Sony Playstation 4 Repairs

Sony’s contender in the eighth generation of video gaming consoles is the PlayStation 4 (PS4), released in Australia in November 2013. The one and only launch model has a 500GB hard disc drive (HDD) of storage space and does not support an external hard drive. The technology within Sony’s PS4 is similar to hardware in personal computers which makes it more cost effective for game developers to develop games for the console. The PS4’s main processor consists of a single-chip custom processor. The Central Processing Unit (CPU) consists of two quad-core Jaguar modules totalling 8 x86-64 cores. In actual fact the PS4 and its main rival the Xbox One have virtually identical CPUs.

The PS4 Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) has a peak performance of 1.84TFLOPS and is an AMD next-generation Radeon based graphics engine. Technologically the GPU is very similar to that of the Xbox One, however the PS4’s GPU is slightly larger. The Xbox One GPU has 12 compute units whilst the PS4 has 18 compute units, rendering it theoretically 50% more powerful despite the Xbox One testing at a higher GPU clock speed (853MHz vs. 800MHz).

Sony’s highly successful gamble on the Blu-ray format has seen continued consummation of this format with the PlayStation 4. The PS4’s read-only optical drive is reported to have the capability of reading Blu-rays up to three times faster than that of the PS3 console.

The PlayStation franchise continues to be a provider of exceptional high definition graphics for gaming and via the PlayStation Network, users can access the PlayStation Store, stream music via Music Unlimited and stream videos via Video Unlimited. A major addition to this eighth generation video gaming console by Sony is the implementation of social media in gaming. PS4 users are able to easily record and ‘share’ gameplay videos or screenshots, with just a touch of the ‘SHARE’ button on their DualShock4 wireless controller. Many gamers have purchased the first release model lacking in launch game titles, with the hopes gaming developers will soon release games that enable them to fully utilise the power of their mega gaming machines. Others, not as keen, are willing to wait for first release bugs to be ironed out, and for PS4 game titles to be released, especially since the PS4 has no backward compatibility with PS3 anyway.

One of the most exciting upgrades in the PS4 however, is the PlayStation DualShock4 wireless controller, which has been revamped and gamers have reacted very positively to the changes. The most notable of the changes is the built-in capacitative clickable touch pad, a light bar, a SHARE button, a stereo jack to allow simultaneous talk and sound, and the controller supports motion detection via a three-axis gyroscope and three-axis accelerometer. Among the improvements also, better vibration and a more ergonomic design allowing gamers to wraps their hands around and manoeuvre with ease.

The PS4’s predecessor was plagued by the notorious Yellow Light of Death (YLOD), which was caused by a manufacturing fault. It will be interesting to see what kind of faults this more powerful console unrolls. On release of this highly anticipated video gaming console, gamers have already reported issues straight out of the box, such as the “Flashing Blue Light” or “Blinking Blue Light of Death” (aka BLoD) and “Red Line of Death”. Numerous electronic gurus around the world have dissected the beast upon getting their hands on it and there are obvious manufacturing problems identified, such as dried out thermal paste or thermal compound and misalignment of the HDMI port with the PS4 casing which results in no HDMI output.

We suspect the average life span of the PS4 Blu-ray lens to be between 12-24 months, though unless quality has improved, we may see disc reading errors to occur at the 6 month mark just like with the PS3 Super Slim.

Our repair process for the Playstation 4 includes extensive testing and in the case of major repairs such as the motherboard repair, also includes an internal system clean. We have skilled technicians with a background in electronics manufacturing who carry out work on all complex motherboard repairs using a professional rework station (machine used in manufacturing).

We use genuine parts and offer warranty on all our repairs.

Repairs and problems are not limited to those above.
Symptoms and problems listed as examples only.