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Gadgets Sony's PS3 Makes HDD Upgrades Easy
Brandon Hill (Blog) - November 11, 2006 9:55 PM
Print E-mail del.icio.us 76 comment(s) - last by glennpratt.. on Nov 30 at 11:50 PM

Images courtesy Ruliweb.com
Sony trumps Microsoft on storage upgrades with its PS3

When Microsoft announced its Xbox Live Video service that would allow gamers to download high-definition movies and television shows, it started getting some serious flak for the smallish 20GB HDD included with the Xbox 360 Platinum. Sure, the drive had been criticized in the past as it only had about 13GB of useable space from the start; but adding downloadable movies to the mix along with the already abundant game demos and trailers just makes matters worse.

Microsoft didn't make matters any better when pressed on the issue of a larger hard drive being added to the Xbox 360's arsenal in the future. Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg suggested that gamers buy an additional 20GB Xbox 360 hard drive and a 64MB memory card to alleviate storage concerns.

Sony is making things a bit easier for gamers with its PlayStation 3. Sony encourages its customers to upgrade their hard drives and even gives them instructions on how to do so in the PS3 user manual. The HDD used in the PS3 is a standard 2.5" SATA unit, so just about any drive should work should you crave more storage space.

Sony has a serious leg up on Microsoft in this aspect of the PS3's design. A quick trip over to Newegg shows that a 120GB Toshiba drive will set you back $100 while a spacious 160GB Hitachi drive will cost you $165. A second 20GB Xbox 360 hard drive will cost you $100 and the rumored 80GB drive would more than likely top the $200 mark.

Stay tuned for more in-depth PS3 and Wii coverage from DailyTech in the day…

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Mod?
By Hypernova on 11/12/2006 2:48:15 AM , Rating: 2
I guess pritty soon we will have people pin mod the connectors to attatch larger 3.5' to that. If sony don't care about what kind of drive you stick to it.

Suprisingly open of SONY on this matter (And is thus far the only good news I am aware of regarding PS3). But I wonder how this combined with Yellow Dog linux will affect copy protection since all this just makes it alot easier.




RE: Mod?
By Xeronix on 11/12/2006 3:09:18 AM , Rating: 2
RE: Mod?
By Scabies on 11/12/2006 4:52:32 AM , Rating: 2
Weird, SATA data, MOLEX power? I didnt know that existed? Ignorance on my part?


RE: Mod?
By Xeronix on 11/12/2006 5:13:51 AM , Rating: 2
Some SATA HDD's come with both SATA power and Molex.
such as this one http://www.storagereview.com/php/benchmark/bench_i...


RE: Mod?
By xsilver on 11/12/2006 8:32:36 AM , Rating: 2
that power actually comes from another external power pack I think.
it will be a little more difficult to make it truly professional looking but if you crave the space - eh what the hell ;)


RE: Mod?
By Golgatha777 on 11/12/2006 4:34:51 PM , Rating: 3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82...

A totally passive external enclosure that would actually go pretty well with the PS3.


RE: Mod?
By xFlankerx on 11/12/2006 4:42:00 AM , Rating: 2
Wow, yeah, I agree, it's really open for Sony here.

PS3s with 750GB HDDs...or smaller if you prefer the true external ones. But still a considerable amount of space. The possibilities really open up, great news.


RE: Mod?
By Heron Kusanagi on 11/12/2006 5:33:35 AM , Rating: 3
Great news for Sony but they need the content or the point for a bigger HDD is moot.

Hope that Sony's online stuff is at least equal to Microsoft...:)


RE: Mod?
By Clauzii on 11/12/2006 8:19:34 PM , Rating: 2
Well, I'd like all my music on there, using USBs, IPods, whatever :)


RE: Mod?
By ogreslayer on 11/12/2006 8:00:51 AM , Rating: 1
On IGN, http://ps3.ign.com/articles/745/745407p1.html , they are saying that rotational speed makes little to no difference in present titles. However, I care not; most definitely gonna throw a Raptor X in there(or rather out), 150GB 16MB cache 3.5in @ 10,0000RPM is still $30 cheaper than a 200GB 8MB cache 2.5in @ 4200RPM amyway :)


RE: Mod?
By kextyn on 11/12/2006 12:57:27 PM , Rating: 4
Talk about a waste of money. Just because you can get the fastest drive on the market doesn't mean you should. Spend half as much and get much more storage.


RE: Mod?
By underline21 on 11/13/2006 8:29:02 AM , Rating: 2
Wouldnt a faster drive produce more heat?


RE: Mod?
By Nightskyre on 11/13/2006 1:43:39 PM , Rating: 2
So you're going to...

1. Cram a 3.5 inch drive in a 2.5 inch space. Good luck with that.

2. Blow your money on the X version with its stupid little window. I'm sure the Blu-Ray player is salivating over the idea of looking at the innards of a harddrive.

3. Buying a Raptor for this purpose, anyway.

Let's think about this.....


RE: Mod?
By Clauzii on 11/14/2006 7:18:32 AM , Rating: 2
Yeah, at least we need to know the maximum paractical transferrate in the PS3, to establish if it's worth it. But what about access times? If the games are partly stored on HD for faster than BR access, it might be usable to have the short access times of the Raptor drive.

Allthough I think it IS overkill by now :)


RE: Mod?
By kextyn on 11/12/2006 12:59:31 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
And is thus far the only good news I am aware of regarding PS3


Don't forget they announced that the basic version will include an HDMI port. So the only difference between the basic and premium now is hard drive size (which as you can see is moot), wifi (who needs wifi on a console anyway, I sure don't...but I guess if you feel the need to...) and the card reader.


RE: Mod?
By Clauzii on 11/12/2006 1:17:50 PM , Rating: 2
Could it indicate that the price difference might be getting smaller soon, or that PS3 will be avaiable as one model only? (Which could possibly save a little in production cost, since it's cheaper to make one instead of two models?


RE: Mod?
By otispunkmeyer on 11/13/2006 2:19:21 PM , Rating: 2
i need wifi on a console

in my room i have a 360 and a PC and one ethernet connection. i have to swap plugs around when i want to play on my 360, then swap again when i want the PC

the wifi adapter for the 360 is a rip-off so i aint buying it


RE: Mod?
By deeznuts on 11/13/2006 2:43:41 PM , Rating: 2
Couldn't you use a switch/hub?


RE: Mod?
By CascadingDarkness on 11/13/2006 4:52:25 PM , Rating: 2
Switch would work, I know my cable company cons you into paying more for more then one IP. Exaple $10 more for 3 IPs.

If this is same as his case he'd need a router which cost a little more then just a plain switch.

I had trouble hooking my PS2 online with Charter (the devil). They don't support it at all. Ended up getting a router and PS2 online worked fine.


RE: Mod?
By glennpratt on 11/30/2006 11:50:01 PM , Rating: 2
Umm, everyone has a router, and if they don't they'll get one with wifi.


RE: Mod?
By BZDTemp on 11/13/2006 4:21:43 AM , Rating: 3
Not surprisingly if you think about it.

Look at the PS/2 with it's standard USB ports and compare with XBOX having it's USB ports disguised by Microsoft connectors.

Or consider that SONY sold a Linux kit for the PS2 while Microsoft did everything to deny their box was really a PC meaning they could have sold a Windows kit for it had they desired to.

SONY is not perfect by a long way but when comparing them with Microsoft they look like someone out of sunday school.


Excellent idea Sony!
By whymeintrouble on 11/12/2006 2:28:21 AM , Rating: 4
this is the best thing I've heard yet for Sony. just imagine the possible entertainment value in having larger hdds. HD content and still room for your games. Maybe M$ needs to take a look at that.

just a thought.