Which PlayStation 2 model is the most reliable one?

[SailorMoonfan2000]

I have a 3900x model I got on eBay a few weeks ago, and it reads games very well even black or blue discs. I heard V7/3900x is the most reliable of the fats and doesn’t suffer from mechacon issue. Is it true or it’s not, or should I just get a 5000x or even a slim version?

[Lord British]

Every Fat US PS2 I try doesn't like the purple discs. I have 3 lying around and only one can barely fire up Gradius 3/4. My Japanese SCPH-70000 Slim has had no issues so far w/ either PS1 or Ps2 games. I tend to buy only Japanese if it's an arcade style game and text doesn't matter.

[Dochartaigh]

I have 4x phat models, and with how stupidly easy they are to mod to be able to play any PS2 game, there's kinda no reason to ever have to use the disc drive on them anymore... (and for the record, before I modded all of them, they seemed to play any game I threw at them perfectly fine - I didn't really look at what color the disc(s) were btw)

To mod them, you literally only need the ethernet HDD adapter - like $15 bucks, use whatever old hard drive you probably already have laying around, and if you want to skip all the steps to make a Free McBoot memory card you can even buy a pre-installed memory card for $15 as well. Files are easily found on ARCHIVEal sites...

[Lord of Pirates]

I've had no problems with fats and many problems with slims. Ditto on what Dochartaigh suggests, that's how I've played most PS2 games for years.

[Josh128]

I have 4x phat models, and with how stupidly easy they are to mod to be able to play any PS2 game, there's kinda no reason to ever have to use the disc drive on them anymore... (and for the record, before I modded all of them, they seemed to play any game I threw at them perfectly fine - I didn't really look at what color the disc(s) were btw)

To mod them, you literally only need the ethernet HDD adapter - like $15 bucks, use whatever old hard drive you probably already have laying around, and if you want to skip all the steps to make a Free McBoot memory card you can even buy a pre-installed memory card for $15 as well. Files are easily found on ARCHIVEal sites...

The slims are moddable the same way, no?

[Dochartaigh]

The slims are moddable the same way, no?

Yes and no - like a HDD doesn't physically fit inside the PS2 Slim as far as I know, so it has to be external, and I believe the only USB plug for it is on the front so it's not like you can easily hide the HDD out-of-sight behind the unit (maybe with like a 90º angle USB cord and some tape you could finagle something quasi-clean looking, and have that run to the back so it's out of sight)...

On a Phat PS2 the HDD fits inside nice and clean which is what I like way better.

I also believe EVERY Slim is also missing the iLink port (note: some later Phat's don't have this either fyi) so you can't do the coolest thing ever with the PS2 - link 2x PS2's together via iLink and play 2-player light gun games (and some others) on 2x separate screens just like the arcade Time Crisis setups!

[Bassa-Bassa]

I have 4x phat models, and with how stupidly easy they are to mod to be able to play any PS2 game, there's kinda no reason to ever have to use the disc drive on them anymore.

Isn't the process of making the ISOs playable a bit more convoluted than any other method, though?

Would love to know which adapter and HDD are recommended these days, anyway.

[Lord of Pirates]

HDL Game Installer can rip from discs on the system, it's faster to rip on computer or otherwise obtain and transfer via ethernet though.

[Dochartaigh]

Isn't the process of making the ISOs playable a bit more convoluted than any other method, though?

Would love to know which adapter and HDD are recommended these days, anyway.

I never made my own ISO's - just downloaded and put the .ISO's onto the HDD with the WinHIIP transfer program or whatever they use now. I didn't have ethernet in my game room to transfer then, so I used the external hard drive enclosure I use for a bunch of stuff, and copied over on my regular computer and they just worked.

It's been so many years since I modded mine... but believe all of mine have the official Sony network adapter (was couple bucks more than the plentiful knock-off ones), and I remember using the same NOS older HDD's I used with my OG Xbox's (think with the older IDE or something connection?) -- but believe people use the popular Startech IDE to SATA adapter and modern HDD's in these too – like laptop 2.5"? size ones (even SSD's, which are cheap now). Think there's aftermarket network adapters with that adapter already built-in as well for full size drives. And honestly, it's prob best to just look up a tutorial to make sure all I just said is correct lol.

My 60 games I actually play on it is only 160gb, so you don't need a huge HDD either. Mine still has a ton of room left (want to say it's only 320Gb - again, older NOS drives I found ages ago).

[tongshadow]

I have 4x phat models, and with how stupidly easy they are to mod to be able to play any PS2 game, there's kinda no reason to ever have to use the disc drive on them anymore.

Isn't the process of making the ISOs playable a bit more convoluted than any other method, though?

Would love to know which adapter and HDD are recommended these days, anyway.

I would ONLY use the original Sony Network adapter with the BitFunx IDE to SATA Board, this ensures the best possible compatibility and the ability to use modern disc drives, SSDs included. Also, worth trying to get a KHS-400C from Aliexpress, 70% of the time they work perfectly.
With this you have 3 ways to put ISOs into the Disc Drive:
-Rip straight from a disc, using HD Loader
-FTP transfer from your PC using HDL Game installer and the LAN Port (My prefered method, albeit slow)
-Good old direct connection using a IDE/SATA to USB adapter (Fastest method)

[Bassa-Bassa]

Thanks for the answers. If I'm not mistaken, any HDD method requires ISO installation, right? Some games may need even some form of ISO patching as well? Isn't that quite a bit complicated than using USB and/or SMB (which just means placing the ISO into the USB drive/PC folder)?

I'm aware that HDD is more compatible particularly if you want your videos properly played, but it's still not 100%, right?

[Lord of Pirates]

Thanks for the answers. If I'm not mistaken, any HDD method requires ISO installation, right? Some games may need even some form of ISO patching as well? Isn't that quite a bit complicated than using USB and/or SMB (which just means placing the ISO into the USB drive/PC folder)?

I'm aware that HDD is more compatible particularly if you want your videos properly played, but it's still not 100%, right?

Yes, it's a few simple steps, nothing comes to mind unless you mean OPL flags, and barely more complicated; it has more steps but none are difficult. HDD isn't perfect but it is the best out of all methods to play disc-less to my knowledge.

[AaronSR]

To be honest I'm still on my first PS2 which is a 50K phat, the disc drive still works great and I used it as my main console and DVD player up to like 2010ish. Nowadays I mostly use OPL so not much DVD drive usage these days.

I did buy a second PS2 (Japanese 90K) a few years ago for the MechaPwn exploit though, I have a fair few imports that I'd like to play without hard modding.