Ben-DutkaThere have been more than a few versions of the PlayStation 3, all of which boasting a different size hard drive. But most of you don't have the massive 250GB model and perhaps you're feeling the constraints of a smaller HDD.
Well, maybe this new service that Sony is offering in Japan will someday find its way to the US. According to Andriasang , Sony will upgrade your PS3 hard drive and perform all the functions that go along with such a switch. So for 18,000 yen, they will move over your system software and content and they will even return your old hard drive to you after the job is done. The service covers basically all models, ranging from the original 20GB and 60GB iterations to the more recent 120GB and 160GB offerings. The question is, would Americans respond to such a service, or would you say that most are tech-savvy enough to perform the upgrade on their own? Bear in mind that transferring a ton of content between hard drives can take a while (I had to transfer quite a bit when I upgraded from the 60GB to the 120GB Slim last year), so perhaps for some lazier gamers, the service will be worth the price. After all, you do have to pay for labor in all things, whether you like it or not.
However, for the record, 18,000 yen translates to about $190…and that's steep, regardless of how you view the situation. I suppose I'd have to have a looooot of content to transfer to warrant that kind of price.
you're forgetting about transferring the data, which can take quite a while and with any long data transfer it's easy to have problems.
transferring the data is piss easy, i had to copy over 3 years of saved files, PSN stuff, music, photos, videos when i got rid of my 60GB (upgraded to 500) to my slim.
i was going to just remove the 500GB out of my phat and put it into the slim, but luckily i found out when you put a HDD in the ps3 it automatically formats it so i would of lost all my data.
if i can back up almost 300GBs of content, than im sure others can manage.
not like its cheap either, if they were charging you for the cost of the HDD and maybe 50 bucks than ok but 290 is a rip off!
seems a little pricy but if someone wants to pay for the service thats up to them.
I upgraded my HDD from a 20gig to a 320GIG it took me I think roughly about 40 mins for the whole process. and I'll be another one to agree that stripping of the blue screw is very much possible and easy to do even if you are using the right size of screw driver, it's due to the poor quality of screw and the heat from the system which causes it to be flimmsy. I had called Sony support before I upgraded my HDD and thats the first thing they said is be careful of the stripping of the screw. I've heard of people saying that when they opened up the HDD that it had been melted or stripped before they got to it, so before you insult someone because of this situation maybe you should think before opening you're mouth situations happen that you can't predict would.
Hearsay of people having melted screws is one thing but to believe them is another. Unfortunately for me, I've been around thousands of hard drives over the years and have yet to experience a situation where any screws have ever been melted due to heat from hard drives and trust me, they do get really hot in servers. I wasn't trying to insult anyone but honestly, if people are having such problems then it is safe to say that maybe they really do need written instructions on how to remove a screw. Also, my mouth doesn't open when I type. 😉
Last edited by fluffer nutter on 4/29/2010 3:54:52 AM
I think some people are scared if they push to hard they'll damage something. You need as much pressure pushing into the center of the screw as you use twisting it. Pushing in keeps you from jumping out and stripping that screw.
@ fluffer nutter
Although I agree with you, some people are nervous about it and I don't blame them. My first time I was uneasy about it, but I grounded myself to avoid static shock and everything was a breeze from there. I know a lot of people who think something's hard just because they've never done it before.
Wow, I would rather do that myself, though I find it unnecessary. 60 Gigs is just enough for me, I always start deleting stuff I don't need when I reach the 10 gigs left status.
Maybe someday I'll need a larger HDD, but then I'd rather do it myself, I don't trust other people with my 60 gig PS3, it's way too valuable to me to be sending it somewhere in a box.
Man I'd like to start off by saying that I'm sorry for all the trouble that some of you had with swapping drives. I guess I got lucky.
I paid $60 for a 250GB portable drive from Western digital, used the usb to transfer my full 80GB from my ps3, which took about an hour. Then I swapped the 80GB hard drive with a 500GB drive that I got from new egg for only $80, took about 5 minutes. I had bought an external drive case, came with the right screwdriver for the work. Then another hour to transfer from portable to new ps3 drive and I was done. Now I have a 80GB back up drive as well.
I do believe that regardless of how expensive it is, people will pay for because some people just don't know anything more about electronics other than how to use them for day to day functions. Doesn't mean they're dumb, they just aren't into that kind of stuff.
Some people pay the geek squad at best buy to do the install on their computers when they buy them, which is sad because all you have to do is turn them on and click next a couple of times, but people pay $100 for that. They will also pay to have an anti-virus installed, so even if it does cost $200, people will pay it, probably not most of us, but there are plenty of people who will.
$190 is ridiculous. The reason I haven't upgraded my HD is that I'd have to pay $50-$75 for the new HD, PLUS another $75-$100 for an external drive for the sole purpose of backing it up while I replaced the old HD. After that, I'd have absolutely no use for the external drive. I suppose it would make backing up my computer a bit more convenient, but $1 or $2 worth of DVD's works fine for that.
If there was some local place I could take my PS3 to, with 24 hour turnaround, for the price of the new drive plus maybe $25 for labor, that might be attractive. More than that and, well, I don't really need a larger drive. I just want one. I'll hopefully be buying a 250GB slim sometime later this year. Then I can download everything in the entire world 🙂
I can see where your coming from if you are someone that doesn't already own an external HDD. I probably wouldn't have changed my hard drive over either if I didn't already own a few externals. (I do a lot of photography and always back up my photos onto an external) That was a purchase I didn't need to worry about investing in that other people would. Although I would recommend to everyone that they get and External HDD, just to back up their PS3 every now and then. (a good time to do so is right before a new Sony update..just in case)
Now I use external HDD's for everything, Music on one, pictures on another, movies on another…my GF's new car has the Microsoft SYNC system, it's cool we go on roadtrips we just plug the External HDD into the USB port in the car and we've got 500GB of Music to listen to the whole time.
If you do anything with computers or the PS3, I recommend everyone get their own external HDD as well…Just make sure it's formatted to FAT 32 for the PS3
Last edited by CH1N00K on 4/29/2010 10:46:55 AM
Those DVD's are going to degrade over time if they aren't Taiyo Yuden and then the backups will have been pointless. It's cheaper to back up your PC data to a hard drive and then store it away.
do you lose game saved marked as yours
i know thats my fear i have like 5 games i whoud hate to start over
thats why i still have my small drive
if you dont want to lose any data or games just remember that you must back up your ps3 into an external HDD(preferrable),you can also use a usb.Upgrading is very simple ,I bought a 320gb HDD for 65 bucks on newegg to replace my 80gb with.
I got a 500GB upgrade for free 🙂
My Boss wasn't very happy but, after he offered me a supposedly defective WD Passport, I ripped out of the case and installed into my PS3 and it works really well. I believe it was the USB interface that was the problem.
Ha! He was trying to look good giving me something that did not work and got owned hahaha
Way to give it to the man, man!
depends how much that is in GBP, but if its cheaper than buying a 250 myslef, or about the same, then yh, coz i'd mess it up…
Last edited by Zorigo on 4/29/2010 12:19:59 PM
Let's see… for $190 I can buy a 1 TB external Hard Drive AND a 500 GB Laptop Hard drive and do it myself and have it done in 1 day….
…. nope, wouldn't be paying Sony $190 for what they are offering.
Nowadays you can get a 1.5TB external and the 500GB 2.5" HDD and still have money left over from the budget of $190. Get yourself some ice cream too! Yipee!!!
Always wanted to upgrade my 60gig phatty, but it died this week (ylod), so now I have a 120g skinny. Don't anticipate updgrading my newest aqusition, but I did find a place to repair the PS3 phatty for a fraction of what Sony is charging now and days (apx. 200.00)…for about 150.00 I'll get a fixed PS3 and a 500g HDD updgrade.
That's pretty pricey. I think for the most part most PS3 owners of smaller hard drives have already attempted to switch out the hard drive and done so successfully. My guess is that we'll probably start seeing some private companies offering to do that in the U.S. for a quick buck. It's all good if the service is provided at a good price.