Yeah, and all those old cartridge systems had occasional problems.  I have plenty of fond memories of blowing into Atari cartridges just as much as NES cartridges.

The only problem I've ever had with any of my consoles have been with the analogue sticks. Remember the countless controller resents when the 64 stick was missaligned? My Xbox does it too.

"Hey, why am I slowly aiming to the left? OH... I'm going to need the toothbrush again."  I realize it's more a case of dirt than faulty equipment, but it's all I've got.

You are out of control.  One batch of bad consoles and all the sudden you say the PS3 is poorly done?  Are you serious?  Maybe if Nintendo tried to incorporate some modern technology in their system they'd encounter some problems as well.  Most people agree (that is, people that write articles for a living) that the PS3 is a superior machine as far as the build goes.  It fits the power brick inside, it fits the wireless inside, it does NOT overheat (ok, unless you enclose it in a small glass case...I mean...duh), and it is quiet despite all the new technology in it.  Meanwhile, 360s have things hanging outside the console and are very loud.

NES and SNES had tons of problems with having to blow on the cartridges and such.  Yeah, eventually they worked (most of the time), but it might take you 30 minutes.  Who has that kind of time?   Anyway, since then Nintendo hasn't exactly been on the bleeding edge of technology (N64's biggest fault not using discs and so on).

Now, I will say that those consoles should be replaced, even though they still work they just make a whining noise.  That is not near the problem M$ had with bricked consoles and having to replace them (which then counted for more sales apparently).

Whining noise does not equal overheating, broken, or anything particularly more than annoying.  Kind of like the 360's DVD drive is all the time.  Anyway, go play your Wii and stop making up crap. 

 I used an SNES that worked 20% of the time when you try for 30 minutes.  Wasn't mine, but I only tried a few times before I gave up.  They aren't perfect by any means.  Also, trying to add a game genie was a whole other problem...

Come on, you guys. Most consoles throughout history have had, to varying degrees, reliability, design or hardware issues to contend with, and this is not limited to consoles (iPod Nano, anyone?). All three console manufacturers are guilty in this regard. Such is the nature of the hardware industry.

What these companies do about handlig these issues is what's important, IMHO, and Sony should repair the defective batch, pure and simple. Whether they do it or not is another issue.

Actually the fans on the PS3 adjust in speed. So if he is putting it in a small area where it wont breathe well. They do get LOUD. That way they dont COOK. (Refrence Wii on standby)

Good ventelation = low air flow, low fan speeds, quiet.

HORRIBLE ventelation = high air flow, high fan speeds, loud.

(air flow through the PS3, not the air around the PS3, as good ventelation means good airflow around the unit, and bad ventelation is no air-flow around the unit)

The unit is quite a bit quieter in vertical than horizontal as well.

Ok, so it is quiet while the heat-sinks and heat pipes are eating the heat, and the fans are running a minimal speeds. And then it becomes very hot, and the noise occurs. That would be the fans inside the PS3 spinning up to increase the air-flow so it does not fry. You should look into putting it in a less air confined area and it will not have the noise problems. My dad has his PS3 in a cabinet, and has the same problem as you. My brother and I both can not hear our PS3 from 5 feet away unless everything in the room is turned off. However my brothers unit did get quite loud when we put it in his TV cabinet. However now that it is sitting on a table bought for it, BESIDE the cabinet, it has remained silent. Like mine. It is designed into the PS3 to increase fan-speeds to cool it if it starts to get hot. If you are haveing such heat problems, I would highly reccomend you to move it, or else your likely gonna go through 4-5 of them, because you are cooking them.

EDIT: You probibally have had faulty Wii units too havent you?
Edit2: I know the guy is not a forum member, but, this guy is a idiot saying that. He is explaining a overheating issue. Most likely involving where it is.

EDIT3: I just spent the last 30 minutes reading the Sony Forums about that problem. It seems to be a faulty chip. (processor or graphics chip)  If anyone here is experienced with microprocessors, they can get a high pitched scream to them sometimes. That batch, obviously had a bad chip in them. (I would put my money on CELL or RSX) Either way, it is 99% impossible to detect those problems in QA. I got a faulty GeForce5... and I almost cooked my entire computer because of the extreme heat it dumped into my case. And yes, it screamed too. So it was a faulty batch of chips.

The Wii actually gets warmer when it's turned off if you use the WiiConnect24 feature, since it turns off the fan completely, but still consumes some power to stay connected. Of course the Wii stays quiet, but it was designed for a different purpose than the 360 or PS3. It's easy to cool a system that uses only 10% of the wattage that the others use.

Anyway, if there's a faulty batch, the right thing for Sony to do is issue a recall for the corresponding serial number range.

HOLY MANGLED HTML TABLES, BATMAN!  Seriously, what's going on with this thread? 

Dude i have a PS3 and a Mini PS2 (silver)

that the Hardware was even near failing... this is why im becoming a Happy Sony customer    btw their HD screen are SICK.