Earlier today I was about to use the new data transfer tool to move all our downloadable games, dlc, saves and patches over to our new slim from our original 60gb. Literally as I was going to press start transfer after hooking the two system up by ethernet, the 60gb turned itself off and it kept doing so as I tried to turn it back on multiple times. Essentially it’s totally finished at this point and it picked a very inopportune time to.

It seems that what we originally thought was an error effecting the blu-ray drive exclusively, may be an issue with the whole system. While we did already buy a new system to replace it, it’s like adding insult to injury when the old one dies before it can at least transfer our data across.

I suppose for some lighter users it would be not such a big deal, but we have a lot of content that we’ll have to download again, game saves lost which may make me not want to go back in those games and patches which can take hours upon hours to download.

Then there’s game installs. Those can be monstrous in size and although at this point in the system’s lifecycle, developers have figured out how they can avoid huge installs, they can still be a problem, especially for the older games.

What I ended up doing was just accepting that the old PS3 was dead and just put it away in its box and set up the slim. I do like the slim a lot more than the original in design. Below is a breakdown of the good and bad points.

Good

• Smaller and sleeker
• More symmetrical (doesn’t have the base shorter on one side)
• Uses around half the power according to reports
• No power switch on the back means it’s quicker to get going
• Control by HDMI is a cool new feature but you need a compatible TV
• Getting rid of the card readers means there’s less place for dust to gather, no one needs card readers anyway
• Nicer logo (no spider-man font)

Bad

• Only two USB ports
• No backwards compatibility (not that I ever used it on the original, but it would be nice to know it was there)
• Fans are not really loud but they are more noticeable than before and have a whiney sound to them which can be annoying, even when idle. I’ve yet to test it when the system is under strain though.

I’ll have more soon when I get a chance to play more, but so far, despite not wanting to replace the PS3, it is a nicer machine to own. I just hope that this one can last until the next generation of consoles roles around.