OK... I made the plunge to buy a PS3, mostly for blu ray but I also enjoy gaming. I went for the 60gig refurbed because it has full backward compatibility.

Anyhow... the unit seems to work fine but the top case is entirely glossy black, does not says 'Playstation 3' on it. I am questioning whether or not I should keep this unit. I saved $175 from buyng new because I traded in a bunch of old junk games I didn't want to pawn off on eBay (read: lazy). It also only has a 30 day warranty, but Sony won't cover it.

Anyone purchase a refurbed PS3 from GameStop and how was your experience? Is it odd that the top case does not have lettering or do some units have this? All the pictures I see say "Playatstaion 3" across the top. Just feeling a bit odd about it

Take it back.

Yea that sounds fishy. Take it back and get a proper one imo.

I'd take it back..i certainly wouldn't pay for a refurbished unit if sony won't cover the warranty incase something ever happens to it.

Spend the extra money and either get one off Craigslist brand new with receipt or Ebay brand new with receipt.

I see the PS3 as along term investment so i would pony up the extra money and get it brand new.

I personally have never bought a refurb anything from Gamespot, but something's off here. I'd press them pretty hard for a history of the machine. I'm wondering if Gamestop refurbed it, as opposed to Sony. If Gamestop did, I'd be worried that something else may go ker-flooey after the thirty days.

Yeah I bought my 60GB off Ebay refurbed and it came with the factory warranty and says PS3 on top. Something is not right about that. Bring it back

Borught back and got a new 40gig.... there was even something clanking around inside the case which I didn't notice before. AVOID GAMESTOP REFURBS.

Thanks for the replies all.

Pretty much avoid any refurbished product. lol.

I bought a 20GB PS3 refurb about a year ago and it was behaving funny so they let me exchange it for another one and that has been working fine ever since. In my estimation, the problems you'll have with a refurb PS3 are likely to show themselves within 30 days so it's not as bad of a gamble as everyone here is making it out to be. Obviously, if you have the money spend it on a new unit with BC but if not I don't think it's necessarily a bad decision to by a refurb. Just play the heck out of it for that first month.

A friend of mine bought a 60GB used system from Gamestop and it died 3 days later and also took it back for the 40GB unit. Now my brother-in-law has bought a 60GB used system and it works great. So I guess it is a hit or miss, but to be expected from a used and/or refurb machine.

Pretty much avoid any refurbished product. lol.

Except for Apple's which are 100% completely indistinguishable from their brand new products and have the exact same warranty as new.

Refurbs are hit or miss. With high tech electronics like Blu Ray players, HD DVD players and the newer game systems it's hard to judge. If it is manufacture refurbished it should work fine, but if it is just a "used" system you never know. When I buy used / refurbished I buy the extended warranties if they dont cost much to cover my butt. One thing I would NEVER buy used / refurbished? Xbox 360, that system is already flaky enough without throwing in more ? marks (Im on my 4th 360 and all were brand new when I got them).

OK... I made the plunge to buy a PS3, mostly for blu ray but I also enjoy gaming. I went for the 60gig refurbed because it has full backward compatibility.

Anyhow... the unit seems to work fine but the top case is entirely glossy black, does not says 'Playstation 3' on it. I am questioning whether or not I should keep this unit. I saved $175 from buyng new because I traded in a bunch of old junk games I didn't want to pawn off on eBay (read: lazy). It also only has a 30 day warranty, but Sony won't cover it.

Anyone purchase a refurbed PS3 from GameStop and how was your experience? Is it odd that the top case does not have lettering or do some units have this? All the pictures I see say "Playatstaion 3" across the top. Just feeling a bit odd about it

On a side note I can explain the missing Playstation 3 letters. At my work someone got the bright idea of using a household cleaning product (I think it was windex or something like that) to clean all the LCD TV's and our display PS3. When they wiped the top of the PS3 it took the letters right off, no lie! It also took the letters Phil off a Phillips LCD TV display, so now it just says lips (I think they did that one on purpose after they saw what happened to the PS3 :D ). The moral of this story? Don't buy displays, you never know what the stupid clerks did to them.

I buy refurbs all the time. You just need to be aware of the warranty and make sure you test the product out before it expires. You also need to know WHO did the refurbishing, the merchant or the manufacturer, with the latter being preferred.