[chadbang]

Hi, I keep reading about yellow lights of death and whatnot, does anyone know if Sony has ironed out all its glitches in the playstation consoles by now? What model should I look for that won't be in the repair shop too soon? Slim, regular, which one is good? Thanks!

 

[earthpeople]

Not that I've been keeping a close eye on the PS3 communities and the YLOD issue, but I don't recall hearing anybody having that issue with the slim ones.
 
Regardless, I would say just go for the slim (unless you want the backwards compatible launch PS3s) since you can buy it new. If it does have issues, you'll have warranty coverage.

 

[Kirosia]

Get a slim, preferably of an older firmware... if you ever... wish to play backups... of your legally purchased titles. 

 

[necropimp]

the YLOD issues seemed to only really affect the ps2 backwards compatible models
 
the original launch models have had the biggest problems with YLODs (also were the most likely to be bricked by firmware updates)

 

[KuKuBuKu]

My old "fat" PS3 YLOD'd twice, didn't fix it the second time. Just buy the Slim. It's highly unlikely that you'll get the YLOD. Mine is was pretty old and I played it a lot. 
 
YLOD is not a glitch, it is a result of either PSU failure or overheating of the motherboard, causing the CPU or GPU soldering to melt, rendering them useless. It is almost always the latter.
 
If you are really paranoid about YLOD here are some tips:
 
Do not put it down vertically. Leaving it flat generates less heat.
 
Keep it far from walls, In a not compact space.
 
Keeping it on box or something, like the one your PS3 came with, will vent the heat down. 
 
Carpet traps heat.
 
After a long gaming session, leave it at the home screen for five some minutes so the PS3's fans can cool the console down.
 
If you get YLOD, there are some guides on youtube, chech them out.

 

[Landis]

The YLOD affects all the PS3s, but I'd be more worried about the blu-ray lens burning out as that seems to one of the more expensive things to fix after warranty is up and plagues the PS3 more than anything else I've seen.

 

[Kirosia]

Heads up: At 9PM tonight (though some are saying you can try it now) you can get a 160GB slim at Wal-mart (in-store) for $299 and it comes with a $100 gift card: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Local-Ad-2010-Video-Games/14658346 or a Red Wii Bundle (Mario Bros + Wii Sports, also in-store) for $199 and it comes with a $75 gift card. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Local-Ad-2010-Video-Games/14658345

 

[craiglester]

Slim's are pretty reliable, and a LOT quieter than the older (fat) ones. Mines been flawless.. great Blu Ray player too - very quick.

 

[Kirosia]

And.. Amazon has it the slim on sale for $298 and comes with a $100 of Amazon credit:
 
http://www.amazon.com/PlayStation-3-160-GB/dp/B003VUO6H4/ref=sr_1_1?t=slickdeals&tag=slickdeals&s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1292605580&sr=1-1

 

[oqvist]

Just get newer revisions. As for noise for some the slim has a more annoying noise then the older thicker ones. Seem to differ a lot between batches but there is no quiet PS3s it seems.

 

[craiglester]

Quote:

Just get newer revisions. As for noise for some the slim has a more annoying noise then the older thicker ones. Seem to differ a lot between batches but there is no quiet PS3s it seems.

 The Blu Ray drive seek noise is a little louder on the new slim models.. but the fan noise is impreceptable on mine.. the Fat model I had was noisy as hell.. I sold it for that reason. PLaying GT5 for 5 hours last night and the slim is barely audible. The latest slim revision uses about half the power of the original fat ps3 too.. so thats a bonus.. cheaper to run and quieter .
 
And theres a hundred dollar credit if you buy one on Amazon right now.

 

[oqvist]

People are more or less sensitive to noise. I have had people compare the PS 3 slim to a jet engine while listening to music.
 
As everything listen if you can before you buy to see if you can live with it. I have the old thick version two metres away. I can certainly use it for listening to music but it´s not silent. Neither are any of the slims I heard in stores.

 

[BebopMcJiggy]

My launch ps3 is still running strong and is kind of quiet...  never had a ylod.... I may have opened it at one point and applied arctic silver 5 to the cpu/gpu and dusted that bitch out.  The fan got much quieter after this... it was originally quiet and then I dunno if dust buildup or what made it louder but all better now :O  You're probably better off just buying a new one at this point though.  I actually wanted sacd/ps2 support.  I've noticed with Sony products they go balls out on new products often and then tone them down to cut costs for later releases...  at least while Kutaragi was in charge of things... (less usb ports/ no backwards compatibility or sacd support now, ps1 lost its rca ports etc... some of their early high end portable cd players are still considered some of the best?)  they did get the power consumption down but c'est la vie.

 

[mitchlol7]

I still have a fat non ps2 version that is up and running if that helps.

 

[Landis]

Quote:

Slim's are pretty reliable, and a LOT quieter than the older (fat) ones. Mines been flawless.. great Blu Ray player too - very quick.

I wouldn't call the slim PS3s too much quieter and definitely not "a lot". Going from a fat 80GB to a 250GB slim less than one day apart, I didn't notice a difference in sound. To be honest, the PS3 used to be fast at reading blu-rays compared to the market, but within the past year especially, the PS3 has fallen far behind the curve. Certain players out there are lightning fast (equal or lesser price to 160GB PS3) and after seeing how fast they can load blu-rays, I've been tempted to pick one up for my basement and almost tempted to replace the PS3 as a blu-ray player in my bedroom.
 
I work in a retail store, so I get to learn and frequently test out the issues of different devices including the PS3. I still love my PS3 and very much recommend it over the 360 for heavy media users, but it is definitely not without its faults.