"Red tint of death"????? (a tale of 60GB problems....)

BigBizzee

BigBizzee

CAGiversary!
I'm not 100% sure as to why I'm making a thread about this...I suppose in some small way, I'm hoping a CAG has had this issue and was able to fix it him/herself. Not holding my breath.

Basically, I had a 60GB system I bought used about 1 1/2 yrs ago. After 6 months, the BD drive went bad. Sent it to Sony for $150 and had it repaired. The same system came back, and it worked great.

For a year.

Then, about 2 weeks ago, the machine would randomly freeze up leaving a beautiful smattering of colors on the screen. Sometimes green stripes, and other times red blotches. Other times it would be a rainbow of fruit flavors. This happened every single time I turned it on. It would stay on for roughly 2 minutes, then freeze. I basically could do nothing with the PS3 - I didn't even have time to back up the hard drive (note: BACK UP YOUR PS3 HARD DRIVE RIGHT NOW!!!!)

Another call to Sony, and another $180 (wait...wasn't it $150 before???! $30 for shipping????)...and I get it fixed again. Much to my surprise (and delight), they send me a BRAND NEW 60GB system (probably refurbished, but it looks amazingly new). I am ecstatic. A gem mint 60GB for me???? They shouldn't have.

Well, they shouldn't have indeed. With my shiny new 60GB system in hand, I promptly install the 320GB Western Digital drive I had, frivolously download and install roughly 60GB of PSN titles between my and a friend's account, and become fully prepared to enjoy my awesome new PS3. I pop in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (I just played through MGS: Twin Snakes on Gamecube last week)...and - the screen is fucking RED.

Oh, there's a picture. But it looks as though I went into my TV settings and turned the TINT completely to the red side. No green. No blue. What is going on here?

So, I test out PSN games. They work fine. I test out PS3 games. They work fine. I test out another PS2 game (this time Ico)...and it's RED.

Today, I give it one more shot. I try out the Heavy Rain demo that was part of the many downloads from earlier. I play about 5 minutes into the demo (again, PSN/PS3 games work fine....er....) - the whole system fucking shuts down and begins winking at me with it's red light!! FABULOUS!!!

Luckily, I was able to turn the machine back on. I quickly plugged in my USB portable hard drive. I'm backing up my PS3 hard drive as we speak.

I call Sony...and it looks like I'm going to have to ship it BACK AGAIN. Free this time of course due to the warranty they give after a repair. But I've had the thing for 5 DAYS.

So, there's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I still love my PS3 - but at this rate, I'd be better off with a 360. At least I wouldn't already be short $330 on top of the $400 I originally paid for my 60GB PS3.

Perhaps there can more than one "shit-box" in gaming.

 
Yeah my 60 gig's disc drive died literally 2 weeks after purchase. I wasn't highly impressed and I can't say I'm looking forward to the problems I'm sure are soon to come.
 
I'm guessing OP probably wants to keep his BC system. But it sounds like you got a bad system originally and the one Sony sent you was bad too. I agree with kube00 OP, I'd ditch the BC ones and just get a Slim and just keep a PS2 around. I've heard way too many people say that once their 20/60GB started showing problems, they never went away.

Sony offers some kind of an upgrade program for those with BC PS3s- I think you trade in your old PS3 and pay $120 for a Slim. Not entirely sure though...

We have 3 PS3s in our house and haven't had any problems with any of them. My brother's 60GB system has gone through hell (most play time and very dusty because he's too lazy to clean it) but it's never had a single issue. His 40GB (MGS4 Edition gunmetal version) has been problem free though it's the least used and my 80GB half-BC (MGS4 bundle one) system hasn't given me any serious problems yet... guess we're lucky.
 
haha good point luan :p

Indeed, I (like many others) am keeping the 60GB for BC. But it's interesting when I came back to this thread and saw the comments about ditching the 60GB and getting a slim! I was thinking that exact same thing today. Sony was in fact offering a refurbed Slim instead of fixing my 60GB. They wanted $120 instead of $150 (so - $30 less to lose my 60GB in place of a slim). I opted to have my 60GB fixed instead.

As it stands, my plan might just be to have the 60GB repaired again (since it's free under warranty right now) then when it comes back sell it without ever opening it. I could probably get enough to buy a slim AND a PS2.

Since I'm on the topic - I have two questions for you guys:

1. Have any of you compared the upconverting on the 60GB for Ps2 games to the regular PS2 system?

2. Are the slims way more reliable than other PS3's?

Thanks for the info/advice guys....
 
Personally, I have sent my 60GB PS3 in about 6 times after it's original YLOD. Each time was free except for the first one. I was very paranoid with it and any sign of malfunction, be it fans revving up, or crashes, I would send it right back in. I've kept my most recent one far past the warranty date so I can't do that anymore.

For your question,

Yes, the upconverting for PS2 games to HD is great. Add in smoothing and you get an amazing picture. When someone asks to compare the PS2 to the PS3 BC I always tell them to throw in Dragon Quest VIII and turn on upscaling to 1080p with smoothing. The game looks genuinely "Next-Gen".
 
You'd be way better off getting a slim. They are way more reliable. If you still want to play PS2 games, you could just get a PS2 for pretty cheap these days if you don't already have one. I know it might look like shit compared to the PS3's upscaling, but it's worth having a working PS3.
 
Yeah, I guess the big thing I'm worried about is playing PS2 games on my 40" HDTV. I keep seeing different opinions on whether the PS3 smoothing/upscaling helps PS2 titles. Some people say it's a big difference (in a positive way)...

...and then some people even say PS2 games look WORSE on the PS3 upscaled.

As you point out jmclark, having broken PS3's every six months isn't worth any type of picture quality increase.

I'll probably have this 60GB fixed and sell it as "new/refurbished". Hopefully will be able to get enough for a Slim PS3 and a used slim PS2.

:)
 
what i'd say, though it may seem as belittling, what the fuk are you wasting a blu ray player on PS2 games? I tell everyone to keep their ps2s as any electronic device has a certain "shelf life", and like "tits and wheels", it will eventually give you problems.

That being said, obviously you shouldn't have had to deal with that many returns and repairs, but I personally went through 5 360s before I sold my last one and went to a PS3 slim that (knock on wood) has been performing beautifully
 
And like the others before you...you raise a VERY good point. If I want my $300+ machine to last a while, I suppose I should play PS2 games on something else.

And with that, I have purchased a PS3 slim off Amazon ;)

Good advice!

Oh, and LMAO @ "tits and wheels"!!!!
 
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