My 60GB launch PS3 has finally given me a yellow light of death. Luckily I married into a second PS3 over a year ago (phew!), but my wife's Slim has neither most of my saved games nor can it play our PS2 games.

The Internet seems conflicted on whether or not reballing is a good long-term solution. People offering it say it can work great for years. Other people say it only works for less than a year, or that 60GB models specifically are a moneypit for repairs once they start having problems. I've found some places that offer reballing services, but these are relatively expensive (€80+ and with only a couple months guarantee) compared to just buying a new PS2. On the other hand, 150 hours of Skyrim and I don't even remember how much Disgaea 3 are on that hard drive.

Are there any statistics available on how long I can expect it to last? Or information about the reliability of the reballing process from someone who knows about electronics but doesn't have a financial stake in telling me it'll work great? Does success depend greatly on the skill of the repairer or will any professional get about the same results?