PS2s with reliable drives????

[JazzFunk]

You know how people talk about the original XBox, saying how the *Samsung* drive would play anything chucked at it, and the other variations came with inferior, unreliable drives, the Samsung was hardcore?? I've had the same PAL PS2 since the Gran Turismo 3 pack-in, and I've had to open the bast up and clean the laser at least 30 times, and even then, certain games refuse to load, 90% of the time (but tantalisingly do, 10% of the time). I chuck in my absolute mint Scarface: The World Is Yours tonight, it absolutely refuses to load, despite it having loaded every time previously, yet my slightly scratched Tony Hawk's Proving Ground fires up instantly.

Is there a 'perfect model' PS2, one with a truly robust and reliable drive, and if there is, is there a certain serial number for it?? Can anyone direct me to the perfect, PAL PS2????????????

I quite fancied getting a slimline PS2, assuming Sony had ironed out the multitudinous faults with the redesign, but the only knowledge I have of slim PS2s is the one I bought my brother for his marriage gift, which conked out a few months later due to a craply designed PSU unit connection (in exactly the same way as the Spectrum 48K+).

Please???

And am I best with a slimline, if I can find the 'best' one????????????????

[smouty]

I have a stack of about 20 fat PS2s all with failed lasers.
I just put a network adaptor in and a large HDD and use FreeMCBoot to load my games.
One downside is that PS1 games do not work but usually the CD side of the laser is still working so these can often be run in a dodgy drive.

[charlesr]

I've got a pal 50003 which is still going strong with any media I chuck at it.

[J0e Musashi]

Slims have weaker drives. SCPH-10000 has the best laser from my experience. However it's a JPN model. You could always adjust the DVD pot. As long as you don't go overboard your problems should be fixed.

[Chemical Boy]

I have a 30003 that has been hammered with many hours of gt3 and 4 and still goes on strong. Even plays cd games ok.

[samanosuke]

F*ck me sideways - are PS2s now considered retro?!?

Anyhoo, I second Daz's advice on the SCPH-10000 model. My old unit which has belonged to a friend of mine since I gave up modern gaming is still running fine. It sounds like a biplane taking off mind, but it runs any disc.

[BluntX]

I bought a black 50002 when the were first released (the last series of the old fat models) and it was a headache from day one. Apparently they had a wattage problem which affected the motherboard (revision v9) and resulted in the occasional crash or no boot. I had it modified for import play but it shorted the chip three times before I finally gave up.

However, the 50002 silver models, which used v11 revision motherboards, are in my experience the most reliable PS2's around and they are able to be equipped with a HDD to further save the life of your laser and improve load times. There may even be black consoles with the same internals but the silver one's just make them easier to spot. I've still got my original machine I bought back in 2002 set up, which has never missed a beat, and a couple of minty boxed silver 50002's that I got for next to nothing stored away if I ever need them.

[moonwhistle]

I've got a very early fat pal ps2 and it's still going strong despite me abusing the **** out of it with the swap magic discs. I have to wrench the cd tray open with the slide tool every time I play 3rd strike and that must add up to thousands of times by now. I even had to break the front of the cd tray off to get the slide card in. It's a really reliable old war horse.