Does anybody know if anything else important is saved in the GAME DATA UTILITY folder?

I recently had to send my PS3 to Sony because it stopped working, and they sent me a new unit, which means that when I tried to restore the backed-up data from the old unit, it wouldn't copy "certain copy-protected files" at first, I freaked out thinking all the games and add-ons I had PAID for were lost, until I found that you can re-download them in the PSN account info section. But I'm still curious to know if any other info is stored in those files.

And now I get to go through the loborious pain of re-downloading all my PSN downloads. the whole 50 or so of them! I guess I know what I'll be doing over the 3-day weekend.

No, I knew about DVDs killing the PS2, but still continued to play DVDs on it. I just want to know what to expect out of the system. Personally, if I'm shelling out 5-600 bucks for the thing, the least Sony could do is give me a truth about its life expectancy (even if it is bad news). And although I don't care much for Microsoft as a company (their practices go against everything that capitalism and free market are supposed to stand for), I do have to applaud their customer service. They at least aknowledge when there is a problem and take steps to fix it. Sony, on the other hand just pushes everything under the rug and hopes the problems will go away, but I do have to give credit where it is due, if someone comes to Sony with a problem, Sony is usually pretty good about fixing it for you in a timely manner. At least, they did a good job with my PS2 when it died the first time.

So still, if anybody knows the longevity of the PS3 as a DVD/Blue-ray player, I would like to know.

odd, that I've never heard anything about this sort of problem until after it happens to me. . .

I was under the impression that the PS3 hardware was very reliable (unlike the PS and PS2 when they were released)

Well, you can say whatever you want about Sony having crappy hardware reliability, but Ah, well, at least failing PS3s don't burn your house down like Xboxes and 360s have done.

Mine has frozen a couple times. Last night, while I was playing Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, the game froze, so I shut the console off with the PS button. When I turned the console on tonight, it wouldn't load any discs at all. No games, no movies, nothing.

Really sucks.

thank you jmper4.

i was thinking it might be something along those lines, although I've never seen anything else charge the card like that before, so it just seemed odd.

I signed up for the PlayStion Network this weekedn.  I was under the impression that signing up for the PlayStation Network for the PS3 was free.  However, when I checked my bank statement online today, I noticed that I had a $1.00 charge labeled as being for the PlayStion Network.  I didn't see anything on the sign-up screens about being charged, and was under the impression that the credit card info was only collected so you wouldn't have to re-enter the info if you later decided to buy any downloadable content.  So far, the only thing I've done on the network was update my system and download the Folding@home program and run it for a couple minutes.  Both of which I also thought were free.

So what exactly am I being charged here for? Its not like $1.00 is a big deal, but still, I'd like to know what I'm being charged for.  Can anyone help me out?