well the horror stories i have heard consist of, ONLY the 80GB being able to play back(play ps2 and ps1 games), over heating, the hard drive taking a crap, my brother and I had a 40gb and it took a crap because it over heated and the hard drive didnt feel like working anymore. I run my dads videogame business so i know how to handle systems(so the bad ps3 was not my fault). I ALWAYS get people coming in and asking if we repair the PS3's, of course we say no, for the simple fact that the PS3's can only be repaired by buying a whole new unit because they are too delicate. Sony rushed to produce them so that they would have it realeased the same time the XBOX 360 was released(Microsoft did the same thing, which is why the first years model's had 85% of them returned because of the RROD)

Im sorry, but im not going to spend $500 on an 80gb system when there is no need for that much memory on a game system. I would definately buy another PS3 if the 20gb or the 40gb would be able to playback, but they are not capable of doing it.

XBOX 360 allows you to play over 80% of the ORIGINAL XBOX games on it, you dont need the ELITE just to play the older games. You can buy the arcade system and be able to play the original games. You cant do that with the PS3.