The 40GB PlayStation 3 was discontinued on August 22 2008. It was replaced by the 80GB model.

Read our review of the new PlayStation 3 80GB

Or read our review of the old 40GB version...

The PlayStation 3 had a very difficult childhood. When Sony finally gave birth to the finished console, it was extremely expensive and frankly, it wasn't a great product.

Sure, it was powerful, it was backwards compatible with PS2 games and it had a built-in Blu-ray player. But still, the price was totally unjustifiable for most people, and that was reflected in the embarrassingly weak sales figures.

Over a year later, and the PS3 is now a completely different animal. The 60GB version has been retired, and (in the UK, at least) we're left with a console with 40GB storage, less USB ports, no memory card slots at all and no backwards compatibility. But crucially, it's £150 cheaper than the original - with a game too, in many places.

And despite the bits of hardware that have been stripped off the 40GB version, it's still a far better console than the 60GB one was before it was sent to the scrap yard.

That's mostly down to the regular firmware upgrades that Sony has been issuing since then. Bugs have been fixed. Oodles of features have been added. And the PlayStation 3 is now a console which can genuinely be considered at the very least, an equal to the Xbox 360. In many ways, it's a lot better.

PlayStation 3 as a games console

As a games console, the 40GB PlayStation 3 is fantastic. Powered by IBM's magical Cell processor, it's arguably more powerful than the Xbox 360.

As a result, the potential regarding the future of gaming on the PS3 is enormous. The HD graphics are already looking superb, and that will only get better over time as game developers get better at grappling with the PS3 dev kit.

The mandatory 40GB hard drive inside the PS3 is a Godsend. That's because if a game can be installed on the HDD, it's not going to be held back by having to read from a slow Blu-ray drive.

It also means that games that are installed to the hard drive can be loaded quicker. Despite the enormity of GTA IV on the PS3, there are no loading screens beyond the initial start-up.

And the hard drive itself is a standard notebook one, which means if it ever failed or if you wanted to install one with a larger capacity, you could easily do it.

And that's one of the best things about the PS3 - it supports open standards and so is compatible with the same kind of hardware as your PC.

For a start, it's got built-in Bluetooth for the SIXAXIS controller. And that Bluetooth can be used with pretty much any Bluetooth device you can think of. It'll communicate with your phone. It'll sync with your Bluetooth headset, enabling you to chat with your friends when playing multiplayer games. It's compatible with Bluetooth mice and keyboards meaning you can type without having to use the controller.

The Xbox 360 doesn't have Bluetooth. Nor does it have built-in Wireless B/G networking, which the PS3 has.

So even though the 40GB PS3 is £40 more expensive than the Xbox 360 Elite, it's good value and the extra cash is justifiable.

The good things don't stop there, either. The PS3 has its own web browser so you can browse the internet in your living room. A task which is made even easier if you've got a Bluetooth keyboard.