PS3 Trade In
 

Since I used to write to you guys all the time for your infinite wisdom - I figured you could certainly enlighten me again -

I bought my PS3 60gig in October 2007 - Blu_ray drive failed today - does not read my games or movies anymore - repair cost is $149 plus tax

Sony is offering me a trade for a refurbished 120 gig PS3 for $119 plus tax - with a 90 day Limited Service Warranty

Negative is that is not backwards compatible - but I never needed it for this anyway.

The newer one is 3 years newer on the technology. What are your thoughts?

The cost seems like a no brainer but I am sort of attached to my semi-broken product. That and I have to start all my game progress from the beginning.

If you have any repair experience, I'd check around for parts on sites like ebay. Might be able to fix it cheaper than $150. Did it stop reading or stop rotating completely?

It accepts the discs, it tries to load but the PS3 software just doesn't detect it at all - I went through and reset system to the defaults - the only thing I didn't do was a full system restore.

I have put together computers before - but this thing looks a little difficult to crack the case. I suppose I can see what a replacement drive would cost and how easy it is to install.

I'm not sure about the earlier models, but I read that you could upgrade your PS3's hard drive, which would require backing up the data, swapping out the drive, and recopying data back. If you go with the exchange route you don't necessarily have to lose your game progresses.

I just made the dumbest move hitting the restore which wiped the hard drive clean - my game profiles in Need for Speed said they were copy protected so I thought okay they are gone and right after I reformatted, I found the option to copy the copy protected with a backup utility - I think the trade in is the way to go.

I love the way the old one looks - I am glad I am not trading my Porsche for a new one in this manner.

Get an Xbox360.

I think the PS3 is superior to the 360. I have had both and I like the PS3 better. Besides, if you want Blu Ray the PS3 is the solution.

The only real benefit to a newer model of console is that any common hardware failure points have been addressed.

All versions within a model line will have the same capability.

FWIW the older PS3 is more valuable than the newer slim, it supports alternate operating systems.

Department of Defense Buys 2,200 PS3s to Upgrade Supercomputer

Not any more.

There is a large class action law suit brewing regarding this.

If you update to 3.1 it removes that capability. There is an uproar because people are saying, and in a valid way, that they paid for a feature and now it is being removed. They should either get a partial rebate, or have the feature re-enabled.

If you don't update it will block you out of things.

Yeah that lawsuit came out of a guy in the UK who actually got a refund from Sony because of the reduced functionality.

In the UK a manufacturer is legally required to maintain all features that the item originally sold with.

Sony were betting that linux implementation would give them a path to a slew of budget constrained indie developers. Never paned out.

I would opt for the trade-in.

I just upgraded my X box360 to a PS3 in this fashion.