How long will it take for SONY to redesign the PS3?

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smbu2000 said:

alpha_dk said:
PS3s currently use a 2.5" HDD slot, right? If they move to a 1.5" HDD (think iPod mini, when they still existed), they could potentially save a lot of space, but it would add to the cost significantly (which, if they are aiming to cut costs, wouldn't be ideal).

They could probably rip out the power supply and give it an external power brick, and depending on how corporate power dynamics have changed in the last year and a half, this article may no longer hold water, although we'll see. That's only displaced size, though, not really eliminated per se. The Wii does fine with its external brick, but it also only draws like 20W, so who knows.

All told, if all they have to change is a 33% reduction in mobo size (which actually wasn't said, but it's an overestimate based on the heat sink shrinkage) I wouldn't expect a full slimline. If they change their minds about the power brick, then yes, but it will still be limited by the large HDD. If they switch to a smaller form factor HDD, then *maybe* they'd be looking at a significantly smaller machine.

All told, I don't think it's viable enough at this point to expect a full slimline PS3. One more process shrink might do it, as might being able to replace the HDD with NAND memory after a few more process shrinks and price drops there.

Regarding the power brick that's what Sony did with the PS2, right? It originally had the power supply built-in (on the fat PS2) and when they turned it into the slim PS2 it had a power brick. Though I think with the newer slim PS2's they now have the power supply built-in again. I'm not sure about the PSOne as I only had the old, regular PS1 system.

 

crappy pic of ps1 slim power brick