bit-tech Shopping: Sony PlayStation 3 80GB Metal Gear Solid 4 Bundle

Rating: 10

Time with product:

Strengths: Metal Gear Solid 4 as part of the bundle, Dual Shock 3 controller, Blu-Ray DVD player

Weaknesses: Poor PS2 backwards compatibility, bulky

Summary: Being a Metal Gear Solid fan had me hold out on getting a PS3 since that was the only title I wanted for the system up till then. Being able to get the game as part of the bundle was great and I have enjoyed the PS3. It is much quieter than the Xbox 360 but it is also much bigger so make sure you have room in your entertainment center. Backwards compatibility is nice but it seems like Sony is trying to do away with it in the PS3 since they are still selling PS2 systems. Still if you are looking for a Blu-Ray player, you might as well get a PS3 so you can play games as well.

Rating: 10

Time with product: 2 Months

Strengths: great value: DS3, game, 80G PS3 for $500, easy to upgrade HDD

Weaknesses: not quite 100% PS2 compatibility, one controller in box

Summary: A 80G PS3 with a copy of MGS4 and the addition of the dualshock 3 controller makes this combination the best bundle that?s been available for the PS3 thus far. Even if you?re not a fan of the MGS series, you can sell it off to a fan and get some money back. I appreciate the extra features of the 80G (over the 40G model): PS2 backwards compatibility, 4 USB ports for accessory driven games like Rock Band, it?s BluRay hidef capability and the SACD functionality. Pick this up soon because in Sept, it?s likely this bundle will no longer be produced in favor of the ?new? 80G unit which is a 40G platform (no SACD or backwards compatibility, only 2 USB ports) with a larger drive.

Rating: 10

Time with product: 2 Weeks

Strengths: Best Blu-ray Player, Plays PS2, PS1 Games, Wireless & Ethernet, Up-converts DVD's to near HD, that includes the New Dolby TRUE HD,DTS HD Master Audio... Easy to Upgrade the HD from 80GB to 320GB

Weaknesses: Remote that is sold separately PS3 is Bluetooth only ,No remoted included for Blu-ray & DVD movies

Summary: After doing some research to replace a S-L-O-W Sharp Blu-ray Player.. I wanted the best at a good price ....the best Blu-ray player available..time and time again reviews showed that the PS3 was better and more advanced than stand-alone Blu-ray players. plus you got the best gaming machine to boot. I have watched my 13 year old son play games on it and the detail is amazing...this machine couples with a Sony KDL-52W4100 LCD TV makes me smile just watching old DVD movies. This baby goes online wirelessly or connect a Ethernet cable to it for faster downloads of games and movies...it hard keeping my son off of it kudos to Sony

Rating: 10

Time with product:

Strengths: Great game selectionWireless controller included

Weaknesses: none

Summary: I am truely loving this sytem, and I am still playing the Metal Gear Solid game in this bundle. This is the best sytem I've ever played! I'm very happy with it and would defiantely recommend it to anyone and everyone!

Rating: 10

Time with product: 3 Months

Strengths: PS3 with PS2 backward compatibility, DualShock 3

Weaknesses: Backward compatibility is limited.

Summary: Playstation 3 80GB Metal Gear Solid 4 Bundle is probably the last Playstation 3 model with PS2 backward compatibility. It is a great system, with a built-in blu-ray drive to play the latest HD Blu-ray movies, and media card slots to access the popular flash memory formats. It is a true media center for both gaming and movies.The bundle consists of a 80GB PS3 console, a DualShock 3 controller and the Metal Gear Solid 4 game. DS3 is functionally a SixAxis controller with the rumble feature. The inclusion of Metal Gear Solid 4 game is sweet. It's a game that can really make use of the capability of the PS3 hardware.PS2 backward compatibility is limited in this 80GB PS3. It uses both software emulation for the Emotion Engine and hardware for the graphics engine. In reality, this PS3 should run most of your popular games with no or little problem. You can check the compatibility for your games on the Sony website.Notice that the recently released $399.99 80GB PS3 with DualShock3 has no backward compatibility at all. It is based on the 40GB PS3. So if you are concerned about playing your PS2 games on the PS3, make sure you get this bundle before it's gone.