The case for the PS3 laptop

So far, video game portables have been left to the domain of systems that act like they're at least a generation old, or people who have the knowledge to make their own. However, this generation, there is a small glint of promise. The PS3 holds the most potential for changing this, for three reasons. First, Sony has experience making laptop computers, and shoving hardware into very tiny packages. Microsoft and Nintendo cannot claim that. Second, the PS3 already has Linux distros working to support it, and is very easy to install a distro onto; the 360 and Wii do not have anything near a complete OS. Third, the PS3 could stand to sacrifice some of it's manufacturing due to a lack of interest, while the 360 still has huge problems with RROD and the Wii can't even keep up to basic demand.

The first thing to consider with such an idea is whether or not it's feasible. While it might seem like these sorts of projects are prohibitively expensive, that is when they are done by butchering one that already exists. On the manufacturing side, the additional material costs would be minimal-- Ben Heck says the cost of the screen for a laptop sized portable is around $250. Plus the additional electronics and batteries required, things such as a keyboard and pad mouse, it would likely come out to around $300 in additional parts. This is of course a very rough estimate, Sony would have much cheaper parts available to them if they buy in bulk. This also does not take into consideration the cost it would take to convert the manufacturing facilities of either their PS3s or laptops to making a new product. I cannot even pretend to have knowledge of that, however I believe that if Sony manufactured such a product, they'd have no problem selling them in the $750 to $800 range.

The trick then is to sell it as a combination of a PS3 and a laptop, which is where the ease of Linux installation comes in. Simply show off some running Ubuntu, or a similar distro, convince people that not only is the laptop a good price just for the computer, but they're also getting access to a great entertainment system along with it. This has the side benefit of people potentially not buying laptops that come with Windows Vista preinstalled, supporting Microsoft's gaming branches.

Sony also traditionally remakes their consoles in a smaller form factor-- and some company makes a snap on attachment for it that has a screen and battery built in. It's happened on PSOne, Slim PS2, it will happen on PS3 as well. So why not do them one better, Sony? While you're making it officially, you can also add software support to make it work even better, and hardware such as docks so that people don't have to worry about plugging and unplugging wires every time they hook their PS3 up to their TV.

So Sony, you could do it better than anyone else. You could capture a lot of people who might otherwise have bought a 360 for the same games. You might even draw in people that never considered buying a gaming console, but got it instead of a laptop. Even if it fails horribly, it will get people interested in buying the PS3 again. I, for one, would not consider buying a PS3 until it falls in price significantly enough that it's a small deal to pick one up; although I'd buy a PS3 laptop for hundreds more than the PS3 sells for now with little thought.