So the 60GB model I bought on craigslist last month has the YLOD. I'm getting to be pretty annoyed about the problems with that model, and I was about half way through Valkyria Chronicles. I don't think I can trust even a Sony refurbished unit, so I'm considering getting the slim model instead, but I'd still be pretty bothered by its lack of PS2 support (much nicer size and power consumption though). I also don't really want to have to redo both the games I was in the middle of playing because of a loss of save data. I may try to take drastic measures to try to get the old system running temporarily. Hopefully long enough to backup the saves. Anyone have stories about their system breaking down and if and by what method you've had success of getting it to work again?

sorry to hear that dude, my ps3 just got disc read error right after i put mw2 in, i didnt even get to play it :( , check youtube there are some good videos on there, but beware there are lots of shitty non helpful viideos

I'm sorry...

Oh, you already removed your PS3 badge!

Don't give up, buy a Slim PS3.

Here you go bud:
http://playstationlifestyle.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2376

Sorry to hear it, but it certainly is a bit risky to buy a 3-year old used console from someone you don't know; who knows how they treated the system. The yellow light just means general error, it could be all sorts of things; broken hdd, broken psu or bad connection of some of the chips (which can be solved by applying new heat paste and reflowing the cpu chips with a heat gun, search youtube for a guide).

Yeah, I don't have a heat gun to do the good YLOD fix. I could try the bake in the oven method and hope that it works long enough to get the saves.

sorry about that. I have been concerned about the 60 gig model (I own one) luckily I haven't had any problems with mine. knock on wood.

The oven method is only a temp fix, and not a good idea in my opinion. From what I've read, the heat gun fix is a more permament solution. Cheap heat guns can be bought for as little as 20 bucks; maybe it's worth it?

And I actually went over to the guys house a couple of times before I actually bought it from him. Looked like a relatively clean place with the PS3 in a nicely ventilated position, but he could have mistreated it. I also have been cleaning out the dust every half week or so and tried to check the air coming out periodically to try to make sure it wasn't too hot. It was a little amusing. I had just stopped playing a several hours session of gaming and went to the Playstation store looking at PSOne Classics and that's when it went down.

That sucks...
My 60GB was getting really hot and loud as soon as I turned it on. Solution?
Buy a slim