argh im so sad right now, so i need a USB to USB cable to get my stuff of, what happens if it won't turn back on after using a fan? my stuff is gone? :O also also how do i get LBP2 out? NOOOO

Just youtube YLOD fix and make sure you have some thermal paste a heat gun not a hair dryer and some small screw drivers. The whole fix should take around an hour and should buy you another 3 to 6 months out of your PS3 before you need to reapply the paste. I would recommend re-applying the paste every 3 months to protect your systems power supply which can burn out with over heating. Thermal paste can be found at any computer repair store for less than 10 bucks. Don't give up on your PS3.

wait really?hahaha

People make a big deal about 360 and rrod....but just about every ps3 owner i know including me has had the ylod.

If your PS3 is one of the older models with backwards compatibility you can send it in to Sony and for $99 they will keep it and send you a Slim in return.

If you have one of these models you should look into whether or not SCEE provides this service.

Yeah, RROD looks so much better than the YLOD, a whole ring of flashing lights vs a small flashing LED, it's a no brainer.

I have lots of friends at school who have PS3's, about 5 of them have slims and the other 5 have fats. None of them have had the YLOD or suffered from any hardware fault, apart from my best friend Robert, who has had the YLOD twice, a hard drive fault, and a Blu-Ray drive fault, all on 40gb PS3's.

Some of my friends who have 360's have had the RROD, but not multiple times or anything, out of about 6 of them, 3 of them have had the RROD and that was quite a few years ago now.

Maybe I just have lucky friends...apart from Robert.

Anyway, that is the YLOD, it's fairly common, it's basically the same as the RROD, the PS3 becomes too hot and eventually the motherboard, or a component, gives up. It's expensive to fix, you're better off getting a slim.

As for transfering save data, a USB to USB cable won't work as the PS3 will physically need to turn on. Either take the hard drive out of the old PS3 and put it in the new one, or take it out and place it into a HDD docking station (might not work).

If it doesnt turn back on, LBP2 is stuck...I dont know how you can get it out. Also, if it doesnt turn on a USB to USB wont do anything, however, all your data is on the harddrive, which is removable and transferrable to a new PS3.

I've never met anyone with the issue, nor myself.

Real actual facts are that RROD affected over 30% of all 360s, until MS actually fixed the design. YLOD affected less than 10% of PS3s, while still a little high, its still closer to normal defect rates.

Only Wii can actually claim to be at or below industry norms for defect rates.

Now, buying either a PS360 now, with their smaller and lower heat generating variants, you'll likely have zero issues as they are clearly in the same boat as Wii.

OT: Do the cheap fix as shown above, back up all your data to the new dropbox feature, and make a choice... hold out for the 2013 launch of PS4 while repairing yoru PS3 a few times and get yourself the Vita OR just put money towards a PS3 now and not get the Vita all.

If it were me with your preference for Playstation, I'd fix it (potentially a few times over the next 1-2yrs) and buy a Vita all the while knowing a likely backwards compatible PS4 will be out in 2013.

it isn't dead!

...just don't use it any more

I'm not sure about this theory, but what about putting the PS3 hard drive into a HDD docking station? Will it recognise it as an external hard drive?