PS3 DVD and Blu-Ray question

[NavesRegge]

Because playing DVDs on the PS2 could wear out the machine, does the PS3 have the same problem? I've heard it to be a very good DVD/Blu-Ray player but I'm a bit skeptical about trying one out on it. I don't know whether or not it may harm the machine because of Sony's previous system having negative side effects from playing DVDs. So, I just want to know if playing DVDs and Blu-Rays on my PS3 is safe and will not harm the system in any way. Excuse my lack of knowledge. I'm too used to cartridges.

[Jesse813]

I haven't had any problems w/ mine from watching Blu-rays & DVDs and I don't know of or have heard of anyone who had any such problems.

[MN12BIRD]

The problem is that when an optical drive with moving parts is working... it's wearing out. Simple as that. Doesn't matter if it's a CD player, a DVD player, a PS3 or an XBox. The more you use it, the faster it wears out!

If you watch a lot of DVD movies and you have a $50 DVD player right there why use the $300 PS3 as a DVD player? I say wear out the drive that costs the least amount of money!

Think about it if you play 6hrs of video games a week that's probably about 4-5hrs of the optical drive working. The motor has to spin the disk, the laser has to seek. The motors and gears are wearing out.

Now lets say you watch a lot of movies. Say 4 a week. That's as much as 8 hrs of use on the optical drive.

You're wearing out the drive with more run time watching DVD movies than playing games. Something a cheap $50 DVD player can do.

It's not that the PS3 has problems. But it's an expensive player to watch DVD's on! That's all.

This is the same reason I would never watch DVD's on the PS2. I already had a DVD player and it was sitting right there! When I got a PS2 it was worth $200 while my several year old DVD player was then only worth $60. Once again what one should you put the wear time on?

If you don't have a Blu-Ray player fine, use the PS3. Just understand that it IS wear time. It's time the optical drives moving parts are working, it's time the power supply is on, it's time the Hard Drive and fan are running as it's time the processors are generating heat. It's wear time. These parts all have a limited life span. No matter what.

If you can accept that it's wear time and you still want to use it then use it. But once again if you already have a blu-ray player in the same room... I would use it instead.

[rift]

Watched massive amounts of dvd movies on my PS2 bought at launch and it lasted just fine all the way until I replaced it with a slim.

[runback22]

For the first couple of years, the only time my PS3 was ever turned on was to watch blu rays. I just sold my launch unit for a slim but I never had a problem with it. The PS3 almost seems like it was made to be a blu ray player first, then a gaming machine. Sony gambled with the PS3 and gave up some market share to make sure Blu Ray won the format war.

[Chilly Willy]

Remember that the PS3 uses a slot loader, and anyone who's bought a Mac (which normally uses slot loaders, too) can tell you the first thing to go on a slot loader is the eject motor. It starts out nearly flinging the disc across the room, but after a couple years of steady usage, it barely manages to get the disc out far enough that you can pull it out with your fingernails.