First and foremost, the most startling thing about this new silver version (like, whats wrong with black??) is that it runs almost silently.
And when I say silent, I mean, if you change channel or turn off your tv and dont notice that the lights on the front of the console are still on, its easy to go to bed and leave the PS2 switched on.
The original black boxed PS2 was notoriously noisy, howling like a banshee, especially when compared to the Xbox and even the Dreamcast (R.I.P.).
Apparently the DVD drive - and a few other things, all of which are imperceptable to me - have been improved (see below).
Personally, I hate the colour but love the improved cooling mechanism.

Speaking as a seriously disgruntled owner of an original black PS2 which went beserk, wouldnt always boot up and chewed up game discs* I have to admit, albeit begrudgingly, that the newer silver model is bringing back memories of why I bought the damned thing in the first place.
Although the Xbox has stolen some of the market and is winning over a lot of the hearts and minds of people who wouldnt have bothered with the PS2s back catalogue previosly, the Sony console is still an awesome bit of kit, or, should I say, its still the best supported console on the market.
The box is only as good as the game you put in it and the PS2, whatever the colour (Japan has red, yellow, blue...) is still the best supported platform on the market.

On the downside is the fact that you still have to fork out an extra £20 for a memory card before you can even start using the thing.
It would surely make life easier for gamers if Sony were to bundle the consle with one memory card and raise the price by, say, £10-15? Oh well...
Oh, and another thing: everyone I know who has their PS2 stood vertically has problems with it. So, if space allows, lay it horizontally and save yourself a lot of hassle with skipping discs etc.

At the end of the day, all three consoles are great in their own right and should all be tested before buying if possible. People who stick to one and run down the other 2 are narrow minded and not willing to try new things. It depends on what you want out of a console and if your lucky enough to have all three, good on you, but if you only have one or two, dont run down the others just be thankful you are able to have a console to play on.

Happy Gaming

Nah only joking, the console is brilliant! It has a good range of games, I own a GameCube also and I think that they are pretty much the same apart from GC having Super Monkey Ball, Sonic Adventure DX/2, and the ability to play GBA games via the GB-player but enough about the GC... This is suppsoed to be about the PS2.

I bought mine a year ago, as this was the only time I could afford it. lol... and I think that it is a very good console. I remember the only reason why I bought my PlayStation was for Final Fantasy 7 & Gran Turismo.. knowing that GT3 A-Spec and FFX was Avail for the PS2 was a real big hoot (although i was a bit dissapointed with GT3)

The DVD Playback is excellent, and unlike the X-Box you dont NEED to buy the remote control to watch the movies... you can use the normal Joypad... But I do recommend that if you do use it as your primary DVD Player then to buy the Remote (only about £20)The console has good backwards compatibility (even with the original controllers/av leads etc...) and for all those people that say, once you get a PS2 you will never play your classics again, well I do, in fact I mainly have FFVII or some other great PS Classic like Rage Racer in my PS2 drive a lot of the time, the graet thing about the PS2 power when it comes to PS games.. is the fact that you can increase the drive reading speed from 2x upto 24x, loading times improved and even the texture mapping (Graphics and stuff) can be improved (the game will still act and look like a PS game, only the graphics wont appear to wobble as much). I love classic games (I still have my Mega Drive & Mega CD in full working order set up and ready to play at any min next to my PS2 & GC) The PS2 has great graphics and great sound. I love playing games on the console and it is probably one of my best buys.

If you want a console, and you want one with loads of games Just think the PS(one) & PS2 range of games put together that is more than the XBOX and GC put together for just one machine... I have still yet to find a PS game that does not work.

And one little note, pretty pointless as everyone knows.. the console is stable in either the horizontal or vertical positions without any additional support (going by that it on a flat surface) And another little point the little PS logo on the Drive tray, can be rotated to suit the position you have the console in - pointless but it the little detail.