Playstation 3. The greatest gaming machine known to man.

Those two sentences describe the PS3. If I wanted to, I could just leave the review at this point and post it as it is, because the two sentences I started with should be enough to convince you to buy a PS3. But in case that those two sentences aren't enough for you, I will carry on with what I think will be one of the longest reviews I am ever going to write!!

This review will tell you about all the main parts of the console, and also a lot of what I think of the console. I feel it is important you know about the console itself, all the main aspects, as well as all the technical detail.

I hope you enjoy reading my review on the greatest console ever released!!

<<<INTRODUCTION>>>
In March 2007, the Playstation 3 went on sale. THE greatest games console went on sale! Yes it was a whole year late, but eventually in March, Europe got the goods. And to be honest, it really was worth the wait. All them cold winter months of PS2 playing time were forgotten about in an instant, as soon as you switched on the PS3. The sheer brilliance of the PS3 erased all bad thoughts of the huge delay, and dragged me into next-generation gaming!!! Goodbye Playstation 2!!

<<<WHY THE LARGE DELAY?>>>
Originally, the PS3 was scheduled to come out in March 2006. Many sceptics said this was impossible, and they were right! Soon after this ambitious date was set, it was soon set back for eight months. So, the date was set, and for a very long time, the date 17th of November seemed to be alright, and everything was going to plan. That was until about two months before the set date. And then Sony delivered the devastating news. The Playstation 3 would not arrive in Europe until March 2007. Oh yeah sure it was still going to be November 17th for America and Japan, but what about us all here in Europe!!!!!!!!
The reason why the date had been put back for another four months was "the delay in the mass production schedule of the blue laser diode within the Sony Group, thus affecting the timely procurement of key components to be utilised in PlayStation 3". Well when I heard this, I thought of it as both positive and negative. Of course it was negative, because it meant that I had to wait longer for next-gen gaming, but I thought it was also positive because it meant there would be more, better launch games, the gaming developers would have more time to get their games even better, and I also had more time to save up for it!!!

<<<LOOKS>>>
The Playstation 3 is a beautiful game console. With its smooth, curved edges and clear black plastic, it is the sleekest fashion accessory you can have. So not only can you play the best games on it, it makes you look cool too, that £425 price tag looks like it's already paying for itself! There is news that two other colours of the PS3 will be released at later dates, white and silver, but personally, I think that the clear black colour is the best colour, but it is all down to personal opinion on which colour you decide to get.

The clear black version of the console is shiny to an impractical degree. It really is amazing how shiny it is.

And carrying on with the console being shiny, if you like your items been shiny, then the 60 GB Playstation 3 is definitely for you, because with the 20gb version, the 'Playstation 3' writing on the front of the console is clear black, and the disc slot side is also clear black, but on the 60gb version, the writing and the disc slot side is a cool shade of silver, and I think this is a really nice finish to the console. To be honest, the silver trim shows what a better class of gamer you are. Although at the moment, the 60 GB console is the only version available in Europe, but this could change in the coming months.

There is no flip up or moving disc tray this time. This time, Sony have designed a suck in disc slot. You insert the disc into the slot, and the PS3 will suck it in, press the button on the console, and it will come out, imagine a floppy drive tray, but much more stylish and sleek. I think that this is a great looking part of the console, and is much better than a flimbsy disc tray coming out of the console every time.

Another thing you will notice when using the console are the touch sensitive buttons. These are the disc eject button and the power on and off button. These require the lightest of touches to make them work, and I think that again this is another great part of the console!

There is also another section on the front edge of the Playstation 3, which has a flip up lid covering it. This area has slots for all your digital photo cards, so this means that whatever photos you take with your digital camera, you can now put onto your Playstation 3.

The PS3 is quite a big console, but if you look at how much technology there is crammed into it, you will understand why. It approximately weighs around 5 kg. To be honest, it could be a lot bigger, so Sony have really done a good job at getting so much technology into the console at the size it is.

One thing that you will have to look out for if you have the PS3 is mucky fingerprints and dust. The console can get very dusty, very easily, and I have now bought a duster thing that I keep next to my console, so if I think it is getting too dusty, I can give it a quick wipe!

Since the casing on the console is glossy, touching it usually results in mucky fingerprints, so that duster will become very useful if you decide to get a PS3.

<<<SOUND>>>
Remember the amount of noise that the PS2 made, constantly clicking and buzzing, well this is nothing like it. Try to imagine the slimline PS2, silent and peaceful, well the PS3 is the same as the slimline, if not even better! It is so hard for me to stress just how quiet it is, and if there were not lights on the front, you would find it hard to tell whether it were on or off. I have noticed a couple of times that you hear some fans whirring inside the console, but this is just to stop the console overheating, which is a good thing, and this stops after a few minutes anyway!

The Playstation 3 will also be able to use the same sound system that you have for you PS2, whether it is just coming out of you TV speakers or you have your own surround sound cinema experience system, they will both plug in to the PS3, just as it did for the PS2.

<<<SPACE TO SAVE>>>
The PS3 comes standard with its own hard-drive, so this means that you can store many things onto it, such as music, photos, game updates and game saves. The amount of room the hard drive has is amazing. There are two versions you can buy, a 20gb version, or a 60gb version. The 20gb version is huge, but 60gb is, erm, huger! The 20gb version has not yet come out in Europe yet, and Sony are mainly concentrating on distributing the 60gb version to Europe, but they have said that later in the year, they will maybe start distributing the 20gb version, but there will be a very short supply of them.

With the 60gb version, it would take years with not deleting anything to have a chance of filling the hard drive up. This hard drive system is a way of getting rid of memory cards, and if you are worrying that you won't be able to get your PS2 memory card game saves onto your PS3, fear not, because there is a memory card adaptor that you can plug into your PS3, and then plug in your memory cards!

You can store a huge variety of things on your PS3's hard drive, from songs to photos, these can all be viewed or listened to while you are playing on your PS3, if you want some idea of how big 60gb is, here is some information that will let you know how hard it is to fill up a 60gb hard drive:

> 4000 MP3 songs = 20gb
> 50 PSP films = 25gb
> 10,000 digital photos = 10gb
> 1 Blu Ray film = 25gb
> 1 DVD film = 9gb

So if you had all these items on your PS3, the total size of all these would be 89gb, therefore going over your 60gb limit. I think that it would take a very long time to get 4000 MP3 songs, and 10,000 photos!!! So the 60gb space you have should last you a while! It is certainly going to last me a few years!!

Having such a big hard drive is a big advantage, because it means that it is unlikely you are going to have to go out and buy some more, like the Xbox 360 owners are likely to have to do!

<<<CHANGES OVER THE YEARS>>>
There have been a lot of changes from the PS3 shown in 2005 compared to the PS3 sold in 2006/7.

There were four USB 2.0 ports on the front of the console and there were another 2 on the back of the console, but Sony have decided to get rid of the 2 USB 2.0 ports on the back, for a reason that can only be explained as no-one is really going to need that many. There are also two new little lights on the bottom of the front of the console, one flashes when the console accesses the hard drive and the other shows wireless activity. There have been an increase of the amount of vents there are in the console, just to make sure that there will be no faults. There were two HDMI ports on the old version, which meant you could connect two HD TV's to your PS3, but now there is only one HDMI port, so now you can only have it connected to one HD TV, but to be honest, how could you possibly afford a PS3, and two HD ready TV's?!

The controller has also been gone over with Sony's magic wand. The 2005 space banana controller was abandoned, probably because of the huge amount of complaints that Sony received for it, and it has instead been replaced with a controller that can be easily mistaken for the good old fashioned one at a quick first glance, but the changes in the controller are subtle and brilliant. See the controller section below for more information on it.

<<<THE TECHNOLOGY>>>
The Playstation 3 has an absolutely amazing amount of technology crammed into the casing, and all this technology goes into making the best games on the console look brilliant. Here is the list of all the fantastic technology that the console has in it, and what it is for.

> The cell processor- The cell processor is the brain of the console. This powerful chip runs the games and also handles processing tasks such as special visual effects. It basically controls the whole console. It is 40 times more powerful than the processor used in the Playstation 2 and other consoles, so this is why the console is the most powerful console in the world at the moment, and it is why it is the superior gaming machine.

>HDMI Port- HDMI stands for High Definition Multimedia Interface. This port is where you will connect your PS3 to your brand new shiny HD-ready TV. This port carries both the visual and the digital audio output from the console.

>Bluetooth 2.0- Nearly everyone will have heard about having Bluetooth technology in your phone, and this means you can transfer files such as photos and music between phones, so having Bluetooth in your PS3 means you can do exactly the same with your PS3, cool eh?

> The Ethernet port- This is where you can plug in a router or a PC internet connection so you can play online on your console.

>Digital out port- This is where you can plug in a surround sound system if you don't have a HDMI input.

> Hard Disk Drive- Also known as HDD. The playstation 3 comes with it's own built in Hard-drive. I recommend that you buy the 60gb version of the console, because 60gb is a good amount of space to save all your data. If you are going to need more room to save all your data, you will be able to buy PSP-style flash drives to plug in and save.

> AV Multi Out- This is the alternative to using the HDMI port, in other words, using a normal average TV rather than a brilliant HD TV.

> USB 2.0 port- The normal port that you will find on all computers. These are used to connect gadgets like iPods, keyboards etc to the computer. The playstation 3 has 4 USB ports, and they are used for the same reasons that computers have them. They can also charge up the wireless controllers.

> Blu-ray disk drive- This drive replaces the normal CD disk drive of the PS2. The blu-ray disk drive uses a narrow focused blue laser to read the disc. Blu-ray disks have a huge 50gb capacity compared to the 8.5gb with current discs. Using blu-ray disks also means shorter loading times and much bigger games to play.

> RSX Chip- The smallest and most important piece of technology in the PS3. Without it, it is in the same region as an average Xbox 360 console, but with it, it becomes a brilliant next gen Playstation 3 console. This chip makes the clouds fluffier, the water wetter, and the smoke smokier. It's a graphics machine in a tiny chip!

<<<WHAT THE CONSOLE SUPPORTS>>>
The console can support a lot of different technologies, here is a list of what it can support:

> Blu-ray disc- The new high definition format for games and movies, it is really the replacement for DVD's. The quality on these discs are much better!

> DVD Video/ROM- The PS3 will still play your DVD's, and all your old PS2 discs.

> Super Audio CD- The new ultimate audio disc format. These are the replacement for audio CD's. It increases the sample rate from 44.1Khz for a CD to an output of 88Kjz from a SACD.

> Compact disc- The PS3 will also play your current CD's. You are able to transfer music from the CD onto the PS3's hard-drive.

> Wi-Fi connection- With this you can connect to your PS3 with your PSP or you laptop with a cable, or if you have a wireless router, your 60GB will find it wirelessly with it's built in WI-Fi technology, therefore allowing you to connect to the net!

> DTS HD Master Audio- A rival to Dolby digital true HD. This sound system sounds great.

> Dolby True HD- The next-gen sound format. Amazing sound. Imagine having a cinema's sound system in your living room, and that's the quality of the sound.

> Bluetooth- The wireless connection between items. PS3 will use wireless Bluetooth connection to connect the controllers to the PS3, and it will also be able to connect your PS3 to your mobile.

> Dolby Digital- The standard Dolby sound system, which still sounds great

> Backwards compatibility- Playstation 3 will be able to play all your old PS2 and PS1 games, and this also means that you will be able to use the PS2's EyeToy.

I think that the console supporting all this stuff is great, as it gives you a large variety of things you can do with it!

<<<THE CONTROLLER>>>
At the E3 festival 2005, Sony showed what was their final PS3 controller, the infamous 'space banana.' And days after news spread that the World hated the design for the controller, so Sony were very quick afterwards to note that this in fact wasn't the finished controller, and it was just a prototype, yeah right!

The new PS3 controller looks exactly the same as the dualshock at a first glance, but there are huge changes between the two. There is a PS button, which is really a 'Home' or 'Menu' button. This button is also used as a battery meter. When the controller's internal battery needs to be charged, the button illuminates red. Aside from the USB port, this is the biggest visual difference from the old controllers to the new ones. The controllers are now going to be wireless using Bluetooth technology, so this will make it much easier to play your games, while at the same time wandering round your living room. The controllers have four LED lights on the top front of the controller, and these are two let you know how many players are connected to the console, and which player you are. The PS3 can have up to seven players. But there are only 4 lights I here you say. Well Sony have been clever about this. If you are player one to four, one of the four lights will light up. But if you are, lets say player 7, then the 4 and the 3 lights will be illuminated, (4+3=7). See, clever isn't it!

There is a USB Mini-b port at the top front of the controller, and this is where you connect your controller to the Playstation 3 for charging. The battery usually lasts for about 24 hours, and you can also play games while the controller is charging, but this obviously takes away the idea of it being wireless because it is connected to the PS3.
The 'L2' and 'R2' buttons now have a longer throw on them, so the controller is a bit like an Xbox 360 controller. The pad's analog sticks now have a greater range of movement to them, and they are also much more sensitive. This time there is no pressure sensitive buttons, and there is no vibration feature, and this is because Sony thinks that the vibration could interfere with the 6D technology. Oh yes, 6D!

Inside the plastic controller are sensors that can sense motion in 'six axis'. It cannot only detect the familiar acts of tilting and twisting, but also movement in 3D space. To put it simply, if you hold the controller in your hands and tilt it left and right, you can steer a car left and right on a game and this function can be used for a huge variety of games. The full list of the 6 axis is below:

1> Yaw- Pushing one side of the controller forwards while pulling the other one back in a twisting motion.

2> Tilt- Tipping the pad from side to side, most gamers do this subconsciously when playing driving games to try and make their car go around a sharp corner

3> Pitch- Tipping the pad forwards or pulling it back

4> Forwards/backwards- Pushing pad forwards or backwards

5> Up/down- Moving pad up or down

6> Left/right- Moving pad left and right

I think that some people will love the new 6D function and some would have rather just kept the vibrating old controller, it is really up to the gamer.

<<<THE DISCS>>>
The PS2 used DVD's to put the games on, and this was a very good disc to use, it had a good amount of space to fill up with games, and they weren't too expensive. Times have changed, and now people want more out of their games, therefore more space was needed on the disc that was to be used. Blu-Ray is the answer. Without Blu-Ray, the PS3 is in Xbox 360 territory, able to play games and films, but with it, you can play the next generation of beautiful games.

The Blu-ray disc can hold so much more data than any other disc in the World, and by having this much room, it means that there will be more room for fantastic graphic information, more room for sounds, more room for everything really, in fact, enough room to hold the information for the whole city of London, (the brand new 'Getaway' game will have the whole city of London on it, with every single street recreated to it's true beauty)! By using Blu-Ray, the Playstation 3 isn't introducing the next generation, it is the next generation!

A brief history of discs shows you how much they have improved over the years. The first type of disc there was wasn't a disc, it was a tape, mad this could be played on systems such as Spectrum, and C64, and these tapes could only hold 128K. Next up was the 'disc.' Systems that used this was Amstrad 6128 and Amiga, there was only a small improvement in how much these could hold compared to the tape, 1.4MB. Next was the Cartridge. These were used on SNES and the N64, and these could hold a lot more information, these could hold 2-32MB and 128-512MB. If you think about that now, you can buy flash pens that hold more than that amount of information. Then there was the first real type of disc, the CD-ROM, and these were used on Saturn and Playstation. When the Playstation came out, the graphics were seen as groundbreaking, now if you look at them, they seem blocky unrealistic. These disks can hold 700MB of information. The next disc to come out, was what todays generation have grown used to, the DVD-ROM. The DVD is used on Playstation 2, Xbox, and the Xbox 360! These disks can hold 4.5GB-9GB, so this is quite a lot, but this is what will be stopping the Xbox 360 from evolving to the next level. And finally, there is Blu-ray. This will only be used on the Playstation 3, and this is what makes the Playstation 3 the best console there is, these discs can hold a huge 25GB-50GB! This amount is absolutely huge if you don't know anything about technology.

The reason why the Blu-Ray disc can hold so much information is down to the laser that is used to read the disc. In technical mumbo-jumbo, the laser for a Blu-Ray disc works at 405nm compared to DVD, which operates at 650nm. In English, this means that the spot that the blue laser makes on the surface of the disc for a Blu-Ray reader is smaller than the red spot on the disc for a DVD reader, meaning that much more information can be stored in the same area on a disc.

<<<PS3 ONLINE>>>
There are many things that you will be able to do on the Internet on your PS3. Here is a list of all of the things you can do:

> Chat and voicemail- You can use free online chat and voicemail on your PS3. You can connect a headphones-and-microphone headset to your PS3. There will be a list of invited friends on your PS3, and whenever their console is on, you will get an indication on your screen, which will tell you if they're playing a game, watching a movie, or anything else. You can then interact with them, like play a game with them or talk to them.

> Buy credits- You will be able to buy credit for things on the net on your PS3, by changing real money into virtual money. You can do this by using a credit card.

> Download games- You are able to download games such as brand new ones, and even PSone classics.

> PS3 Arcade- This is where you can play a lot of mini games that are brilliant fun to play.

> Download demos- Here you can download free demos of the new best games that will be coming out soon after the demo comes out.

> Fan films- You will be able to make your own mini films and put them onto the net for other PS3 users to view.

> Movies- You are able to download full movies for you to save to your hard-drive and watch whenever you want.

> Music- You can download music and music videos to store on your hard-drive.

> Trailers- Here you can download the latest game and movie trailers.

> Internet- Here you can run multiple Internet windows and roam the net.

> Rankings and leagues- When you play online games, there will be stats and records recorded, and these will put you into a ranking for all PS3 users.

> Extra content/levels- You will be able to buy extra things to go onto the games that you already have, such as extra vehicles on driving games, and extra levels on others.

> The Playstation Store- This is where all your gaming purchasing will take place!! It contains all of the stuff that at some point you or other gamers are going to want to buy to use with their games or consoles. You can buy new content for you games, full games, demos, trailers and all the stuff that is listed above!

<<<MENU>>>
If you are the owner of a PSP then you will know that the PSP has its own exclusive menu, where you can navigate all your games, videos, pictures,

etc. Well, it's not exclusive anymore. The Playstation 3 has now got basically the same layout as the PSP except maybe for a few icons. The sections that are on the menu are:

> Settings- All the technical bits in here, such as the clock, display settings and checking for all the components attached to the PS3. You can also get set software upgrades direct from Sony that change how you console works. You can also change your Blu-ray disc and DVD settings, your music settings, your chat settings, your system settings, your display settings, your sound settings, your security settings, your network settings and your accessory settings. In this part you can also do a system upgrade. These upgrades come straight from Sony, and they change how your console works, (for the better)! It can add new capabilities to the console, fix technical issues, tighten the security system and so on!

> Photos- Here you can view all the photos you have uploaded onto the PS3 through the USB ports. You can also view all your photos using a slideshow. There are also a few different slideshow styles, there is a normal mode, sliding mode, portrait mode, and a photo album mode. You can put your photos into groups too!

> Music- Listen to your favourite tracks that you have uploaded. You can rip CD's to your PS3 too.

> Videos- From here, you can watch blu-ray films, DVDs and videos that you have downloaded. If there is a Blu-ray or DVD in the drive it appears in this menu ready for selection.

> Games- Here you load up your games and check your saves. You can select to play a downloaded game here, or if the disc is in the drive, it'll appear in the menu.

> Network- Here is where you can connect to the web. You can move around the net using the controller, or you can plug in a keyboard and mouse with the USB ports. Here is also where you can play against your mates with online games.

> Friends- Here you can have a look at which of your friends are online and which ones you can play against. Think MSN Messenger, but on the PS3. You will be able to talk to them, use video chat, share content, and challenge them to play online games.

> Users- Each user on one PS3 can have their own settings and controls, so you don't have to change the controls each time a new user comes on. Each user will have a profile picture, so you just have to scroll through the pictures till you get to the profile that is you. Your preferences, (wallpaper and game saves) are also saved onto your profile. This feature is very handy if you share your PS3 with other people in your house.

The menu is a horizontal line of pictures, and when you highlight one of the pictures, it's name comes up underneath it, clicking on it then makes it do what it's meant to, for example, highlight the games icon, click on it, and let the PS3 load up your game. It all looks very cool, and is a much better layout than what the PS2 and the original Playstation had, in fact, did the original Playstation have a menu? I really can't remember that far back!!

There is also something rather cool about the Playstation 3's menu background. Each month the default colour changes, ranging from colours such as red, yellow and different shades of blue. There is a different colour for each month of the year.

The default brightness of the background also changes depending on what time of day it is. A pointless, (yet very cool feature)!!!

<<<GAMES>>>
There are many games out at the moment for the PS3. But there are many other better ones that will be coming out once developers of games take full advantage of how much space is available on the new discs. At the moment, a lot of developers won't have the ideas to fill up a full disc, but once a few months have gone by, and developers know what they are up against, they will have to start making their games even better, and this is when the discs will start filling up with fantastic games!!! There are also many exclusive games that are coming out for the PS3, that will make the difference between how good the PS3 and the other consoles will be in future years, such games are Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots and Assassin's Creed, which I have to say look absolutely amazing, and I cannot wait for them to arrive!!!

Oh yes, and for a few people who have been asking me about backwards combatability, here is some information for you.

Nearly all games will work on the PS3, meaning PS1 and PS2 games. Though there are a few games that the PS3 can't play, for example, there seems to be a problem when trying to play Gran Turismo 4, and also guiter hero.

Sony have said that they will bring out a firmware update in the future that will solve all the backward combatibility problems, so fingers crossed it's soon!!

<<<PLAYSTATION 3, NINTENDO WII or XBOX 360?>>>
And so the battle still continues about which console the public should buy, and too be honest, in my opinion, it is very clear which one you should buy. The PS3 wins on every section of the fight apart from maybe the price. The PS3 has better graphics in all of its games because of the disc data size and the blu-ray technology. The PS3 has it's own powerful graphics chip which makes every graphic that the Xbox 360 can achieve better by 100 times, and more games will be available to the PS3 than the 360. A lot of people who are "Xbox biased" will say that even though the Playstation 3 might have more power technically, there are no difference between the two. But they don't consider the fact that the Xbox 360 has been out for a year, so the graphics are very good, but the Playstation 3 has only just come out, and they are matched by the Xbox 360's graphics. Give Playstation a year to catch up with the 360, and there will be a massive amount of difference between the two.

The only section the Xbox 360 wins on is the price, the 60gb Playstation 3 costs £425 but the 20gb Xbox 360 with a few added features such as a headset costs around £280. The big difference in price is mainly because of the huge amount of storage space there is on the PS3 and because of all the added technology you get with the PS3, if you got the Xbox 360, you would be missing out on blu-ray technology, internet browser, HDMI, motion sensor controllers, handheld connectivity, true HD 1080p and downloadable movies and music.

And as for the Nintendo WII, in my opinion, it is exactly the same as a Nintendo DS, it hasn't got next-gen technology, but this time they have put in a new motion sensitive controller, which the Playstation 3 has anyway, plus the PS3 also has all the other advantages that I talked about before, so altogether, the PS3 is definitely the best option for a games console. Even though the WII is smaller and cheaper, the PS3 outclasses it in any other ways possible!

<<<SOME MORE OF MY OWN OPINION OF THE CONSOLE>>>
I am so glad that I got a Playstation 3 instead of going for any of the other consoles. And the main reason for this is that a few of my mates have gone for the other consoles, and I have to say, I wasn't that impressed. Sure, the graphics were pretty good on the Xbox 360, and the WII controller was pretty fun, but they are nowhere near as good compared to the PS3. The Playstation 3 is in a league of it's own, with all the quality that it can handle, that would simply make all the other consoles crash under the strain of the quality! I'm glad that I didn't buy an Xbox 360, or a Nintendo WII, and that I stayed faithful to Sony, because they have really rewarded me for keeping faith by making this console so brilliant!

<<<THE SPECS>>>
If you are a really technical person, and can understand what looks like a big paragraph of gobble-de-goop to most people, then feast your eyes on all these fantastic specs the Playstation 3 has:

Product name: PLAYSTATION 3
CPU: Cell Processor
GPU: RSX™
Sound: Dolby 5.1ch, DTS, LPCM, etc. (Cell-based processing)
Memory: 256MB XDR Main RAM, 256MB GDDR3 VRAM
HDD: 2.5" Serial ATA ○ (20GB) ○ (60GB)
I/O: USB 2.0 ○ (x4)
MemoryStick /SD/CompactFlash - ○
Communication: Ethernet ○ (x1 / 10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T)
IEEE 802.11 b/g - ○
Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR) ○
Wireless controller (Bluetooth) ○
AV Output: Screen size 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
HDMI OUT - ○ (x1 / HDMI NextGen)
AV MULTI OUT ○ (x1)
DIGITAL OUT (OPTICAL) ○ (x1)
BD/DVD/CD Drive (Read Only): Maximum Read Speed BD 2x (BD-ROM)
DVD 8x (DVD-ROM)
CD 24x (CD-ROM)
SACD 2x
Dimensions: Approximately 325mm (W) x 98mm (H) x 274mm (D)
Weight: Approximately 5 kg

<<<OVERALL>>>
The Playstation 3 is the biggest development there has been in gaming history. I have not been disappointed since I bought it, and I'm sure you will not be disappointed either. It is a superior gaming machine compared to any other, and there is no doubt that it will rule the gaming consoles table for years to come. Buy one, adore it, and become part of the next-gen experience!!

(Sorry if you thought this review was a bit long, it is just that there is such a lot to write about, and this is mainly because it is such a great games console. Sorry if you were tempted to skim some of it)!!

<<<Thanks for reading>>>