I think I can help with some of this. If you signed up today, you would get all the content from this month, and possibly some spill over from prior month(s). It's a little tough to explain but there is some stuff that will carry over from one month to another. The discounts tend to last multiple months, and every now and then it's the same deal with free content.

I think that answers your second question too, however anything free that you download will show up in your download list and will be accessible for as long as you have a PS+ subscription. If your subscription ever runs out, the items you get for free will still be in your download list, however they won't be playable until you re-activate the subscription. PS+ discounted items that you pay for will be yours forever, regardless of your subscription.

Personally, I'm really liking PS+. I tend to buy a lot of games, so this ends up saving me a lot of money in discounts and free games. I suggest, if you aren't sure about it, give it a try with the 3 month subscription, and see if you're getting your money's worth.

Edit: ahh, seems I was slow with my reply :P. Well in answer to your next question, yes, you keep avatars, themes, and similar smaller free content.

look at it this way...

xboxlive - lets u play online. there's other minor features but that's pretty much it for the most part.
$60 dollars for 12 + 1 months

ps plus - gives u free games. the discounted games (usually 30% - 50%) if u buy, are yours to keep forever. u also get qore. and sony sends u a download code for games every once in a while which u can than sell on ebay or keep it for urself.
$60 dollars for 12 + 3 months

so what do u think? is it worth it?

How long do the full game trials last? To me that is the best aspect of the service, i'm strongly considering it. You get 15 months for $50 right now.

BigCMan

"I remember Sony saying that certain things that you get from Plus you get to keep even when you stop subscribing. What types of things are these?"

You get to keep your PSone classics, Minis, themes, avatars.

Where do you see 15 months for $50? I see one year for $49.99 on the website. EDIT NM I see it now..great deal

Most games allow to playthrough the game up to an hour in, collecting trophies etc

If you purchase the game you get to keep the trophies that you already unlocked and continue.

MAG let's to play the whole game but only let's you level up to 8. After purchasing, your level get set to where it should be and you continue playing as usual

At least I believe that's how it works for MAG

Others can chime in

And anything purchased at discount is yours to keep as well, even if you end your psn+ service

^^thanks man.

So can you just purchase the disc version of the game, and use the same saves and everything? Or can you then only purchase the game through the PS store which 'unlocks' the full download you already did?

I don't really mind either way, but I still prefer a disc over having it on my HDD when given the choice...

yep.

Even if you get the retail disc after the trial, you can use your trial game save and it will work with the disc version.

Same with trophies. They will sync with your account after you use your retail disc version.