Playstation 3 will not play CDs or movies?

The Blu Ray Diode fried when you shut the power switch on in the back. The PS3 uses 2 different lasers to read disks. One for standard dvd's and cd's and one for Blu Ray. The only way to fix your PS3 is to replace the Blue Ray Diode or laser lens. I would recommend paying the $150 bucks to have sony replace unless you know something about Diodes and lasers.

If you hold down the eject button for 10 seconds it will reset your laser and then you should be able to shut the power down in back safetly.

Formatting and or resetting the hard drive won't do a thing if your diode is fried.

I found a work-around to get it to read discs though. You have to have a bluray disc in the drive (game or movie) and start a downloaded game or Playstation Home. Once the game or Home loads, hit the PS button on the controller. The crossbar menu will pull up and you will notice the disc icon will (magically) pop up. Click the quit game icon. Once you are out of the downloaded game or Home the disc icon will still be there. You can then load the game or disc. The icon will remain there until you eject the disc, so you will have to repeat this every time you want to load a game. Although this is a workaround to prevent Sony from gouging you for $150+, this is still not a fix. A fix would be for Sony to admit they have a money making firmware problem and fix it. This fix will only work if you don't have an actual hardware failure (which I apparently don't). I think a class action lawsuit is in order for everyone that has this problem and especially for those who have shelled out the money to fix something that is firmware related. I'm sure Sony will only fix the firmware to make this workaround not work anymore so as not to lose their little cash flow scheme.

The laser assembly needs to be replaced. Sending it to Sony usually means you get a refurbished PS3 instead of getting yours fixed. If you'd rather buy a Wii, I understand. :)

No, the 40 GB is not cheaply made. If anything, the PS3 Slim is cheaply made since Sony has to cut costs on its production to be able to sell it for a cheaper price. Even though there can be a few bad eggs (just like with any other electronic product), the 40 GB PS3 is still a high quality console.

Are they audio CDs or do they have video files? Were they store bought or burned at home? Are PS3 games still playable?

There is a slim chance (very slim) that this is just related to the video output being set to a mode that is incompatible with the PS3 trying to upconvert over a component connection (happened to a friend of mine). Reset the video by turning off the PS3 then holding the PS3 power button down until it beeps a second time, and follow the prompts to auto detect the video settings for your TV, then try playing a DVD again.

Nope sorry. The Playstation will NOT play DVD's like the PS2 or PS3 can. I think it is because of the way it was made cause the PS2 + PS3 look way different from the first one. I guess that the Sony company got more advanced as the system did also.

well they are cheaply made i would just go ahead and get the slim its a lot better and they take time to put it together they don't just slap it together...plz give me the top choice thing i need more point