Official Sony external hard drives a possibility

by Nick Doerr { May 7th 2008 at 7:00PM }

David Reeves, boss of SCEE, has admitted that keeping only the 40GB PS3 on shelves is a worry in his mind in terms of consumer storage space. His mind has calculated a possibility for "official" Sony external hard drives. We find that a little odd because Reeves even reminds us that the PS3 has an easily replaceable hard drive already: "The PlayStation will stay the same, but consumers can choose whichever size of hard drive they want. They can now, of course, because it's not a proprietary hard drive." So why external hard drives? Maybe people are scared to crack open their PS3. Maybe they don't have anywhere to dump all the information before switching the new hard drive in.

Any external hard drive, as far as we can tell (using a 120GB Western Digital currently -- it's old) works already. Reeves said there's no rush for this idea, though. "We've played the games with the hardware, with different hard drives and things like that, and we want to keep it very, very simple. We know that works." What do you guys think? Would you grab an official external, get a third-party, or just slap a new laptop hard drive direct into the system? Those of you who've done the latter, how has it worked since?

Tags: david-reeves, scee

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Lars @ May 7th 2008 7:07PM

You're average consumer doesn't even know what type of HDD the PS3 uses, let alone how to change it. Something like this, or an official Sony high-capacity internal drive would sell pretty well I think.

Me, personally, I'm running a 250GB.

Lars @ May 7th 2008 7:07PM

Arg, spelling fail. You're = Your

AshStampede @ May 7th 2008 7:11PM

your average consumer could just read their ps3 manual and all that would be answered. The ps3 manual is really helpful on its features.

Lars @ May 7th 2008 7:44PM

But the average user won't. Nor will they read any EULA.

Matt @ May 7th 2008 7:09PM

I already threw a Western Digital internal drive in there. Upped my 40GB to 120GB. Works like a charm, and it wasn't difficult at all.

Granted I'm somewhat tech-savvy being a computer engineer, but seriously, I find it hard to believe anyone would have trouble. Although if they sold Sony brand INTERNAL drives, they could include a full manual for the replacement.

I think Sony is considering this because let's face it--now I have a 40GB hard drive doing nothing in a box. I'm going to wind up selling it online...meaning I have to be lucky to find someone on eBay who needs it, or something.

Anyway, point is it's a good call to offer the external to ADD to your storage rather than repoace it. But if you can't use it to install games, it's somewhat useless...

The Aggie CEO @ May 7th 2008 7:36PM

keep that HDD dude........

if U have to send your PS3 in they need the ORIGINAL HDD........

marcl84 @ May 25th 2008 11:41AM

Hey I was under the impression that 40gig PS3's could not be upgraded with bigger HDD. I found some blogs on the net saying people had tried upgrading their 40gig but the PS3 did not detect the new HDD (but the 60gig PS3 can be upgraded no problem).

But your 40gig PS3 upgraded fine?

Batzi @ May 7th 2008 7:11PM

I got a 160 GB WD(external) and works pretty good!

AshStampede @ May 7th 2008 7:13PM

My 20gb is down to 8gb and need to upgrade it, but i keep spending that money for a drive on new games. next month doesnt look good either. Metal gear solid and I was hoping to pick up GTAIV same time. here is to hoping they fit.

Dennis Rosecrans @ May 7th 2008 7:19PM

Currently I have a 160GB WD Scorpio Drive in mine, however its just not enough space, and the largest laptop drive I've seen that runs 7200rpm is only 250GB, I believe media intensive people need at least 500GB especially if HOME is going to allow customers to access other users media. While we can get an external high capacity drive, one of the biggest quarks is that you have to plug it into the wall for power. If Sony could develop a large external drive, power it by USB and slap an awesome logo on it, I would buy it. or if you could offer a high speed 15,000RPM drive and add a software update so that the PS3 could take advantage of the speed increase that would really be something.

The Aggie CEO @ May 7th 2008 7:41PM

there are larger out........

I have a 320GB and there are also 500GB ones out there.........

they arent cheap tho..........

Rory @ May 7th 2008 9:12PM

Do you also have a PC in the house that is plugged in? Why not just stream from that?

The Aggie CEO @ May 7th 2008 10:52PM

yea I stream Video from my Media Server.........

but as far as I know I cant stream game installs/data........would be nice if we could tho.........

papertiger201 @ May 7th 2008 7:28PM

Here's my question to people who have replaced their HDDs: Where did you transfer all your data to before swapping out your HDD? I've already got about 40 gigs of my 80gb (Well, 72gb really) used up (mostly game installs and updates) and I don't have an external media that would hold that much (I've got a couple 4gb USB sticks, but that's it).

Should I just pony up for an external HDD to transfer everything, or should I just transfer my game saves and do all the intalls/updates again? Any opinions would be welcome. Thanks!!

Shinogu @ May 7th 2008 7:38PM

In terms of download PSN games, I just redownloaded them later on. I backed up my saves to a USB drive and then dropped em in after the procedure was done.

Speaking on topic, anyone who's had their hand at replacing the internal hard drive by themselves knows about the problem regarding the screws holding the hard drive in the frame. An external drive wouldn't hurt to lighten the Sony support line on an issue that they're probably getting on that subject, but then there's the issue of the capacity for the EXTERNAL drives. And what would be in those external drives? I can see music, movies and photos there, but I dunno if installed game data would stream well through USB.

Popfrogs @ May 7th 2008 7:24PM

This is a good idea but it still doesn't solve some problems. The main problem I have is the crappy way the PS3 firmware supports external hard drives. It won't let you install games on them, it won't let you change file metadata (like sorting external mp3's into folders), it's like once your media is on there you can't do anything but play or delete it.

I hope they plan to fix this in the future. With all the 5GB installs games are doing, you should be given an option of installing the game data somewhere else. Worse comes to worst it'll just prompt you saying it can't start the game because the hard drive isn't plugged in or turned on.

Alex @ May 7th 2008 7:26PM

Upgraded my 60GB to a 250 WD laptop drive. used my external USB 250GB to back up my saves on the 60 GB and it works fine.

NOTE:: Externals only work when formatted FAT32. NTFS is a no go. but as long as you don't have any files over 4GB you are fine with FAT32. I only use the External drive to copy MP3s over from my PC and when my TVersity Server isn't working and want to watch Divx files.l

Shadowen @ May 7th 2008 7:29PM

I believe this is because opening the ps3's HD bay voids the warentee. :(

lorderk @ May 7th 2008 7:33PM

You sir are wrong.

The Aggie CEO @ May 7th 2008 7:35PM

no it doesnt......

Aaron @ May 7th 2008 7:35PM

No it doesnt lol Replacing the PS3s HD does not void the warranty.

Shadowen @ May 7th 2008 7:38PM

Thats good to know then. I swore my system had a sticker over it saying that before I sent it in for repairs before, its not there now though.

The Aggie CEO @ May 7th 2008 7:44PM

yea it does........but thats on the back of the system.......

the HDD bay is on the left.......free to open...........

The Aggie CEO @ May 7th 2008 7:34PM

I put a 320GB HDD in my PS3 like 3 months ago........

down to 140GB or so right now.......

everything INSTALLING to the HDD is starting to get REALLY old.......

hate it for those with the 20GB & 40GB........after playing around 50 or so games you are BOUND to have at LEAST 10 games that install on the HDD.......

as for buying a Sony external........

Nope......wont happen......

I just keep upping my internal until they reach 1.5TB 2.5"HDD for under $300........

IF I used the video download service I would store all the vids on my server and leave the room on the PS3 for Game related stuff........assuming they have an update that allows that.......which I am hoping they will in a year or so.........

Ninjakamster (PSN: Chin-Poh) @ May 7th 2008 10:05PM

Yeah, the large installs for several PS3 games has me disheartened (I just bought a PS3) and am thinking of "defecting" to 360. : (

Sucks that GTA4 needs a 3gb install on the PS3 for example but its plug and play on the 360.

: (

seamonkey420 @ May 7th 2008 7:45PM

i threw in a 160gb one initially but ran out of space very fast w/all of my dvds i converted to mp4.

then upgraded to the max internal ps3 size; 250GB! :)
now i have my top 50 movies in mp4 format, 400 music vids in avi/mpg, 12000 songs, 500 wallpapers and still a nice 80gbs free.

The_Punisher @ May 7th 2008 9:13PM

What 250 gb drive are you using?

Nate @ May 8th 2008 12:05AM

there's no 250GB max. The few articles stating that from late 2006 only say so because that was the largest laptop drive at the time. Many people have successfully put in 320 gig laptop drives, and higher size drives are certainly possible once they come out.

ajiezer @ May 7th 2008 7:47PM

I rather replace the current one, it's pretty easy

SuperGayParade @ May 7th 2008 7:47PM

I upgraded to a 320gb WD scorpio. I was an idiot while swapping though, didn't have an external drive to do it to, so lost all my data.

I could imagine the less savvy consumer buying a Sony external drive. And like someone else said, the screws on the drive and bay are RIDICULOUSLY over-tightened and soft.

papertiger201 @ May 7th 2008 8:23PM

This was the drive I was thinking of upgrading to (the 320gb WD Scorpio). How has it been for you so far? Any issues?

DrSmooth @ May 8th 2008 6:14PM

I also upgraded my factory-installed 60 GB to the WD 320 GB Scorpio, and I've been loving it. The swap was easy, and the new drive is extremely quiet. I bought it from Newegg.com, and if you read some of the reviews on that site, it looks like some users have noticed loud clicking coming from the Scorpio. On the other hand, lots of folks (including people who bought it for the PS3) have noticed no problems at all. I fall in the latter group.

SuperGayParade @ May 7th 2008 10:38PM

It's incredible. Compared to other 5400 hard drives, especially the stock PS3 ones, the WD Scorpio reads data faster and runs just as cool, check it out:

http://www.storagereview.com/php/benchmark/suite_v4.php?typeID=10&testbedID=4&osID=6&raidconfigID=1&numDrives=1&devID_0=356&devID_1=359&devID_2=332&devCnt=3

SuperGayParade @ May 7th 2008 10:43PM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136197&Tpk=scorpio%2b320gb

$140 with free 3-day shipping. It's a steal! :)

G1ng3r_K1d @ May 7th 2008 7:56PM

question: wouldnt sony be able to make a official hdd that would make the 40 gig unit backwards compatible?

i think im wrong but something is telling me that they could...

russell @ May 7th 2008 7:59PM

i think they could release a patch for the 40g so that it would have software emulation.

russell @ May 7th 2008 7:57PM

i'd use an external so i can move it between my computer and the ps3. a sony external? not necessarily. just whatever is the best value.

Jon @ May 7th 2008 8:37PM

I did it yesterday for no reason , it was SOOOOOO easy .. if you copy all settings to a usb drive , you wont lose ANYTHING ...

Barry32171 @ May 7th 2008 8:46PM

Hey, does the PS3 have to run a 7200rpm, or can it run a 5400, or does it matter? (I know it matters for run times, the question is about whether or not the PS3 has to have one over the other, or not.)

fatherb @ May 7th 2008 10:41PM

PS3 uses 5400 rpm natively not 7200 rpm. It can use both types with no relevant difference in run or load times. I stayed with the 5400 type as it is original specification with 320GB.

Flicky @ May 7th 2008 9:10PM

I'm running a 3.5" 500gb drive in an external PC case via SATA cable / Hard Drive Xtender with a second 3.5" 500gb drive in the PC case connected via USB.

I don't need no steekin' Sony external hard drive.... ;-)

Mythagoz @ May 7th 2008 9:34PM

Just don't get too greedy and upgrade the 500Gb to a 750Gb or a 1Tb drive, because support for these was BROKEN in 2.20.

Sony tech support (at least in Australia) simply don't want to know anything about you if you are using a "third-party" drive. They will however freely admit they could (they already have) change the maximum supported hard drive size without warning or explanation as part of a firmware update.

I used to have a real fan boy type attitude towards my PS3 with it's external 750Gb drive. Once Sony cut me off from it, I've seen the light. I don't care if the Sony says they allow the use of non-proprietary HDD hardware. The PS3 uses a proprietary, heavily-locked down file system with undocumented limitations and restrictions that can change with any non-reversible firmware update. Even fan boys like me would be crazy to store large amount of valuable files on such a system.

Reeves statement, "The PlayStation will stay the same, but consumers can choose whichever size of hard drive they want. They can now, or course, because it's not a proprietary hard drive.", is a blatant lie or spoken out of ignorance.

He needs to find the Sony firmware monkeys that changed the “#define MAX_HDD_SIZE 1000” code to “#define MAX_HDD_SIZE 500” and ask them how this change impacts upon his “vision of consumer storage choice”.

The_Punisher @ May 7th 2008 9:10PM

With 8 GB left on my 60 GB PS3, i think it's finally time for an upgrade. Can someone give me links to cheap/good (both) buy some intenral hard drives. I'm a serious gamer, so no lower than 160 GB. Looking for 250-500 GB, w/e works in the PS3 and isn't TOO expensive. Thanks.

The_Punisher @ May 7th 2008 9:10PM

I should mention i want 7200 RPM.

KlepDog @ May 7th 2008 9:40PM

I put a 320GB drive in mine ($199), and also have an "off-the-shelf" 500GB external drive... both third parties... both work without flaw. The backup and restore feature made the swap a snap (backed up to the external; swapped drives; restored to the new... and saw no difference except for the vast amount of storage). As long as things are formatted FAT/FAT32, they work! (usb sticks, memory cards, you name it!)

David Smallwood @ May 7th 2008 10:34PM

I already re-formatted a 200GB maxtor external drive to FAT32 to use with my ps3 and it works great.

fatherb @ May 7th 2008 11:04PM

To Mythagoz are you speaking of an 750GB external hard drive via extender or any external hard drive. I am currently using 750GB WD external hard drive and 320GB WD Scorpio internal hard drive and no problems as of yet. This maybe an Aussie issue as I am currently using 60GB North American model.

Mythagoz @ May 8th 2008 3:19AM

It's an external 750Gb connected via an eSATA cable and extender so that it replaces the PS3 internal SATA drive.

fatherb @ May 8th 2008 9:55PM

Thats what I thought. So you can get and use bigger USB external hard drives like me 750GB but the internals are capped. Is the internal capped at 500GB cause I use 320GB so I know its not capped at 250GB like someone earlier suggested? Also are external USB drives capped at anything?