I just bought a 80gig PS3 this past week and boy is it loud. I compare it to a small handivac. I have it set up in my office in a entertainment stand where there is an opening up front. It is enclosed on the other 3 sides but with the opening up front, I figured it would have enough air to breathe. I guess not so where do all of you keep yours to make sure the fan does not run so loud? Are any of yours in glass covered units?

mines stay nicely on top of the woofer.

Open entertainment center. And I just noticed today 3-4 scratches Thin, but still. No matter how they got there.

During my movie right now, I had the PS3 in the entertainment stand and the fan was loud. I took it out and placed it on a small table on the side of the stand in the upright position and the fan noise was significantly reduced. Anyone else expierence this with their system? Will this be the only way to enjoy this system?

My 80GB is in my open-air Boltz entertainment rack on top of my center speaker. Have never had a noise issue. My Wii on the other hand...

I had to do the same thing. My PS3 would run so hot inside the entertainment stand it felt like you were sitting in front of a fireplace. Now I have it upright atop my subwoofer next to the stand and no problems.

I heard the fan in my 40gb PS3 when the side with the vent (right side, I believe) was pressed up against the cable box and HD DVD player -- I switched sides to give the vent side more room, and haven't heard the fan since.

I have my PS3 on a part of my entertainment system where it doesn't have a front or a back, and there's plenty of room on both sides of the PS3. If your system is loud, you likely have it in too much of a closed up area. Not only will that keep your system's fan from running so loud, it'll help extend the life of the system.

I can't even tell when I have my PS3 on it's so quiet.

Enclosed in my entertainment console, sitting on top of my HD-XA2. A bit ironic, but it works just fine. This is a 40gb recently purchased, and I haven't heard the fan once. It runs a bit warm.

My 40GB, purchased when it was packaged with Spider-Man 3, has never made any noise that I've actually heard. Its in the open, standing vertically next to other components.

And yes, it can get pretty warm!

Mine is in my entertainment/TV stand. It sometimes gets a little bit warm, but I have never actually heard it running.

I have mine in a component tower, no glass door.

I only hear the fan when there's no sound coming from the game/movie and it's never loud enough to be annoying.

^What he said.

Next to my TV. The fan noise has never been an issue for me.

So I've always been worried that the HUGE magnet inside my subwoofer would not do good things to the hard drive in my ps3? Is this silly of me??

Mine's out in the open but out of sight, behind the TV on the credenza. Never heard the fan. 40GB.

If it was a problem I suspect you'd already know it. But yeah, with down-firing subs the magnet is near the top of the cabinet and personally if I had an alternative I'd use it.

More critical IMO is to assess how much vibration is being transmitted through the sub's cabinet. I don't think shaking a PS3 20 times a second will help it much.

Mine is below my TV in the TV stand/component rack. It is close to the right side of my unit, but open in the front/back/left side. I noticed the fan kick in SOMETIMES, but not all the time. Seems like it only works harder during movies, games seem fine.

Yeah, when I had my PS3 inside the enclosed entertainment center, the fan would get really noisy after a while (I'm assuming to keep it from overheating). After that, I moved it out and now I don't have any issues with noise. I placed it vertically and just behind my LCD tv, turned to the side so I can put discs in/out easily.

Open air rack in a ~65 degree basement. No fan noise issues. Of course, I use the PS3 for gaming which is usually pretty loud.

Pretty much the same setup for me as well...I don't notice the noise the PS3 makes, probably because I've either gotten use to it or the audio of my movies/games just drowns it out. I think I notice how hot the PS3 gets more than anything else (and how hard it is to keep friggin' dust off it!).

Mine is right at the foot of my door holding it open. That's about the only use i can find for it.

I have mine sitting on top of my rear-projection television. I bought a special mount, and it works perfectly.

I have mine on an entertainment stand with about a foot between it and the HD-DVD player and a foot on the other side. Have never had a problem with noise or the device running hot.

On a shelf of my entertainment center, vertical, behind a glass door.