After months and months of endls PS3 fanboy rumours, Sony has finally slashed the price of the PlayStation 3 and in almost true Steve Jobs fashion, announced just one more thing – They’re launching a slimline 120Gb PS3 that’ll hit our shelves next month for NZ$629.95 BOOM!

Like the original, you can get the slim in any colour you want as long its black. Where the original was shiny yet able to attract finger prints with uncanny ease, the new PS3 is a slightly less sexy yet significantly sensible matte Black. The internal hard drive has been given a boost-up and is now 120Gb compared to the earlier PS3 Fatboys 80Gb.

One minor downside of the Slim is PS2 compatibility, however buying a PS3 to play PS2 games is a bit like swatting a fly using a thermo nuclear warhead. If you’re the lucky owner of a Bravia flat screen TV however the good news is that the Slim also supports Bravia Sync which means you can use one remote to power both units on and off and automatically select the appropriate HDMI input.

Looks-wise, the Slim feels slightly more square shaped and has definitely spent time at the gym to burn off those extra calories, measures in at a skinny 290 x 65 x 290 compared to the original PS3 fattie’s 323.8 x 98 x 274.3. Call it bulimia, anorexia or what have you but the Slim has also shed a few kilos, weighing in at  3.1kg, which is a sizeable decrease compared to the original PS3 which was a shade under 5kg. Another pleasant surprise for those of us being robbed blind by power companies is that power consumption has also been decreased, slipping from 280w down to a slightly more economical 250w

According to gadget bloggers who’ve been lucky enough to get their mits on a slim PS3, it’s also slightly quieter too and manages to pootle along at a realtively ear friendly 53 to 56db when in use compared to the 55 to 57 db of the original PS3 Fatboy. Blu-ray movie playback is a little louder at approx 60db (the original was recorded wirring arway 70db).

Another interresting difference is that the Slim’s front buttons now physically click to function, providing real tactile feedback of use. The PS3 logo wont rotate for vertical use but its hard drive is able to be swapped out for a more capacious model to let you take advantage of the PS3′s cracking good media playback.