PS3 manual details HDD, battery replacement
by Christopher Grant 
{ Nov 11th 2006 at 8:00PM }
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We're really not sure if Sony was being serious when they said they'd be willing to replace the lithium-ion batteries in the PlayStation 3's Sixaxis controller if and when they stop holding their charge, but their "Safety and Support" manual (included in the retail box) seems to indicate otherwise. On pages 18 and 19, they detail how to remove the battery before disposing of the controller. Sure, they're not telling you it's cool to replace it yourself but follow those steps in reverse with a new battery, and you've got yourself a revitalized Sixaxis.
What they are telling you how to remove and replace is the console's hard disk. Follow a handful of instructions and you can replace that anemic 60GB drive with a whopping 200GB monster ... all without voiding that warranty!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
schuyler @ Nov 11th 2006 8:07PM
so... does that mean you can hook up a regular computer hard drive to it or does it have to be a ps2 hard drive.
killr0y @ Nov 12th 2006 5:11AM
Funny article on Kotaku about how there were nothing but Chinese people at the PS3 launch.. nobody bought games and the machines are going straight on to eBay.. Perhaps they'll upgrade the hard drives first?
anonymous @ Nov 11th 2006 8:12PM
@schuyler
Any regular computer hard drive should work :)
Probably has a certain thingy like IDE or SATA although im unsure of which
Eric Von Shpeel @ Nov 11th 2006 8:12PM
it is ANY 2.5" SATA hard drive. Laptop HD's are 2.5" and PC HD's are 3.5"
InnerLogic @ Nov 11th 2006 8:12PM
#1. The hard drive is standards compliant, any laptop (as far as i know) should work just fine.
ashram @ Nov 11th 2006 8:21PM
well, think of this possibility...
1 500GB hd, external sata enclosure, and sata/power cables out the side of the ps3 into the enclosure. it should work fine, and give you a HUGE increase in space.
Jose @ Nov 11th 2006 8:28PM
PG. 3
Serial ATA not Parallel
2.5"
Most HDDs should work, although not guaranteed.
Marty @ Nov 11th 2006 8:56PM
Sounds great - add another $100-200 for your larger hard drive. Heh.
dan @ Nov 11th 2006 8:52PM
hmmm, I wonder how those pricey solid state disks would effect performance? can anyone say "super fast load times"???? would be pretty sweet
ElChino @ Nov 11th 2006 9:07PM
What type of HDD comes with FF11 for PS2? Will it (HDD) work with the PS3?
ill trooper @ Nov 11th 2006 9:12PM
Nice one Sony - running Linux and the ability to upgrade using standard hard drives - tweakers are stoked right now, too bad they kill down the homebrew on the PSP so fast, maybe it'll be different on the PS3.
Still wondering how Microsoft is gonna handle this for the 360.
Lex @ Nov 11th 2006 9:12PM
Well better a 100 dollars for a bigger Hard Drive rather than 100 dollars for a 20gb hdd.
Jason @ Nov 11th 2006 9:36PM
'Fraid you're out of luck on a "200GB Monster" hard drive, as 2.5" drives currently top out at around 160GB. At that, a 5400RPM model will cost you another $200+, a 7200RPM model (which is what you'd really want) would cost you $300+.
It's too bad they didn't go with a 3.5" drive size, now *that* would have been cool.
Charlie @ Nov 11th 2006 9:23PM
killr0y: "Funny article on Kotaku about how there were nothing but Chinese people at the PS3 launch."
They were Japanese.
Ryoga Vee @ Nov 11th 2006 9:27PM
I should send Screen Shots of my 400GB in my 360
Lex @ Nov 11th 2006 9:31PM
@13
Nope, they were Chinese you should read the whole article.
http://kotaku.com/gaming/top/foreigners-and-fights-ps3-jpn-launchs-dark-side-214130.php
Marty @ Nov 11th 2006 10:13PM
So when is Sony just going to get it over with and merge PS3 with Vaio? ;)
nick @ Nov 11th 2006 10:13PM
Okay, if you're going to state it accepts 200GB HDs, you should at least try it before making that claim.
Anyone with a pre-release PS3, if you're willing to replace your hard drive, please detail the experience.
john @ Nov 11th 2006 10:30PM
\i put up my experience of waiting in line at the launch in Japan
you can watch it here:
http://www.friedchickenarcade.com/2006/11/11/excluse-sony-playstation-3-japanese-launch-coverage-hands-on-and-review/
http://syndicated.livejournal.com/friedchknarcade/2659.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGD9MJM4Pfg
Pulse @ Nov 11th 2006 10:47PM
Lex, you sure you didn't write that, looks too amature to be the work of a real article writer :P
I don't think the article writer knows the difference between japanese and chinese anyway and has probs never been to either of the countries. Word of advice: The writer should go get culturised before making up rather foolish statistics.
James @ Nov 11th 2006 11:15PM
So... what you're saying is it's retarded to buy the 60GB model since you're just going to throw the HD away anyway?
Of course, since the PS3 can make use of USB Mass Storage devices (right?), why not just hang a USB 2.0 external hard drive off it and use that instead?
Silentbob @ Nov 11th 2006 11:20PM
Nick,
http://ruliweb2.dreamwiz.com/ruliboard/read.htm?num=19646&table=game_ps04&main=ps
Not 200GB, but a 120GB drive. The only thing I want to know is there support for 7200RPM drives? They have slightly increased power requirements than the 5400RPM 2.5" drives.
7200:
http://www.seagate.com/docs/pdf/datasheet/disc/ds_momentus7200.pdf
5400:
http://www.seagate.com/docs/pdf/datasheet/disc/ds_momentus5400.pdf
Lekko @ Nov 12th 2006 12:46AM
Watch Impress did an article about upgrading PS3 HDDs and specs. They said that going from 5400 to 7200 RPM drives gained little preformance boost, while going from a 8MB cache to 16MB proved a large boost in speed. Cache is more important.
Also: 3.5" drives do technically work in the PS3, they just don't fit in the drive bay. Just like how a DVD drive won't fit in a floppy drive slot on your PC tower. The cables will still connect, and it will work fine, the HDD would just be hanging out the side.
I was thinking about picking up the 20GB one instead, using the extra $100 for a new HDD since I will probably end up upgrading the HDD anyways in the long run, but then I remembered wifi and the ability to play anything on the PS3 remotely through PSP, and I want that. 60 GB model for me. I'll probably end up tossing an external 250 GB 3.5" drive somewhere nearby for DVD rips so I can play them through USB via wifi.
Ken @ Nov 12th 2006 3:25AM
"2.5" drives currently top out at around 160GB. At that, a 5400RPM model will cost you another $200+, a 7200RPM model (which is what you'd really want) would cost you $300+."
Toshiba makes a 2.5" 200GB 4200RPM SATA hard drive, currently $260 on NewEgg.com (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822149059)
The largest 5400RPM drives are 160GB and costs $165-$180, while the largest 7200RPM drives are 100GB and cost $150-170. 7200RPM is probably overkill for the kind of use it'll get in a game console, so capacity counts for more.
ackmondual @ Nov 12th 2006 5:27AM
For some undog reason, these pages remind of my users manual for my Dell Dimension 8300 PC. Would make sense since the PS3 is starting to resemble a PC
andrewjnyc @ Nov 12th 2006 5:13PM
The manual is annoyingly vague about the issue of formatting the disc...it says reformatting is required before use but doesn't specify if the PS3 will do the reformat automatically. I'd like to buy a 100-120GB drive to replace the 20GB one on the PS3 I have reserved, but I don't want to be screwed if I'm unable to format it.
wasp @ Nov 12th 2006 6:32PM
ps3 will automatically format the new hard drive for you
http://ruliweb2.dreamwiz.com/ruliboard/read.htm?num=19646&table=game_ps04&main=ps
http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fruliweb2.dreamwiz.com%2Fruliboard%2Fread.htm%3Fnum%3D19646%26table%3Dgame_ps04%26main%3Dps&langpair=ko%7Cen&hl=en&safe=off&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools
ed3 @ Nov 13th 2006 4:10PM
Several are saying they must have the wireless but don't want to throw away the 60GB drive... Can't you just use a wifi bridge on the ethernet port?? Or are the advanced PSP options only available on the $599/60G/Wifi version??
qtip @ Nov 19th 2006 8:08PM
My choice is to get the 20GB PS3. First, upgrade to the 100GB 2.5" drive (about $100). Then get an 802.11n wifi bridge to get the best wireless performance.
ME @ Nov 26th 2006 11:30PM
does any know what the RPM is on the hard drive?
Shawn @ Nov 28th 2006 9:49PM
It is 5400 rpm, both the 20gb and 60gb.
chuck arthur @ Dec 20th 2006 1:54PM
wondering if there is a place to go to download
the manual on ps 3... thanks
marcus @ Jan 9th 2007 3:47PM
can i buy a 20 gb ps3 and add a external harddrive thru the usb
NinjaGhost @ Jan 27th 2007 12:13AM
If the PS3 has a standard SATA connection inside the machine there is a good possibility it would be possible to connect a 3.5 inch SATA Hard drive, you would have to have an external power supply though that might get you past the 160 gig limit of a 2.5 inch.
I done it with an Amiga 1200 ages ago i used a 44 pin to 40 pin conversion adaptor i got from maplin it might be possible to do the same if the PS3 has an ide connection unfortunately i don`t have a PS3 to try it with.
Norwun @ Jan 15th 2007 11:59AM
I have an Ethernet Bridge on my 20GB for wireless, you can also plug a small USB wireless adapter into one of the USB ports. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16833314011
You can also plug in a card reader. So why waste money on the 60GB PS3?
Rafael @ Jan 21st 2007 1:06PM
i BOUGHT THE PLAYSTATION 3 20 GBS. IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO TO MAKE IT WIRELESS. DO YOU KNOW WHAT KIND OF ADAPTER I NEED TO BUY. THANK YOU