It is legal to use a bios you have extracted, just as it is legal to use a rom/iso you have extracted. That isn't legally grey except in countries that don't follow this policy. In the U.S - at least - it is legal. For this reason, Sony hasn't ordered the emulator to be taken down. That isn't grey at all. It is illegal to use a bios that you have not extracted, just as it is illegal to use a rom you have not extracted. Ethically, however, it doesn't bother me to use a bios that has not been extracted by myself, but it does bother me to pirate games without a justified reason (i.e wasn't localized, not in print/purchasable,etc, etc.) I bought a PS2, I bought all of my games. Sony can't ask for much more than that. 

There are so many non "dodgy" sites where you can get a bios, and it literally takes seconds. If the overwhelming majority of other users can do this with no problem, I really can't see your irrational fear as legitimate. Nevertheless, for most people you must realize this isn't an issue. If it is for you, so be it. Your values are prioritized quite differently.  

Or you could play it on whatever platform you want to.

I don't have most of my discs with me ( they are with my mother whom I don't live with), but the iso's on my hard drive were extracted from my discs years ago, so they are my "property" as recognized by U.S law. That is the point of ripping ISO's off a disc being legal, in case you lose the disc you still have a copy. No piracy necessary, and nothing illegal about it. 

What is immoral about it? That was my whole argument. There is no change in utility for Sony, and a positive change in utility for the person downloading the bios. 

As for laziness, as I mentioned, it takes seconds to find and download a bios. The file is a few megabytes. 

Assuming somebody has a working PS2 around. Assuming somebody has an ancient CRT around. Assuming somebody wants to pay extra on their electricity bill because they are using a CRT. Assuming somebody doesn't care about the resolution they play at. Assuming (falsely) somebody can't just pop the disc in and play it from their DVD drive on their PCSX2 emulator. Assuming somebody wants a PS2 laying around in addition to their other, newer, video game platforms. 

If people were content with and if it were "simple" to just use a PS2 then nobody would want backwards compatibility. Your premise is flawed and not based on reality. 

Dude, can you give some tips on how to configure best for better graphics? You clearly has sorted this out from your screens.

This is so surreal we now have m$ biased gaming media not only telling us what we should buy but also directly advocating copyright infringement.

Its like the twilight zone, where is their articles about "dont buy" xbox one 'exclusives' when you could just wait for them to come out on PC and "download" them in order to play them for 'free'.

In many countries there is no way for you to legally play PS2 games on anything other than a PS2 console or a product licensed by sony to play ps2 discs.

And since PC Gamer's main audience is the United States they are directly encouraging people to break the DMCA among other laws but only for sony products.

Where are their articles directly advocating copyright infringement for Nintendo or Microsoft products or is it only 'OK' to steal from Sony.

There is no way to do any of this legally:

• You cant use any software or hardware device that direclty enables copyright infringement. In fact in most countries it is illegal to even possess such software. The PS2 emulator would have to be incapable of playing any non-origional PS2 game. I.E. no ISOs no backups.
• And the emulator cannot function without the sony developed PS2 bios. This makes it illegal everyday of the week. No you cannot dump the PS2 bios over LAN that is illegal as it requires tools that violate copyright protection schemes. You would have to somehow remove the bios chip from the console and then use very expensive hardware to dump it.

You obviously dont understand anything that you are talking about. Piracy == Copyright infringement. Piracy is what this thread is about. You cannot legally play PS2 games on your PC. In doing so you are committing copyright infringement AKA piracy.

Depends on the game mostly. 

Here is a guide on how to preconfigure each game separately. Basically you can look up a thread for a game of your liking and you'll find tips for maximizing performance. Then save this as a preconfiguration. This will take 10-20 minutes after you've done it a few times. 

http://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-Auto-Boot-and-Pre-Configure-Games-Separately

As for visuals, I think some of those screens are using sweetfx, and here is a guide for that. 

http://wiki.pcsx2.net/index.php/External_shaders

You can also download presets made by the community. 

http://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-Custom-Shaders-for-GSdx

Actually you don't know what you are talking about. It is perfectly legal to backup games that you've purchased as long as there is no DRM. It is also legal to use said backup in the event you cannot use the original. It is not legal to distribute that backup. Nevertheless, you don't even need to backup the game to play it on PCSX2. You can just play off the disc. Please cite the U.S law that says otherwise. 

http://info.legalzoom.com/dmca-backup-copyrighted-content-22827.html

What the DMCA does, through DRM, is make the circumvention illegal, not the actual copying. So, now, even if you own your DVD and are trying to make a personal copy for when, not if, your children scratch the original, or you want to make a copy to watch on your computer, it is illegal to bypass DRM protection measures to make your backup. Circumvention means avoiding, bypassing, removing, deactivating or impairing a technological measure without permission from the copyright owner. This includes bypassing iTunes DRM to copy the music files you bought or using software to break DRM locks to copy DVDs.

See Nintendo on this matter:

https://www.nintendo.com/corp/legal.jsp#download_rom

There is a good deal of misinformation on the Internet regarding the backup/archival copy exception. It is not a "second copy" rule and is often mistakenly cited for the proposition that if you have one lawful copy of a copyrighted work, you are entitled to have a second copy of the copyrighted work even if that second copy is an infringing copy. The backup/archival copy exception is a very narrow limitation relating to a copy being made by the rightful owner of an authentic game to ensure he or she has one in the event of damage or destruction of the authentic. Therefore, whether you have an authentic game or not, or whether you have possession of a Nintendo ROM for a limited amount of time, i.e. 24 hours, it is illegal to download and play a Nintendo ROM from the Internet.

Interesting read but doesnt make it PC gaming irrelevant if console emulation is so effective? if i can play my PS4 purchases in higher resolution and higher framerate 10 years from now?
anyways it shows why i keep going physical it will benifit me in the long run, maybe i should try ps2 again on my pc. Is ther a way to use my ps3 memorycard adapter?