28 January 2005 6:37 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Car manufacturers do it, homeowners do it, even people do it with the help of a plastic surgeon, so its no surprise that after five years the PlayStation 2 has gone through a revamping process.

While the specifications remain the same the redesigned unit has been heavily condensed in size. The overall size has been reduced by 75 per cent, the weight has been halved and the thickness trimmed down to 2.8cm (it was 7.8cm) making the model roughly the same size as a hardback book.

The notable difference is the removal of the power pack from within the device and this is obviously how Sony has managed such a reduction in size. Additionally the CD tray no longer slides out as in the “Fat” model and you are left with a pop up lid similar to portable CD players. But it's not all pared down. Also built-in to the unit is an Ethernet port allowing users to connect to the internet via broadband and play games online.

The performance is still the same, as is its support for two joysticks and two memory cards. The machine can still play DVDs, however it is now silent in its running something you can't say about Microsoft's Xbox.

Verdict

This is Sony feeling that the PS2 had got a little old and a little staid, and just as they did with the original Playstation, its decided to give the old girl a little more life before the big bad PS3 swoops in and steals the glory. If you've already got a PS2, you're not going to miss anything by owning this model, however for the newcomer who has still to be swayed by the power of Sony (its been 10 years in all) then this is £105 well spent if you want a console with plenty of games. Let's just hope Sony manages the supplies a little better than they did at Xmas.

Score

Review Recap

Made by

Sony

Price as reviewed

£105

The good

Size of a hardback book, network card built in

The bad

Power adapter is large, still just the same old PS2

Quick verdict

If you’ve got one already stick with it, however if, some 5 years late you’ve suddenly decided you want a PlayStation this model won’t take up too much room

Score

Winner

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