So recently (the night before the Red Dead TNT to be precise) my original launch PS3 suffered the second critical fault of it's long and fruitful life. Yes I was a victim of the lesser known acronym, the YLOD. 
 
Given my PS3 is a part of the original generation of consoles for most this would have meant the scrap heap or cracking it open for some DIY repairs. I was fortunate enough however to have got a dirt cheap rate on a 5 year extended warranty on purchase and since this is my second major repair job (the first was a faulty BR drive a year ago) the thing has paid itself off many times over by now.
 
Finding myself facing a second catastrophic fault with my beloved console in little over a year presented me with a dilemma however. Should I make another claim under my warranty or should I sell the PS3, warranty inclusive, and use the funds to purchase a new slim model? Perhaps I might have even been left with enough to purchase an extra game because of the premium these backwards compatible models seem to attract these days. Initially this seemed like a great idea and I was looking up comparable auction listings in no time. Soon enough though I got to thinking, do I really want to sell a console which might become a part of gaming history? Sure the launch models are far more error prone than the shiny new one I could have purchased but perhaps that was a blessing in disguise. With the user base of newer, gimped (I hesitate to use that term but it is sort of appropriate) PS3s growing by the day and more of the original models finding their way into the junk yard maybe the small premium I could earn on it today could grow to a much larger one in half a decade's time? Heck I might even develop a sense of honour or nostalgia through having one of the original consoles to roll off the production line.
 
Who knows whether the old girl will be worth any more in the long run or if the premium I could currently earn will just evaporate with the release of the PS4. Either way the opportunity to have a potentially unique piece of gaming memorabilia was too tempting to pass up (I'm still immensely fond of my big brick original gameboy) and so I wait for what will probably be 3 weeks before I can finally get Red Dead out of that effing Blu-ray drive...

So recently (the night before the Red Dead TNT to be precise) my original launch PS3 suffered the second critical fault of it's long and fruitful life. Yes I was a victim of the lesser known acronym, the YLOD. 
 
Given my PS3 is a part of the original generation of consoles for most this would have meant the scrap heap or cracking it open for some DIY repairs. I was fortunate enough however to have got a dirt cheap rate on a 5 year extended warranty on purchase and since this is my second major repair job (the first was a faulty BR drive a year ago) the thing has paid itself off many times over by now.
 
Finding myself facing a second catastrophic fault with my beloved console in little over a year presented me with a dilemma however. Should I make another claim under my warranty or should I sell the PS3, warranty inclusive, and use the funds to purchase a new slim model? Perhaps I might have even been left with enough to purchase an extra game because of the premium these backwards compatible models seem to attract these days. Initially this seemed like a great idea and I was looking up comparable auction listings in no time. Soon enough though I got to thinking, do I really want to sell a console which might become a part of gaming history? Sure the launch models are far more error prone than the shiny new one I could have purchased but perhaps that was a blessing in disguise. With the user base of newer, gimped (I hesitate to use that term but it is sort of appropriate) PS3s growing by the day and more of the original models finding their way into the junk yard maybe the small premium I could earn on it today could grow to a much larger one in half a decade's time? Heck I might even develop a sense of honour or nostalgia through having one of the original consoles to roll off the production line.
 
Who knows whether the old girl will be worth any more in the long run or if the premium I could currently earn will just evaporate with the release of the PS4. Either way the opportunity to have a potentially unique piece of gaming memorabilia was too tempting to pass up (I'm still immensely fond of my big brick original gameboy) and so I wait for what will probably be 3 weeks before I can finally get Red Dead out of that effing Blu-ray drive...

Collectors items, no. But apparently there are still people who want to play PS2 games without actually hooking up a PS2. Have you checked out the prices of 1st generation PS3's on Ebay? I was thinking about buying a PS3 so I checked it out, they're insane.

 The deal is that the old ps3 could upscale and smooth ps2 games, some of them look actually a lot better so maybe you should keep the old ps3 just to play ps2 games and get the ps3 slim for blu-ray and current gen games. I hope that Sony will stop selling ps2s at some moment and release a new firmware so all phats and slims gain the retrocompatibility along with the upscaling.

yeah i fall into the category of launch consoles (in fact my ps3 says its number 985). Luckily (knock on wood) i haven't had any problems with it which i am pretty proud of. Good luck?

" Collectors items, no. But apparently there are still people who want to play PS2 games without actually hooking up a PS2. Have you checked out the prices of 1st generation PS3's on Ebay? I was thinking about buying a PS3 so I checked it out, they're insane. "

" @TooWalrus said:

" Collectors items, no. But apparently there are still people who want to play PS2 games without actually hooking up a PS2. Have you checked out the prices of 1st generation PS3's on Ebay? I was thinking about buying a PS3 so I checked it out, they're insane. "

It is safer to get a ps2, just because the bc psthirds have a higher chance of ylod, just get a new ps3 "

Mine went as well on thursday night, second time, this was the replacement model... 
arse with a slice of cheese,

I hear they go for a lot on ebay but they will not be collectibles or anything. I am thinking about buying a new PS2 though so I don't have to rely on my PS3 to play my old games. 

I've still got a working PS2 original having fixed the laser assembly once already. My only real reason for keeping the PS3 with backwards compatibility is convenience both for not having to hook up another console and also having all my saves in one place. Funnily enough that was the first thing that struck me when I got the PS3, even more than the graphics. I just thought "finally I don't need memory cards anymore!"

Not just for collectors: I am not buying a PS3 until I can obtain one that is backwards compatible.

I have a BC 60GB that still operates just fine.  I don't think it will be a collector's item though, but I like it :)   
 
I say wait until the Holidays at least.  If you still want to sell it then, it will probably fetch much more than if you were going to sell it now.

I grabbed a 60gb the second I heard they were being price dropped, discontinued, and downgraded. Maybe I should have grabbed two, or three?
I figure this PS3 will last me, seeing my PS2 original(bought in 2001) was still running fine when I got rid of it in 2007.