How are some of y'all doing updates? I think some of these ppl "bricking" (I say it like that, cause I'm not sure ppl are bricking them, in the sense that the console is dead. I think there's some major overreacting going on) consoles is part user error. You shouldn't be leaving the system on and working for an extended amount of time while trying to update/connect.
When I first started my system, the update started downloading automatically, but then seemed to hang when going to install. So I backed out, and updated thru the settings tab. It went thru quick and easy, with no issues at all. I had the USB ready if needed, but never came to that.
As far as connecting to PSN, I've seen ppl say they have no issues connecting on PS3, just PS4, which doesn't make sense to me. I've had issues getting on since I got the system, but had no issues DL'ing all the free games in the store (you can download multiple things at once (simultaneously) now, which is nice). I haven't played BF4 or Killzone yet, just some quick (offline) games of 2K. I'm gonna dive into Killzone soon, and will probably wait until they (whether it's Sony or EA) get the BF problems situated.
I just can't help but think that ppl are looking for something to go wrong, so they can take to forums/twitter/youtube to cry about it, rather than figure out if it's a real problem or not. I just hope that the PSN situation gets figured out soon.