cgray

I'm ready for blu.

I was excited for the PS3/Metal Gear Solid bundle (June or so) that was 80 gb, upgraded controller, and (AFAIK) the last PS3 that will be backwards compatible with PS2. MSRP was $499.

Now, again afaik, the only Playstation 3 offered anywhere is the standard 80gb for $399.

I'm not opposed to playing video games, and a "good deal" bundle interests me. Is there any new out there about a new bundle on the horizon? I have looked around and have not found anything.

Also, I read recently that XBox would be dropping its MSRP. Any price drops planned for the PS3? I know it is unlikely anyone knows this, but just looking for advice.

Pull the trigger today, or something is coming up? With that Walmart deal ($100 off blu ray player) that was over the summer (could have gotten the Metal Gear Solid bundle for $400 -- time just wasn't right for me), it seems like there should actually be a deal out there someday soon. I'm unaccustomed to paying retail for anything.

On the other hand, if I had to wait until next summer to save $50, I'd prefer to just buy it now.

Thanks for any advice!

(I did get a Sony card for the $150 back, so that is one ongoing promotion I do know about.)

Daniel09

I don't think there will be a price drop. The 80GB PS3 came out August 15, 2008. The best price I seen for the PS3 is 399.99 on Amazon with FREE Super Saver Shipping.

SUPERMANROB

Is Sony still planning on dropping the price on their stand alone players?

cgray

I have to believe that some store would offer a discount/gift card/etc. with purchase of a blu ray player on Black Friday. Maybe that's the time to wait for.

Sdallnct

No offense, but I hate the question "when is the best time to buy...."

Prices will drop. And then drop again. And then drop again. And then the PS4 will come out.

If you are "ready" then find the best current deal and buy. Period. Who cares if you can get it for $50 less at Thanksgiving. It is worth more then $50 to have used it for a couple of months.

Heck, I bought ours the month is came out. Am I pissed you can now get one for less? Of course not. I have enjoyed it all this time.

Just buy it. Enjoy it and move on.

Drexl

Yeah, but even then, they may not allow you to use it on a PS3. Some people don't seem to realize that the PS3 is a completely different product from a standalone BD player. It has a much narrower profit margin, so stores can't afford to discount it the way they can a standalone.

There is a 160GB bundle coming in November that includes Uncharted. I think it will be $500, and if all you want to do is play games (not videos on the drive), it may be enough space that you won't have to swap out the drive later.

Then again, Uncharted will probably be a Greatest Hit by then, making it a $30 instead of a $60 value, and you may want an even bigger hard drive later. In that case, the 80GB model might be the one to get. If you don't get into games, that extra drive space could go to waste.

dick_grayson

isn't there a deal where you get $100 off a PS3 if you sign up for a sony cc? that's about all I'd expect until black friday.

Spiky

The model 300 equivalent was something like $330 at Costco last time I bothered to look. The model 350 next to it was $370 or so.

cgray

I kind of feel like you didn't read my post. I conceded pretty much everything you said. If anyone was aware of a pricedrop on Monday of $50, and I bought it today, wouldn't I have been a fool for not doing my research? Just some due diligence, my friend.


Again, I'm not aware of any "deals" at all... just MSRP. Again, that was the point of my thread. I'm sorry you didn't like it.

SUPERMANROB

Spiky thanks, I think I read(on AVS) that Sony was considering dropping the $399 players to $299, heard anything about that?

Arpeggi

Today!

Sdallnct

Then the best deal today is MSRP and buy it.

The best time to buy is when you are ready.

Yes, if you wait you will find a better deal. No doubt about it. But then you wouldn't have it to use.

I bought a 47" LCD HD TV for $1,399 right at Christmas. Today I can buy that same TV for $1,199 and a 50" plasma for around a grand. So. what..I wanted to get it for Christmas for the family gift. I had already waited a while for a set, saved money and bought it. I'm not going to sweat that it is $200 or more less nine months later.

Besides if you buy from a reputable dealer and they drop the price by $50 this Monday, they will refund you the difference. Heck Amazon will do that up to 30 days (I have done it a couple of times). Knowing store policy is due diligence..."my friend".

I love deals. I built my entire home theater on deals for less then $3,000 including furniture and new carpet. But you can't let a deals rule your moves in electronics or you will never buy.

David Levine

Yes. If you sign up for a Sony CC at a Sony Style Store or sonystyle.com and spend more than 299 on your first purchase, you get 12 months no interest and in 8-12 weeks, they'll credit your account 100.00.

Walker Boh

Amazon stopped doing refunds for their 30-day price guarantee at the beginning of the month. (full thread in store forum)

cgray

Yes, I get it. Thanks for your philosophy x 2. Now off to buy that prototype flying car, so I have it to use. I guess I'll be in line behind you. I really don't understand your contributions to this thread, or how you figure they could be helpful to my considerations.

Especially when one of the first things I said was...
If I could save $50 for waiting a week, or spend $100 more by waiting for a great bundle in a month or two, I would. All I'm doing is figuring out if anyone had any information about either a price drop or future bundle. The thread could die by nobody having any information, and I didn't intentionally solicit pointless posts. The fact that you don't like this thread doesn't mean you have to post in it.

The idea that "the best time to buy ______ is when you are ready" is, in my mind, absurd.


Thank you, Drexl, for your post. That's exactly what I was looking for, and indeed, did not know about.

dsa_shea

Get a PS3 now if you want Blu-Ray and gaming abilities. The price for the unit for both of those capabilties is very fair. You can use it for more functions as well.

Sdallnct

Damn...didn't know that. Now that is good information to have. I used that price matching thing from Amazon many a time. It was so easy. That will have me hesitate before buying electronice from them again. I had bought a HD DVD player from them for like $90 and within a month it dropped twice and they sent me a credit both time (total about $30).

Anyway...good info...thanks.

Sdallnct

Wow...sorry...you are correct. I don't get you. I don't see what a flying car has to do with getting a PS3.

I'm about the 3rd person to tell you to buy it now. And as many who come to this area, if you don't like the answer you want, you ignore everyone else. The PS3 is one of those items you simply are NOT going to get a smoking deal on (tho the Sony CC deal is good, why don't you do that?). It is one the few items in my theater I paid full price for (along with my Harmony remote) and still feel it well worth it.

You think it is absurb to buy somthing when you are ready? So you think it is smart to buy something when you are not ready???? My point with electronics is that it will always...always...always get cheaper. I mean why buy a computer today when next year it will be more powerful and cheaper?

And I have nothing against this post. I am trying to help. There are things you can often get deals on and there are things you often can not. If you want to know if the price will drop, then I can tell you that. Yes it will. You will be able to get it cheaper at Thanksgiving. Course then you will ask "will it be cheaper at Christmas" and it will. Then you will ask if it will be cheaper in spring of 2009. And it will.

cgray

The Sony CC deal is good, and like I stated in my first post, I already did sign up for that.

Sdallnct, I disagree with you that the playstation will go through multiple price drops or significantly different deals (3 by your count) by Spring 09. But, we shall see.

I also feel like it wasn't very helpful saying, "over time, technology gets cheaper" in three separate posts. That is a premise that I am familiar with, and I attempted to make that clear in my first post, as well.

I'm not saying that you should buy things when you are not ready. I am just saying that "being ready" should not be the sole criterion in choosing to buy something. I think that is a gross oversimplification of responsible consumer decision-making. Again, that is just my opinion.

Thanks again for the help, everybody, and I didn't mean to start any arguments, Sdallnct. I appreciate your posts.

Sdallnct

Will the Sony go thru 3 price drops? I have no idea. But I do without hesitation say that if you buy it today (other then maybe if you save the $100 thru Sony) that you will absolutely be able to find it somewhere cheaper at Thanksgiving. And then you could find is somewhere cheaper at x-mas and very likely find it somewhere cheaper in Spring of 2009.

MSRP price drops are meaningless in my mind. What you can actually purchase it for is what makes the difference. Someone on Black Friday will offer a smoking deal. True you might have to wait in line, but you could do it. Someone at x-mas will offer a smoking deal. True it will be one store or something, but again, you could do it. And someone will offer a smoking deal in the spring.

I appreciate you staying you didn't mean to start anything. Neither did I (beers all around). I'm just saying you will drive yourself crazy if put so much in the price point. And even when you buy you won't enjoy it as you will keep watching to see if you could have gotten it cheaper. Which you will find.

And while I'm talking electronics in general, I find the PS3 somewhat unique. Not only is it an excellent BD player, it is a solid up converting DVD player. It also plays games very, very well. It is also a media center (my son loaded music on it for the media room). It can also store photos which again, make it handy when my folks come over. Having said all that, my point is the MSRP is still a good value. Normally I would never pay MSRP for an electronic item. But paying for the Sony I still consider it a great value.

Couple things to consider:

The PS3 does not have analog audio out. So to get the latest greatest audio, you have to use HDMI AND a receiver that can handle that. Tho I haven't, many who make the jump to a PS3 also upgrade their receiver.

Be sure and check for the latest firmware upgrades. I got mine the first month it was out. It was so flaky those first weeks, I almost returned it. But each FW as really improved and stabilized the unit. I have mine on our home network wifi. Sometimes it can take a bit for the FW to go through.

If you want it mainly for a BD player, pick up the DVD remote. The PS3 uses blue tooth instead of IR, so your universal will not work (which is a total suck in my mind). There are some workarounds, but it is still sort of a pain.

Spiderbite

Go to your local Best Buy and try to find the LG BH200 for $399 ($360 if you find a 10% coupon), especially if you aren't that interested in games. The standard dvd upconversion is better, it plays BD perfectly and it also plays HD-DVDs which are now easy to find super cheap and used. Best of all worlds for a movie fan.

I just bought one after much research and I am extremely happy. Or you can just buy my PS3 which was replaced by the LG BH200.

Sdallnct

Interesting. Especially for the price. How does it do FW upgrades?

Spiky

Just to sum up:

PS3 is not going to change its price anytime soon. If you want one, just buy it. Costco has had them recently, at least here. They aren't cheaper, but they do bundles that will save probably $30-50. Of note: if you are an employee of an electronics store and can get dealer prices on equipment, the PS3 is STILL $399. Welcome to video games.

BD players will probably see some price drops as the 2008 holiday season arrives. But right now the only thing you will really see is closeouts (if you can still find them) on the Sony 300 or Panny BD30 models (check onecall.com right now), as both of these have been replaced in the last 2 months. Or other older models.


Also:
I haven't, but I'm not a good source since I'm not really following pricing right now. And to update: the 300s were gone from the Costco I was at today, 350 was $379, only $20 off MSRP.

JoeR63

In a sense, the PS3 did recently drop in price by $100, or perhaps it's more accurate to say that you get more hard drive for your money now. The PS3 is still $399, but it's an 80 GB PS3, whereas before the 40GB was selling for $399 and the 80 GB was selling for $499.

SUPERMANROB

Well just as a FYI.......I was in a Fry's Electronics today and they had the 350 for $329, so at least the prices are dropping on stand alone's . If I could apply the $100 off on Sony's CC deal on the 350 for that price(or if they do drop it to $299) I would finally go BD.