I finally got a PS2! (1 Viewer)

After 1 1/2 years as a loyal XBoxer, my fiance finally broke down and got me a PS2 for my birthday. Ah yes, I can finally endulge in some GTA. Turns out, she bought it 5 months ago when a deal came along, and just gave it to me now. (mixed emotions) Anyway, I tested a DVD, a CD, and about three games a friend lent to me. SO far, so good. I'm excited to buy GTAVC. Never thought I'd have two consoles from the same generation. A few questions:

1. Is it bad to stand the unit on end?

2. Is it better to keep the unit in stand-by, or power-off? Stand-by would be on for a day to three days at a time.

3. Third-party memory cards O.K.? Damn, no hard drive.

Thanks!

1. As long as it's the end that the unit is supposed to be stood on, then yes, it's fine. The Sony logo should be at the top.

2. I always leave mine in stand-by. I figure they went through all that trouble to put the power switch in the back where it's hard to get to, so that means I should use the standby button on the front. I've had no problems with leaving mine in standby for weeks at a time.

3. Sure, they'll work, but I've always stayed away from 'em. I've never had a problem with first-party memory cards, but have had data loss and corruption with third-party ones. My time is worth the extra money for the memory card.

I have heard that the vertical position puts more wear on the motor, so I keep mine horizontal (plus it fits on my rack that way).

I keep my PS2 in standby for weeks at a time also. Never had a problem.

I have heard about data loss and corruption with 3rd party memory cards. I would stick with Sony accessories.


You'll have a blast with Vice City.

You should definately use the standby mode. I prefer to keep my PS2 horizontal, puts less strain on the disc tray when it opens and closes. Use Sony memory cards just to be safe; unless you play a lot of sports games, they shouldn't fill up too quickly.

One no-no (I heard from the old guy that runs the video game store down the road) is to run the PS2 horizontal and then switch it to vertical, or vice versa. Whatever you do, pick a direction and leave it that way. He said that the switch makes the gears wear a different way and that it can cause problems.
Personally, I would leave it horizontal to reduce strain. My PS2 is flaky enough as is.
Oh, and on memory cards, I used my PS2 memory card for almost 2 years before The Sims for PS2 required another card (it uses an enormous amount of space, 1.5 Meg +). I have always heard horror stories about 3rd-party memory cards. I use only 1st party memory cards (except for some Interact PS1 cards)

I have had a MadCatz PS2 memory card since PS2 launch day, and have had no problems. They are (or were) an official licensed card though.

Just in case someone doesn't know, a device (memory card, controller, etc.) is licensed if it has the official symbol of whatever console it's for on the packaging.