I think you're either in the wrong forum, have no idea what you're talking about, or both.

what if they put out a 20gb ps3 with no wifi, no hdmi slot, no optical slot, and one usb slot?

(essentials are there, for casual standard definition gamers)

I believe the EE/GC were the largest chunk of the cost difference between older and newer models.

Leaving those in while dropping the little stuff wouldn't do it.

ee gc?

Emotion Engine and Graphics Chip.  The two pieces present in the 20/60Gb SKUs gave them full BC with the PS2.

The 80Gb SKU dropped the EE, kept the GC, and used software emulation for partial BC.

then i say drop them all.

20gb ps3 with no wifi, no hdmi, no optical, 1 usb slot, and no ee, and put in an old sixaxis controller too (no vibe).

essentials only, with option to upgrade via third party daddy slot machine that has all those slots to fit.

should get to $300?

I think we're to the point where a 20Gb HDD is admittedly too small thanks to installs, demos, and the like.  It's smarter for Sony to spend a little bit more on the HDD, make it look better compared to old SKUs (160 vs 20/40/60/80) and make their money back on Playstation Store content.

Giving the consumer more space to hold downloaded games can only help their Playstation Store's business.

i disagree. right now, with this economy, entry price is king.

if you advertise that your console cannot go any lower than $400, whatever bundle you put in just doesn't sound as good as $300.

a lot of people (especially moms and dads shopping for their sons, which represents a huge chunk of console buyers) don't really care about what's in the pack, and only care about the price of the thing.

i believe that an extremely thinned out entry level pack would be enticing for that market who don't really mind what they have as long as they can play blu-ray movies and games.

20GB?

First of all, the PS3 cost problems are not exactly related heavily to the size of the hard drive, I'd guess that's a minor thing when you see they doubled the size of the HDD for the low-cost model and sells at the same price.

Second of all....20GB? when they're pushing for more PSN downloads, games, movies, TV shows, DLC? and how about HDD installs. Just no way.

I couldn't find a 20GB HDD on newegg, but I found a 40 and an 80 2.5 inch...

Both of these are Fujitsu...

40GB 4200rpm = $49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822116040
80GB 7200rpm = $39.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822116039