I have a launch ps3 that still works, no problems yet. i put in a 250gb hard-drive though 60gb was a tad too small.

...on a side note i am only on my second 360 so i seem to have good luck with consoles not breaking too often

I've had mine since like Feb. 2006 with no issues.  The secret might be not playing it very much

The simplest way would be to use a shop vacuum or any sort of vacuum with a hose attachment for vacuuming corners/small spaces to vaccum out all the vents, particularly the rear vents which are the "exhaust ports" for the HSF. You can see the cooling element behind the vents. 

To give the console a thorough cleaning, you will have to disassemble the case by removing the cover and unscrewing the top panel (go online for instructions) which will give access to the internals of the PS3. In order to access the HSF, which is at the bottom of the casing, you have to pull all the internals out of the console (the whole assembly can be removed as one piece) at which point you'll be able to see just how much crud has actually accumulated on the fans and in the heatsink over the years. 

Replacing the TIM between the heatsinks and the CPU and GPU is a little bit more fiddly for anyone who hasn't ever assembled a PC or installed a CPU, but it is still a pretty simple task. Most will take the opportunity to apply better TIM than the factory paste, which in older consoles, has a high chance of being dried out. Everyone who's ever installed a CPU or built a PC has their opinions about "the best" TIM, so feel free to read about the sea of info about them and all the lab tests, but just about any quality TIM is better than factory and Arctic Silver 5 (AS5), which is relatively easy to find locally due to being the default "best" TIM from a few years ago, is fine. 

That must be the secret behind my "magic" Xbox 360. Zephyr model (1st revision) from Q3 2007. Loud as ever but never gave me a single problem. 

I've been saying to myself for a long time that I'd be glad to replace it with a new model when it finally gives me the RRoD, but I'll probably end up retiring the Xbox 360 before that ever happens. 

My CECH-H01 got knocked over (more like I knocked it over when I pulled on a controller that was still attached to the console) onto a carpet floor, less than 2 feet off the floor, while it was on naturally, but it still worked. Bullet dodged, or so I thought.

Maybe 6 months later (don't remember other than that it was less than a year) it went YLoD without the typical overheating warnings (high fan mode at idle) and when I disassembled it, the TIM was still wet, meaning the soldering break was probably from the impact rather than prolonged overheating from heavy use. 

It was my main PS3 for almost two years and it's been sitting in the original PS3 coffin that my refurbed CECH-A01 was delivered in for about a year now. Fixed it long enough to get my data and deactivate it but can't bring myself to part it out or dump it since it was one of the MGS4 Limited Edition gun metal grey consoles.

The first ps3 I had died sony sent me a refurbished one

the refurbished ps3 sony sent me died

the refurbished ps3 sony sent me to replace the poorly refurbished one died within 90 days and I had had hopes it was my PS3 the third

currently on my third refurbished one and so far so good that and I now have all my saves backed up so I'm happy.

As for the poll question it's a pretty clear no for me.

<_>

Thanks...

It is working, but got 3 YloD and was resurrected 3 times and now it sounds like a chopper and has ventilation add-on..... my PS3 is inmortal XD

Nope :( Died in January this year, but ended happy in Feb with a KZ3 160gb Slim Bundle :)

EDIT: I did fix it with the hair dryer, but boxed it up.

I bought an 80GB Fat PS3. Not first gen, but still one of the older models. It broke after a year and a half. Mind you I did buy it second hand. Currently borrowing my friends Slim PS3 to catch up on some exclusives, but sadly I won't have a PS3 at the time of Uncharted 3 since that's basically the only game franchise he plays now.