# I Honestly Forgot How Flexible the Launch PS3 Is



## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

Hello,
Yesterday I got my CECHA01 60gb Launch PS3 back from Sony. It stopped working after a Lightning Surge last October and would have sent it off sooner, but my best friend going back from the age of 5 knows someone at Sony Professional and when he was visiting during Thanksgiving talked with his contact at Sony even giving the guy my Serial Number. His CECHA01 was also not working so he was as motivated as I was. 

After talking to the guy, he said it was a done deal and we would both be getting ours fixed or replaced for free. However, the Months kept going by and while I was trying to be a patient as possible, I finally gave up after almost 6 Months. Had I known it would only cost $129 for Sony to send a Return Box, Shipping Label, and send me back a Refurbished Launch Model PS3, I would have done it Months ago.

The CECHA01 is an especially desired after PS3 with New in Box Units selling for over $1500 on Amazon and around $600 for used ones elsewhere. This Model cost Sony $840 Wholesale just to build. Much of this was due to the Emotion Engine Chip which is the Brains of the PS2. This allows full Backwards Compatibility of PS1/PS2 Games. (the 80gb offered partial BC through Software Emulation) It costs around $40 and all Models since the 20 and 60gb Launch Models have not come with the Emotion Engine. Moreover, only the Launch and 80gb PS3's came with 4 USB Ports, but I think only the 60gb came with a Card Reader and Memory Stick Inputs.

Going 6 Months with it being broken, I honestly forgot just how handy it truly is. I am also enjoying being able to watch Amazon Streaming Video as my OPPO does not offer it. Like I have said on the OPPO BDP-93 Thread, I do not notice a huge difference between 5.1 (when available) on the PS3 and PLII on the 93 when viewing Netflix and do think the Marvell Qdeo provides a superior picture with Netflix.

All this being said, it is easy to forget it is a bloody Gaming Console! With this factored in, it really makes the PS3 quite special. When the PS3 was first released, it was the cheapest and best BDP at $599 with the Standalone BDP's being over $1000 at the time. Granted, you can now get a decent BDP for well under $100, but this is over 5 years later.
Cheers,
JJ


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## wgmontgomery (Jun 9, 2011)

...and it plays SA-CDs! I saw a firmware update today that offers some 7.1 movies from Vudu, too!


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## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

I had actually written that and accidentally deleted the entire Post I wrote. (urrgh) When doing a rewrite of what was a fairly long Post, I left out the SACD part which I made a special note in the original.
J


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## wgmontgomery (Jun 9, 2011)

I've been doing A LOT of testing on my PS3 as a SA-CD player. It sounds much better if you use the RCA outputs. I'm aware that you must use HDMI for 5.1, but most of my listening is 2 channel...even with SA-CDs. Also, my 1st gen. PS1 sounds much better on Red Book CDs than the PS3. :scratch: 

I agree 100% that the original PS3 is an amazing piece of equipment, and I'm glad to have one in my system. I still want an Oppo, but I don't feel the rush to get one that I did before I was using the PS3 as a BDP. The Netflix 5.1 is a huge plus _to me_. Netflix movies in stereo played back in PLII (my default is Neo 6) are almost as good; I wonder if that's a comment on the quality of Netflix's streaming or the new processors?


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## grassy (Aug 25, 2011)

Yea i have the 60 gig ps3 and 2 other 320gig players also, but the 60 gig is a beefy machine and heavy too. I remember when the yellow light of death came on and that was the first machine i ever took apart to replace the thermal paste to get it going again, and i am glad i did. Now its like brand new again and never had any problem with it since then. The 60 gig is a great machine and plays ps2 discs also. When that machine was released it was as good as any dvd player around. I am happy with mine..

Sent from my iPad using HTShack


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## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

Hello,
It is weird, mine did not have the YLOD. Rather, there was a Power Surge and after it no Video would output, It powered on, would eject Discs, etc...
Cheers,
JJ


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