The "Super-Slim" PS3 (4000 model series) - Page 9

Who cares, HDMI cables are a couple bucks from Amazon or Monoprice. I don't need more.

Companies like Apple spend a lot of time on getting the package just right - it's your first impression of what you just bought. It matters.

You open up this gaming system and they stick in cables from the late 1980's. If you don't have a spare one, you need to make a run down to Best Buy to get hosed on Monster, or get stuck playing on composite until your Amazon package gets in. It's stupid.

Companies like Apple can afford to with the margins they're pulling in on their overpriced devices.

Yes, margins on CE for most companies are quite slim. A simple <$5 part like HDMI cable is worth tens of millions. The bottom line is whether including it would increase sales, and it won't.

Remember, too, that overpriced HDMI cables are a huge money-maker for their retail partners. Retailers make next to nothing on games and consoles. Retailers' incentive to stock and sell PS3s is contingent on their making money with other products.

Apple is a great comparison, but not for the reasons stated above. The peripheral market for Apple products is huge business. The markup on Apple-branded replacement parts and peripherals is through the roof, too. And Apple has their own retail chain. In other words, there's plenty of things they don't pack in with their products. But, yes, they've created a great "perception of wholeness" when you open one of their boxes.

lol, so it's too much to ask for Sony to pack in a ten-cent cable that will allow you to do the things they say it can do? I'm not talking about a second controller or anything. You need an HDMI cable (or at least component) for HD and Blu-Ray. Composite was a garbage connection on PlayStation 1. MS does the same thing now, though the first round of systems had at component.

I don't know what you are on about with Apple. There's no "perception" here, it is reality. My fiancee just got an iPhone 5. It came with headphones (the new EarPods they are selling for $30) and the plug. You don't need any of those accessories to do the things that Apple advertises you can do. People get a case just as an option, like they get a second DualShock.

They might be selling those headphones for $30, but they aren't worth $30, just like an HDMI cable isn't worth $30. And it'd be impossible to charge my iPhone5 without a power supply and cable. Funny though, I just bought an Antec power supply for my PC and it came with NO power cable. Can you imagine getting a PS3 and no power cable?

When I was with AST Computer, we did the same thing, cut 10 cents here or there. You'd be surprised how fast those dimes add up.

I suppose it's a moot point to argue over the HDMI cable. Even if they packed it, it might not be the length needed by some users, etc.

Now that I think of it, when I bought my BC 80 gig PS3, it came with the HDMI cable. I didn't use it. I think I gave it away.

The Wii U comes with an HDMI cable. But then again, Nintendo always makes sure retailers have healthy margins on their products.

A Wii U with 32GB is $350, a PS3 with 500GB and Assassin's Creed III is $300. Maybe that's why.

I agree. But I'm saying that the reason they don't is, at least in part, because retailers like those healthy margins on HDMI cables.
Ha. Apple peripherals make bank. Cases, headphones, adapters, sleeves, etc. They're a huge part of their overall business model. And that says nothing of the crazy prices to replace dead cables and whatnot (and I'm speaking as a long-time owner of Apple products).

The profit margin on an iPhone 5 is estimated to be 38%, and it was higher on previous models. Sony has only recently reached the break-even point for manufacturing its consoles.

Retailers are starting to catch on. I noticed a couple of weeks ago that Best Buy had a barrel of 6 foot HDMI cables for $5 each. A few years ago I bought a pack of a dozen 6 and 8 foot HDMI cables for $8 from an online retailer so I'm set for a while!

Wii U is the first game console that comes with HDMI cable out of the box. Other consoles still think they can sell you a "$50" HDMI cable later if it's not bundled with the console. I think it costs more to manufacture a composite cable today than HDMI cable.

I really hope PS4 will come with decent built quality at launch after Sony has been burned by PS3 manufacturing cost for so many years. Building PS4 on AMD processors should be a huge savings to start.

Irrelevant, because you don't need any of that to use it. You do need HDMI or at least component to use the PS3 in a fashion resembling the way Sony sells it.

Sounds like one reason why Sony is teetering on the edge of insolvency and Apple is one the world's biggest companies.

Not true, my (Elite) 360 came with a HDMI cable. All 360s came with a component cable for several years.

I think people are getting a bit defensive about my comment. I have HDMI cables lying around, I just see the lack of a cable packed in as a silly move that takes away from the initial experience. Kind of like how Sony is putting chintzy online passes on their biggest IPs. I just bought Halo 4 and it didn't have an online pass.

And I already commented that my first PS3 came with an HDMI cable in the box.

A friend bought a pack of 3 HDMI cables at Fry's here in our area for $7 or something silly like that. Buy at Fry's and you can get your HDMI cables before you leave, without being raped.

Did she have an old iPhone? Does she have other old iPhone accessories?

Have fun getting a billion adapters for $15 a pop!

Apple isn't doing anything out of the kindness of their heart. Those Earpods and plugs are not free. You're paying for them in a higher price for the whole package, and Apple has just tested and knows that you'll pay that price, and see them as "free" because of their brand.

Everyone gets theirs. Nothing is free.

Possible. The Phat really was built very well, but two things killed it (three if you include the bad batch of blu-diodes).

Being an experiment with the first use of tin solder, and having a very poor heat dissipation design.

You really misunderstood me. I never said Apple was running a charity. I said that Apple understands the value of the importance of the first impression. Customers spend a boatload of money on an iPhone, or a Macbook, they open it up, and they have what they need, beautifully packaged and ready to go. Yes they paid for everything, including the salaries of the people who designed that nice box, but that's not what you think about.

By comparison, you open up a PS3 box and then you have to:

1. Go down to Best Buy to get an overpriced Monster cable.
2. Buy a cheap cable on Amazon and wait for it to get to your house.
3. Rummage through your closet to find a spare cable.
4. Play games over composite like it is 1993.

It damages the first impression. I won't even get into how cheap the 4000 looks compared to the phat and slim.

edit: you know what it kind of reminds me of? I just went on a vacation. The airline was nickel-and-diming me every damn time I interacted with them. I'd rather just spend more on my ticket upfront and not be shaken down every step of the way.

Incorrect. I stated above that Fry's has cables for $7 for 3. So buy your PS3 from Fry's and get your cables on your way out. And I don't have to "rummage" to find my cables, they are put away neatly in my laundry room closet. Either way, I think stating that it "damages the first impression" is a little over-dramatic.

And I fly Southwest. I don't get nickel and dimed by my airline. I flew 25 round trips this year, I travel a lot. I have two more round trips to go before the end of the year.

EDIT: Thinking about it, there are still a lot of people that buy into the Monster snake oil. Plenty of people would still buy the $30 cable and toss the pack in cable.

My car stereo didn't come with the iPhone/iPod cable either, although it supports it.
Edited by TornadoTJ - 12/6/12 at 7:36am

2012 going into the future any electronic equipment that comes with a composite cable packed in will get my official seal of laughing my ass off. Praise all around for the companies that pack in the latest and greatest new cable standard.

HDMI isn't some fancy new thing. I'd even take component as I said several times.

You do realize that Fry's isn't everywhere, right?

They aren't the only game in town either. A previous post mentioned low cost cables at another retailer also.

Wow. I can't believe that folks still have trouble finding 6-8ft HDMI cables for less than $10 each. If you pay more, then you shop at the wrong places and like to pay too much.

If you like to walk in and buy your cables, then try Radio Shack. Not only do they have a location in just about every mall in the U.S., they have two different 6ft HDMI cables for less than $10.00. If you shop online, then finding cables in the $5-$7 range is as easy as pie.

I will agree that Sony should have been packing these in years ago.

I have a non-cable question :) Between these 2, which would you pick? -

 

1. Super Slim 250GB with Uncharted 3, 30 day PS+ trial - $250

2. Slim 320GB with 1 year PS+ offer - $300

 

Also is the latest PS3 Super Slim more reliable than the last model, or are both the same? I'm not asking about the plastic cover or the new design for the disc.

Option 2 - bigger HDD. Super slim is Super U-G-L-Y. Plus the year of PS + is pretty good value.

If you don't have a lot of PS3 games sitting around, you most certainty will make it up in DL content games over the year of PS+. Slim just looks and feels better constructed too, and has a good history of reliability.

For only $50, I'd go with it.