so what i read was that specs for dev kits that developers have recieved and specs for retail are different.... well duh. dev kits are always going to have more ram than retail release

I think this is a smart move. It would have been absolute madness if the Non-3G NGP cost like $300 or $350. Even with the lower specs, the NGP absolutely dwarfs the 3DS in specs as it is.

Priced competitively with the 3DS, I think NGP has a good chance to win Japan. The third-party support will be there coming off the strong PSP momentum. Capcom, Namco Bandai, Square-Enix, Konami, Sega, Tecmo-Koei, Atlus, Marvelous, etc. are all going to give it solid backing just like they have the PSP. In Europe and Others, NGP might fair well. PSP hardware is actually doing alright compared to DS hardware over there right now. In North America on the other hand, the PSP has been firmly in the niche category for awhile now and I don't see the NGP being any different.

RAM has not been offically annouced before, it was rumoured to be 512mb though, and internal storage was rumoured but SONY said it would have no internal storage back when they annouced NGP -- it was one of things they choose not to put in NGP to keep the costs down (they established ther max launch price and manufacturing price ages ago before they got anywhere near finalising spec's)

 As for RAM i think 256mb of system ram 128mb of VRAM (thats 384mb total) is a decent amount, for comparison 3DS has 128mb of RAM total (shared between cpu gpu), PSP has 32mb of RAM (2000 and 3000 series have 64mb, with 32mb reserved for chaching to improve load times), DS 4mb (DSi has 16mb with most of it reserved for its OS).

Comparing it to consoles - PS2 has 32mb, Xbox has 64mb, Wii has 64mb system RAM, 24mb VRAM, 3mb "intergrated GPU buffer RAM"(~91mb total), 360 has 512mb, PS3 has 256mb system RAM and 256mb Video RAM. 

Overall i would say the NGP has enough RAM, i think i would of prefered 512mb, but 384mb is plenty for developers to work with for a handheld and it is 12x more than PSP had for developers to use!

Good move to price it competitively.

SONY has realised the 3DS has tripped at launch and there is a very great chance of them being able to overthrow Nintendo from the handheld market if NGP launch lineup/price and everything is done flawlessly (which it won't be as this is SONY we are talking about, they always get something wrong), but they can try at least,

sound good to me.

I think the lack of internal storage is a far larger hurt than the lack of ram.  Even at half the rumored ram it's still a portable beast.  
The lack of internal storage will mean less people buying stuff on PSN upon which they make higher margins.  They need to integrate the NGP with PSN even moreso than the PS3 was. PSN worked for PS3 because every model came with onboard storage. Free demos and content such act as great advertisement and many NGPers wont be reached.  It's truly sad because with onboard storage and mic in every console day one NGP might have done better than PS3 at building a profitable and fruitful PSN community and helping Sony take back a little bit of American market they have so dearly lost. 

Game sites are getting more silly every day, it's a rumour about a rumour about a console that we know nothing about. This rumour could be true, but it doesn't mean that Sony has downgraded anything, these specs could have been what they were all along and the other rumour was bullshit. The same could be said for the first rumour being true and the second one being bullshit or they could be both wrong and Sony could have something entirely different planned. 

I always like to think that the VGChartz community is a step above others, but when articles like this one, the malstorme articles and whatever other garbage that gets spewed out of general game media gets highlighted, then I can only lose faith in the site.

They are generally fine, I understand that rumours are used to stimulate discussion, but when 80% of the posters come into a thread thinking it's real, mainly because they didn't read the article or look into the background of the topic, then it becomes a thread of 'Good move Sony' or 'Doooomed' posts. It's been happening with the Wii lately and it's getting annoying.

But it will have teh trophy...

bu bu it won't sell 300 million plus tho! :(

Soon-to-be-updated:

"3DS 256MB of RAM to kick Sony out of the handheld market"