Originally Posted by
Kyle
I think only North American and Japan NTSC 20/60 GB machines have hardware BC (PS2 chip and graphics still on board). All European and Australian PAL 60 GB models were released months after and the PS2 chip was removed (graphics chip still there though) so BC was done through software emulation. BC aside, the 60 GB models (NTSC and PAL) were the best ever because of built-in wifi, card reader and all 4 USB ports which the other models lack.
North America and Japan then got their 80GB models and these also have the PS2 chip removed and again BC was done by software. Later the whole world got the 40 GB models and all of these have even the PS2 graphic chip removed and without BC whatsoever. The 80 GB models in Australia right now are basically like the 40 GB models and without BC.