O knowers of PS3!

[Mirage]

It's real person easy, and it doesn't even void your warranty. Sony even has their own guide for it.

[Depression Moon]

Get a 60gb if you can considering if you don't have a working PS2 and get whatever is the standard now for the slim ones. I didn't know they sold a 500gb PS3?

[Silent Warrior]

Depression Moon: Well, I think that one came from that modding-site, selling consoles with 3rd party firmware. (psxcare.com) They even offer consoles with 1 Tb drives. *Shrug* 320 Gb-versions are definitely the ubiquitous kind.

VeloZero: Ah, right, I apparently forgot to mention that. Yes, I want to play PS2-games on it, though that isn't crucial as long as my PS2 is in working condition. It is a sales-point, all the same. I'll have to keep my eyes open, though I'll probably have to rely on the second-hand market for it. No, I'm not going to store anything on it. Maybe demos, definitely game-saves and the odd firmware update or whatever, but no movies, music, or other kinds of downloads.

Mirage: I somehow think our use-cases aren't aligned, mkay, and that you have a few more games than I expect to get in the console's lifetime.
But I'll just add that I have a fat PS2 with a HD-bay - took a frightful TWO screws, and making the IDE-connection, but I managed to stick a... was it 60 or 80 Gb drive in it? No matter, the laser doesn't take kindly to Xenosaga 2 (DVD9, NTSC-U), so it pretty much gets the finger.
(This, incidentally, led me to get a chipped slim PS2 from the site mentioned above - no problem since, PAL or NTSC, as long as I use an RGB-cable instead of the standard blargh.)

[Slothy]

If you must have a ps3 the fat older models are actually better than the slim new ones. They look nicer, take less space, have 2 more usb ports

On what planet does a fat PS3 take up less space than the slim? And only fat models up to the ones that had software based backwards compatibility for PS2 had four USB ports. Fat models after that point had two. Though I'm not sure why it really matters. I had a 60GB launch model until it kicked the bucket back when FF13 came out and I never used all four ports. In fact, it was rare to use more than one (or all of the card readers built in to it too for that matter). In fact, the only game I can think of where using more than two would be required is Rock Band, and a USB HUB would have you covered.

Now since the OP said they would like to be able to play PS2 games, the only model of PS3 you'll want for that is the launch 60GB model with hardware compatibility. Everything after that was software based. Keep in mind though that every version of the console has software based PSX game emulation and I've never run into a problem with it. So if your PS2 still works or you can't find a launch model at a decent price, you can easily go with a current Slim model and even still be able to play PSX games. And no worries about the hard drive space if you won't be storing many games, music, etc. I have plenty of games downloaded and installed and I have only used about half of the 120GB in my slim PS3. And you can always delete the installed files for games you aren't really playing if you need space.

[Mirage]

Also, if you want the version with PS2 compatibility, the second hand market is the *only* option, as they haven't been sold in retail for years. Expect to pay quite a bit for one.

[NeoCracker]

1) You want to play PS1/PS2 games on it.

All Model can actually play PS1 games, so that's not an issue,just the PS2 games. :P

[kotora]

yeah except ff9 doesn't go past the playstation logo on mine

[Silent Warrior]

Hm... Well, I seem to have my answer - though it doesn't make matters much less confusing. Alright, 60 Gb for PS2-compatibility, otherwise I should just pick whatever.
Considering I may want to play some US PS2-games (Xenosaga), maybe that compatibility could be more trouble than it's worth, but I should have enough information to base a decision on when the time comes.

(Also, I can find second-hand fat 60 Gb-models for a little under retail-price of slim 160 Gb ones, many with a handful of games I wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole. And now I see an auction with a starting price of 1 SEK (1/7th to 1/8th of a USD) for FF13... Oh maaan....)

[Mirage]

Don't forget: Second hand consoles could be past their warranty periods.

[kotora]

I'm pretty sure every 60 GB model is past its warranty by now

[Mirage]

Depends on date of original purchase

[Silent Warrior]

Sorry to near-necro this, but %#&¤$¥-loads happened all at once. See, I found a dirt-cheap auction for a used FF13 (original release, including postage for a price significantly lower than the Platinum-version), ending on Feb. 3rd, and now I'm about two hours away from winning a used CECHC04-model fat 60 Gb (with a potentially dodgy laser) for half the price of a new Slim 160 Gb. Phew! Madness!

[Bolivar]

yo, definitely be careful of players with faulty lasers.

[Mirage]

If he jailbroke his PS3, he could run the games from the HDD, and transfer them to the HDD via LAN . wouldn't want to use it online though

[Bolivar]

If he jailbroke his PS3, he could run the games from the HDD, and transfer them to the HDD via LAN . wouldn't want to use it online though

plus have fun downloading 48 gigs of Metal Gear Solid 4