Problems with my Saturn

[benj]

I recently purchased a used Saturn over eBay, and it seems like it's already with one foot in the grave. When I first turned it on, the controller locked up on the screen where you enter the date, and a few seconds later the screen went blank. I switched it off and on again but nothing happened. The power LED lit up but the CD didn't start spinning. I tried it again a few times but to no avail. About half an hour later however it suddenly worked. I tried out all my games and played them for several hours without any problems whatsoever.
But on the next day it started acting up again. I can play for about five minutes and then the controller locks up and a few seconds later the game freezes and the screen goes blank.
Does anyone know what could be the cause of that? Is it worth looking into fixing the Saturn or should I just get a new one?

[D]

Hard one.
You can try opening it up carefuly examining the unit, maybe even taking it apart carefully one by one and carefully putting it back together.
Sometimes these execises do the trick for me. Try trouble shooting:
-hot
-cold
-tilt the machine.
-controller in or controller out
Use your own creativity to troubleshoot and let us know if you find anything new.

Good luck,
D

[Daigohji]

The poor man's fix for a dying PS1 is to turn the console upside down (while switched off). I've been doing that for years, though more recently I've had to switch to tipping it on one edge or another for best performance. I don't know if this would work for your Saturn though; it sounds like it has more extensive problems than a slightly decalibrated laser.

This is the risk in buying used disc-based consoles. The damn things just don't last.