The Video Game Critic

Ahhh, the beauty of South Jersey.  In the winter you freeze to death; in the summer it's heat-stroke.  And there's really no spring or fall to speak of: somewhere, somebody throws a switch and after two days of pleasant temperatures you go from the one extreme to the other.  Shocking to me that there are places in the US where people don't own both heavy winter attire AND air conditioners.

But to the topic at hand--that's one of the things that's always turned me off about the PS2: you can't really turn it off.  There's always that little red light reminding you that it's there.  Everything else has a little red light to remind you that it's on, but the PS2 is just <i>so</I> special that it has to tell you it's <i>not</i> on.  Geez, that's annoying.

[QUOTE=m0zart][QUOTE=voor]I'm here in Louisiana, and its not the heat so much, its the humidity!!  It's often above 90%, and you can feel the mositure in the air it's so thick.  Can't hardly breathe and pouring with sweat in 3 minutes.

Winters can be bad too (again because of the mositure in the air), but it snows here about 5 times a century.[/QUOTE]

It's like that here in Houston too.  In fact, it's my one complaint about living here -- the super high heat in Summer along with the super high humidity.

The area I grew up in in Virginia rarely reached 90 degrees.  It was cold more often than hot, and though the colder temperatures were very humid (at least, lots of moisture in the air), the heat had relatively average humidity.

I think I prefer that kind of colder humidity to dry cold.  Dry cold in the desert is bone chilling cold, and humid cold actually leads to lots of snow (which I love).

It always cracks me up when it gets cold here in Houston.  People act like it's freezing and wonder why I am outside with t-shirts on.  I don't think they know what cold is.  And God forbid it actually snow -- just a tiny bit of snow and schools shut down, offices call and tell you not to come into work, and people on the roads slide around as if they were icy when in fact they are not.  It's quite absurd.  The last time it snowed here was when I first moved.  It wasn't even enough to frost the ground, and it certainly didn't stick on the roads, yet several cars almost swerved right into me.  I've never seen such an example of a psychosomatic disaster area in my life.

Pfft... sorry for changing the subject.
[/QUOTE]As a fellow Houstonian, I can confirm this entire post!

[QUOTE=BigOldCar]But to the topic at hand--that's one of the things that's always turned me off about the PS2: you can't really turn it off.  There's always that little red light reminding you that it's there.  Everything else has a little red light to remind you that it's on, but the PS2 is just <i>so</I> special that it has to tell you it's <i>not</i> on.  Geez, that's annoying.[/QUOTE]

Both the Wii and PS3 do that now.  By the way, I think maybe later models of the PS2 were like that, but the model of the PS2 I had could be turned off by a switch on the back of the console.  So if one preferred to leave it off, that switch could be turned off.  Or you could just leave that switch on and have it operate like you described above.

Nobody has answered my question though, I have the PS2 slimline with no way to turn it off, ok? Ok. Now, DOES LEAVING IT PLUGGED IN ON STANDBY MODE lessen the life of the system (I hear no fan like in my computer to keep it cool!) and does it use much electricity in this mode? Should I unplug it? HELLLLLP!

if you ain't using it - switch it off!!! jeeeez

[QUOTE=Alienblue]Nobody has answered my question though, I have the PS2 slimline with no way to turn it off, ok? Ok. Now, DOES LEAVING IT PLUGGED IN ON STANDBY MODE lessen the life of the system (I hear no fan like in my computer to keep it cool!) and does it use much electricity in this mode? Should I unplug it? HELLLLLP![/QUOTE]I think leaving it on standby ought to be fine. The standby mode is just so the PS2 is ready to receive an IR signal from the PlayStation remote (for the DVD function).

I don't want to get preachy - but if you ain't using it - switch it off!!! How difficult can it be?

The USA would be able to switch off 4 power generating stations if all the electrics left on standby were switched OFF.

Do your bit.

Actually, Alienblue, there is a far better reason to unplug your slimline PS2 than the somewhat vague environmental concerns.

The PS2 uses a special circuit, connected to a fuse, to power rumble in your controllers. The wireless controllers available for the system also use this power source for the receiver that plugs in to the system.

Well, if you leave your system off but plugged in (so in standy, in other words), you stand a chance of blowing that fuse, killing your rumble and wireless controllers.

Of course, repairing a simple fuse should be easy but..... it involves cutting the warranty tape and taking lots of stuff apart. Not fun.

Unplug your system. You do not want this pain, especially if you are more or less addicted to using wireless controllers like I am!!!

-Rob

Ok, a compromise... I switch systems around a lot. I only have three "screens" not counting my computer...I have an old commodore 1702 monitor and a small RF TV for old games and a big 32 inch one with RCA jacks. I rarely use the big one for games, the small TV and monitor both have one system at a time hooked up. Right now it's 7800 and Xbox. The PS2 is safely stored on the side. So When I play it I will leave it plugged in, but that will only be for like 5 or 6 days at a time anyway.

I know with older systems you are SUPPOSED to unplug the adaptor because it can get hot and burn out. I guess this is not an issue on mordern systems.