bricked PS3

[beeporama]

This post will only be of interest to select nerds.

I might be typing it out more to organize my thoughts than to solicit advice, although the latter is welcome. It's certainly #firstworldproblems up in here though. Last night my Playstation 3 died, and I'm trying to figure out what to do about it.

For the technically inclined: when I try to start it, the blue light blinks three times, followed by a continuously blinking red light. Although I'm not afraid of minor repairs-- I've replaced the network card when it died-- research suggests this fix is beyond my abilities.

So, as I figure it, I have four choices:

1. Send it to Sony for repairs. This probably costs $150, and I don't necessarily get the original back. I don't know if this possibly saves the contents of the hard drive.
   
   
2. Try a third party for repairs. I know nothing about this.
   
   
3. Just buy a new PS3. I wanted to get a bigger hard drive anyway, and for $180-$220, I can get a refurb or new 500 GB model.
   
   
4. Just give up owning a Playstation 3.
   

Factors to consider:

• It is one of the old "fat" models with hardware-based PS2 compatibility.
  
  
• There are some saved games on there I can live with losing, but would rather not; but I might be more sentimental than practical. There is a possibility if I stick the PS3 in the oven for a while (no joke, it could be bad soldering that will pop into place temporarily with enough heat) I might be able to back up my existing drive first.
  
  
• My copy of Dishonored: Game Of The Year Edition is stuck in the drive and won't eject.
  
  
• I just recently got a PS+ subscription, which gives you some free games for the PS3 and PS4 every month.
  
  
• I already own a Playstation 4 and an Xbox 360.