Digital Trends

Sony Playstation 3

November 15th, 2006 | by Scott Steinberg

Features and Design

But hey – let's not get ahead ourselves, especially with so much to touch on right out of the box. For instance, the base unit itself: Holy mother of… well, you know… is this thing massive! Weighing in at an arm-crushing 11lbs and measuring 12.8" (W) x 3.8" (H) x 10.8" (L), the gizmo proves even larger than the already brick-like Xbox 360. However, in fairness, it also sports a slick, glossy black exterior, attractive curves, features no goofy swappable faceplates and doesn't require the use of one those giant-sized external power adapters we all know and hate. (Just insert the power cord and go.)

Although the space-age casing is prone to attracting fingerprints, hairs and dust, it frames internal electronics nicely, and serves to make this monster look like a proper home theater component, such as you might find in any respectable modern-day bachelor pad. (Although more system colors are surely coming, and one of these in mauve or hot pink might not.) Anyhow, considerable as the amount of effort required to move this thing about is, one gets the feeling they needn't worry about fragility. Regardless, you'll still feel much more comfortable with the unit – which runs cooler and quieter than the 360 and comes studded with vents, stabilizing pads and supports – laid out horizontally, though vertical positioning is possible. (Fun fact: There's even a rotating "PS" logo located near the disc drive you can turn to match.)

The Playstation 3 on the left and the Nintendo Wii on the right

Assuming you've purchased the 60GB unit, here's the device's general layout. On the front you'll find a disc loading slot that accepts CD, DVD or Blu-Ray media, so you can still enjoy favorite albums, PSOne/PS2 titles (although it's just been discovered support for some 100-200 PlayStation 2 games like Gran Turismo 4 and Devil May Cry requires fixing via an upcoming downloadable update), home videos, major motion pictures and even SACDs. I'm a little dubious of the loading mechanism – you slide a disc in, then the machine gently grabs it and sucks it the rest of the way inside – but only time will tell how well it holds up, especially in children's innocently less-delicate hands.

Also featured is a touch-sensitive power button (sweet!), HDD access/WLAN access indicator lights and four USB ports. Using these USB ports, it's possible to hook up all manner of external devices from MP3 players to digital cameras, although copy-protected content's a no-go, as I discovered upon inserting an iPod and being unable to play stored tunes. Common audio formats like MP3 and WAV are supported though, as are most digital images and MPEG1/2/4 video, which you can easily import onto the hard drive via USB device, CD-R or memory card reader.

The front panel opens to reveal a media card reader