Right now, Walmart giving $100 card with 40GB! Imho, you guys will use it for BR/DVD/Games 40GB will do all fine! If u need to use it as multi media, bigger HD comes handy. I swapped my 60GB with 160GB for $70, it was piece of cake to do.

Going to India, using with Pal stuff, different region discs might be issue with both DVDS and BR. Sony Ps3 US /Canadian version is NTSC R1 only , does not do Pal though.

So keep every thing in mind before u buy and from where you buy.

Re rana! I think, 40GB does have software based compatibility for PS2 games. But while PS3 games are so much better, why to play PS2 games unless you have a lo of them already!

PS3 imho, when I touched it the firs day it came out, revealed to me that it was the most amazing system ever released and imho, is most forward/backward comptble.

Thanks for all the information. Movies like Saawariya say All Regions on the Blue Ray disc. So, will that still be a problem? Are BR movies easily available in India? I guess any BR Hollywood movies I would consider buying will have to come from the US.

yes!There are a lot of region free BR , I assume zeros stuff will be region free too!I did hear people selling BR rips burnt as avchd on DL discs(beware!). I assume these discs BR are available Singapore etc too!

But PS3 does not play Pal, unless you buy it from Europe. I do ot know re Japan, Far East, Middle East etc.

Please see if you could read this thread possibly?

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=650544

I live in India and currently own a US version 80GB PS3. I have in the past owned a US version 60GB PS3 also. How and why I ended up replacing the 60GB with the 80GB is a long story and not really relevant, but the point I am trying to make is that there are no issues with using either of the two, in India. Thus it should be safe to presume the same goes for the 40GB version also. All PS3 games, irrespective of region coding will work on all PS3s. Also, since most DVDs in India are NTSC and ALL region, playing them on a US region PS3 is not an issue. As for Blu-Ray movies, now those you will have to source from the US, since Blu-Ray discs officially sold here may not be region A or region ALL. Fortunately most older titles are released without region coding and also unlike in the case of DVD, Singapore is in Region A, the same as the US, for Blu-Ray discs. Thus, you should be able to play all titles from Singapore also. Except for a few official, Sony Blu-Ray titles being sold at Planet M etc., I have only seen Region A titles being sold here. These are ofcourse titles either imported from Singapore and/or the US. As for Indian Blu-Ray discs, I am sure they will all be released without any region coding.

PS: Although the US version of the PS3s, states on the back that they are only compatible with 110v, the fact is that the PS3s are all 110-220v compatible. I personally have my PS3 plugged in directly to the Indian standard 220v power and so far the PS3 has not blown up.

Thank you all very much for the fantastic information. As far as I can tell, my family is planning to play guitar hero III and some kind of car racing games on PS3. I wanted it for the blu-ray experience. 40 GB should be okay. How easy/difficult is it to upgrade or exchange it for a bigger sized one?

Upsize you PS3 Hard Drive: Click Here

Very easy to do .. my 60gb is now a 160gb one

You can attach a 1TB disk via the USB port. You are limited to FAT32 format, though.

I am non tech naive! I'll say piece of cake!and u can use ur removed 40gb with enclosure as external drive!Once u r there, let us know, will all help u out man! no worries, zulmies rock!

wow! like minds think alike! milla haath!

indeed, and u can not put more than 4gb chunk onto ur fat32, necessitating splicing all your dvds into under 4gb totte totte lol..I hate fat32

5 Shortcuts to Blu-ray Release
Doesn't it seem random, how some B-grade old flicks make it to Blu-ray first while classics wait in line? Here, five criteria studios use before giving a Blu the green light.
By Reed Tucker • Illustration by Adam Christie • June 2008



To the list of life's great mysteries — which already includes what's our purpose on earth, and how does Keanu Reeves keep getting work? — you can add one more: Just how in the name of 1080p do studios decide which titles to re-release on Blu-ray Disc?

The new releases are a no-brainer, but when it comes to the backcatalog, is there any rhyme or reason? Doesn't seem to be. After a two-year flirtation with HD DVD, Paramount recently came back to the Blu-ray fold and, with great fanfare, announced its first slate of titles, which included Bee Movie, The Spiderwick Chronicles, and . . . Face/Off?

One of the first titles Fox rolled out was The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Say what? Are these really the movies fans have been saving their allowances for? Sean Connery probably doesn't even want a copy of League, and he's in it.

That said, the studios do put a lot of research and effort into choosing Blu-ray titles. They'll eventually get around to releasing the bulk of their catalog, but for now, because the technology is relatively new and the transfer process so expensive, they have to be judicious with the release slate.

Here are the elements the studios are looking for:

1. Stuff blows up
Quite simply, the most important criterion for choosing a Blu-ray release is a film that will best exploit the benefits of a high-end home system. "You want sexy-looking stuff that is going to make your system scream," says Steve Feldstein, spokesperson for Fox Home Entertainment. That means a movie with striking visuals and cinematography, jaw-dropping special effects, and booming sound. More often than not, these are big action movies, like Face/Off or Twister — the latter, one of the first titles released on DVD that's now getting a Blu-ray release. These are also the movies that the early adopters of Blu-ray (who are generally male) enjoy. In short, Feldstein says that what all of the Blu-ray titles have in common is great imagery. "In the early days of the format, it's key. It certainly was with DVD and laserdisc," he says.

2. There's a sequel out now
With a new installment of a franchise currently in theaters, studios will often look to release previous films. That's why Fox put out the first Die Hard movies, as well as the original Alien vs. Predator.

3. The title has proven popular in the past
George Feltenstein, senior VP of marketing for Warner Bros., says, "Films that have had a prior sales success in other media demand our attention." If it was a big hit on DVD, it's more likely to get the Blu-ray treatment.

4. Fans have been clamoring for it
True, a write-in campaign by the three fans of Nail Gun Massacre probably won't get any results, but the studios say they do take customer feedback into consideration. "I've been hearing from [fans] for 20 years," Feldstein says. "The Internet makes it even more democratic. We absolutely listen to our customers. We're looking at a lot of different properties."

The staff at Warner Bros. gets asked constantly about when titles from their voluminous library of classics will get the Blu-ray treatment. Sit tight. Feltenstein says indispensable titles, such as Gone With the Wind, Casablanca and Ben-Hur, are on the way.

5. The master doesn't need much cleaning up
"If we have a good looking hi-def master available, that would get a title out sooner than another title that might need full restoration," Feldstein says. "So quality elements is definitely a determining factor." Restoration is obviously time-consuming and expensive, and it's easier for the studios to release films that don't require much.

Which is not to say they aren't paying to have films restored. John Lowry, founder of Lowry Digital Images, says his company is working on an ever-increasing number of "important" titles, in preparation for a Blu-ray release. The list includes a number from Fox and Paramount, though Lowry declined to name names. The good news is that Lowry is scanning from the original camera negatives, not a duplicate, which should make for the best image quality you can get. And isn't that why you plunked down hundreds of dollars for that Blu-ray player in the first place?

Godfather Trilogy Coming to Blu-ray on September 23rd

Paramount Home Entertainment has announced that they will bring a newly restored and remastered versions of the Francis Ford Coppola's classic 'The Godfather: The Coppola Restoration Blu-ray Collection' to Blu-ray on September 23rd, day-and-date with the DVD re-release. The first two Godfather films received frame-by-frame restoration by Blu-ray.com friend Rober A. Harris under direction of Coppola and cinematographer Gordon Willis, and new special features were developed by another Blu-ray.com friend, Kim Aubry.

The films will be available individually, or as a the four disc Blu-ray set. Video will be presented in 1080p and accompanied by English Dolby TrueHD soundtracks. The disc-by-disc breakdown is as follows:

Disc 1
* The Godfather feature film
* Commentary by director Francis Ford Coppola

Disc 2
* The Godfather, Part II feature film
* Commentary by director Francis Ford Coppola

Disc 3
* The Godfather, Part III feature film
* Commentary by director Francis Ford Coppola

Disc 4
* Godfather World (HD)
* The Masterpiece That Almost Wasn't (HD)
* ... when the shooting stopped (HD)
* Emulsional Rescue-Revealing The Godfather (HD)
* The Godfather on the Red Carpet (HD)
* Four Short Films on The Godfather
o The Godfather vs. The Godfather, Part II (HD)
o Cannoli (HD)
o Riffing on the Riffing (HD)
o Clemenza (HD)
* The Family Tree
* Crime Organization Chart
* Connie and Carlo's Wedding Album
* Behind the Scenes
o The Godfather Family: A Look Inside
o On Location
o Francis Coppola's Notebook
o The Music of the Godfather
o Coppola & Puzo on Screenwriting
o Gordon Willis on Cinematography
o Storyboards from The Godfather, Part II
o Storyboards from The Godfather, Part III
o The Godfather Behind the Scenes 1971
* The Filmmakers
o Francis Ford Coppola
o Mario Puzo
o Gordon Willis
o Dean Tavoularis
o Nino Rota
o Carmine Coppola
* Additional Scenes
* Acclaim & Response
* Trailers (HD)
* Photo Gallery
* Rogues' Gallery

PS3 FIRMWARE 2.4 UP, go 4 it!