I had my gen 1 PS3 **** itself Hams. But i replaced the blu ray laser and it worked a treat.
My mate is having a similar problem at the moment, and he was told to replace the heat sink between the HDD and the motherboard. Dunno if it works thoguh.
Its fscked now, but still works. I bought a new 320gb one just in case though. Lol.

Nik, i think you can get em around $300 now. Second hand of course.
I put up with people from amnesty, red cross and now the cancer council almost daily hounding me!! Throw in the greens, green peace, unhcr, save the forking children and I've well and truly hit my limit for the number of fuckstains wanting me to sign something or give money. Seriously cubts,
right off.