Did I get ripped off? Also, bad lasers, wrong media and strange modchips!

[Farkad]

Skip to the questions if you don't like to read.

Exactly two weeks ago I decided to buy a new PS2. Something that would play them DVD-R and such. Since there is only one place in here that sells pre-modded consoles around here(Haifa, Israel) it was my only option. Long story short ended up shelling out 300$ on a v10 PS2 with a ..wait for it.. Micron 5.0 modchip. Yes. I couldn't find any info about it either. I also couldn't find a cheaper PS2. This isn't the "ripped off" part.
I should mention, though, that the shoppe is pretty shady. They don't look like trustworthy people.

Back to the story; I took a couple of backed up DVD-R discs and started playing. I should mention that those DVD-R discs are pretty cheap(Memorex). Everything worked like a charm. I played for about a week, 5-6 hours a day 2-3 hours at a time. After one week the PS2 started making short clicking noises when starting up the DVD-R games. Everything still worked though. One day after that, most games would play for a while and then just stop(literally). Later on the PS2 stopped playing any games. It could simply launch into "Browse" screen and not find any discs(even originals).
Immediately I took the console to the shoppe I bought it from and left it there for fixing. When I came there today I got some horrible news:
Apparently, the media I used was so bad it overloaded the laser causing it to break down and kill some chip inside in the process.
And fixing it would cost me 50$. Well, he already did the fixing. Now he wants the money.



Now to the questions:

The guy claimed that Blue-backed DVDs are extremely bad and will kill your PS2 very quickly.
Is it true?
Are there ways to lessen the damage(I don't have access to non-DVD-R games right now)?

Would getting a better modchip help reducing damage?

Is it true that V9/10 PS2 are at much higher risk to die from bad media then the older versions?


Lastly, I have another, older PS2, that never could play DVD-R discs. It just made clicking noises when I put them in and could never load them up. That PS2 has a super-ancient Apple Pro modchip. Would replacing that modchip make that PS2 to play DVD-R discs?

Thanks!