A couple of weeks ago i noticed a few used ps3's for sale in my local gamestop. You can definitely get used 360's but i think it demonstrates the year that sony is having. As for before about the hdmi cables, i just checked upon komplett and you can get them for 25 euro (about 32 dollars) which is a lot cheaper than 40.
So apologies, but my friend did pay 40 for his cables. Everything is a little more expensive in europe (especially ireland). Sonys problem when is that when it brings out a expensive system for the rest of the world it ends up VERY expensive in europe.
The 610 dollar ps3 or 400 euro one should stop the christmas being an absolute disaster for sony but it will still be a tough one. Well have to wait till next year to see what happens, especially with all the new games coming out.







