You can now buy a PS5 Slim in the US and Canada, if you're lucky

Sony's PS5 Slim is starting to become available in the US. A standard model that comes with a copy of Marvel's Spider-Man 2 at no extra cost has hit Dell and Walmart, but the $500 bundle is going in and out of stock. It seems likely that the PS5 Slim (which isn't actually the official name for the latest models) will surely become available at other retailers soon.

Listings for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III bundles have appeared at Walmart too, though those cost $609 and come with your choice of accessory. Sony initially suggested that the PS5 Slim would only be available in the US at the outset, but standard models that come with Modern Warfare III as a freebie have popped up in Canada for $650 CAD.

When Sony revealed the leaner PlayStation 5 models last month, it indicated they would be available some time in November. However, the company didn't say exactly when they'd hit its own storefront (where the systems are not yet available at the time of writing) and third-party retail shelves.

The latest PS5 units have 30 percent less volume than the original chonksters. Depending on which model you go with, it'll be 18 percent or 24 percent lighter than its predecessor too. While the latest versions have a similar curved look as the original PS5 units, there's one key way to tell them apart at first glance. The new systems have a black band that separates the cover panels on the top and bottom.

At $450, the new PS5 digital edition is $50 more expensive than the previous version. If you pick up the latest model and decide later that you want to use physical game discs or watch DVDs or Blu-rays on your PS5, you'll be able to connect an $80 disc drive that seems to easily clip onto the console. Sony says that when the original PS5 consoles are sold out, they'll be discontinued. So if you want a less expensive digital edition, you may not have a ton of time left to snag it.

If want to position the PS5 Slim in a vertical orientation you'll need to buy a $30 stand. Otherwise, you'll be stuck with inelegant-looking plastic clips that stabilize the console in its horizontal alignment.