I do maintenance on my SEGA Genesis, and Dreamcast Systems, but, and game controllers... but... going inside the PS3? Nah, I don't think I'm ready for that. At least I can say nothing has ever broken while taking it apart I soldered the PS2's vibration back to the controller, so, it works now too... If it ever goes out of warranty (not sure if it has one) I may try if I have another PS3 or a backwards compatible PS(X) in the future.

The PS3 is a head scratcher for me.  I was able to put the hard drive in....but it seems more complex than a computer...i fix my computer all the time

I'd say it's mainly that all that stuff is packed into a small form factor. The video instructions I saw looked like the guy was peeling layer after layer off till he finally revealed the motherboard at the center.

Did you find a beating heart?

I cannot say for sure as I've never opened a PS3 that I know the history of, all the ones I've worked on have been owned by others.  I agree on the AS5 though, its one of those urban myths that people just keep on believing, it's been behind the times for at least 3 years now.

or hamsters running on a wheel lol...

If a fat ps3 is anything like a laptop, allow me to offer one word of advice. Do not stick a vacuum hose in it. I tried to clean my laptop like that. Long story short- the fan was quiet as heck because it was broken.

People keep saying that's how you clean the playstation...I wonder is there is anyone who has had there ps3 since the beginning and experienced no problems....

If it was a low use console, probably. By the same token, I haven't had any hardware issues with the Xbox due to low use.

FYI for anyone making the decision to re-apply TIM to the GPU/CPU; if you need to buy a syringe of paste and you want what's the most current, pass on AS5 and pass on MX-2 as well. If that's what's available or what you already have, no big deal; use it anyway. They both work fine and have been popular for a reason.

If not, MX-3 has been available since last year and will knock another 1-2 degrees off of MX-2. Same with Tuniq TX-3. Gelid GC Extreme similar. Shin-Etsu X23 also at the top; better than MX-3 after cured and generally only best with flat surfaces (ie. lapped). Coollaboratory Liquid Metal Pro is better under load than MX-3 but not for use with aluminum heat sinks like those used in the PS3, should only be applied to very flat or lapped surfaces, can't be removed without lapping, is conductive and generally not for the casual user. Liquid Metal Ultra should be available soon and will be easier to remove than Pro (paste rather than a liquid metal "paint"), possibly even compatible with aluminum heat sinks.

Incidentally, SCE supposedly uses Shin-Etsu TIM in the PS3, but no idea which of their compounds is used.

Whichever paste you use, just make sure its non electro-conductive.  I cannot express this point enough!