Sony PlayStation 3 80 GB Piano Black Console (NTSC - CECH-K01)

PROS: Very pleased with the PS3. It upscales normal DVDs so they look better on your HDTV, it plays Blue-ray discs very well, and offers extra functions that 'normal' players don't have. You can game with it of course, and the graphics are phenomenal. You can also surf the web, browse content from YouTube, Facebook, and others. With built-in wireless and Bluetooth, you have the same connectivity options as a laptop or media center PC. If you run a free media server app on another PC on your home network, the PS3 becomes a 'Swiss army knife' of a media player, able to play audio, video, and view pictures. (and arrange them into albums) Of course you can connect a USB flash or hard drive (only FAT32 format I believe) and play content from there, or copy content to the PS3's hard drive if you wish.

CONS:

-There appears to be a firmware bug such that when you wake it from standby with the controller or power button, it shuts down and must be turned off and on. (at least mine does)
-Sony, being the money-grubbing control freaks that they are have released an update that makes it very difficult to install Linux as a second OS like you used to be able to do. Not a big deal for the average user, but I like to tinker, and what harm was it doing Sony to leave this? What was Sony getting from this feature other than even more acclaim for an excellent device? It would be a true media-center PC if they'd open up a little.
-The wireless (on my model anyway) doesn't support any better encryption than WEP.

My speculation: if Sony were to sell an "unlocked" version of this device for maybe a little more, I'd buy it. I know that Sony makes money on content and almost gives away the console, like printer manufacturers do by selling cheap printers and then making money on the ink, but if the PS3 were more open to tinkering, it would go from having a large fan base to a cult following.

First, I must disclose that my experience is with the 60GB model and not the 80GB. I also think you should strongly consider purchasing the 60GB model if you are buying used. I say this because this model had all the hardware bells and whistles that were taken out of subsequent generations. For those who backwards compatibility is really important for, the 60GB model contains the Emotion Engine hardware of the PS2 thereby making it fully backwards compatible. The subsequent 80GB model used software emulation to play PS2 games, which as I understand it makes some PS2 games incompatible. It also has flash memory card readers and 4 USB ports. Models released after 2007 had the flash card readers removed, the USB ports were reduced from 4 to 2, and backwards compatibility was eliminated. So, if any of these things are important to you, a 60GB model is your best bet. If the size of the hard drive is of concern, it can be easily upgraded by the user with any 2.5 inch SATA hard drive. My 60GB model now has a 500GB hard drive in it, which is bigger than any stock PS3 HDD.
With the hardware alterations aside, the user experience is pretty much the same from model to model. I also own an Xbox 360 so I will make some comparisons to it for anyone on the fence with these systems. Sony has done a good job of evolving the operating system which originally had some glaring inadequacies when compared to the XBox OS. Xbox social features are still better developed in my opinion and offers a better online gaming experience. If online gaming is important to you, Sony's Playstation Network is good enough but Xbox Live is a bit more robust in my view.

The graphics are phenomenal no matter what you're using it for. With this generation of consoles taking advantage of High Definition TV technology, games can look photorealistic at times. The PS3 also supports DVD upscaling to help your DVDs look their best and of course, the PS3 doubles as a Blu Ray player as well, which also works flawlessly. If graphics are a big concern for you, neither system really bests the other. You can often find online comparisons of games released on both the 360 and PS3 only to find the writers straining to find the tiniest flaws in either version. On 99% of games, the difference in quality is so insignificant that you probably won't be able to tell the difference. The Blu Ray drive doesn't really give the PS3 an edge in graphics or anything else (besides the obvious advantage of Blu Ray playback). Yes, it allows to store far more data on a single disc, but since disc costs virtually nothing to produce 360 games can simply ship with two or more DVDs if necessary.
The PS3 also works quite well as a Media Center. It's easy to set it up to stream content from your computer or to load your photos, video, audio or other data on to the PS3 hard drive to view on your TV. Additionally, the Playstation store allows you to download game demos, full games, previews, and rent or buy movies with a few clicks on your controller.

Conclusion: While the PS3 used to be prohibitively expensive and lacked a strong game library when compared to the Xbox 360, the PS3 has done away with both of these problems and the consumer can expect to be quite satisfied with either purchase. IF you are really in to online gaming though, the Xbox 360 may be a better fit. Other than that, the systems are pretty evenly matched in my book and you can't go wrong either way.

The greatest multi media system out there, plays great games, holds music, photos and videos and very easy to upgrade to a bigger hard drive. It is the best Blu-Ray player out there especially since you can always get updates.

What I love about the Sony PS3 is that it has really cool games to play which will have you entertained for a while. You do not have to pay for Online play with your friends like on the Xbox 360 which is one of my most favorite features. It plays Blue-ray movies which no other gaming console provides. You can connect wireless online to the PS3. The PS3 comes with web browsing capability to surf the web on your own gaming console. Finally its a console that is very hard to compete against, has a high resale value and has very few technical problem such as the Xbox 360's red ring of death that has become popular because of how often so many people have gotten it. Talking out of experience, in the 3 years I had my Xbox 360 Elite I got the Red Ring of death twice. It's not suppose to happen AT ALL ! but it happened to me twice and it has happened to most Xbox 360 owners everywhere AND it will continue to happen. The PS3 has no such technical issue that has a huge problem. The day I got my Play station 3 was the day I knew I would never go back to another console, unless Sony comes out with a newer model. Lets face it, Sony makes absolutely superb electronics with amazing quality that does not break down or have technical problems.

All in all a good unit. Not having the memory option for SD cards or whatever the others have is kind of a bummer, but considering 80 gig is usually anywhere from 40-60 gig more than the others, its a good trade off. The 2 USB only was a little bit of a worry at first. but if you get at least 2 Sony wireless then two off brand it works just fine. Just remember to keep the Sony ones charged, which again is no big deal because they hold a charge for a long time. So far no problems with a used model and it has been on a lot, especially with little big planet, great game. I also like the fact that Sony does not charge for their online gaming, something X-Box should of really considered.