Just upgraded mine to 320GB yesterday (WD 2.5" SATA 320GB 5400RPM 8MB)

Tips:

1. Make sure you have an external HDD ready (formatted in FAT32)
2. Prepare proper screwdrivers (sharper the better). Those screws are machine-tight!
3. Prepare the latest PS3 firmware file (PS3UPDAT.PUP) because you'll need it for the first installation. Put it into a USB thumb drive or external HDD. Again, must be FAT32!
4. Backup using the Data Backup utility to the external HDD.
5. Replace the HDD
6. After replacing, plug in the USB disk or HDD that contains the firmware and press SELECT+START
7. Then, hold START for 5 seconds to confirm formatting the new drive.
8. Run the data restore utility to restore all the settings, game data, game saves (some games cannot be backed-up) that you have backed-up earlier.
9. Done. Enjoy your gaming on the new HDD.
10. If you have any games downloaded from the Playstation Network, you need to reactivate them again. (No need to redownload and install). Go to your Download History under the Account Management settings in your PSN menu, select the game that you have downloaded earlier, press DOWNLOAD. You will see the screen which says "Activating, please wait...". Once this is done, the download screen will pop up. In this step, you can just skip it because all you want to do is to activate the game. If you don't activate the game after restoring them from the backup drive, you will receive an error saying that the "Copy-protection information is invalid"

Anyone of u can intro a nice and good shop/technician for my PS3??
my PS3 cant detect disc after a hang while playing LBP. sad~~
from soo

thanks Geeky. I hope you dont mind me putting your post at the front as part of the faq.

Guys~ i planning to upgrade soon~ haha~
just wanna confirm here bout the hdd spec :

it is 2.5" laptop hdd with any 5400/7200rpm speed?
the connector is SATA / IDE ??
Any hdd capacity also allow to use in PS3?

from soo

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Added on January 1, 2010, 5:35 pmThankx geekster129~
i just copy your guide on how to change the hdd~ haha~

No problem bro, as long as it is helpful to any future PS3 owners who want to upgrade their HDD, please do the necessary.

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Added on January 1, 2010, 6:58 pm

Correct me if I'm wrong. One of my friend suggested to me to use 5400RPM on the safe side, especially if you're still on the phat PS3.

Please help me confirm if 7200RPM is safe to be used. Thanks

I've said it before and I'll say it again, 7200rpm drives won't hurt the PS3 or the drive itself.
Even so, theoritically 7200rpm drives are hotter and obviously spins faster as well, and common sense would tell you that means it'll also fail faster.

In real-life conditions, that's not the way it is.
There are many other considerations to take note of. Like how the HDD is built, how many platter design, how the actuator head parks... and so on.

But all that said and done, 7200rpm drives are quite a bit more expensive than their 5400rpm counterparts.
So it definitely isn't worth the extra money for a mere 2-5 seconds of loading time decreament (considering the game installs data on the HDD that is).

I've said it before and I'll say it again, 7200rpm drives won't hurt the PS3 or the drive itself.
Even so, theoritically 7200rpm drives are hotter and obviously spins faster as well, and common sense would tell you that means it'll also fail faster.

In real-life conditions, that's not the way it is.
There are many other considerations to take note of. Like how the HDD is built, how many platter design, how the actuator head parks... and so on.

But all that said and done, 7200rpm drives are quite a bit more expensive than their 5400rpm counterparts.
So it definitely isn't worth the extra money for a mere 2-5 seconds of loading time decreament (considering the game installs data on the HDD that is).

I installed a 500GB hard disk 1 week after I got my slim. Using the PS3 as a gaming console and video entertainment -> Upload TV series and Movies into the PS3

I would have gotten the 1TB HDD, but the size was too large - not a standard 2.5" HDD size, a bit thicker. The HDD tray in the PS3 could not fit it in

I installed a 500GB hard disk 1 week after I got my slim. Using the PS3 as a gaming console and video entertainment -> Upload TV series and Movies into the PS3

I would have gotten the 1TB HDD, but the size was too large - not a standard 2.5" HDD size, a bit thicker. The HDD tray in the PS3 could not fit it in

which 500G HDD model you are using?

hi gamers alert... alert..critical case here.

I want to upgrade my hdd with 320g WD hdd with RPM5400.the problem is my console is the first bacth of PS3 with 60g HDD.can this version of ps3 take above hdd spec.

1 more question.my old hdd almost die..i can see picture store in previously but can't copy them to my others storage device.can't backup the ps3 data.is there any thing i can do to get back my picture ..especially my wedding and my family pictures.I try to plug it to computer using external case.but not working.my computer not detect it.

please..need to get the important pictures first.      

the loading time for game also take a long time and sometimes my ps3 hang and turn off automaticly.

failing when try to update firmware.