PS3's YLOD - What should I do?

My 2nd gen PS3 just gave me the light this morning, it might as well have been the finger. I was wondering what the Duders have done in the same situation, to help me make a decision.  
 
1 - Go get a new 160gig Slim for $299.99. I got credit at Sears; No interest for a year! 
2 - Send it to Sony for the $150.00 refurb/fix. 3 week wait, maybe longer cause the holidays. 
3 - Have it fixed locally for about $100.00. Dude said it would take 2 hours, 90 day guarantee only on the work he did. 
 
Keep in mind that my PS3 is my media center as well. No cable here, just Netflix, local channels and dubious downloads. I'm leaning towards just getting a new one, but any feedback and/or horror stories from you folks would be great. Thanks!

I say you either go for 1 or 2, 100 bucks for a fix is too much imo(especially considering it usually doesn't last long, it would probably fail you again after those 90 days), additionally you can try and fix it yourself with the huge amount of tutorial videos available on youtube.

Number 1. Get a 320 GB, even! 

I was going to get an xbox this Holiday, but this happened. I have like 30 PSN games and about 15 discs and I am not made of money. 
 
edit: plus my 20 blu-rays :P

If you are technically capable, meaning you have built computers or taking apart a laptop; try it yourself. Google the gliksy method.
 
Having it done local is another option, I did that and while it only worked for a month and then after re-repair another month; it allowed me to back up my save files. If you have a system with BC i'd say you should send it to Sony. After the 2nd failure of my 80GB MGS4 system, I sent it to Sony. Box came within 3 days, sent back and had it back within a week or so. I've been sort of stressing it out to see how long it will last again as they sent me a refurb; which is in great condition.
 
Someone in another similar thread was saying there self-fixed has been running well for 4 months now, if mine fails again im gonna do it myself this time around for the experience.
 
If you sell your busted PS3 you are likely only to get around 100 bucks at best.

You're in a painful situation with the holidays and having it as your only entertainment, what people usually do is turn it in for a refurb and sell that and use the money for a Slim :/

" You're in a painful situation with the holidays and having it as your only entertainment, what people usually do is turn it in for a refurb and sell that and use the money for a Slim :/ "

You are spending 180 to sell it for like 200 tops. Check out the prices of older model ps3s, they went down significantly due to YLOD being more of a known and prevalent thing.

" You are spending 180 to sell it for like 200 tops. Check out the prices of older model ps3s, they went down significantly due to YLOD being more of a known and prevalent thing. "

Only way to get the data off is using the PS3 backup utility. Even then everything won't get copied over to the new machine, I lost all my PS1/PS2 save files and only restored my PS3 saves. Trophys will be there if you synced often. If you have a buddy that fixes PCs he might be able to do the fix for your PS3, after its fixed backup and sell it off if you want.

Doesn't Sony have an extended varanty on YLOD?

I would say either 2 or 3. All depending what kind of warranty you have with Sony. If you don't have a warranty then avoid the extra $50 and have someone local fix it. At least they can give you a 90 day warranty. YLoD are pretty rare too. So if he fixes it right then it won't happen again.

YLOD aren't rare anymore; most 60gigs and 80gigs with software BS are prone to it. Especially if you use it fairly often. I had mine 6 inches from the wall and often dusted it and still got it. There is no extended warranty on it, my system was a little over 2 years old and they wanted the 180 for it. While it's not as bad as the RRoD, at least MS knew of their mistake and was giving extended warranty on it.

Throw it in the trash & get yourself a new Xbox 360.

$150 for a refurb/fix seems awful high, considering it shouldn't have broke in the first place.

send it into sony. it is the best thing that you can do.

Depends. is it also functional as a PS2? if so, #3. if not, #1.

$150 for a refurb is too much from sony. that refurb only has 90 days warranty. After that, if it breaks again, it's another $150 for another refurb. Plus you'll be forced to lose your data. Best to attempt a self-fix for roughly 40 bucks and self-labor. If a self-fix does not work, sony will still accept it despite having you opened it already (i called sony support). $150 will get you a refurb either way (attempted fix or not). The gilksy method worked wonders for my MGS4 fat 80gb as well as many others on youtube and the playstation forums. It's up to you if you're willing to watch the videos gilksy made and follow them exactly. He has a complete disassembly and repair guide via youtube as well as pdf file with pictures. 

my 60gb died 2 years ago then the replacment sony sent died a year after getting it.

 
  
if you have the extra cash go for a slim.    anything sony sends you or you get fixed has a higher chance of breaking later on so might aswell save yourself the bother if it breaks again. 
 
doesnt amazon have a buy a 160gb ps3 + free $75 credit thing going on?    jump on that if you can.   plus im sure theres other deals going on if you look. 
 

" $150 for a refurb/fix seems awful high, considering it shouldn't have broke in the first place. "

" Throw it in the trash & get yourself a new Xbox 360. "

This happened to me not to long  ago, had an 60 gig, if you can: get a new 160 gig slim and try to port your info over to it. I didn't back mine up so I lost all my game saves....

If it was me, I'd wait till after Christmas and try to pick one up on boxing day, or find a sale or something on a new one.

" This happened to me not to long  ago, had an 60 gig, if you can: get a new 160 gig slim and try to port your info over to it. I didn't back mine up so I lost all my game saves.... "

" If it was me, I'd wait till after Christmas and try to pick one up on boxing day, or find a sale or something on a new one. "

Use the money you spend on Netflix to rent BluRays from your local video store. Use the savings to pay for a new PS3.