Page 1 of Should i get a PS3 from the U.S???

Hi, my sister is travelling to the U.S in a few weeks and i am tempted to get her to bring me back a PS3, only thing is i`m worried bout few things so asking you guys the pro`s/con`s of getting one from over there?? Thanking you in advance

Derek

well, you get one before most of your mates, but what are you desparate to play on it?

i.e. if you really really must have Resistance or any other Sony exclusives then that would be the only reason to get one from USA as far as I can see.

Most of the multi format titles at the moment seem to be better on XBox360 than ps3, which is suffering from poor frame rates .

another disadvantage is if it goes wrong you`re a bit stuffed.

getting games may be tricky since Sony have clamped down on imported of the console they may do the same on games. You used to be able to get USA and JPN PS1 and PS2 games easily in shops like CEX, not sure if this sis still the case.

I think most PS2 US games got release in Europe, maybe a slight delay, but got here eventually, so maybe if in future you can`t wait the extra few months for a game to come out here.

Also, it`s a large bulky thing, so will take up a lot of her suitcase, and if she didn`t declare it, but then got caught by customs, the duty would probably outweigh any savings made on the cost price.

don`t know how the internet stuff will work over here.

Also you`d need a step down power coberter for it, get them in Maplins.


In sure, IMHO, impatience is probably the only reason to get a US one, Iwouldn`t bother myself.

hope that helps, some-one else might have some more precise info to backup my wooly bits :)

Al

Cheers admars, that answered all my questions. I`ll guess i`ll wait until it comes out her, thanks again

Derek

Quote:
I`ll guess i`ll wait until it comes out her,And there`s us thinking it will be too big for a suitcase..... She gonna put it in a condom and swallow it? ;)

Ste

Very good, She`s not that good a sister.

If its any help, try looking at avforums ps3 section. Masses of people in there have imported PS3, including my good self. There`s a decent faq and lots of threads on imports etc.

Won`t bother with too much detail but i got mine via ebay and cost including ebay markup and customs was comparable to retail price is going to be in UK. I got mine end of November so was early enough to be early compared to March release. May not be worth bothering now. Though if you only have to pay true retail price, even if it you get caught for customs it should still be cheaper than retail in UK.

On a practical note, all games so far are region free - i have us ps3 and have played JP and US games on it. JP and US bluray are the same region so no probs there whether you get JP or US PS3, plus many blurays work on both US and UK region drives see http://bluray.lindsite.dk/

You do not need a stepdown convertor, A plain old kettle/monitor lead with a 3A fuse is fine. the internal PSU is multi-voltage. Various pics of the PS3 PSU circulate the internet to confirm multivoltage but also everyone on avforums is doing kettlelead including me.

Online is indeed free and so far for me works perfectly, playstation store also has various demos, bluray trailers and ps1 games to download to your psp via the ps3. Japanese/Hong Kongstore has a 1080p Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection game for approx £8-9

Only downside i can see to importing is lack of warranty. For me its not been a problem, but obviously there`s no guarantees. though generally the failure rate has been low compared to 360 launch (just general observation of internet forums/news).

I could write all day about it, but certainly the ps3 is getting more gametime than my wii, and i`ve not personally played on the 360 since i`ve had it (though my husband has played R6 a bit).

if you are from here can you access jp/hk stores?
or is it like global thingy
£8 1080p tekken sounds awesome!

cokie enjoy

You can set up an account with a US or JP/HK address, in the same way you could set up a US account for the 360.

Some people have been able to add funds to their "wallet" - the PS store uses real money that you add to a wallet from a credit card. - using a UK credit card. Other people haven`t been able to. I think this depends on the card issuer and how closely they check the address details. My card works on US and not HK so i haven`t been able to get tekken but have got gripshift.

There isn`t a global store as I guess as with the 360 certain items are supposed to be distributed in only one or a few regions due to advertising/ratings/exclusivity deals with magazines etc.

I have three accounts, a HK, a US and a UK account. The UK account can`t go online yet as the system says we don`t have PS3`s yet. but you can register your tag online (kotaku had a link at one time).