Just get the 60GB, everything will work. Besides, you can upgrade the HD anyway.

60gb will bring in bigger bills...Go with the 80.

The new non-BC PS3s will come with DS3. Essentially the only differences between the two SKUs are that the $500 has PS2 B/C, comes with a "free game", extra usb slots and ssd-card readers.

I think they will find that a $100 difference in price won't justify the small differences in the SKUs, and they may add some extra shiz-wizzle or give a slight pricedrop to the higher model. (This whole paragraph is speculation/my prediction).

So, I'm going to assume software emulation is definitely better than hardware emulation... Because I'm going tomorrow! o_o

It really is a title-by-title case. I've heard reports on some games (like GoWII) looking better, but other games (like the DMC games) are jag-city.

Because of the nature of PS2 development, there really can't be a "rule of thumb", and some games will look equal, some better, some worse.