PS2 breaking down TOO FAST

[sezen_atacan]

Is Sony taking advantage of sweatshop manufacturing methods again? The reason why they are under $100 a piece kinda adds up now that I have lost 2 playstations.

Lets see, $100 for the PS2, $20 for lens replacement, some parts broke down, brought another PS2 $100, now its acting up again.

Maybe this problem is unique to me only? And no I do NOT play all the time. I just happened to play a game for a few hours from time to time, then suddenly, the games won't read anymore. Found out later that BOTH the lens broke AND the PS2 has taken some of my games along with it. To prevent it from destroying rare auction only games, I had to replace my PS2 to protect the unreplaceables.....

I do treat my consoles well, I am not the player that throws the controllers on game over screens. My SNES, Sega, Gameboy, and even my Commodore 64, is STILL alive and well, those old consoles must be WMD proof.

Also whenever I put in the disc, I put it in slowly and softly without pressure, as soon as you hear a soft "click" it means the disc is in place right? And when I pull out, I do it slowly from different locations and when the soft"click" is heard again I know I removed the disc.

Right now I use the slim PS2 79000 version... although I doubt these "new" versions would improve in anyway. I have so far never used an electronic device that is as troublesome as the PS2, yet........... even the worst PC parts I have are still going and going and going......

Is there a creative method that must be applied to protect a PS2 console??

[hobbes_fan]

How can it take out a game disc? It's a read only device. Basically it's impossible.

The fatties are better than the slim models. the SCPH 39002 I have is still going in original condition. For a long time it was my main DVD player. I open it up once a year and get a can of compressed air to blow dust out. Main cause of lens/laser crapping out: Bad discs with scratches etc. Laser has to work harder etc etc

Fatties also run cooler. Heat kills components. (AFAIK they removed the fan to make it slimmer worst engineering idea ever). Even my PSX is going strong, just played Suikoden 1 & 2 ove the last week

[steelbound]

The PS2 that's in my house is over 6 years old. It worked fine the first couple of weeks but then had trouble reading discs. Before taking it back (we had bought a 4 year replacement plan) we decided to flip it from horizontal to vertical and all it's problems vanished. I don't know if that solution is usefully for the slim models but it worked for the older model.

[Epyon9283]

I had two ps2s. A fatty and a slim. Both of them worked fine up until I sold them.

[Ledgem]

Originally Posted by hobbes_fan

How can it take out a game disc? It's a read only device. Basically it's impossible.

In theory if the drive is malfunctioning big time it may scratch the disc a bit.

Do the slim ones use laptop-style DVD loading drives? I have one of the big ones, and you just place the DVD into the tray - there's nothing about the disc clicking. If it's a laptop-stye drive then you'd be sort of locking the disc into the drive (and would then hear a click).

I can't recommend anything other than the usual precautions of leaving it out of the sun and what not. Also, don't buy it from the same place - the entire shop may have a bad batch.

[sezen_atacan]

Some people tend to flip the PS2 90 degrees. Is that only for the big ones where you stand them on the side?? Is it beneficial for slims? I heard slims have negative feedback at least on google. But it seems its easier find slim PS then the big PS2s. It seems the 79000 has a more powerful fan than 77000 which might have overheated because I play the most intensive and system demanding games out for the PS2. For computers its easy to get heatsinks and fans but for PS2s, it seems quite a hassle and voids warranty if you want to change its cooling system.....

[hobbes_fan]

Big PS2 - out of production, finished in 2004 I think. I think the 5000's were the last. To my knowledge no PS2's are being built anymore. These are mainly the last production runs. Nearly everyone I know (10+ people) with a fat Ps2 is still going strong. The 2 or 3 people with the ps2 slim have always had minor issues one had an issue with the eyetoy/singstar mic in particular.

I actually do the opposite, it seems to work better sitting horizontal instead of vertical. I'd never buy slim personally, I'd rather hunt around on ebay for a 2nd hand fatso, and get it modded. Ps2 slims are more difficult to mod and have the heat issue as well. I'd take slow and reliable over fast and temperamental considering the performance improvement is minimal at best. All games play on the fat Ps2.

[grey_moon]

I lent out a game once and it came back with a nice ring scratched on it. The person later found out it was only happening when he had it vertical.

[sezen_atacan]

Another question, very often people refer to the video output of a ps2 as an s-video but my ps2 doesn't have s-video, only composite, the yellow wire, the other 2 red and white are audio. Does this necessarily mean a bad thing?? I have the slim ps2, but if there is an s-video out, I would like to know where its located......

[hobbes_fan]

The cable to my knowledge is the one with svideo. Not the actual ps2 slim
see here
http://www.playsystem.it/public/TMB-cavosvidedps2.jpg

Honestly it's not a big deal. It's little to no improvement over the RCA Connections you are currently using.

[GHDpro]

I have one of those cables - as displayed the s-video connector is on the other side of the Sony propitiatory video cable. A PS2 doesn't have any standard video outs. Only very early model PS1 (the gray boxes) had composite out (and only that).

If your TV supports it, I'd get an RGB cable in Europe or Component (with Red, Green, Blue video and White & Red audio connectors) in US or if you have HDTV.

The best PS2 video quality can be had on the PS3 with HDMI. Of course only the early PS3 models had proper PS2 compatibility though.

[Takeru]

I don't know about the 7000series, but I had a 3000series (lens crapped out, sold to friend for $75), and then a 5000series, and the 5000series one worked perfectly all the way up to when I got my PS3 and sold it. Now I'm just complaining about having a TV with component inputs (which my PS3 is connected by), but no HD (can't even display 480p).

[ChibiDusk]

I have the thick PS2, and... as far as I know (haven't played it in-length for a while) it's going just as good as when I first bought it. No complaints. I even have my PS1, and I'm sure that still works. Lent it out to a friend, along with Spyro, and they've been playing it constantly.

[sezen_atacan]

Hmm... I found out something when googling "fake ps2s" on the search. This brings in the theory of whether I have been buying "fake PS2s". Sometimes its hard to tell. Sometimes they may have anything ranging from leaking capacitors to bad soldering to bad circuitry. Now these are the visible symptoms but sometimes these fakes tend to work 100% until they break in about a few weeks. And I paid the full standard price too....

[HurricaneHige]

I have the fat (6 years old) and slim PS2(2 years old), both works fine. Fat one is dying, slow at reading disc but still works and i need it for non-region one games, the Slim works perfectly with no framerate issues at all, its been through quite a few long RPGs as well and it still works fine (Persona3, Dragon Quest 8, FF12, Valkyrie Profile 2)

[CronicHazel]

My fat PS2 3000 series no longer reads discs if i put it up vertical xD it only works if i lay it horizontal. Other than that, it's fine i guess. Loud mother fucker. It froze during an epic battle sequence in Ar Tonelico as well D;

I have a japanese PS2 5000 series, and that one works fine with nothing wrong. :3

[GHDpro]

Just to nitpick: PS2 model numbers have 5 numbers and PS1 model numbers have 4 numbers.

So 3000, 5000 and 7000 series Playstations are PS1s. My PS2 is a (fat) 30001 model. A "3000 PS2 series" does not exist.

[HASHIRIYA]

never had a prob with mine, theres three 2 fat ones (one is a jap ps2 other aus delivered) and one thin aus one, they all still work. its the ps3 we gave up on and got a refund on the fuggen thing just kept over heating (in the aircon too).

my mate had one of the thins and it sorta went hay-wire and shattered the disc. just heard the thing hit like hyper drive then snap it was all over had to unplug it as it was going off its nut