   PS3 Slim
  Was there already a thread on this? I was just wondering if it's different other than on the size front? Is the introduction of the Slim a way to get a regular PS3 at a much cheaper price? And since the PS3 has not been around that long, is the slim actually possible due to technological advances or did they deliberately make the original bigger so they could sell people a slim version to replace their regular version?   
  The first one used 90nm tech on all chips, while the slim is using a mix of 65nm and 45nm chips. I'm guessing that they started with the older chips and built a case that could fit them and their heat levels, then worked on making things smaller and more compact as the market proved to support it.After all, that would represent a lot of extra research to shrink things down. And even with dropping size requirements over the years, I'm assuming they kept the original case size because it was cheaper to keep using old parts and sizes, and eventually they revamped to the slim size.I can't really see all that many people who own an existing PS3 rushing out to buy a slim. (It also doesn't appear to have nearly the backwards compatibility of the first PS3 model, it has been stripped over time I guess.)   ;  yes due to the processor shrink, the slim uses less power. Thus prolly less heat/noise as well   ;  I don't think the Slim is targeted at existing PS3 owners in the slightest. It's primarily an attempt to rebrand a console that got a bad image with gamers as a whole because of stupid executives acting like arrogant jerks. They've since stopped being total dicks so relaunching the console was a good way to get the attention of all the people who they previously disenfranchised.They can also drop the price without bleeding money, which helps even more.Based on what I've seen/heard, personally, it seems to be doing a pretty good job. More support for the console = more developers behind it = more and better games for my old fat system.   ;Quote:Original post by d000hgAnd since the PS3 has not been around that long, is the slim actually possible due to technological advances or did they deliberately make the original bigger so they could sell people a slim version to replace their regular version?The PS3 has been out since November 2006 (for Japan and USA anyway), that's more than long enough to come up with a redesigned slim model without resorting to crazy they-made-it-oversized-on-purpose conspiricy theories IMHO.   ;  The PS3 slim also doesn't have PS2 hardware like most of the large PS3s have. It's not backwards-compatible with PS2 games at all due to this, but I'm sure it saved on space.The PS3 is actually very appealing to me. If I had a television that could display HD picture I'd probably pick one up, mainly for the wireless media streaming capability. It's not much more expensive than a dedicated media bridge but does tons more.   ;  Last I heard, Sony knew what they were going to do about the backwards compatibility. The plan was to drop PS2 support in hardware, and release a fully fledged emulator on the PSN. One negative about it was the fact that they may charge $1-$5 (some being free) for ROMs of old PS2 and PS1 games.Now this is all speculation; I've heard that there may be some kind of utility for users to "convert" or rip the ROM off of their old discs.Either way, I'm pretty sure Sony has a plan.   