Want to buy a PS3 and only spend 500

tw0nk

Hi All,

Having been trying to buy a PS3 on adverts for last 2 days, I havent managed to get one and for some reason the supply of second hand ones seems to be drying up.

Could anyone tell me where I could get a second hand one reliably(dubious
about ebay) ?

Otherwise where is cheapest new one and how much would it cost?

Thanks in advance for replies.

animaX

I'd say wait till christmas. There may be a price drop and some good deals as sony may soon be desperate

tw0nk

Its always the way isnt it? when you want something now, there may well be a price drop coming.... hehe

Well its a bit annoying the price difference between the states and Ireland, i mean its a huge difference, and not any reason I can see, I was hoping to pick up a second hand one with a few games, save myself a bit of cash that way, want to use it for a media centre and for blu-ray too.

Actually, where is best package-price new at the moment? game, gamestop, smyths etc...

mcgovern

Very unlikely to be a price drop since the bigger HDDs will be shipping soon if they aren't already?

silvine

Gamestop sell second hand PS3s (the starter package) for just over 500.

tw0nk

Just rang gamestop there, they seem to sell used ps3's for 520 with 2 games and one pad, the games are fall of man and motostop, what you reckon about this for value? good? bad? Are game any better? do they even sell used-consoles?

Vic Vinegar

If you can find a way of getting one from the U.S then maybe you should do that. I think they are pretty much region free (games defo anyway)

tw0nk

I was looking at the prices of US ones, rediculously cheap compared to here... what are restrictions? ie it can play all EU games but can it play dvd movies? bluray movies?

lee_baby_simms

tw0nk wrote:

I was looking at the prices of US ones, rediculously cheap compared to here... what are restrictions? ie it can play all EU games but can it play dvd movies? bluray movies?

No warranty.
Can't play PAL ps2 games, region 2 dvds and many EU blu rays.

Not worth the saving if you ask me.

Retr0gamer

Games are multiregional but DVDs and blu-rays aren't which is no biggy since they are cheaper from america anyway. Also you don't even need to muck about power transformers since the power supply is universal you just have to replace the power lead with a 3 pin standard PC power lead.

You should consider a xbox360 as well, much cheaper and there is a far better sleaction of much better games available.

I doubt there will be a price cut before christmas, Sony are going to hope that the Playstation name will sell the machine at the high price at christmas. I predict there will be a price drop in March.

tw0nk

Hmm, well the thing about it is, and I dont mean to stoke up the whole ps3 VS 360 war, but the reason Im going for PS3 is

- High def player for dvd & blu-ray
- Nex gen games (same as 360)
- Media centre for all my movies etc
- Free online gaming
- All in one box (external player not needed)

Just to let everyone know, gamestop prices are as follows:

- Used PS3 on its own is €510 (only 10 euro saving!!!!)
- Used PS3 with a used copy of Motorstorm and Resistance: fall of man €520
- Used official sixaxis controller for €45.
- Brand new PS3 with 2 controllers, 2 games 620

So Il keep an eye out on adverts for a while but if I cant find one I will probably end up buying from gamestop with the games and maybe buy an extra pad in a while.

savemejebus

Xtravision do a 600 bundle with 2 controllers and 2 games.

tw0nk

Really? Any idea of the different game bundles? At that price its only 35 more expensive than the second hand option....

lee_baby_simms

tw0nk wrote:

Hmm, well the thing about it is, and I dont mean to stoke up the whole ps3 VS 360 war, but the reason Im going for PS3 is

- High def player for dvd & blu-ray
- Nex gen games (same as 360)
- Media centre for all my movies etc
- Free online gaming
- All in one box (external player not needed)

Its a good time to get one. Theres a dozen or so great games comin out between now and xmas.

HMV / Virgin do 2 controllers + 2 games + 3 blurays for 630.

savemejebus

tw0nk wrote:

Really? Any idea of the different game bundles? At that price its only 35 more expensive than the second hand option....

Either Resistance Fall of man or Motorstorm (resistance is brilliant btw)
and
one from Ridge Racer 7 (don't get, available really cheap online) , F1 2007, Genji(don't get - crap) and one other that i can't remember.

The HMV option that Lee Baby Simms mentioned is very good if you want to start your blu-ray collection.

lee_baby_simms

savemejebus wrote:

The HMV option that Lee Baby Simms mentioned is very good if you want to start your blu-ray collection.

Also considering that so many blu rays are 30 - 40 quid each.

savemejebus

lee_baby_simms wrote:

Also considering that so many blu rays are 30 - 40 quid each.

Definitely agree.

Still would advise buying blu-rays online usually, they are available much cheaper although gamestop have a good selection for €17.99

THE1NE

Those second hand prices are ridicolous!!!

lee_baby_simms

Gamestop are moneygrubbers.

tw0nk

Yeah thats true, the prices are redic, but they offer a 1 year warranty to sort of justify it. God there are no PS3's for sale on adverts, i think peoply must have finally stopped selling them!

lee_baby_simms

Hmmm that 1 year warranty doesn't justify anything. First of all the chances of it breaking are miniscule and if it does you're better off dealing with Sony. According to a story i read on avforums a while back Sony will arrange for someone to pick it up and replace it on the spot.

Gamestop make a fortune on preowned gear. Paying out half price for games they then sell on with a fiver off RRP. I don't buy anything from them anymore.

tw0nk

Im becoming more and more against the idea of buying a used ps3 from gamestop now, Im fairly interested in the other offers now though...

So out of you guys who own PS3's ... how is it going so far? The main uses I have for it were posted earlier, anyone using it to its full potential? Is it worth the money for a new one?

silvine

I bought a PS3 a month and a half ago and it's...okay. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have moments where I considered selling it.

It's a well designed piece of hardware, the USB ports, the wireless access, and the wireless controller are all great. The Blueray DVD player is good too. Between Xtravision renting Blueray DVDs and my HD tv it gets a bit of use.

But at the moment the software line-up is a little disappointing and a little expensive.

There is very little on the Playstation store beyond Warhawk and a few demos. The games that are out are good but there is no real PS classics yet. Oblivion is arguably the best PS3 game but it's been out a while and there are better versions of it on other formats.

Even FEAR, which I had been dying to play for ages looked a little pants on the PS3. However, the Heavenly Sword demo blew me away, even if the actual full-game is supposed to be mediocre.

There are a few good games coming out in the run up to Christmas though.

Internet browsing on the console is awkward - it is selective about what movies it will play and you will need a keyboard if you plan to do any serious kind of browsing. Hooking your iPod up is very fiddly but the machine has great potential as a media player.

Was it a good purchase?

I'm not convinced, yet.

If you do get one, get it second hand. Unlike the Xbox you will have no hardware worries and you should be able to save a bit of cash for the up-coming new releases.

tw0nk

So I would pretty much use it for all of the above, plus a media centre for my mp3's and movies etc, Im mainly a FPS gamer, with some other games thrown in like pes2008 etc, i owned a PS2 for 4 years and pes only left the drawer when a new version came out

THE1NE

Personally I'd buy a new one...the price saving isn't great for a used one (at least from gamestop) and its something that your gonna have and use for the guts of ten years.Worth paying the extra 100 or so for a new one.

I love mine...
PSN is great..Got Calling All Cars,Tekken 5 DR,Mortal Kombat II..loads of other stuff..
Games I got are Resistance,Motorstorm,NBA Street Homecourt and Oblivion..only really played NBA Street Homecourt and Oblivion (other two my brother got) but they are all great.
Controller is nice (except for the missing rumble)...
Can't really complain..