pitchleague Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Hello all! On another site that I frequent, I have been offered an older 2007 model (40gb) PS3 that has been hardly used (<10 hours of use, supposedly) for $200. Plus a couple of controllers and the cords and what not. The guy who is selling it took it off his brother-in-law's hands after sitting and collecting dust for the last couple of years. After acquiring it, the guy who is selling it tried it out himself and said it works great. I'm not a console genius by any means. The last console that I purchased was a Sega Saturn back in college (yeah, I'm old.) But I've had my eye on a PS3 for a little while now as a "luxury" item. It's definitely not a necessity but for $200 it seems like a pretty good deal. Question is, I don't know if it's a good deal. Just looking around online, it looks like I can buy a new PS3 slim with a bigger hard drive for about $300 (I think) so not sure if this is worth the risk or not. What do you guys think? Is this a good deal? Is there anything I should be wary of? As for games, I've always been a believer of renting first, then buying. I haven't been able to do that in 10+ years, of course, as now I am a PC gamer. I'm assuming that a gamefly subscription or something would be worth while? Or is just using my local Blockbuster or whatever good enough? I think I would probably try out Madden (haven't been able to play a new version since '08) and College Football (I'm STILL playing my NCAA '99 game on my old PC every fall). And I suppose I'd rent MLB: The Show to see what all the hubbub is about. What about games for my wife? She's agreeable that the motion games look like fun. Would an old system like this support all those new motion gaming things I see on those PS3 commercials now a days? Anyways, thanks for any help on this. I've looked around "teh internets" for the last hour or so looking for answers to these kinds of questions but haven't really been able to find the answers that I'm looking for. I figured that maybe some actual "users" of the hardward could help out, so, again, thanks in advance! Have a good day/evening and thanks for reading. edit: I should have noted that the hard drive size isn't a big deal to me as I would NOT be putting music, photos, etc. onto the PS3. How big are demos? I'm guessing no bigger than PC demos (<2 gb or so). PS2 backwards-compatibility or whatever isn't an issue, either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordo Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 I would post this over at Operation Sports in the appropriate console forum. There are a bunch of guys there with PS3 experience who would give their opinions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mykal94 Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 I would probably buy new if you can afford it. Though this may not be a bad deal if you know the guy because it's kind of like buying a car and is worth considering. The newer system would most likely come with more storage and if you get a Slim it's lighter and doesn't collect fingerprints (kind of unimportant, but it annoys me and the old ones show fingerprints like you would not believe). I notice you say "it's been collecting dust" which obviously was not literal, but if it has been in a spot where it can collect dust or other particles, you may have problems. The first PS3 I bought, I got used and it worked for only 10 months before it began overheating from dust in the system. (Ruined the heat sinks I believe and I wasn't willing to fix it, though sold it as-is on eBay for around $120) PS3s seem to have a pretty long console life as long as you listen to recommendations (such as proper ventilation). Once again it goes back to the car analogy, if you know what the guy did with it and how it used it you should be fine with the older one as it should have plenty of good years left. A new one obviously will come with a warranty and likely a longer remaining life, unless you get a dud (which unfortunately happens). And as far as motion gaming (PS Move) goes, you should absolutely be able to use it on the older system so don't let that affect your decision. As long as you connect to the Internet and get the system updates I am fairly certain the Move would work. EDIT: Yeah as far as demos, I've yet to download one over 2 GB but I don't download them very often so I'm not sure what they max out at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emath2432 Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Good info there. I agree, If you know the guy (or his brother in law), and you know it has that little use, and was taken care if, then yeah there shouldn't be an issue. My biggest thing would be the fact that you apparently only know this person online. How well do you know them? Know what I mean? Could it just be a pile of trash that some guy is trying to get rid of? But, then again, I am skeptical by nature. I know people have a hard time believing this, but The Show really is worth the price of a PS3. It's still the only reason I have mine. I have only 2 other games, and have rarely even played them.... It's all about the Show. It has converted quite a few "PC baseball only" guys that I know of (including me). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angryrat Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 You may want to consider researching the serial/model number of that particular system. That might lead into whether or not that verson is more prone to system failures (i.e. the heatsink issue as mentioned). My buddy had a 40gb that he has had for several years that just failed on him because of the heatsink. Apparently, it was a pretty widespread issue with some of the older generation PS3 units. The heatsink issue is not something you could prevent really. Sony used a cheap thermal paste on some of the units processors and the paste ends up frying the parts. Just something to consider. For his replacement, I suggested to my buddy that he buy the PS3 Combo Packs that are out, and that he sell all the extra items that come with the system that he wouldn't use. He did just that, sold the 2 games and 1 Blu Ray movie that came with the system, and that knocked a good $60-70 off of the price tag. That meant, he upgraded from a broken 40gb system to a brand new 160gb system for $240-ish (+tax). He also sold the broken 40gb on eBay for $70. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pitchleague Posted January 6, 2011 Author Share Posted January 6, 2011 good to know about the heatsink issue, angryrat. I'll contact my guy and see if I can get a serial/model # from him so I can check this out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
golfguy10 Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 These units have absolutely horrible DVD drives. Mine went belly up but was under warranty. But it should be able to read HD DVD's making a decent buy IF you watch HD movies etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Z Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Forget his offer and buy a new slim if you can for $300. You'll also probably be buying The Show after you rent it. I say forget his offer cause, to me, it just isn't worth the $100 discount. I mean, the guy could be lyin' to you and like another guy said in this thread, the model may be prone to malfunction in the long run. If he was sellin' it for $150, it'd be something to consider more in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pitchleague Posted January 8, 2011 Author Share Posted January 8, 2011 thanks for your thoughts and ideas, everybody! I did some research as well, after finding out what some of you said, and I decided to "pass" on his offer. Although good, I don't think I need to dip my toes into the console war with a 3-year-old PS3 that could be prone to breaking down. Consider this thread closed, mods, if you wish. Or leave it open for further debate. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mykal94 Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 Glad I could help, if I did... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kccitystar Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 I am an owner of a 40GB PS3 (CECHH for those of you who look for model numbers) purchased in 2008. It's still chugging along perfectly and I fit a 120GB drive inside this bad boy in December of that year for game content and my own media. That model is one of the few "Fat" PS3's that won't exactly break down that easily for a long time. It's a tank. I'm going to go with the consensus here and tell you to go for the slim PS3 with more disk space, although in regards to disk space, you can always fit in a 2.5 inch laptop drive to replace the one the system comes with. However by replacing the drive, you will lose all of your data unless you run a backup to some form of removable media prior to upgrading your hard drive. Once you do that you can restore your things afterward through the System Settings menu. Replacing the hard drive itself won't void your warranty for those who are wondering, as it is explained how to do so in the manuals when you buy the system itself. I believe the highest drive supported right now is a 500GB drive. Any PS3 questions, I can gladly answer :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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