Refurbished PS2's

[James]

I've been thinking of buying a refurbished PS2 old style with removable HD tray and network adapter from an EB. Does anyone here have any experience with one? I'd like to know if they will break in the same way that most old style PS2's do, ie. disc read errors? Any help is appreciated.

[drummy]

I've been thinking of buying a refurbished PS2 old style with removable HD tray and network adapter from an EB. Does anyone here have any experience with one? I'd like to know if they will break in the same way that most old style PS2's do, ie. disc read errors? Any help is appreciated.
Well, refurbished means that they were sent to the company and inspected by the Sony people and any errors were fixed, so you should be fine.

[Nez]

I've been thinking of buying a refurbished PS2 old style with removable HD tray and network adapter from an EB. Does anyone here have any experience with one? I'd like to know if they will break in the same way that most old style PS2's do, ie. disc read errors? Any help is appreciated.

Mine has been working just fine since 2003 and its an early moddel that has refurbished. It is showing its age like most ps2s out there however. Slower loading times and general hatred to all blue disc games.

[ProgrammingAce]

From what i've been told, EB doesn't actually send the systems back to sony, they check them out themselves. That means they wern't opened and cleaned out, just tested and maybe blown out with compressed air. As with all used systems, ymmv.

As for the durability, I have a pair of PS2 from a few months before the Japanese launch (they're PS2 dev kits). The DVD drives are identical to retail models, they're just older and they still play anything that you throw at them. On the other hand, i've had retail units almost explode on me after 4 months. All it takes is some TLC and some luck to keep a PS2 running... Although, this might be the one product that I recomend buying the extended warranty...

[stressboy]

Get a warranty if they offer it. My experience with refurbished hardware has never been very good.

[Austin]

Same here, especially with EB. I bought a "refurbished" xbox from them about a year back, but had to return it because it didn't work. The employee then told me that they never tested it in the first place.

[Rabid Peanut-Butter]

If you do get a refubished system, PLEASE make sure it is a SONY refurbished system and not a EB or GameStop refurbished system (you can tell from the box). The EB/GameStop refurbished systems are complete and utter crap. While I worked at a GameStop, 50% of the GameStop refurbishes were bad. To make matters worse, the seal is broken when GameStop refubishes them, and if you try to return it, you may run into trouble with employees claming the system had been opened and your warranty invalid. I'm currently using a system refurbished by Sony after my original one stopped recognizing my network adapter and it works like a champ.

[Tan]

i went through 2 refurb EB ps2's in one night, manager said on average 25% are like that when he gets them from HQ, for the price difference between a used one with a warranty and a brand new one, you'd might as well get a new one.

[Jibbajaba]

i went through 2 refurb EB ps2's in one night, manager said on average 25% are like that when he gets them from HQ, for the price difference between a used one with a warranty and a brand new one, you'd might as well get a new one.

New isn't really an option for the OP because he wants the older style with the HD bay. I agree with what everyone else here has said. Get a SONY refurb. Or just buy one locally off of CL or something and send it back to Sony yourself if you have problems. That may be the cheapest way to go.

Chris

[James]

If you do get a refubished system, PLEASE make sure it is a SONY refurbished system and not a EB or GameStop refurbished system (you can tell from the box). The EB/GameStop refurbished systems are complete and utter crap. While I worked at a GameStop, 50% of the GameStop refurbishes were bad. To make matters worse, the seal is broken when GameStop refubishes them, and if you try to return it, you may run into trouble with employees claming the system had been opened and your warranty invalid. I'm currently using a system refurbished by Sony after my original one stopped recognizing my network adapter and it works like a champ.

Where can I get a Sony Refurbished system for sure? How can I tell from the box?

Thanks for your advice everyone.

[omnedon]

It's all about who refurbished it, and how long they stand behind it (warranty).

I've had to repair numerous SONY refurbs (refurbed by a SONY licensed shop), and though they are usually decent, I've seen them send out stuff I sure as hell would not. Regular game store refurbs are usually jokes IMO. Bad news.

My repairs come with 90 day warranties. My refurbs come with ONE YEAR warranties. I can do this because only certian version PS2's qualify for me to be comfortable selling them as refurbs with 1 year warranties. In short I'm picky as hell. This means I don't have a lot at any one time.

Before anyone asks, I do not have any to sell right now. Almost all of OSG's one year warranteed PS2's go to local customers who trade in irreparable PS2's.

[Rabid Peanut-Butter]

If you do get a refubished system, PLEASE make sure it is a SONY refurbished system and not a EB or GameStop refurbished system (you can tell from the box). The EB/GameStop refurbished systems are complete and utter crap. While I worked at a GameStop, 50% of the GameStop refurbishes were bad. To make matters worse, the seal is broken when GameStop refubishes them, and if you try to return it, you may run into trouble with employees claming the system had been opened and your warranty invalid. I'm currently using a system refurbished by Sony after my original one stopped recognizing my network adapter and it works like a champ.

Where can I get a Sony Refurbished system for sure? How can I tell from the box?

Thanks for your advice everyone.

Well GameStop used to carry both, though I don't know if they still do. The Sony Refurbished systems come in a white box (about the size of an old blue PS2 box) with normal Sony looking stuff (model number, name of product, etc.) printed in BLUE ink on all sides. GameStop refurbished systems come in a white box (taller than an old blue PS2 box) with just a sticker on the side. Sometimes they won't be in a box, if that happens, you can bet it's a GameStop refurbished unit.

EDIT: Oh, and GameStop refurbished units usually have a small red sticker that says "refurbished" on a serial number that starts with GS.