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Buying a used PS2 any advice (fat, slim, black, silver..)


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I decided to pick up a PS2 since I was a Gamecube guy during this generation I know nothing about the PS2. I have been collecting games for PS1 lately and there are some awesome shooters and other games for that system so I am thinking not only could I play those games on the PS2 but since many PS2 games came out when I had a cube that I missed out on I could pick some of those up cheap too...

 

anyway which is the best model? I have narrowed it down to two. One is a silver ps2 slim "hardly used" with original box for 90 dollars. The other is a phat ps2 with 3 games (2 of which I might like Final Fantasy and Gran tourismo) a memory card a controller and it works perfect for 50 dollars. I wouldnt mind having the silver one with the box since I do collect video game stuff, but 50 dollars with all those extras sounds better since money is kinda tight right now. Am I being stupid? 50 dollars for a piece of crap doesn't save me any money. Anything I should watch out for or avoid? Any advice would be appreciated.

Edited by Warriorisabouttodie
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The fat PS2 is nice for two reasons: one, it has a physical off switch, perhaps not in the best of locations, but it can be turned completely off. Second, it can use the HDD, if that is a concern for you.

 

The slim is a hit-or-miss item. My GF had one that was super noisy, since the fan would never stop spinning, even when it was off. I cleaned all the dust out of it, gave it plently of ventilation, and still it continued. Others say that their units are silent. The slim is also more reliable over the long haul than the fattie.

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thirded on the fat, because of the internal hard drive. All you really need is a disc you can boot from and get to your hard disk games(and obviously a network card and IDE hard disk)--meaning that for about $100, you can put together a nicely modded ps2.

 

here's mine, which I modded what looks to be just over a year ago.

 

sure you could store games on a usb hard disk hooked to a slim--but usb drives are slower and the game movies will often skip. compatibility is also lower.

Edited by Reaperman
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The older 'fat' units tend to have flakier optical drives and louder fans, but like Reaperman said, the HD bay is nice to have if you ever decide to play around with Homebrew. Keep in mind that many of them are getting up in years and are nearing their end of life (the optical drive on mine failed last year).

 

I bought a used 'slim' last year for around $75 from Gamecrazy, so $90 seems high to me. Also, the brand new 'slims' have internal power supplies now, which is one less adapter to fool with if you've got multiple systems.

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The 'fat' ones are in my opinion better since you can add a hard-drive and even use some older cheat codes. (Pelicans for example)

Cheaper too.

 

I have two of the slims.

 

One of the newer "Batman" models that came with Batman and then a slightly older black slim.

 

The Batman model sucks. Feels cheap, the powerbutton is annoying to press and the older Logitech Wireless gamepads do not seem to work with it.

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get the fat system... but before you do make sure it doesnt have any problem playing cdrom games. several old fat machines have a problem playing CD games (PS1 or purple bottom PS2 games) but will play DVDs just fine.

 

the slim model would be a bit more reliable, but its not worth the 80% markup

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Get a PS1. If you're going to be playing PS1 games primarily, that is what I think you should get. Sure, you have backward compatibility for the games, but backward compatibility for third party controls just does not exist.

 

Which Final Fantasy and Gran Turismo are offered with the phat PS2? If those are both PS2 titles (FF ten through twelve, and Granturismo 3 or 4), then $50 is a good deal, but you should still have a PS1 handy for those PS1 games.

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Get a PS1. If you're going to be playing PS1 games primarily, that is what I think you should get. Sure, you have backward compatibility for the games, but backward compatibility for third party controls just does not exist.

 

Which Final Fantasy and Gran Turismo are offered with the phat PS2? If those are both PS2 titles (FF ten through twelve, and Granturismo 3 or 4), then $50 is a good deal, but you should still have a PS1 handy for those PS1 games.

 

 

I already have a PS1, but I was hoping to save some room by putting the PS1 in storage and setting the PS2 in its place since it is backwards compatible. I guess I am going with the PS2 phat model. The games included are: Final Fantasy XII, Gran Turismo 3, Fifa 08. The seller assures me they are complete and in good condition.

Edited by Warriorisabouttodie
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Didn't realize you had a PS1 already. If you keep access to it, you should be fine if you ever need to use a third party controller like the negCon.

 

$50 is a good deal, IMO, for the phat PS2 and the games you listed. Cancel all of your appointments for the next three months, send the wife and kids on a long vacation, stock up on foods that you can eat while driving, take leave from your job, and take a LOT of No-Doz. GT3 will keep you occupied for a while. :evil:

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I agree on the Free McBoot thing. I just set it up the other day and it is pretty nice how it will boot up without the need of a "boot" disk.

 

If you want to run stuff of a hard drive you'll need a phat.

If you don't mind modifying discs there is an app that can be used with Free McBoot that can boot backups of PS2 disks without having to swap.

 

If your interested in running backups you can use the above said method, or get a swap top (for the PS2) and Swap Magic.

PS1 backups can be run as well with a swap top.

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I ended up getting the phat model. It is one of the later phat models (5001 series) and so far it works excellent. I took a chance because I met the seller at Mcdonalds 1/2 way between where we live, but he seemed like a cool guy from our emails back and forth and once I met him face to face he was all like "listen Ive never tried a PS1 game on this, so if you have any problems just give me a call etc.." so I wasn't too worried, but I have had bad Craigslist experiences in the past. I'm not sure if the later phats are quieter than the earlier ones or what, but everything I read about them being noisy is not true of mine. I am really anal about noise and mine is whisper quiet, I hear nothing but the game disc spinning up and the console is 2 feet away from me most of the time when I play.

 

The only thing that kinda sucks is that it came with a non Sony controller. The controller is surprisingly pretty good. I'm not sure what model it is since all it has is a big O on the top where the SONY logo would be. For now it's okay, but I will probably buy a pseudo-Sony controller from deal extreme eventually just to be complete.

 

PS2 games are relatively cheap, at least some of them. Many of the classics are available for under 10 or even 5 dollars at Gamestop although it is a pain finding them with the original box and I had to break a pledge I made to myself after selling my Gamecube collection to never step foot in one of those places again... I have to admit now is the time to get some excellent deals on PS2 games at these stores. For now I am content collecting the ones I missed being a Gamecube user, but eventually I may mod the PS2 to play some of the more expensive/rare games I will never buy or whatever homebrew stuff is available, which I assume is not much. It's nice to know how easy it is to mod my model.

 

I appreciate all the advice. Is there someplace where I can find a beginners guide to explain the various options/benefits and necessary hard/soft ware for modding a PS2?

 

 

 

 

 

 

thanks again guys

Edited by Warriorisabouttodie
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I think my PS/2 its one of the few consoles I didn't modded. I like having the original games with the manuals and packaging. I played a couple of PS/1 games in my PS/2 and I know there's a couple that aren't backwards compatible, but I'm not too sure.

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If it requires a third party controller, it ain't gonna be backward compatible. The only exception to that ruel is in the GunCon. I think I've used the DAP's green mode with my PS2, but I don't remember. I may have played through Colony Wars on one of my PS1 consoles. If the green mode works, so should the flight stick.

Oh, yeah, I know what it was with the DAP--it doesn't rumble on PS2 games, and it won't rumble on some PS1 games. This might be due to programming, though--I know the console can, in fact, always run the force feedback if the DAP has it physically installed.

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Um guys...I have to make apologies here but I have a question which I know I should be able to find the answer to but can't seem to. I have a PS2 which I've been using Swapmagic on to boot my ... ahem ... PS2 game backups. If I install Free McBoot according to the tutorials on the websites listed above will I be able to boot my copies directly without the Swampmagic disc? Is that the purpose of Free McBoot? I'm sorry this question must seem painfully obvious to you guys but I want to make sure before I mess around with my system.

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Um guys...I have to make apologies here but I have a question which I know I should be able to find the answer to but can't seem to. I have a PS2 which I've been using Swapmagic on to boot my ... ahem ... PS2 game backups. If I install Free McBoot according to the tutorials on the websites listed above will I be able to boot my copies directly without the Swampmagic disc? Is that the purpose of Free McBoot? I'm sorry this question must seem painfully obvious to you guys but I want to make sure before I mess around with my system.

It's not a bad question, I was also wondering and felt too silly to ask it (I even tried reading the linked site's faq/tutorial).

I boot a hdloader from disc, and generally then use it to run a newer version of hdloader off my HD. could free mcboot have me booting directly to the one on my hard drive without spinning up the optical drive at all?

Edited by Reaperman
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FreeMcBoot allows you to access homebrew without having a "trigger" disc.

 

From the homebrew you can either run...

 

ulaunch - Pretty much a filebrowser/copier

 

esr - autoboot an ESR formatted PS2 game. Yes I know it is a pain to patch and reburn a disc. But it is worth it and you could always do it one game at a time (in other words as you play them).

 

Hdloader - run this without needing a "trigger" disc.

SMS - some type of media browser.

 

Anything else you wish (like emulators) or even PSX originals if you have a way to "swap out" discs. Although it does not look like PS2 emulators have improved much since I last played around with them.

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FreeMcBoot allows you to access homebrew without having a "trigger" disc.

 

From the homebrew you can either run...

 

esr - autoboot an ESR formatted PS2 game. Yes I know it is a pain to patch and reburn a disc. But it is worth it and you could always do it one game at a time (in other words as you play them).

 

Thanks for the kind responses ... not to be think but I'm not up on my terminology. Let me try and get this straight -- if I install Free McBoot on my PS2 via a USB stick and my copy of Swap Magic will I then be able to boot the backups I allready have (and have been running via SwapMagic) directly...in other words without using the SwapMagic disc....OR will I have to patch the games I allready have copies of? What does ESR formatted mean and how can I tell if my backups are ESR formatted?

 

Thanks for the information -- this is really great / interesting stuff!

 

EDIT: Also wondering, will installing Free McBoot wipe the files on my memory card? If so, I'd like to know, as I'll pick up a second card.

Edited by rorysl
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