Cheapest/Best time to buy a system?

J

JLi313

CAG Veteran
I'm contemplating between a PS3 or 360 this year (possibly next year).

I've always been a huge Sony fan, and don't like Microsoft, but I have no problem with buying their stuff :p.

But in general, when is the best time to buy a system? I mean I know Black Friday is probably one of the cheapest days, but maybe companies know that the holiday rush is coming, and don't drop their prices. Perhaps the best time is a few months after christmas when companies decide to try and sell more??

Anyone?

BTW What features DOES the 40 and 80 GB have compared to the 60????
 
Overall, you're probably best off after the initial price drop. Hardware glitches have been corrected, a good selection of games have had price drops, and you'll have a good look at what the system can provide. You won't be left behind on the multiplayer portions of the game, that may be important to you. I wouldn't really consider Black Friday, you're more likely to get a deal on games, or older systems (Last year had more than a few GBA SP sales.)

Xbox 360 has been good to me, it's my favorite system since the SNES. That's my recommendation.

Because you're a prior PS owner, the only thing I'd consider with the PS3 is the non-backwards compatibility issue with the 40GB. If you plan on replacing your PS2, buy a 60GB as it's fully compatible.
 
I would say that a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving is a good time to buy -- I saw in Best Buy ad $399 for a 40GB Playstation 3. That's not a bad deal (I would go for it if I didn't have to pay on the Wii and other games for it) even though it'll only use PS3 games.

Also, September/late August is a good time as well -- also, they may or may not have clearanced games at the start of the new year.
 
Usually end of the year holidays offer the best deals for systems (thus why I'm waiting for more BF ads to be leaked), but it could just be at anytime..
 
I wouldn't concentrate on the price of the system, but more on the price of the games. The 360 is the only console that offers quality games at $19.99 MSRP right now. I expect the PS3 and Wii to follow suit around Feb of 2008 (maybe).

The most important thing is the games. If you HAVE to play a certain game, system cost shouldn't matter that much to you. They're low entry costs to building a library of good games that you, yourself can enjoy.
 
A venn diagram showing the differences in the various PS3 SKUs

http://blog.wired.com/games/2007/10/diagram-compari.html

I remember one wag on joystic suggesting that common segment for all the models should "no good games".

I would suggest that early Dec is time to shoot for....there may be some deals on Black friday but I don't seem to remember too many great ones on current systems (last year I seem to remember Best Buy had a nice PS2 bundle with a 2nd controller and a game for the normal price of the PS2), but I do remember more "buy a system and get a $60 free game/Free $50 gift card promotions on the 360 by Circuit City, Target and TRU in earlier part of the Dec last year (The PS3 didn't have any promos since it was still in the launch period and in short supply)....After the 10th or 15th, the promos drop off for the most part since the people are just going to buy stuff regardless of promotional efforts.
 
Right now is the best time to buy with the recent price drop and bundle. If wait it is not going to get much better till April or May next year
 
[quote name='guyinga']I would say that a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving is a good time to buy -- I saw in Best Buy ad $399 for a 40GB Playstation 3. That's not a bad deal.[/QUOTE]

Except that $399 is the regular price for the 40GB, unless it's bundled with free games it's not a deal.

[quote name='K_G']I would suggest that early Dec is time to shoot for....there may be some deals on Black friday but I don't seem to remember too many great ones on current systems (last year I seem to remember Best Buy had a nice PS2 bundle with a 2nd controller and a game for the normal price of the PS2), but I do remember more "buy a system and get a $60 free game/Free $50 gift card promotions on the 360 by Circuit City, Target and TRU in earlier part of the Dec last year.[/QUOTE]

He's got the right idea, I wasn't even considering the free games/gift cards that were abundant last year.
 
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