PlayStation 3 for $250, Same Price as Wii but Includes a Catch

[Starlight]

Pop quiz: Which is the cheapest current-gen home console? If you said the $250 Nintendo Wii, you'd be wrong - it's actually the $200 Xbox 360 Arcade, which eschews the hard drive, headset and premium cables of its Pro cousin to shed a full $100 off of the regular price.

But though the entry-level 80GB PlayStation 3 usually clocks in at nearly twice that last price - with "no plans" for a March price cut - a new Sony offer will put the PS3 in a very close third-place finish with its rivals. If you're willing and able to sign up for the new Sony PlayStation credit card, you can get a PS3 shipped to your door for exactly $284.

While I would not advocate credit even if the US financial market wasn't currently in death throes due to its mismanagement (I avoid credit cards as a matter of principle) for those who don't feel similarly bound this http://www.sonyrewards.com/en/gateway/?offerlink=sr150nowps3 to be a pretty good deal.

There's no annual fee, the standard APR is 11% variable, and there don't appear to be any unusually nasty penalties - aside from the standard 30% default rate should you fail to make a payment, or go over the credit limit.

As far as we can tell, the $150 isn't a credit that is applied to your card days or weeks after the purchase, either - Sony is touting this as an http://www.sonyrewards.com/en/offers/index/ps3shopnow that translates directly into a reduced price for the PS3.

The offer expires December 31st, but is obviously timed to take advantage of the Black Friday spirits. Do you plan to take Sony up on this offer? More PlayStation 3 News...

[BigBlarg]

In my opinion, the Xbox360 Arcade edition is way more a catch than this...

You could sign up for the credit card, but simply not use it, and after a while, cancel it.

[Kraken]

Something else to keep in mind:

Every time you get a new credit card, they do a "hard credit check". If you get more than one or two of these a year it will lower your credit score, so only get at most 1-2 credit cards a year.

Checking your own credit own credit doesn't count toward this, but if you got a bank loan, that probably would.

[Foolishness]

Its a pretty good deal if your in college or about to get out of college and have no credit. Get the card and put something on it that you can immediately pay for. Heck you could put the PS3 on the card and pay it off. Like something that you were going to pay cash for and already had the money saved up for. Buy it on the card and pay it off in the next three months or pay for it all the first month and keep the card for three months then cancel it. This will raise your credit score to a perfect if you didn't have any credit. I did this with a credit card when I got out of college because I wanted to buy a car but didn't have no credit because I never used a credit card and the bank told me to do this just to get my credit rolling on the best foot.

[tcd]

Sorry to all Americans, but in my opinion you shouldn't think even 1 ms about such an offer. This is exactly the way how you got into credit crisis! Better get to now spending your money properly on things you can actually afford!

Just my 2 cents...

[BlingOnMyWrist]

I just want a shiny piece of plastic that says PlayStation on it. Too bad I'm not eligible...