Okay. So I have changed the old ps3 (phat) hdd before, but I'm a noob on the slims. I'm a digital nerd, so whenever I have the chance to not change a disk, I will take it. And with all these day 1 games coming to retail and digital, this is the perfect time to upgrade.

So anyway, if you guys would help me out. I need to transfer everything, if possible to the new drive. I guess purchased games wouldn't be that big of a deal, since those are tied to my account. But just if case something happens where I won't be able to download on the new drive...

Also if you want to recommend a certain brand of HDD, I'd appreciate it. Don't need anything over 500gb

Thanks a million in advance :))))))

If you're transferring everything, you'll need an external HDD in order to store your back up. You can also use your laptop/computer for the backup assuming you have enough space and the HDD is in the correct format (Can't remember what the right format is at the moment). If you're just getting your game saves, you can just use a flash drive (except for copy-protected saves), or the cloud storage if you have PS+.

Internal HDD brands aren't much different from one another in my experiences with them. I've owned WDs, Seagates, and Toshibas with varying RPMs (either 5400 or 7200). Get a 7200 RPM HDD if you want a little additional speed for certain games like GT5.

I've switched hard drives several times and it's always been a pretty smooth process.

Thanks man. Surprisingly I figured it all out by myself using basic logic. It was a lot easier than I thought. 

And lucky for me Seagate now makes a 2.5 SATA 1 tb HDD, which is crazy!!! I thought the max was only 500 gb.

Glad to hear it. I got a 1 tb HDD earlier this year, and I'm already under 500gb of free space lol.

What type of HDD is it if you dont mind me asking. I to am looking to upgrade my HDD (PS Plus just keeps giving too many things i like playing for free! lol).

You need an USB External HDD drive to backup your data.

1. Plug the External HDD in the PS3.
2. Choose Settings > System Settings > Backup Utility > Back Up.
3. Wait.
4. Change the PS3 HDD.
4. Plug the External HDD again in the PS3.
5. Choose Settings > System Settings > Backup Utility > Restore.
5. Wait.

That's all.

I believe you forgot to also tell about forced firmware update.

I forget that .

You can either download the firmware to External HDD (choose to update the firmware from External HDD) or plug the PS3 in the internet (cable or WiFi).

The firmware update is so fast compared to Backup/restore.

Out of curiosity, would the protected save files transfer too ?

They did for me, yes.