Being the loving and attentive wife I am, I got my husband what he wanted for Father’s Day…a Playstation 2. The salesperson at Best Buy urged me to get the two year extended warrantee, but when I got to the counter I decided against it…then the cashier told me I needed to get it, especially if I used the PS2 to watch DVD’s. She said it would wear out the disc player in about a year. I told her that didn’t say much for their product, since PS2 was designed for both games and watching DVD’s.
Does anyone else have a PS2, and have you experienced any problems with heavy game/DVD use? I have 30 days to get this warrantee, so I have a little time to decide. Is it worth it?
I didn’t get one when I picked up my PS2 for Christmas, because I reflexively turn down all offers to spend even more money at the counter.
I’ve heard electronics stores try to sell extended warranties for DVD players using the same line, and I’m inclined to think they’re just trying to get a commision. I’ve had my normal DVD player for about a year, and it still works great after heavy use, and it’s only a $130 model.
The PS2 has received even more attention. I’ve played it almost non-stop since the holidays and it’s still working like the day I brought it home.
I also find it suspect that he mentioned that you need the warranty “especially if you watch DVDs”. What’s the difference between that and playing a game?
I personally think it’s BS, but I’m sure someone more technical with this stuff can tell you more.
My husband bought the PS2 with a warrant on it…we never needed it…but he tihnks of the PS2 as his baby and nothing is too good for it. We’ve had our PS2 for over 2 years now, and never had a single problem with it. Actually, we did once, but we blew the dust out of it and it was fine.
Best Buy makes it’s money on the warranties and on the small items. (For example, a camcorder is sold just above cost, the tapes, batteries, accessories are all heavily marked up.) THey’re going to tell you you need one because they need to sell one.
Yes, I had to buy the memory card and of course the DVD remote control is extra as well. I told hubby he could get the DVD remote control…I had to save some money for groceries!!
Never buy those warranties, at least not on the low-priced items. Consider, for one thing, that if an electronic device is going to fail, it will almost always fail within the first few months of operation, not a year down the line. So, the manufacturer’s warranty is usually plenty long enough to cover you in event of shoddy merchandise.
Consider also that a PS2 sells today for $199. How much did they want for the extended warranty? If your PS2 breaks two years from now, it’ll probably cost $150 or less to buy a new unit as a replacement, since the price will drop as PS2s get older. For that, you’d get a brand-new PS2, and you wouldn’t have to go through Best Buy’s repair center nightmares.
I bought the repair deal on the PS2, and felt like a chump for doing it, but I’d just recently gotten my Playstation stolen, which was fairly mortifying for me, and a meaningless measure of security sounded good to me. But I did personally know a guy who ran into the famous DVD playback problem.
I know damn well that if I ever actually need to cash in my guarantee, that’ll be a mortifying experience, too. I had to take a VCR back to Best Buy four times before I just gave up. At one point they had lost it. After only a couple of years, it turned out to be far less obnoxious to buy a new VCR for only twice what the guarantee had cost to begin with.
But don’t you be a chump. Just risk having to buy a new one, is my advice.
It’s apparently not famous enough. What exactly is supposed to happen?
And in BB’s defense, they have the cheapest brick and mortar store price I’ve ever seen on a PS2 memory card. About $22.50 as opposed to $25 elsewhere. Nothing to take your pants off for but, eh, it’s something.
Employees at Best Buy don’t work on commission (although they are heavily encouraged to push warranties).
When you play a game, the laser checks the disc every few seconds to get an information update to throw into the consol’s RAM. When you play a DVD, the laser checks the disc constantly, which obviously results in wear much faster.
Well, it’s pretty much a myth NOW. The poor DVD playing flaw was supposedly in the very first wave of PS2’s to hit the shelves a year and a half ago… it’s been corrected (pretty much) by now.
I was wondering something along the same lines the other day. As newer equipment gets cheaper, does Sony upgrade the parts in its consoles simply because it’s cheaper to do so that use the parts it originally launched the console with?
Since I made that as confusing as possible, let me give an example. Say for instance it uses a 733Mhz processor that Sony pays $10 for. A year later the 733Mhz CPU still sells for $10 but a 1Ghz processor is only $5. Do they upgrade?
I can see inherent problems with upgrading the processor, but what about cd-roms and such?
As far as I know, in traditional consoles they might use cheaper or more reliable
parts - however sony and such would proberly never upgrade the cpu to a faster one as it would/could affect the games (and not always in a good way).
One of the great things about a console is that they are all pretty much the same, as compared to a PC where one could have enough power to run a game while another doesn’t.
The original playstation had a double speed cd drive for all it’s life despite much faster ones where avalible.
I’m not sure about processors and the like but I do know that Sony did assemble later Playstations with cheaper parts- the original PS had AV outs on it so you could use standard AV cable. They later switched to the cheaper proprietary plug.
Just thought I would mention that two of my friends who have PS2s can’t use them completely. One won’t work at all… all it ever says is “disc read error” and that’s it. The other won’t play anything that isn’t a DVD… including games! IOW, no PS1 games at all. I didn’t ask if any PS2 games were DVD games or if they were still all on CD.
The one’s who PS2 is out completely… this is his third playstation2 since release day in the US. They have all done the same thing.
I am inclined to think it has something to do with cat hair and cigarette smoke, but that doesn’t explain the other friend who neither smokes nor has pets.
I saw a site yesterday that showed pictures of a PS2 that had been brought in for repairs. It was full of cat hair. They stated that cat hair, dust, and cigarette smoke were big enemies of the PS2.
I am considering buying one next week but keep going back and forth. I’ve heard from equal numbers that either they have no problems whatsoever with playing any DVD’s or that they have constant problems. I know two people that actually own them. One states that it only plays about 50% of the DVD’s they try, the other says they all play fine although his has been in the shop 3 times since purchase. I have also heard that if you use anything other than Sony controllers, memory cards, or cables, you void the warranty.
This is true for all console systems. It is not a big deal though. Its not like the repair guy is going to grill you about what you’ve plugged into your system and they can’t tell just by looking at them.
Usually these consoles are pretty sturdy. My original Playstation still works great, and I’ve had it for a few years, prone to dust and what not. Just be careful of what you put around your Playstation 2.
Extended warrities are IMO scams – if a consumer electronic device has a defect, it will manifest itself before the initial 90 days are up. Best Buy pushes the extended warranty because it’s pure profit to them, just like how McDonalds will sell you a super-size Coke for $1.60 when it costs them $0.40.
As for PlayStation 2 problems, I hear that they tend to show up if you keep the unit standing vertical.
FWIW, mine’s vertical, always has been, and still works fine after a year and a half or so.
As far as Sony upgrading their Playstation hardware as time goes on, I know that the first few waves of Playstations sold with 2x CD-ROM drives and that the later waves had 4x drives or faster.
My credit card has its very own warrentee program. I don’t know about most of you, but my CC web
site has much cheaper warrentees than any store can offer. Plus they offer online
registration of the product guarantee & I think they double the manf warrentee.
Its a Visa card, check it out, visa.com I bet Blue has the same programs. Great idea.