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PS3's HDD Upgrade Bigger than X360's

- By - Source : Tom's Guide US

Japan is getting two Sony-certified external drives for the PlayStation 3. Where's ours?

Buffalo Japan announced on Tuesday that it received the official Sony green light to manufacture two external hard drives for the PlayStation 3 console. This will be the first time Sony has granted a license to hard drive peripherals according to Andriasang. Unfortunately, the drives will be released in Japan next month, however this should open doors for Sony-certified external drives in North America.

The external HDDs will connect to the PlayStation 3 via a USB 2.0 port. The Piano Black HD-AV500U2/SC sits horizontally and features a meter on the front that displays the remaining space. The Black HD-CL500U2/SC stands vertically, and does not sport the storage space indicator. Both drives are pre-formatted in FAT32, allowing gamers to instantly plug in and back up the console's internal HDD.

Buffalo said that drives will be compatible with the upcoming PlayStation 3 DVR called "Torne." PlayStation 3 owners will be able to record and store their TV shows directly onto the external HDDs. Buffalo also added that the actual Torne device can support up to eight external HDDs, however only four HDDs can be connected simultaneously.

While PlayStation 3 owners can connect any external HDD to the PlayStation 3, Sony's magical touch on these two brands may indicate that the company may begin to limit 3rd party peripherals. There's also no indication that Sony has added any bonus features to the certified HDDs such as a free movie or a bonus game. We're betting we'll see Sony-certified external drives—and even a NA version of the Torne—sometime during E3 2010.

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cagonzal 02/02/2010 5:46 PM
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What's the point of adding an external when you can just replace the hard drive?

nevertell 02/02/2010 5:49 PM
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climber 02/02/2010 5:53 PM
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cagonzal :
What's the point of adding an external when you can just replace the hard drive?



Because right now you can't buy a 2TB hard drive that's 2.5" notebook format. I already have 1 TB drives connected to my PS3 to store backups of the PS3 as well as downloaded video content and screen grabs of games, pictures, all kinds of content I don't want cluttering up the main HD.

donaldduck 02/02/2010 5:56 PM
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nevertell :
Why aren't they using ext3 or even ext4 ? Heck of a lot better filesystems than the god damn fat32, not to mention the ntfs pathetic excuse for a filesystem.


Probably because the PS3 does not support the ext fs.
While I agree that fat32 is quite outdated and unsafe and that it is about time that a new "universal" fs is implemented, ntfs is actually a quite good filesystem. Not perfect, but not bad at all.

kyzar 02/02/2010 6:03 PM
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Even as a heavy linux user, have to admit that NTFS isn't too bad at all, though ext3 (and certinaly ext4) are slightly better for the heavy lifting of servers.

I didn't know there were plans to provide DVR on the PS3 - that would be real handy after I ditch Sky+ (everything I pay to watch is available on freeview...) once my year is up. Have to look into that, especially if it could record to my existing media server (Linux Debian running Mediatomb upnp media service).

hakesterman 02/02/2010 6:06 PM
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There is nothing wrong with Fat32 filing system specially for use of Video. Not only is it safe, but it's
probably the easiest to work with, I am excited to use the new DVR feature that is comming.

captaincharisma 02/02/2010 6:07 PM
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Honis 02/02/2010 6:21 PM
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The PS3 has always supported larger hard drive upgrades than the 360 under warranty...

Sony probably saw an opportunity to take advantage of a situation with its DVR release soon. I hope these hard drives don't make it to the states so I don't have to hear "But that hard drive isn't licensed by Sony for the PS3. You need this [$X more expensive] official hard drive" next time I go to Best Buy.

Gin Fushicho 02/02/2010 6:23 PM
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So can I actually back up my games and save files now? Because there are a few games that make that difficult as hell especially the newer ones.

JohnnyLucky 02/02/2010 6:25 PM
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Funny title for the article. Mine is bigger than yours!

megamanx00 02/02/2010 6:51 PM
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^+1 for JohnnyLucky

Really though, it seems like they want the PS3 to double as a clunky DVR/media PC. Too bad the new version can no longer support an OS like Linux. An interesting bonus for PS3 owners I guess, but I can't imagine it will be too big of a selling point.

bourgeoisdude 02/02/2010 6:59 PM
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Fat32's big issue: no files larger than 4GB.

Not a huge deal for a game console (yet), but for PC's it's a problem (Outlook .pst files and DVD .iso files often grow larger than 4GB).

captaincharisma 02/02/2010 7:06 PM
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bourgeoisdude :
Fat32's big issue: no files larger than 4GB.Not a huge deal for a game console (yet), but for PC's it's a problem (Outlook .pst files and DVD .iso files often grow larger than 4GB).



and that issue is what makes me curious of how they are going to make the drive work with the PVR. if you have that 4GB limit then you would not be able to record past 4 hours unless they are going to use some special compression

mikepaul 02/02/2010 7:07 PM
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Boy, I wish Microsoft would allow even some network backup software to be used on the 360, let alone external storage. Right now, your game save die when your HD dies. Sony seems rather cavalier in the area of possible piracy, while Microsoft does what it can so nobody does anything evil, not even altering game saves to get free Achievements. I find their valor quite annoying...

dark_lord69 02/02/2010 7:32 PM
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I already have mine connected to an external 170GB HDD. That should do... if not I can always get a bigger one and put it in my external HDD enclosure OR install a bigger one (I have the original 60gb built in)

FSXFan 02/02/2010 7:34 PM
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hakesterman :
There is nothing wrong with Fat32 filing system specially for use of Video.


Except that you can't store files larger than 4GB. A lot of my HD movies are larger than 4GB. It isn't too big of a deal to me since I store my stuff on a PC and stream it to the PS3, but my Dad uses an external HDD with his so he's limited to 4GB.

If Sony can keep the licensed drive at a competitive cost compared to other external drives (unlike xbox) then great, it might help them to make some money finally. Otherwise, with so many other cheap options for additional storage, it seems like a waste of time to license a HDD in the first place.

festerovic 02/02/2010 7:35 PM
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@captaincharisma- re 4GB limit
The files are seamless when played back. Even DVDs have their files broken into 1 Gb chunks, and they don't falter when played back.

I agree with others that the 4gb max file size is lame and annoying when you use the PS3 for media. Isn't FAT32 faster than other file systems? And isn't it free?

BTW can't wait for the PVR thingy, too bad it has a stupid name.

badaxe2 02/02/2010 11:28 PM
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cagonzal :
What's the point of adding an external when you can just replace the hard drive?



Backing up the internal.

grieve 02/03/2010 12:43 PM
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bourgeoisdude :
Fat32's big issue: no files larger than 4GB.Not a huge deal for a game console (yet), but for PC's it's a problem (Outlook .pst files and DVD .iso files often grow larger than 4GB).


If you have PST files larger then 1.5-2 gig you are in trouble as they become corrupt around 2gig. Believe me i have seen it happen at least ten times. I tell all our users 1.5gig tops...create a new one.

gtown 02/03/2010 1:05 AM
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Im pretty sure that "Torne" doesn't let you back up to an external device (I heard that the files were supposed to be locked to your PS3) so if this article is correct then perhaps the bonus feature of these Sony hard drives is that you can back up locked content on them?

micky_lund 02/03/2010 1:27 AM
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just get an uncertified hdd...works the same

alextheblue 02/03/2010 2:48 AM
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mikepaul :
Boy, I wish Microsoft would allow even some network backup software to be used on the 360, let alone external storage. Right now, your game save die when your HD dies. Sony seems rather cavalier in the area of possible piracy, while Microsoft does what it can so nobody does anything evil, not even altering game saves to get free Achievements. I find their valor quite annoying...

A memory card would be plenty for saved games. Anything else (videos, DLC, full downloaded games) you can re-download as many times as you need to, from XBL. Although to be fair, the HDDs they use have a pretty good track record.

matt87_50 02/03/2010 3:23 AM
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God, I hope not, I like my third party peripherals, GOD DAMN IT MICROSOFT!!! the ONE time sony go and let you use 3rd party stuff instead of proprietary stuff, you go and show them its ok to use proprietary stuff by charging a fortune for all your crappy xbox addons!!!

vfighter 02/03/2010 6:43 AM
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grieve :
If you have PST files larger then 1.5-2 gig you are in trouble as they become corrupt around 2gig. Believe me i have seen it happen at least ten times. I tell all our users 1.5gig tops...create a new one.


Since Outlook 2003 the limit on a PST is 20GB. However I have had a user be well under that and his PST became corrupt anyway, but theoretically a 20GB PST is now possible.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/830336

tomtompiper 02/03/2010 9:38 AM
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"FAT32 faster than other file systems? And isn't it free?"

Def not free it is an MicroSoft system just ask TomTom the Sat Nav people they got sued for unlicensed use.

jenesuispasbavard 02/03/2010 10:20 AM
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Hmm, recording HDTV over USB 2.0? No thanks.

KC8DKT 02/03/2010 6:07 PM
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jenesuispasbavard :
Hmm, recording HDTV over USB 2.0? No thanks.



I was thinking the same thing. Even if you record to the internal drive then store in on the ext. drive it would not play >720 video would it?

CptTripps 02/04/2010 7:32 PM
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jenesuispasbavard :
Hmm, recording HDTV over USB 2.0? No thanks.



??? I watch HD movies streamed over a cable modem (compressed of course) so I am assuming the 480Mbps of USB2.0 should handle things just fine. What is true 1080p at? 24Mbps?