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The Sony PSX
| The PSX is Sony's new device designed to play PS2 and Playstation games, utilize broadband
and record both DVD's and television. The system is hoped to help Sony regain some of the loss they've made due to the recent
slump in game console sales. |
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Two versions were released on Saturday the 13th December in Japan, the PSX DESR-5000 with a 160GB hard
drive, and the PSX DESR-7000 with a larger 250GB hard drive. Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun reports that the PSX has
proved an instant success. The first batch of units has very nearly sold out already, with retailers claiming huge demand
for the machines, despite the machines specs being significantly lowered.
But Sony will no doubt be heartened by the huge demand for this new console, which effectively serves
as a stop-gap until the release around 2006 of their PS3 console. The PSX will launch in Europe and the USA in 2004.
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PSX 7000 Japanese Version |
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PSX 5000 Japanese Version |
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The PSX comes with a remote control, which is compatible with the PS2, and has a button for letting
you instantly stop games. The PSX will also let you record TV with the PS2 controller or the PSX controller, which unfortunately
is sold separately, as well as giving you video editing features. Many sources suggested the unit also came with USB 2.0 but
in actual fact it comes with USB 1.1
Sony suggests that the PSX controller may not be compatible with the Playstion One or Playstation 2,
but initial responses say it works fine, so controller incompatibility shouldn't be too much of an issue.
Recording is compatible with the DVD-R and DVD-RW formats. Initially, the system will not support recording
to the DVD+RW format, but future upgrades downloadable via the system's network adapter, should allow you to get this feature.
In order to release the PSX before the end of year Sony have dropped a number of features from the
console which were originally planned. Features that were originally announced but are not available on release include:
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> BB Navigator - The BB Navigator software is not included and incompatible with
the PSX. You can still access online games however using the included network adapter but cannot access games channels.
> DVD dubbing at 24X - This has now been changed to 12X for recording from HDD
to DVD. DVD+R/RW support is also not included in the initial release.
> MP3 Playback support - Sony currently uses ATRAC, similar to their Mini disc
format instead of MP3 format.
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Sony has promised that all of these features should be available in early 2004.
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