PS3 Died. Woe be me! What now?

January 3, 2011 10:51 AM

Is it worth getting a fat ps3 repaired by sony? ($150) Or should I try fix it myself? (~$50)

After 2 years of light use, my ps3 decided to kick the bucket. The first symptoms were mild, the cooling fan would not turn off, at all, (even after 10+ hours) I had to unplug it to turn it off completely. Then the other night, while watching a DVD, the ps3 shutdown. Since then, after switching the ps3 off then on, the red standby light turns on, but attempting to turn on the ps3, the green light turns on for a half a second, then totally shuts down the ps3.

Questions:

Is it worth sending this into sony for repair ($150) (Does that include shipping?)

Im comfortable with repairing pc hardware, so swapping in a new hardware is something im sure I can figure out, but if i attempt this, sony wont repair the ps3, should I attempt this? (Im not even sure if the power supply is the culprit)

Should I just spring for a new slim ps3? ($300)

posted by edman to Technology (7 answers total)

From what I know -- which may be wrong -- the PS3 is a bit more finicky than a PC, sadly. Unless you know exactly what the problem is, or which component has kicked it, I would not try to do it yourself, especially as that would void the warranty.

There are brick-and-mortar repair places that can repair it for you (or pronounce it DOA) for almost certainly less than Sony would. However, I've never seen an official one, so you'll be voiding the warranty in that case as well

Honestly? If it is a fat PS3 and you're not using any of the specific options a fat PS3 allows, I'd spring for a new one and sell the old one on eBay for parts. That, of course, assumes that dropping $300 won't mean you'll be eating ketchup sandwiches for a month.
posted by griphus at 10:56 AM on January 3, 2011

You just got the Yellow Light of Death (YLOD) most likely. The fix for this is to strip down your PS3 to its bare bones and literally take a heat gun to the GPU to liquefy the solder. You then have to let it sit to settle and then put it back together. And the fix is not permanent.

I'd say take it into Game Stop and trade it in [they gave me 70$ for mine last march] and put that down towards a PS3 Slim.

Worst part, the OS on the slim and the OS on the fatty are not compatible, you will lose ALL your saved games unless you pop that drive into someone else's PS3 and backup the saved games.

good luck.
posted by zombieApoc at 11:00 AM on January 3, 2011

I would just pay the $150 for Sony's repair. We sent ours out and it's worked perfectly ever since. (of course, my impatient husband went out and bought a new, slim PS3 while the older one was out being repaired - we now have two PS3s, one for upstairs and one for downstairs) We can both watch blu-ray movies or play games at the same time.

We're glad we kept the fat, old PS3. It has some capabilities the new slim ones don't.
posted by MorningPerson at 11:03 AM on January 3, 2011

Oh, just to explain why I think buying a new one is a better idea. It's not because of the difficulty/cost of getting the PS3 repaired, but because it is an older model which will certainly make you spend more money on it down the line.

On preview: what zombieApoc said about the HD, as well.
posted by griphus at 11:03 AM on January 3, 2011

Best answer: Older models of PS3 have heat problems that are generally avoided in the newer ones. If you use the backwards compatibility (as I do), then getting it fixed isn't the worst idea. I took mine to a guy who offered me a 1 year warrantee on the repair. From everything I've read, the PS3 frying itself is something that can happen over and over. Getting a warrantee that extends for over 90 days is a really good idea (this is the average time that the repairs last). I wouldn't recommend doing it yourself unless you're familiar with work with electronics. There are a bunch of reflow videos online, but from what I've read, these quick repairs only last a couple of months.

I don't think Sony offers a warrantee on their repairs, but on the other hand, they should know what they're doing more than a random electronics shop.

The exact problem you're having is YLOD (yellow light of death). If you're not using the PS2 compatibility and can spring for a new PS3, do it.
posted by Hactar at 8:10 AM on January 4, 2011

Response by poster: Thanks for all the input. I think Im gonig to spring for a new one. I heard Sony charges for shipping to Hawaii for the repair, so itll run like 180, and with specials and such, I can get a new one for $250.. Hope the new one will last longer..
posted by edman at 9:53 AM on January 11, 2011

I'm sure this is too late for you, edman, but for anyone else who stumbles onto this page - Sony doesn't charge for shipping in the US, at all. That includes Hawai'i, Alaska, etc...
posted by BurnChao at 3:29 AM on August 18, 2011