taking it to a 3rd party for repair would void your warranty, i'd suggest taking a trip down to singapore and exchange it at the service hub there in funan plaza. they won't be too particular as to where you bought the console from. a few of us have done that with no problems, they even give you a 1 month live subscription card for your trouble. you gotta call the center there first though in order to get a reference number which is what u present when you handle the exchange. if you've got a friend in singapore, that'd really help you out a lot.