marginal increase in cost, considering the scale Sony buys their parts.


RE: Cost
By jabber on 4/18/2007 5:11:32 AM , Rating: 2
Exactly, plus a 60Gb is not really a easy to find/standard size anymore. Probably was 18 months/2 years ago when they specced it up but not now.

80Gb drives are pretty much the standard entry point these days.

All they are doing is switching to the current entry ( bottom of the range) standard.

No story here, move along.


The big picture...
By Goty on 4/17/2007 2:39:38 PM , Rating: 2
I think the thing some people might be missing here is that the 60GB PS3 might be moving down a spot in the pricing scheme. Cheaper PS3s? I'm all for it!




RE: The big picture...
By Timeless on 4/17/2007 3:24:22 PM , Rating: 2
God I hope you're right. But then, of course, I would feel a little ripped-off because I already bought a 60GB PS3. But still, a lower price would be good right about now, considering Sony's bad PR...


RE: The big picture...
By ATC on 4/17/2007 11:03:40 PM , Rating: 2
It's more plausible to have the 80 merely replace the 60 model, and the 60 slowly disappearing. I don't see the point of having two SKUs, one being the 60 and the other being the 80 with no other difference.


Warranty
By enlil242 on 4/17/2007 3:31:48 PM , Rating: 1
Forgive my ignorance here, but I thought I read somewhere that while it is possible to replace the drive on the PS3, it voids the warranty... Can someone help me with this?

Thanks...




RE: Warranty
By IsDanReally on 4/17/2007 4:01:10 PM , Rating: 2
That is false. Why would Sony put directions on how to void the warrenty (ie replace the hard drive) in the manual?


RE: Warranty
By enlil242 on 4/17/2007 4:50:32 PM , Rating: 2
Thanks ... I just checked out Playstation's own adn it states:

How can you upgrade the 20GB hard drive?
PLAYSTATION®3 hard disk drive is removable and upgradable. You can upgrade the drive by removing the hard drive and replacing it with a larger capacity drive.

So, I think if they replace the 60gb SKU with an 80GB SKU for the same price, I'd say it is a good idea, but if they are going to charge more than boo on that...


Sony might be doing this to lower loss
By raisinbrainMMM on 4/17/2007 2:18:44 PM , Rating: 2
Just like when they were losing more money when people purchased a 20gb model, the same idea applies here.

If they do set a higher price for this model (e.g. $699) they just added $100 dollars to the price and about $15 dollars of additional cost to them to include a 80gb hard drive instead of a 60gb.

People will usually always go for the higher model, so if most people start buying the 80gb version for $699, sony will lose less money in that sale than when people buy a 60gb.

This new model might be just about shrinking Sony's losses per sale. With microsoft coming out with the Elite, this is the perfect excuse to push a new model out that most people will buy instead of the 60gb.




By Goty on 4/17/2007 10:43:45 PM , Rating: 2
As bad as the attitude is towards PS3 pricing is already, I don't think even Sony would be stupid enough to add another $100 dollars to the tag.


Interesting...
By daftrok on 4/17/2007 4:45:47 PM , Rating: 2
They might let you switch the HDD you have on your PS3 for free if they do this later in the year. I would guess they would go with either 120 GB or one up the Elite with 160 GB. They might even take it a step further and include a 65 nm chipset for Cell and get rid of the Emotion Engine once they have decent emulation for the PS2 and PS1. This would save costs for Sony and might bring the cost of the PS3 to $499.99 (which is when I'll buy the PS3).




RE: Interesting...
By JimFear on 4/18/2007 3:42:35 AM , Rating: 2
65nm Cell is already in production with IBM I understand at East Fishkill, these are chips that will, according to IBM, run at 6GHz at 1.3v quite happily, this won't mean we'll see 6GHz PS3's but will only mean good things for PS3 production with 65nm coming sooner rather than later.

quote:
In today's world, on the other side of a disappointing launch for the PlayStation 3 and a few years' worth of financial losses from its semiconductor operations, Sony has been openly considering an exit from the fab business for future products. However, having sunk so much money into the 65nm Japanese fab, the company is almost certainly using it for the 65nm PS3-oriented Cell parts that they announced last month in an earnings call, though the company never said where the parts are coming from.


http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070313-ibm-...

Soon :)


How about I hop on Newegg
By DLeRium on 4/17/07, Rating: 0
RE: How about I hop on Newegg
By IsDanReally on 4/17/2007 6:28:18 PM , Rating: 2
As someone else has previously stated...learn the difference between 3 1/2 and 2 1/2 hard drives. There is a big price difference between the two, not to mention there is no such thing as 2 1/2 inch 320 GB hard drive.


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