Well, first of all, Hello to everyone!, Hope you are doing just fine! I've got a couple of doubts.
My research has yielded some conflicting information....so, before I ask, some context:

I still haven't purchased Skyrim, I've been involved in other games (Demon and Dark Souls, i'm not saying anything about those ,though I suspect you already know them well) but i really want to get into the Skyrim world.... So...

- Have the patches until now fixed the lag issue or merely postponed it's onset? I know that PS3 handles memory different than the Xbox (split vs joint)... Is it related to that?

- For those that experience lag, how many save files do you have and why (on average, not looking for an exact number)?

- Of course it's the hardcoe gamers that suffer the most.... but the average player....can he/she get an enjoyable experience?

- And an amateur question, for the patches to work, the game must be installed on the console?

If the lag is caused by the way PS3 handles memory and, if it's running out of resources when playing the game at high stages (dictated by the way the game is programmed I suppose), do any of you guys see a real solution to this issue? Or is PS3 stuck with lagging issues?

I'm reaaaally sorry for the redundancy, in no way am I trying to troll... .I honestly want to know and there is a LOT of info going around, often times conflicting and i'm really interested by the fact that some players suffer from lag issues and others don't (as stated by numerous people in the web)....

Maybe with less save files, who knows....

Thanks for the time guys!

the 1.4 patch fixed most of the lag for most people some people still get game breaking lag at 1.1-1.2 MB save files which is usually around 100+ hour save file but this is just what I have heard I have no experience with it. there are still a bunch of minor glitches tho I have had to restart 3 characters due to them (the quests were very important to my character)
but bethesda is currently ignoring ps3 users we haven't got the 1.6 patch and are waiting for it to come with 1.7 and we do not have dawnguard while pc and xbox does not to mention the future dlc will probably be unplayable because fallout 3 (bethesda's last game) the dlc was unplayable on ps3 and skyrim was still worse in lag and freezes before 1.4

edit: it's not just hardcoe players suffering bugs btw I have casual gamer friends who have sworn of Bethesda games because they are glitchy my hardcoe and casual friends alike have problems and hate Bethesda because of skyrim

btw buy the game used my gamestop had 10 used ps3 copies the first week

I'll just go down the list.

1. I don't experience any lag at all. Pre 1.4 patch, I did a little, but only after 8+ hours of continuous play. After 1.4, however I experienced absolutely none, and still haven't.

2. I have 8 different characters, most save files are at 1.3 MB's on average, with my main character I first made has 13 MB save file. The 13 MB file doesn't lag either.

3. I work 7 days a week, so I don't get to play all that much, but I still have over 200+ hours total. So you should probably be fine.

4. You just have to have the disc in the console to download the patches.

5. We the players for consoles cannot solve this problem. Bethesda could, and has solved it. If this was only a temporary solution or not remains to be seen.