Media Expansion Bar
Score: 95% Developer: Power A Device Type: Memory/Storage
Function: Power A's Media Expansion Bar is meant to give a much needed expanded functionality to the PS3 Slims. The Media Expansion Bar adds 2 more USB ports (really three, but since it plugs into a USB port, you will only have 4 total available), an SD slot, a Memory Stick Duo slot, and a Compact Flash slot. The Media Expansion Bar looks seamless from the front of the unit. It's very easy to plug in and get set up. For those of you who hate to read instructions, you should still be able to figure it out in a second. All the devices show up as a USB device with the specific type in parentheses/ () like so: USB Device (Compact Flash). This does make it quite easy to keep up with which card is which, just in case you wanted to make sure certain games were saved in certain places. You can also use the Media Expansion Bar to copy files from one card to another. The only drawback is that as far as I've found, you'll have to copy them to the system first and then choose which card to copy back to, since the PS3 doesn't give you an option for where to copy, when you copy from a device. But once again, that's a PS3 limitation as far as I can tell!
Performance: So far, other than the one minor issue I mention in the Drawbacks and Problems section, I haven't found anything that the device has any problems with. You can copy game saves to any type of media that you happen to have lying around. I tested all the slots and they worked just fine. I even made sure that a MicroSD card (in an adapter so it fits in the slot, of course) works just fine as well. It's quite nice to be able to pull the pics off of my phone straight to the PS3. I only wish that the PS3 had a file browser area so that I didn't have to go to the different specifics types of photo, video, or music, but that's not an issue with the bar. I also had to run two different system updates (it's been a while since I turned on the PS3), and they ran perfectly fine, so don't worry about the bar causing issues when you have to run your next update.
Features: Three USB ports (to Bring System to 4 Total Available) 1 Compact Flash Slot 1 SD Slot 1 Sony Memory Stick Duo Slot Seamless Appearance Easy Install
Drawbacks & Problems:: The only issue visually is that the memory cards can't really go very far in, so my Compact Flash Card is an eyesore in it. But it's not as if you're going to leave those cards plugged in all the time and they're not really that bad looking. If mine weren't lime green, it probably wouldn't be noticeable! I would recommend having your PS3 Slim somewhere that the cards won't accidently get hit though, as they are easy to knock out. The only other problem I had is that instead of just being able to drill down into the device on all but my MicroSD card, I had to press (Triangle) and then choose "Display All" to find my files on there. I found that they need to be in a folder called Music, Video, or Picture to display if you're using (X) to drill down. I believe that there are other folders that it will automatically recognize as well, but files just thrown into the root directory aren't. So basically, if you don't see your files then you just need to press (Triangle) and select "Display All" and you should see them there. Of course, this would be the same if you were looking for files with a USB key plugged into the PS3 without the bar, so it's not a malfunction of the bar, just something to help you in case you're having issues. Anything that I copied from the PS3 Slim to the device does show up correctly without having to tell it to "Display All," so if it bugs you, then you can just copy your files to the PS3 Slim and back to the device, as I tested to make sure that worked right.
-Cyn, GameVortex Communications AKA Sara Earl
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