Recommended PS2 hardware model?

[Windfish]

This Nintendo fanboy is buying his first non-Nintendo console since the 16-bit era, and I want it to be the PS2. I know nothing about all of the different hardware revisions and am wondering if there is that comes particularly recommended. Any help?

[Ed Oscuro]

The slims - SCPH-75000 or the 90000 series (turn the last digit into a 1 for the US releases; the 0 versions are Japanese) are pretty decent in my view. I've spent the most time using a US region SCPH-75001. These do use a bit more power than the 90000 series, and there were a lot of reports of the lasers burning out, but if you're lucky you won't have that problem and the only thing you'll notice is that the fan does spin up after a good while spent gaming (some kind of extra cooling might be useful for this system, but it just doesn't dissipate much heat or do it quickly).

Whatever you decide, make sure you review these lists to make sure you don't run afoul of any problems. You also should be aware that the Slim systems don't easily support IDE hard drives like the original fat systems do. Ease of setup, the disc tray, and apparently quieter fans on the slims have made those my systems of choice.

Of course, some people might still advocate getting a TEST model for easy cross-boundary compatibility. That's not going to be much of a cost savings (if any) over just buying consoles for the game regions you want to play, and seems like a bit of a reckless use of rare(ish) hardware to me, but you have this option as well. Just be aware that many of these are a bit old and busted by this point, and at the very least you'd want to look into a bit of preventative maintenance on the drive assembly (I'm not sure how laser swaps work out on the TEST systems, in the case that part fails).

Considering what kind of games you end up playing, you have some interesting choices in peripherals - good ones for every genre, pretty much (well, I don't know much about the lightguns for the Namco games, though we have a thread on the Guncon revisions too). And last I checked, new-in-package Dual Shock controllers are easily obtained on eBay - memory cards too. I picked up some for the hell of it a couple years back, though I haven't needed to ever replace the used controllers that came with my systems.

Neat system with a lot of ports - I should probably offload most of mine, don't care about 'em - the Capcom series shine here for me especially (I'm getting into the PS2 late in the game too), and a lot of others once the awkward adoption phase for 3D was ending.

[ZellSF]

If you're getting a fat for HDD loading (which I heavily recommend) then you should get a v9 (scph-5000x), they're the most quiet ones and they have IR builtin.

Downside is unreliable drive (which isn't a problem for HDD loading PS2 games, but if you want to play PS1 games...) and no firewire support for system link.

[Xan]

From my experience, the drives on fat models (namely 3000x) are too loud, so I sold mine and got a 77004. As listed in that article, the SCPH-7500x has the worst reputation overall; even certain PS2 games don't seem to work on it. That was the revision that introduced the EE+GS chip (unlike the 7000x which had seperate chips as on a fat from what I understand), so maybe they didn't get something right and fixed it for the 7700x. There was also that mysterious 299 MHz EE clock change...

I did take the chance and got a 9000x when you could still get them new, and that revision is pretty good, although it loses 100-240V capability and I've heard some FUD about the controller/memory card ports breaking off. The controller on the other hand seems a bit awkward since it takes much more pressure to press the face buttons compared to any other (used) controller I have; not sure if that's just due to it being new or if that's only on the newest DS2 pads, but it can certainly throw me off in some games. Never been a fan of pressure sensitive buttons...

[austin532]

I also recommend the 5000x series. They are much quieter then the previous models and have better backwards compatibility with PS1 games (supposedly). I've never been a slim version guy and always prefer the original model of a system. Plus from what I've seen the slims have a greater chance of giving your disc a circle scratch from the laser.

[speedlolita]

Of course, some people might still advocate getting a TEST model for easy cross-boundary compatibility. That's not going to be much of a cost savings (if any) over just buying consoles for the game regions you want to play, and seems like a bit of a reckless use of rare(ish) hardware to me, but you have this option as well. Just be aware that many of these are a bit old and busted by this point, and at the very least you'd want to look into a bit of preventative maintenance on the drive assembly (I'm not sure how laser swaps work out on the TEST systems, in the case that part fails).

Depends on your hardware revision. Can easily be checked by looking at the motherboard GH number. Mine works as if it were new currently but that is certainly something I considered when purchasing.

I got a lot of 4 TEST machines on eBay for £120, kept the NTSC-U one with 230V PSU and sold the other three for £150.

I also recommend the 5000x series. They are much quieter then the previous models and have better backwards compatibility with PS1 games (supposedly). I've never been a slim version guy and always prefer the original model of a system. Plus from what I've seen the slims have a greater chance of giving your disc a circle scratch from the laser.

Funny, most people consider the SCPH-5000x to be garbage due to certain redesigns. They are quiet though, I couldn't hear the DTL-H50003 I used to have.

Personally I'd recommend you find a SCPH-3900x for a phat machine or a SCPH-9000x for a slim machine. I just sold a SCPH-90003 that had modchipped and it is easily the most robust for years to come. Games booted instantly, internal PSU, small etc.

Funny that my SCPH-10000 is quieter than most SCPH-3000x too.

I did take the chance and got a 9000x when you could still get them new, and that revision is pretty good, although it loses 100-240V capability and I've heard some FUD about the controller/memory card ports breaking off. The controller on the other hand seems a bit awkward since it takes much more pressure to press the face buttons compared to any other (used) controller I have; not sure if that's just due to it being new or if that's only on the newest DS2 pads, but it can certainly throw me off in some games. Never been a fan of pressure sensitive buttons...

Only an infant has the capacity to do this.

[keropi]

I have a PAL v9 50004 since they were the current model on sale. I must have spent thousands of hours playing on it with quality media, never had a single problem. It's all about using good discs IMHO.
Now I use it with a 500GB HDD, it's a great setup.

Never liked the slims, I've seen too many with dead lasers and disc scratching because of the ribbon. jm2c on the matter

[quash]

If you plan on using a hard drive for your games, then virtually any fat will do the job as long as the disc drive works long enough to use it for installing the necessary programs.

If you're going to end up using the disc drive pretty often but still want to use a hard drive, then get the 3900x. That was the best model of fat PS2's, period.

I haven't used my slim in awhile, I think it's a 75001. It's quiet and it gets the job done, but you're limited to using an external hard drive over USB 1.1 if you don't want to use discs (this applies to all slims).

You'll want to get FreeMCBoot, in any case. Apparently there's hard drive images out there that will automatically boot in an unmodified PS2, but I haven't had the chance to try that out for myself yet.

[Windfish]

So yeah, it is really difficult to search for the particular PS2 revisions mentioned here. Just about the only console being sold online in new condition is this one:

http://www.amazon.com/PlayStation-2-Con ... ywords=ps2

^That I can find, anyway. So what's the verdict on the above?

[BazookaBen]

Don't get that. The latest models of PS2 locked out soft-modding which prevents you from running programs like GS Mode selector, which lets you run games in 480p that don't have an in-game option, like Gradius V. GSM can also force 240p if you have a line-doubled game like Mushi.

Just look for a phat model on your local craigslist. They're a dime a dozen, and you can slap a hard drive in it and get way faster load times. Plus a hard drive will keep working long after your laser dies

Of the phats, the 5000 is best if you're going to watch DVD's on it, since it is the first to support progressive scan with DVD's, and it has built in IR for the remote.

Info on soft modding is here: http://psx-scene.com/forums/

If you need the Free McBoot file, send me a memory card and I can throw it on there for you. I got it from one of the volutneers on the above forum. Pretty hard to install otherwise.

[austin532]

Choose which version you want first then go for condition. If you DO decide to go with the original models, stay away from the early versions like the 3000x, 3000xR, and the 3500xGT.

There are much better ways to watch DVD's now a days so don't worry about the Progressive Scan feature. Most Blu-Ray players will upscale DVD's to 1080p. Plus watching movies on the PS2 will cause more wear and tear to the laser.

[BazookaBen]

[quote="austin532"\
\\

Plus watching movies on the PS2 will cause more wear and tear to the laser.

Yeah, true that.

The rest of my post stands though, soft-modding and hard-drive compatibility are necessary for the ideal PS2 experience, so go for a fatty.

[austin532]

That depends on what you consider the ideal experience. The only feature I would use a soft mod for is GSM which is still buggy and only supports a handful of games from what I can see. Not really worth it.

[BazookaBen]

It's definitely more than a handful:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... n_US#gid=0

Gradius V is reason enough, but there are some other gems on here that for whatever reason didn't get in game support.

As far as the ideal experience, of course that's subjective, but the faster load times are pretty cool. You can even load game art into the OPL menu now. It's almost like bringing your PS2 into the current decade.

[DaftenDirekt]

According to a experienced friend of mine which used to work at a repair service, the best fat version to get is the V7 or V8 (basically a SCPH 390xx with a KHS-400R Laser Unit).
Even a SCPH 300xxR can have that laser if you're lucky.
I own two 300xxR (one with a modchip) since day one, played a ton on them and still do and only had to clean the lens once. Never checked which LU they hold though.

[Lawfer]

have better backwards compatibility with PS1 games (supposedly).

In which way?