I've still got my launch PS3, though I got mine off of ebay for £380 (with a game) instead of the £425 it cost in the shops. I was never going to pay that much for a console and still won't, which makes it all the more hilarious that Microsoft have not only gone for that price point for the Xbox One, but actually hired the guy responsible for the car crash that was the PS3 launch to do it for them. Anyways, the console still works fine, I've never had to replace it, though I have since upgraded to a 500GB superslim (which I bought for £170).

I'm intrigued by the story of someone doubling their money on launch PS3s when in my experience most retailers simply weren't able to shift them in the days after launch. In fact I can't recall a time at all- at least not here in Europe- when they were hard to find.