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I would avoid the fat models for sure, outside of high prices they also have a higher failure rate with the YLOD issue which is pretty much Sony’s Red Ring of Death.
The super slims cannot be flashed with custom firmware, but are compatible with PS3HEN.
Consolemods has more info for jail breaking.
I live in a third would country and getting games here could be difficult if not impossible for some titles.
So, I may need to resort to backups. It sounds like ps3hen would be suitable for me.
I don’t plan to play any ps2 games, I have a ps2 already.
You should be good with a slim or super slim then, I’d probably lean toward the slim but whichever you find a better price on is probably the way to go.
Can't install CFW on the super slims at all and some of the slim models too, keep in mind. More exhaustive list of all the various models:
https://www.superpsx.com/ps3-jailbreak-compatibility-list-e3-2018/
I'm not sure how well the partial HEN hacks perform though for later models.
Not having CFW isn't the end of the world. It's a slight inconvenience having to press the button at boot and maybe sometimes randomly a game not launching.
Also, later super slims are using more modern chips and therefore are much quieter and nicer to use.
Lastly, currently there is a modchip being developed for a qCFW (quasi-CFW) which will allow for basically 99% CFW capabilities on later models anyway, so there is that going for it too.
Super slims are a hidden gem imo
If you don't want to get the fat, I'd pick the slim over the superslim, mostly due to the shitty BD drive
No matter which model you get, do replace the internal hard drive with a SATA SSD. Virtually any SSD will do since the bus speed is the limiting factor on PS3
Later revisions of fat models dropped PS2 hardware components and should be cheaper to obtain. Depending on which PS2 games you want to run in addition to PS3, the built-in PS2 emulator can still be good enough on these. There is a game compatibility list somewhere for PS2 emulation on CFW.
If PS3 gaming is what you care about most, best get a slim model that can run proper cfw. A HEN system (later slims, superslims) work as well, but they can be quirky with a few tasks outside of gaming (e.g. trying to rip a Bluray movie for conversion on a PC), and you have to run HEN on every boot (just a single button press and a few seconds of waiting, but still).
That being said, the superslim, while feeling very cheap, can sometimes also be bought very cheap (i paid 20 EUR for a used one a few years ago), and since they use a fixed drive (i.e. no slot loading mechanism), you don't have to worry about the mechanism failing.
I can rip blu rays with my ps3!?
On a CFW PS3, you can use multiman to create an ISO of a video BluRay or copy the file structure off of the disc by putting it into "classic multiman mode" - This will not work on HEN systems You'll still need to copy the result over to your PC and use software like MakeMKV to rip it to a movie file, but it works. I had to do that recently with a BluRay Disc that my PC Drive was refusing to read without errors.
Mine was a fatty. But it got the three beeps. :(((
CECHA life.