PS3 Fat just bit the dust. Does it matter which new/refurb PS3 I buy to replace it?

After 6 years my MGS4, 80GB PS3 bit the dust *snif*. The fix it place said reflowing it wouldn't help.

Not ready for a PS4. I'm overwhelmed with the PS3 options at this point. The 12GB Superslim seems to be the standard current model but hard to find. The slims seem to be readily available but are usually packed with stuff I don't need.

I need a PS3. I'll take a refurb or new unit as long as it is reliable. All I really need is a console and the power cable. I have all the games and accessories I need. I'd swap out any drive with the 250BG I have in my old fat. Reliability and quiet-running are my primary requirements with price in the mix as well.

Any recommendations on what to go with or am I over thinking it?

Thanks

Dr. SP

I feel ya, my same model died last year, Memorial Day weekend.  Reflow failed for me.

You're over thinking it, just get a super slim (currently cheapest model) you can find.  You can sell off the extra stuff that you don't want/need to reduce your price a bit.

I bought new since we use this for gaming, Amazon, streaming movies from the NAS, etc but there are deals on AWD and Cowboom if you're patient.

I do miss the heck out of the 4 USB ports  since we play lots of Rock Band but a small USB hub took care of that.

Are your saves in the cloud?  Moving your HDD to the new unit won't bring anything over, FYI.

Best of luck!

TMG

Thanks for the advice. I'll miss those USB ports for sure . . .

theemadgamer said:

Are your saves in the cloud? Moving your HDD to the new unit won't bring anything over, FYI.

Click to expand...

What the what?!

What is that all bout? Is that only through PS+? I don't have that.

So what exactly *is* on my HDD?

I'm not sure I have many saves that I care all that much about. Would be a shame to lose my Rock Band 3 progress though.

D'oh!  If you don't have your saves in the cloud (PS+) or backed up using the back up utility to a USB drive, you will lose your saves.

It sucks but as part of their DRM, you can't just transfer a physical hard drive from one PS3 to another, the data only works on the original hardware.  That is why you can do a back up and restore to a new hard drive in the same PS3 but not to a new one.

I had a back up that was 8 months old so I lost 8 months of progress on games, Trophies aren't affected as they are stored on Sony's servers.  You'll also have to re-download everything, which is a PITA when  you have 1500 Rock Band songs.

If you insert your old HDD into a new PS3, you will only be offered to format it.  Yeah, it sucks.

Take a deep breath and start the rebuild. 

Best of luck.

TMG

*deep breath*

Damn. Ok. Thanks for the info, I appreciate it. I think my RB song list is at about 1,000. And some share accounts . . . going back some years on those . . . Such is life . . .

theemadgamer said:

D'oh! If you don't have your saves in the cloud (PS+) or backed up using the back up utility to a USB drive, you will lose your saves.

Click to expand...

Wait, so even if your HDD works, there's no way to extract your saves?

That ing sucks, especially since some asshat developers decide to lock saves so you can't even copy them to a flashcard/USB drive.

Vinny said:

Wait, so even if your HDD works, there's no way to extract your saves?

That ing sucks, especially since some asshat developers decide to lock saves so you can't even copy them to a flashcard/USB drive.

Click to expand...

Yeah, it sucks, but the only thing that can read a HDD from a PS3 is the PS3 that the HDD was formatted/installed on.

It really is unfortunate for the saves that can't be manually backed up, Plus is the only way to preserve those.

Just get a new super slim and sell the stuff you don't need (pack in game, controller, and HDD).  Should be the most reliable model.

Hey man,

Sorry to hear your PS3 went out.  I work at GameStop, so I can give you all the options you'll find there at the very least, and then I'll give my two cents on the recommendation side.

The used PS3s start at $179.99 for a used or refurbished 12gb super slim, and go up to $239.99 for a used or refurbished 500gb super slim.  Any of the other models fall in between that fairly small spectrum.  The old, fat models go for around $189-$199, the backwards compatability models go for $199.99 - $209.99 (off the top of my head), and the 250gb super slim goes for $219.99.

The really awesome thing is that we have a fairly good deal going on right now.  If you buy one of the older models, 160gb and under, you can pick whatever model you want (Backwards compatible, special edition, etc), you get an extra Dualshock, and you get to pick whatever 2 Pre-owned games in the store that you want (both of them have to be under $20).  So you basically get 2 controllers that you can trade back in right away (~$15 or so), and 2 games for the same price you'd usually pay for one of those consoles.  If you want one of the newer super slims, or any system 160gb and up, it's the same deal for $20 more at $229.99 (2 dualshocks, 2 games under $20, and the system).

You can get some online, or on craigslist/ebay, and you can probably get a better deal.  I think the bundles are a pretty good deal all things considered.  You can trade in the cords, controllers, etc. that you get with the system if you don't need them (you won't get much, but it'll save you $15-20).  For me, the warranty is why I buy the pre-owned systems and spend the extra $20-30 than you would off of eBay.  If it doesn't work, you just bring it back.

I think the super slims are by far the most efficient models and what I'd recommend.  There have been some graphical issues with certain games, but we see far less issues with the super slims than any other model.  The backwards compatible ones burn up very quickly, so I can't recommend them.  For the price, you may as well get the 500gb hard drive, and you might as well go with the super slim if you're wanting to make it last.  I haven't had any issues whatsoever with my super slim.  If you have powerup points, you can get $25 off a pre-owned console as well for 18,000 points.

So those are your GameStop options, whether you choose to use them or not.  Hopefully you end up getting an awesome deal regardless.  =)

PS: I know many people are anti-Gamestop, but I promise I'm one of the good guys.  

Blindsy said:

Hey man,

PS: I know many people are anti-Gamestop, but I promise I'm one of the good guys. <3

Click to expand...

That's what they all say! Now give me back 90% of the purchase price for my used games like everyone expects you to!

I'd recommend the super slim model, it may be a little louder playing disc games since the disc is only behind the thin plastic cover, but it performs well and keeps cool. No touch sensitive buttons are cool too. It might just be tough to find since as you said the 12GB are hard to find, I got myself a 250GB. Sorry to hear that about your MGS4 ps3.

Thanks all.  I picked up a new Superslim at GameStop. It had a PS+ packin and seemed like a good deal. 

I picked up my dead 80GB. However, it is now teasing me and will run for a few minutes where before it wouldn't start at all. 

Trying to see if I can find a way to back up my accounts. 

Wish me luck . . .

If your old ps3 is working, I am almost certain that you can transfer all settings and game data from the old to the new by connecting them with an ethernet cable. There is an option in the menu to transfer from old to new system.

Thanks. In the end, the old PS3 wouldn't stay on for more than 1 minute. So I abandoned the backup attempt after about 7 tries.

You could take it to gamestop, and see if they could keep it on long enough to transfer stuff.  They seem to know how to do crazy things with systems.

Since you got Plus now, you should definitely try to copy your Rock Band save to the cloud. When my 60GB bit the dust, cloud saving wasn't yet an option so that sucked.

Problem is, as he said, he can't get it to stay on long enough to do anything

1 minute might be enough. Cloud saving takes less time than syncing to a second PS3.

What would cloud saving get me that I can't get my (less than) simply recreating the accounts?

Thanks all

What's killing me now is that while I've been able to log into some of my accounts with the intent of deactivating the system for them, I'm required to make the 4.60 system update. The old PS3 won't stay on long enough to complete that and it starts the install over every time I try. 

Arggg . . .  so close!  

Dr. Strangepork said:

What would cloud saving get me that I can't get my (less than) simply recreating the accounts?

Thanks all

Click to expand...

Cloud saving lets you transfer DRM-locked saves (like Rock Band). Unfortunately...

Dr. Strangepork said:

What's killing me now is that while I've been able to log into some of my accounts with the intent of deactivating the system for them, I'm required to make the 4.60 system update. The old PS3 won't stay on long enough to complete that and it starts the install over every time I try.

Arggg . . . so close!

Click to expand...

... to use it you'd probably need to be logged into PSN and therefore need to have the latest firmware.

you could download the update to a flash then install...?

I like that idea and will give it a shot if I get a chance. For now, the old PS3 upon booting immediately tries to install the already downloaded update. I wouldn't even have a chance to tell it to install from the USB. 

Cheers

Wow. Ok, the update finally took. Say maybe after 10 tries. It got to 99% a few times so I just couldn't give up. 

Was then able to deactivate a few accounts. 

Looks like I am in a pretty good spot compared to when I started the week. 

Thanks all!

So, what about your save files.  THEY'RE THE ONLY THING THAT MATTER!!!!

Gden said:

So, what about your save files. THEY'RE THE ONLY THING THAT MATTER!!!!

Click to expand...

Are they? I guess I was worried about recovering 100s of PSN content more than starting a game again. I'll look into it for sure.

I doubt I can get the PS3 the run long enough for a proper back up and the Plus save idea sounds interesting, but I've already deactivated a number of the account. Will that matter?

It wouldn't matter, the saves on your profile are your saves regardless of your "owned" content on your account, or the user accounts.

It would still have to stay on long enough to upload saves to the cloud of course. Best of luck if you give it a try.

I too just had my phat 80gb MGS4 PS3 bundle just go down on me..(it shut down in the middle of a game, I turned it back and within a few minutes it shut down again)...   I panicked and immediatley powered it off and left it off... that was about 4 months ago....

2 months ago I found a slim ps3 gta V bundle on craigs for $200(sold GTA V for $25) and threw that up yesterday

I have some questions.. 

1. I restored from bakcup (1 from 8 months ago but better than nothing) BUT NONE OF MY GAME DEMOS are there?  What gives, what happened to them?  I really, REALLy want those back..  any ideas?

2. My username has a * next to it?    Whats up with that?  It displays as such  *username

3. If I can turn on my ps3 long enough, what do I need to do to get my Farcry 3 on in my new ps3 at the point I left off at? (68hrs in and no way I can start over now)

4. Anyone know of a good guide(superbly done) to take apart the phat PS3 to clean it out and replace the thermal paste with new stuff? 

Did a lot of research but most of the guides out there are like 3-4 years old and WORSe back then Reballing was considered a permanent fix but if you look now most of the "professional" places don't even offer a reball as now its seems a Reflow is just as good as Reball(when the reflow is done with a reball machine) and this just throws all those guides into the very doubtful arena for me..

I really, REALLY want my phat ps3 back.. and NOT just for my data on there.. but just to have it back...

let me know!

oNe