Buying a new PS3 - Which ones are the best in terms of CFW

If you get a new Slim PS3, chances are it will have OFW 3.56 or above. If you get a Fat PS3, firstly it won't be new, secondly it will most likely have a FW lower than 3.55. That is if the previous owner doesn't just connect it online purely for the purpose of making it up-to-date.

In terms of how a PS3 "utilizes" CFW, there's absolutely no difference between the Fat and Slim models. The hardware didn't change much - they just took out the emotion chip, reduced the NAND size, gave the CPU/GPU a die shrink (uses less power, produces less heat) and stuck a bigger HDD in. Oh, and the Slim PS3 doesn't have the memory card reader at the front. Either way, the software for both has always been the same.

The size of the HDD is not a great indication of the FW it has - the manufacture date is what's important. PS3s with 3.56 have been seen for a while now, so I would imagine that by now all the old stock would have been sold and they'll only have the new stock (with 3.56 or even 3.60) to sell.

 

I bought one off Amazon a month ago and it still had 3.40 so you should be good buying a new one-anyways I dont think they put 3.56 or 3.60 on any new ones

 

Ok, then an addendum to my post: new PS3s in retail stores (like GameStation and PCWorld) will most likely have 3.56 or above. I can't speak for online stores because they're almost universally just warehouses with marketplace accounts. The point is that reports of PS3s with 3.56 started turning up a while ago and, by now, all older stock should have been sold on.

Basically if you're buying new, the odds are you'll end up with a PS3 with 3.56 or above.

 

I bought a 320gb PS3 / Move bundle today and it has 3.50 fw on it. Bought it at local Walmart.

 

i bought a 320GB/little big planet version about 2 months ago & it had 3.41 on it (uk)

 

If there are any bundles you can find, that might be a good bet.

For example, I know the Killzone 3 bundle has 3.55, I believe.

 

3.55 or lower is most common on ps3 sold in stores. buy it at a store thats got a return policy, if its got 3.56 or higher return it, say it was a gift and the person already got one and you didn't know about it.

 

I've been wondering... Is there any way to tell the firmware-version or manufacturing date from the outside of the console/box, such as a serial-number?

 

there's the CECH-version number on the box.

You can check the corresponding version on wiki :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3_hardware

But it doesn't reflect the installed firmware version.
The best you can do is buy a pack known to be manufactured before the new firmware release (Like PSMove 320GB pack, with 3.40).