At the worst possible time of year too! My 360 is on the verge of death too. I have to stick a clotheshaner inside of it and wiggle it around to get the disc drive to work. It's just a matter of time before my quick fix fails. At least (like me) you have a secondary gaming option!

I never run folding for long periods with my 60GB. I'm waiting on a slimline before I do any 24/7 folding. That being said, the new 80GB models are 65nm CPU/65nm GPU are extremely cool running.

I would wager it'll be a good year before a cooler PS3 comes out, and it very well may be a 45/45 or 45/55 slimline.

I would score a 80GB PS3, since there's a new slimline PS2 available now (with integrated powerbrick + super low wattage), if your old one dies. I would sell the broken PS3 to someone willing to get it refurbished... 60GB models are rare, and it probably won't be hard to ebay it for a good $100 USD or more.

I don't throw things out when it comes to electronics. If it's something that still works, it's stored. If for any reason I decide to get rid of it, working or not, there are e-waste facilities that recycle components.

If I had thrown out/recycled/sold my PS2 for $20 or whatever the trade in value is, I'd be buying another one in the near future, so it's good that I kept it. It still works. First general rule of any media platform being: have a back up working player. 

A broken PS3 could be sold on Ebay, dismantled and sold as parts, or... kept and used for spare parts or sent in for refurbishing. As long as the service department can fix or replace it, it's still worth more than the handful of cash it would fetch as parts or as a broken console.

Plus, there's always the option of fixing it myself. I've brought back laptops from the dead, and the PS3 is no different. If it's the PSU or MoBo, there are parts on Ebay for those who know how to dismantle and rebuild hardware.

Yeah; I can always play some Gears 2. It's just too bad I was just getting into R2. And when RB2 arrives, then I'm really going to want a working PS3 considering all the tracks I have on HDD.

And of course there's always the PC as soon as I get that new copy of VistaX64 in the mail. My ability to fool my OEM copy of Vista X86 into thinking it was running on the same MoBo no longer works and I've been running XP Pro since, but I don't feel like reloading all those games on an operating system that ironically no longer fully supports all my peripherals (XP that is, not Vista).

Chances are they they'll send it back. I've already had my PS3 break and fixed.

Sony call center no thanks, their annoying . My brothers PSP, bottom buttons stopped working, I called them to see what they can do. They offered to fix it for 65 pound. I swore under my breath the operator thought I swore at her, she warned me so I swore at her (not my proudest moment).

Fortunately my brother bought insurance that lasts for two years.

Morale of story buy insurance, it will be worth it in the end. Sony and microsoft seemed to make fragile products.

My 60gb ps3 died the exact same way lol. I recommend you send it to sony. mine was out of warranty too and it seems they couldn't fix it so they sent me a brand new 60gb, yes 60gb for the $150 repair charge. That's a lot better than getting a new 80gb.

The whole process took over 3 weeks but you could put your 360 to good use in the meantime. I, on the other hand, was miserable for 3 weeks lol.

When dealing with customer service reps, civility and tact will always work better than acting irate and confrontational.

Figure it's their job to listen to everything from hysterical, upset and just plain inept users ("Did you plug the console into the wall jack? Okay, try plugging the console into the wall before turning it on.") so speaking to them like they're there to help is generally the best policy and will most likely be much appreciated.

My call confirmed what I had already assessed myself: green, yellow, green, blinking red w/ 3 beeps indicates hardware failure due to damage. It's a general signal (like the RRoD) that doesn't specify mobo, PSU, etc. failure/damage.

The rep pretty much said straight out that determining that information was beyond what they were trained to do. No point really since it's not a user serviceable failure and the blinking read light simply means: console is dead.

But he did give me the assurance that whatever model you send to factory is what you will receive within 7-10 days, hence the refurb unit, eliminating repair hang time. Works for me. New, clean casing, no internal dust (had to resist the urge to pull mine apart to properly clean it out after almost 2 years), same hardware, different serial number.

I'm not shipping it off immediately since I already ordered a replacement (40GB MGS4 LE model). It will run quieter and use less power at the loss of PS2 BC (which I am now realizing I've been using quite often), and a couple USB ports (which I use), but at least it looks kind of cool.

When I finally send my 60GB unit off to be repaired, it will simply become a back up unit to use rather than pull the old PS2 out of storage. As much as I liked it, there's no denying it's a power hog, which would matter less if mine wasn't on all the time.

So I'll have a new PS3 up and running in a week tops. I can always play Gears 2 on the 360 or L4D or TR Underworld on the PC in the meantime.

If I get an RRoD while playing Gears 2, I will start laughing.

THIS^^^^

try starting up the PS3 without the hard drive/take it out and try starting it up