they can provide optional installations to HDD.

i think the bdrom speed is ok really. i dont think it needs changing. the games on ps3 already run good. why increase manufacturing costs on something that is not needed

So when are these new PS3s becoming widely available?
US retailers still don't have them for online pre-ordering but they should arrive pretty much everywhere during the last week of August, and the fact Best Buy is already selling them in a few stores could suggest that SCEA is already shipping these units to retailers but they're probably waiting until the end of August or when their existing stock of 40GB units gets low enough to start selling the new 80GBs.

BTW it would be nice if people in the US gave an update here about the situation =)

The slow speed of the bdrom is the reason for the growing number of required HDD installations on the PS3.

The bdrom speed was fine for Uncharted, I think the installs are more along the lines of the devs being lazy, not the hard ware.

It's coming out this week in UK officially, a week earlier than expected!

They are not getting rid of BC. There will be a PS3 without BC for $399 and a PS3 with BC for $499. Check Wikipedia.

Don't believe everything you read in Wikipedia. According to Jack Tretton himself:

“I would like to have had it in there, but Sony’s collective strategy determined we could afford to lose it (BC). We’ve now gone down that road: we’re not going back.”

so, now down to one sku. I like that. Much more simple, plus, I bet it was costing Sony more to produce 2 skus that they could potentially profit from the availability of choice.

IMO @ a mere $50 more than the premium 360, the PS3 is a much better value. Especially when you add in the 'extras' you have to buy for the 360. If I was choosing a 2nd console, PS3 would be it.

Lets wait and see what happens with the $499 PS3.