PS3 buying advice

[J B L]

Hello,

I know I am many years late but parenthood put an end to my gaming days...or at least created a large pause!

I do fancy a PS 3 and some online games to go with it for when I'm staying up late at week ends though and our DVD player has just let us down so I shall use that excuse to sell the idea to the the better half

How good are these 'refurbished' units you find on eBay?
Do I need one of these cooling stands?
What size hard drive will I need for, say, 3 - 5 games which I'll probably get used from a shop?

I'm only getting one to get some training before the PS4

Cheers.

[Astra Dan]

I've just bought a second hand 160GB slim from Game for £160, came with a years warranty. Guy said they're usually in such good nick and hardly used it's not worth buying new. Mine is blatantly not been used, no wear on the pad at all.
I got 4 games - Uncharted 1 & 2, Heavy Rain and Killzone 2 for £42 in store, too.
I believe from the Slim onwards there's no cooling issues.
Hard drive I'm not sure about, can't see any direct info from using the console if it's actually possible to install the game directly, or if it does it itself, or it's an ad-hoc thing.

TBH the console itself it so badly designed and awkward to use I'm glad I have a 360 too. Unless there's some specific PS3 games you want to play (like me) I'd really not bother.

Edited by Astra Dan on Monday 24th September 22:37

[FellowPazzini]

Here's a couple of deals going at the moment, at good prices too...
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/playstation-3-slim...
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/ps3-320gb-console-...

The above chap seems to have got a decent deal but personally for a few bob extra I would get new, even if it's just for the warranty (I'd try and get an extra year or 2 added on that if poss.) as they do tend to break easily. That might not be the case for yourself though because it sounds like you won't be gaming too much but I would certainly not risk a used PS3 from flee bay.

Plenty of good cheap games going though. Modern Warfare 2, FIFA 11, LBP & all the other top games that's a couple of years old can all be picked up for less than a tenner (MW2 ).

You don't need a large hard drive. That will only be used to save video, pictures & music media onto. Even then you can stream from your computer if need be. So unless you're a big media buff you don't have to splash out on a big hard drive... but you're a man so you must

[Astra Dan]

Forgot to say I got a years warranty with mine too, so really a win-win I thought.

[sparks_E39]

They are not expensive new anymore as they have been out for years now, so I'd do that. If you must buy used do not get a ticking time bomb fat one. Don't buy one that's had a YLOD repair... they can't be permanently fixed.