Fat PS2: Actually unreliable, or just a myth?

[Ack]

My PS2 is suffering from issues currently where it cannot read many types of discs, but I have not yet opened it to clean it. The thing is, I have gotten heavy use from it since getting it for Christmas around 2001 or so. It has survives multiple moves, and most recently suffered a six month stint in a basement before being moved.across state lines in a truck full of heavy objects...if it needs a rest, I would say it has earned it. Only my SNES has seen heavier use. I have had more ossues with PS2 controllers dying than I have with my fat console.

I hope a cleaning is all it needs, but if not, I will bury it under its favorite tree in the backyard along with its favorite ball and a rawhide bone.

[BurningDoom]

I've burned through 2 different fat models. They stopped reading certain game types. And I didn't use burned games, nor do I have kids, dogs, or drunken morons around to beat them up.

However my slimline model is still running like a champ.

So my experience tells me that they're unreliable.

[c0wb0y]

I've owned my Fat PS2 since late 2000. In maybe 2005 it started having issues reading blue and black discs. I read about adjusting the laser and that helped for a long time. I've had to readjust the same little dial maybe 2-3 times since then. I don't know how it gets out of alignment since I don't move the console much.

I also have an issue where it thinks the controllers are suddenly unplugged. Most games will pause with a message telling me to plug it back in. I think this is a ribbon cable/connector issue in the controller ports. But that issue comes and goes. It has not happened in a while now thankfully.

A good friend gave me his PS2 Slim in March. I love that thing just because it is so quiet compared to the fan on the Fat. (I have some hearing damage and background noises like fans make it very hard for me to hear/decipher other sounds.) And so far there have been no problems with the much newer Slim.

I'd like a XBOX360 slim for the same reason that they are less noisy. My original 360 sounds like a stinking hovercraft.

[Bikeage]

I've had two fat PS2's stop working after less than two years of adult owned well under what would be considered heavy use, but a guy I know has had the same one for at least eight years. Dude has a bunch of kids, moved several times, and a few years ago I can personally attest to accidentally tripped over the controller cord and caused the console to come crashing down from the entertainment center. Without him doing any adjustments at all, I asked, to this day it still works.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

For the 6 years I owned my original PS2, it worked like a champ. Sold it so I have no idea anymore. I like to think it's still chugging along.

That said, unless you want to use an HDD, you're better off getting a Slim. The lack of a fan, being tiny (and with the newer ones having built in power supplies) there's not much of a reason to go back. Hell, you can buy them brand new still for real low cheap!

[Ack]

As an addendum to my earlier post, I opened up my PS2 and conducted a cleaning session. Afterwards I conducted multiple tests, both with PS and PS2 games as well as memory cards of both types. It chugged a little on start up of the first game, Wild Arms, but after initial hiccups, it worked like a champ when I tested Dynasty Warriors 5, Oni, and Space Hulk. So keep your fingers crossed folks, but I believe my fat PS2 is still chugging along.

[Arbitern1]

Mine is 11 years old and still kicking. Survived countles falls from my entertainment vented due to kids and animals. The video port is tempermental though!

[LentFilms]

Notice from this thread that the most common problem that makes any PS2 keel over is its lens dying.
The fact that a fat PS2 can load games from an internal HDD, bypassing the lens altogether, makes that model the most reliable.

I got my fat PS2 used on Christmas of 2007. I used the drive to load games for 4 years and then decided to make the swap to HDD.

I've never had a single problem with the main unit for the entire 5 years that I've owned it. Let alone what the previous owner put it through.

[J T]

I'm only one person, but my PS2 has been running perfect for over a decade.

[gtmtnbiker]

So is the most common issue with the phat PS2 is the dirty lens, not that the laser is dead? I'll have to try to fix the one I have which has a "dead" laser. The other one works fine.