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kitler53 on 26 March 2011
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*Sound Of Rain said:
kitler53 said:

upgrades aren't that hard: i personally used this one. http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Scorpio-Drive-WD5000BEVT/dp/B001JSSDGU/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1301148127&sr=8-5

the important part is that the ps3 uses a laptop hard drive meaning the 2.5 inch drive.  anything bigger and it won't fit.

i read some debate concerning 5400 rpm and 7200 rpm ... from what i read due to the way the ps3 is designed the extra rpm doesn't give you any better peformance (i.e. not the slowest part of loading)

the "hardest" part is that the drive must be formatted to FAT32 before putting it into  your ps3 otherwise it won't register.  it's easy enough to due but you'll need computer and i recommend this application: http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Hard-Disk-Utils/FAT32format.shtml

 

also keep in mind, if you want saves and whatnot to transfer you'll have to use the backup utility.  the big question i had and now i can confirm is YES, copy prohibited files will transfer over no problem.  This will obviously require an additional storage device.  

$55 for 500GB? What is wrong with it LOL...isn't that cheap for 500GB? Anyway, I don't want to break my PS3 or have it not work. You sure its idiot proof? What kind of additional storage device?

nothing wrong with it -- Western digital and Seagate are more or less considered the best hardware manufactures today.  and memory is cheap now-a-days.  at the same time i bought this drive i also but a 1.5 Tb drive for about $80 but that's a bit cheaper overall cause it  was 3.5 inches.

so let me put this in a clearer manner.

1. back up your current data on an additional storage device.  if you want to just back up saves you probably only need a 1 Gb or so jumpdrive as save files aren't very big.  if you want to backup everything you'll need something larger than the amount of data on your ps3 (i.e. 40 Gb).  just going the save files route isn't that back but understand you'll have to re-download and re-install all of your old data from psn/disc installs.  also remember, which ever method you go it will have to connect to the ps3 via the hsb slot.

to do the backup navigate to the backup manager and chose "backup to external".

2. get a replacement drive of your choice.  it MUST be 2.5 inches and formated to be FAT32.  this will require you have a computer that has room to add an additional hardrive so it can be formatted.  the fat32format app i linked about is pretty easy to use.  save the file to the root of your C: drive.  Open a command prompt.  type in "fat32formate X:" where X is the assigned letter of the new drive.  probably F.

3. Remove the old ps3 drive -- really easy.  just a couple of screws.

4. put in the new drive and replace the screws.

5. turn the ps3 on -- it will go through a formatting process.

6. put that additional storage device back into the hsb slot.  navigate to the backup manager and choose "restore".

Done!

I started with an 80 Gb drive and it took me pretty much an entire evening to complete.  Most of that was inactive mind you while I was waiting for data to transfer.

so overall, really quite easy...to me.  step 2 is the "hard" part which really comes down to -- how comfortable are you installing hardware on a PC and using a command prompt?  if you feel comfortable it's really really easy.  if that scares you might want to reconsider the upgrade.