SONY may have won the format wars with its Blu-ray technology, but many of its PlayStation 3 (PS3) game consoles are seeing an early death to their built-in Blu-ray drives.

The problem is linked to the failure of the optical laser which reads the discs, so users can no longer watch Blu-ray movies, play Blu-ray games or read any optical discs for that matter.

However, the console can still be turned on and the hard drive still works, so owners can access content there like photos, videos and downloaded games.

It has hit PS3 owners globally but appears to have only affected a small group of users so far. When contacted, Sony declined to say how many users were hit or what the failure rate of the machines is, but anecdotal evidence suggests it is on the rise.

Digital Life spoke to three users here who had this problem. Nine months after Galvin Ng, 27, bought his 60GB PS3, it broke down.

'It's alarming to hear that so many people's PS3 lens broke down. Now I live in fear of it breaking down again. My warranty is already over,' said the IT specialist.

Two Digital Life freelance writers, Billy Teo and this writer, also saw their machines go kaput.

In the case of this writer, he was watching a Blu-ray movie when the image paused without warning 30 minutes into the film. The controls would not respond and he had to power down the console and restart it. After that, the console would not detect any type of disc - Blu-ray, DVD, music CD - inserted into the unit.

Hundreds more are complaining of the drive failures on local forums like Gameaxis.com as well as international sites like Finnish tech site AfterDawn, Australia's Whirlpool and the official PS3 forum in the US.

Over at international game site IGN, a January poll entitled Have You Experienced A Dead Blu-ray Drive? in the forums had 13 yes responses out of 109 people who took the poll.

Two local users had to take their machines to the Sony service centre twice due to the same laser defect.

Mr Yip Yew Kuen, 38, operations executive, bought the 60GB version during the launch last March and it broke down five months later. As he is stationed overseas, he could get it repaired only in January. But his repaired console broke down again last month. Although it has been repaired again, his worry is that the one-year warranty has expired.

'I wrote to Sony regarding this problem, in the hope that they could work something out for me. Sony's standard answer did not offer any compromise solution. As a consumer, I am at the losing end,' he said.

For gamer 'aaxiz', 32, who asked not to be named, his 60GB console died less than three months after he bought it last September. And three months after it was repaired by Sony, it broke down again.

Sony declined to say if the hardware failures were prone to specific models of the PS3, nor did it provide an explanation as to why the lens failure issue has become so commonplace.

Faults in game consoles are not new. The original PlayStation console suffered from a misalignment of the CD laser due to wear and tear, while the laser misalignment for the PlayStation 2 led to scratches on CDs.

More recently, Microsoft made the news after it admitted to a hardware flaw in the Xbox 360 console. Popularly known as the Red Rings Of Death as evidenced by three glowing red rings around the power button when failure occurs, Microsoft has since announced a three-year extension of the console's warranty to cover this fault.

However, when this was broached with Sony, the company said it was 'not considering changing our warranty regulation'.

After the warranty expires, 'we will charge for the repair in accordance with normal operating procedure', Sony added.

Yew Kuen said: 'Sony should take the same stand as what Microsoft did with the Xbox 360. Even if the extended warranty is just for the lens, customers will surely appreciate it.'

Users also wanted to know the reason for the failure. Asked Yew Kuen: 'Is Sony going to redesign the lens? I am now worried about the lifespan of my lens. How long will it last before it gives me the same problem again?'

So what can affected consumers do?

If the set is still under warranty, users can bring it to the Sony service centre in Wisma Atria.

Mr Bryan Tan, a technology lawyer with Keystone Law, said consumers buying merchandise have a right to expect the goods to be in working condition. If this is not the case, they have a right to damages.

'Consumers should always report flaws or breakdowns as soon as possible. If the breakdown recurs, consider asking for a new unit or a refund on the grounds that the item totally fails. They can also do a little legwork with other users or consumer groups to see if other people have similar problems.'

He added that if the flaws led to safety issues, vendors might also be willing to repair the gadgets even if they fell outside the warranty period.

Added Mr Calvin Thean, a lawyer with LegalWorks Law: 'Consumers could consider appealing to the manufacturer for extended warranty coverage specific to the hardware failure in question, or for the product to be replaced with another altogether.'

Thus, it is important that consumers retain copies of the service reports, to show that the product had been brought in repeatedly for servicing due to a particular problem.

Sherwin is an avid console gamer and a freelance writer

This article was first published in Digital Life, The Straits Times on Apr 8, 2008.