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My husband knowingly bought a "broken" PS4 Pro for $200. Should I be mad at him?

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Deleted member 3534

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My husband came home tonight with a PS4 Pro from a local resale store that they told him was broken. Evidently the person who returned it said the fan stopped working and the unit was overheating. The place took it back but says they never witnessed it acting faulty but they couldn't sell it at full price. I guess my husband couldn't resist the $200 price tag and bought it after they showed him it working. I wasn't there at the time but I probably would have talked him out of it.

It's been working for the last couple hours at our house but I can't see why someone would return it to the store and lie about the condition. This is a store that ONLY deals in used stuff and they have a return policy that doesn't require an item be defective to get a refund IIRC.

But here it is, working fine. Husbando's justification is that if it's a broken fan or thermal paste he can just fix it. I think if it has/had a problem with overheating there's probably components that were irreversibly damaged but I don't know. The only game we have to test it is Bloodborne and that doesn't seem to be intense enough to really stress test the console. At $200, I don't think the deal is good enough to be worth the risk but I'll defer to you guys.
 

Deleted member 41178

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Why are you asking random people on the internet if you should be mad at your husband? You know what your finances are not us.
 
AntiMacro

AntiMacro

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Oct 27, 2017
3,152
Alberta
If it was reported as defective and overheating he should take steps to fix that BEFORE firing it up, not stress test it to see if it breaks.
 
TSM

TSM

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Oct 27, 2017
5,846
It sounds like that if he's handy he can open it up and replace the fan and have a perfectly functional PS4 Pro. I'd probably replace the thermal compound while I was at it.
 
Benita

Benita

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Aug 27, 2018
862
C'mon now. He paid 4-hundo for that shit brand new and is too scared to tell you the truth.
 
OP
OP

Deleted member 3534

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Lighten the fuck up. I'm not being serious. Really, what I'm asking is whether or not this was a wise gamble? I can see circumstances where the previous customer might have mistakenly put the PS4 in a situation where it was overheating like trapping it inside an entertainment center. On the other hand, is $200 even a good enough deal for it to be worth the risk? I'm asking what you would do, and what can be done to test and possibly fix it if it needs fixing. Right now, it doesn't seem to but it's only been a couple hours with an older game.
 
Irnbru

Irnbru

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
2,141
Seattle
Like, it works? Probably better deal to get it certified refurb but people bet a lot more money on stupider things. So what if I miss out on a decent dinner or two. It paid off, let him get his glory.

Also, yikes
 
Hilarious_Bearious

Hilarious_Bearious

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Nov 4, 2017
7,414
Well, thermal shutdown happens to protect sensitive components. So theoretically, nothing should be damaged by hear. If it's a poor thermal past job or dodgy fan, it should be very repairable. Don't know a out the pro but the OG PS4 has a few fiddly points, so I hope you or your husband are handy.
 
.exe

.exe

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Oct 25, 2017
22,344
Hilarious_Bearious said:
Well, thermal shutdown happens to protect sensitive components. So theoretically, nothing should be damaged by hear. If it's a poor thermal past job or dodgy fan, it should be very repairable. Don't know a out the pro but the OG PS4 has a few fiddly points, so I hope you or your husband are handy.
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This. You're fine. It shuts off to prevent critical damage, not because it suffered it. Fix it up and enjoy your discount.
 
big_z

big_z

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Nov 2, 2017
7,827
download the wolfenstein 2 demo. when the game becomes playable don't move, quick save right at the start where the guy is sitting in the doorway then wait 15 minutes. after that play through most of the demo, before it ends quick load back to the doorway save, wait 15 minutes, then play again. this demo stresses the system pretty hard, if it doesn't crash then you got a decent deal on the pro. there's a decent chance it was returned because the original owner was surprised how loud the fan was but it works fine.
 
rubidium

rubidium

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Oct 25, 2017
1,350
Just anecdotal evidence but many PS4 (pro especially) shutting down reports are caused by not bad units but rather the environment the thing is placed. I've seen too many game consoles placed within enclosed cabinet, with like almost zero opening. With such environment any electronics would go overheat shutdown mode.
(In other words it was quite a wise gamble IMHO).
 
Kivvi

Kivvi

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Jun 25, 2018
1,708
Stress test it more(God of war,horizon zero dawn) and clean the fan if you can. If everything goes well you just might be in the safe zone.
If not you can still be mad at him heh.
Keep on posting.
 
Adam_Roman

Adam_Roman

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Oct 25, 2017
3,069
Eh. $200 for a project isn't that bad, especially if that project can result in a functional PS4 Pro.
 
Valkerion

Valkerion

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Oct 29, 2017
7,283
Tell him to pop in a copy of Spider-Man or God of War and if it still works after a few hours... yeah maybe still be mad. If he actually knows what hes doing to repair consoles then nah.
 
Inside

Inside

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Oct 25, 2017
203
Denmark
I do this all the time. Buy cheap electronics which other people think is "broken" or "damaged". As long as you have an idea of how to fix it, then I don't see any harm. And I of course presume that he can afford to loose the USD 200 if the "project" fails.

2 weeks ago I brought a "broken" Macbook Pro 2012 for USD 150. I know the problem was the hard drive so I took another drive I had laying around and resold it for USD 300.

I would do the same if I saw this PS4 Pro. Buy it for USD 200, clean it up, change thermal paste, and resell it again (or keep it if I didn't have a Pro already)
 

Deleted member 5596

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Oct 25, 2017
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Is a gamble, but he should have asked more questions about the unit, how dusty it was if any, for how long they tried it on, etc...

I feel definetly 200$ is a bit too much for a broken console with no refund (he can't refund it I guess). Is possible that with a fan change or a thermal paste replace could fix it or prolong the life of the console, but I definitely could see the hassle of going through that is not worth on a 200 dollars PS4 Pro.

So the answer is: time will tell if it was a stupid move, in any case is not something he should repeat often lol
 
AwakenedCloud

AwakenedCloud

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,822
Honestly, it depends on
1. How handy is he with electronic repairs
2. Is your financial situation influenced by a $200 gamble

If he has previous experience opening consoles or tinkering with electronics, I wouldn't worry about it.
 
OP
OP

Deleted member 3534

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I wouldn't be mad either way. I've bought dodgy handhelds with the intent of refurbishing them myself all the time. Our financial situation isn't damaged by a $200 gamble. But a gamble is a gamble. I haven't told him I was upset because I'm not. I just wonder if it was a good bet is all. If not, live and learn, but I wanted to talk about it here.
 
MuchiMuchiPink

MuchiMuchiPink

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Oct 25, 2017
412
Germany
Lmao
Edit: as others said, you should know better if he is capable of fixing electronics. If he isn't then you should be mad. But even then replacing thermal paste or a fan at a repair shop still justifies the gamble.
 
OP
OP

Deleted member 3534

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Benita said:
C'mon now. He paid 4-hundo for that shit brand new and is too scared to tell you the truth.
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I doubt it. It looks used.

big_z said:
download the wolfenstein 2 demo. when the game becomes playable don't move, quick save right at the start where the guy is sitting in the doorway then wait 15 minutes. after that play through most of the demo, before it ends quick load back to the doorway save, wait 15 minutes, then play again. this demo stresses the system pretty hard, if it doesn't crash then you got a decent deal on the pro. there's a decent chance it was returned because the original owner was surprised how loud the fan was but it works fine.
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Nice! Here's hoping the demo isn't 80GB...

Troast said:
Those lies. Get help guy.
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dZSOrl0.jpg
 
OP
OP

Deleted member 3534

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Our money is pooled together into a big bag so it's impossible to say.

This situation reminds me of this: https://www./threads/my-shopping-ad...t-produced-by-blame-space-starring-tv.842351/

Whatever happened to Blame Space?
 

Deleted member 11018

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I fear that if the system overheated heavily, the quality of the soldering might be compromised, it's not just a matter of cooked thermal paste... buuut the Wolfenstein test should provide the intensity of your wrath :)

That's not nice to impulse buy a faulty item using the family's money anyway, he owes you one.
 
Chettlar

Chettlar

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,604
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) said:
Lighten the fuck up. I'm not being serious. Really, what I'm asking is whether or not this was a wise gamble? I can see circumstances where the previous customer might have mistakenly put the PS4 in a situation where it was overheating like trapping it inside an entertainment center. On the other hand, is $200 even a good enough deal for it to be worth the risk? I'm asking what you would do, and what can be done to test and possibly fix it if it needs fixing. Right now, it doesn't seem to but it's only been a couple hours with an older game.
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I got what you meant.

For a Pro $200 is way way way cheaper than it will be for quite some time. Honestly I'd bet even in two years when a PS5 comes out, it probably won't drop to that. More like $300. Guess we'll see.

I'm not an expert here, but I think as long as he's decently capable with electronics I don't see the problem. Given the system seems to run with no problems for both you and the store, I'd say $200 is fair. And any repair costs certainly won't even get close to the $400 retail. So idk. I think it was a reasonable gamble.

big_z said:
download the wolfenstein 2 demo. when the game becomes playable don't move, quick save right at the start where the guy is sitting in the doorway then wait 15 minutes. after that play through most of the demo, before it ends quick load back to the doorway save, wait 15 minutes, then play again. this demo stresses the system pretty hard, if it doesn't crash then you got a decent deal on the pro. there's a decent chance it was returned because the original owner was surprised how loud the fan was but it works fine.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

This would be hilarious but fantastic for OP and OP's husband.

And yet...I'm starting to wonder if it's true. Guess we may find out.
 
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