| NicholasCage said: PS3 Phat is sold out in my local area. 2x Wal-Mart 1x K-Mart 3x Target Yeah, I called them all asking if they were $299.99 and they said "Yes, but we ran out of stock today." My cousin had to drive 35min away just to get 1 from a Best Buy that had 2 left in stock. |
I know inventory has been drying up (as production on the 80GB has been stopped for some time now), but that's still somewhat surprising to hear. I'll have to check around locally myself to see if the situation is similar here (major market; San Francisco Bay Area).
Some will still prefer the looks and build of the original model, so a straight $100 off the 80GB SKU is a pretty good buy by any measure while they're still available. They have another 2 weeks of exclusive sales before the slim is available.
And not everyone is vulnerable to the consumer instinct of buying the most recent model, even when the differences are largely cosmetic rather than functional.
I'd say that the biggest feature of the slim is that SCE can manufacture them for a lot less due to the simpler design and fewer parts/materials. The advantage to the consumer naturally, is that SCE passed a lot of those savings directly back to them.
The form factor, while smaller (and over 30% lighter) isn't nearly as dramatic as the transition from the PS2 to the slim was, but when looking at the price, it's somewhat irrelevant.
