to my understanding...so far only Bernard can repair YLOD with higher success rate (that's why he will tell you need 1 month to repair)...even some game shops also advise you to go to Bernard's shop if you encountered YLOD

my PS3 is 1st generation (60GB with 4 USB-ports and memory card readers)...heavily used for games and blu-ray movies for almost 2 years...no single problem until today...am noticed PS3 3rd generation the motherboard is smaller and lens is different than 1st generation

actually hardware failure is very much depending on (1.) your luck ie. am saw some new machines open from the box, switch it on...after a while it crashed (2.) the way you use the machine ie. put on the floor, accumulating dust on fan panel, turn on for very very long hour, etc

this is how i take care my PS3 (a.) put on vertical position on the table, place it about 1 feet away from the wall, use Microfiber Cleaning Cloth to wipe the casing every week, use 2000W Vacuum Cleaner to suck dust from Ventilation Panel every week

recently am upgraded my PS3 to 500GB at Bernard's shop...throw 60GB to dustbin...hopefully no problem with new HDD

haha!! Bro, am royal customer mah...Bernard always try his best to find R1 game for me leh...last week am spent over 2k from his shop

am very long time didn't play game...hand itchy now

Bro, sorry to hear that...go get Final Fantasy VII Cloud Black Edition...tempting