Replacement Xbox 360 - Return of Red Rings of Death in 60 minutes or less?
Yes, I do more than work with BlackBerry devices day in and day out, so consider this a rant about one of those personal pleasures that has been with me since I was a toddler - console gaming. It started with an Atari 2600 then I became the first kid on my bus route with a Nintendo. Skip forward into this last generation of consoles with the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii (not a single issue with the latter two, might I add).
I recently returned my defective Xbox 360 to Microsoft for warranty repair and / or replacement for the heart-breaking "Red Rings of Death" issue. A replacement console was shipped to me about a month ago and I finally decided to open it up. I hooked it up to my new 46" Sony XBR5 LCD TV and started it up. Man, I tell you, high-definition gaming is amazing.
I played Project Gotham Racing 4 for about 30 minutes and then my console locked up. The controller sat in a state of vibration for a few minutes before I finally decided to get up and reset the console. I then decided to switch to NCAA Football 2008 and made it through an entire game (Auburn vs South Florida in the 2008 season in Dynasty mode). But, I made the mistake of trying to start up that week’s recruiting and - BAM - another console lock-up. Thinking that it was perhaps that copy of the game, as there have been known issues with EA Games, I managed to return my copy of NCAA Football 2008 to Wal-Mart and exchange it for a new copy. I got home, tore off the shrink-wrap, put the game in, and was greeted by a nice little squawk and a blocked screen (the same one that broke my 360 the last time around).
Needless to say, when I turned off the console and powered it back on, my good old friend, R. ROD the Third, greeted me with a sinister grin. This unit is dated mid-September 2007. So much for thinking Microsoft improved their build quality, right? Less than one hour of pre-mature enjoyment and another brand new Xbox 360 is now dead. Since BG doesn’t really care (might I add that he’s the most impatient person on the face of this planet, and refuses to send anything in for warranty repair), he’s now on his 6th bought Xbox 360 after suffering the same red ring of death issues. Mr. J Allard, are you really proud of this manufactured creation that has seemingly destroyed any credibility for your vision of a wired lifestyle?
On Nov 21, 2007 @ 4:54 pm, coldcc Said:
Thats what you get for buying a 360. Just get a PS3 instead anyways you get your moneys worth anyway. You know I read an article where they changed the colors of the RROD and wondered why would they change the color of the RROD when they should actually be fixing this problem to begin with. This console was rushed and now they are paying for every console sent back to them and sending out new ones.
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On Nov 21, 2007 @ 4:57 pm, coldcc Said:
I forgot to mention my cousin had his since it first came out and no such problem. He even has it around his tv which gets pretty hot around it and suprising he doesn’t have that problem. The only thing I think could be going wrong is his drive which has been having slow load times. I play halo and sometimes the load time takes awhile sometimes it goes fast which is the weirdest thing.
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On Nov 21, 2007 @ 5:03 pm, OGHowie Said:
Nice Xmas colors.
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On Nov 21, 2007 @ 5:03 pm, D2theAVID Said:
I have gotten the RROD about 3 times on my current 360, but when i turn it off it seems to work fine for a while, at least when it came to THAT problem. But I was under the impression that Microsoft would not replace broken consoles with brand new ones, just refurbished ones
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On Nov 21, 2007 @ 5:46 pm, Crimsonium Said:
Well, seems everybody has the RRoD in some time or another. I’m on my 4th console. Out of all my friends on my list I can say maybe 25% at best have not had an issue yet. Granted, some their wives don’t let them play and others have all 3 next-gen consoles. One who’s miraculously had a launch model says its making more noise now so he’s next. I’m going to do like many of my friends, get a PS3 so I can play something while I wait for my return. I already paid MS enough cash so I’m not buying a backup box.
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On Nov 21, 2007 @ 5:50 pm, GBallew Said:
IDK what you guys are doing to your 360’s. I’ve had mine for about a year now, I game day in and day out, between games like Halo 3, Call of Duty 4, Gears of War and Elder Scrolls: Oblivion. With multiple hours of gameplay every day, I’ve never even so much as had a hiccup with my consol.
Treat your stuff better, and stop blaming MS for your problems!
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On Nov 21, 2007 @ 6:38 pm, johnnyb Said:
Well I have to say I looked after mine very well and it still broke…twice!!! Which took 10 weeks to get fixed. Then I heard my shop would give me £270 for my xbox if I traded it in. All I had to do was add another £150 to get the ps3 which was my plan all along (buy the xbox in the first year, then trade it in when the price is still good).
But when I looked at all the games xbox had and all the exclusives like gta4 episodes, Mass Effect, Bioshock, Halo, Gears of war, Forza….I turned around and bought the Elite. Even though xbox screwed me over not once but twice I just knew ps3 couldn’t compete. Especially with LIVE the atmosphere in games is unbelievable compaired to ps3 network where you play in silence and hardly anyone has a headset.
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On Nov 21, 2007 @ 6:46 pm, Anthony to the S. Said:
msft needs to step it up PRONTO.
http://paidandpopular.blogspot.com
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On Nov 21, 2007 @ 6:49 pm, tim Said:
Bummer man! I’ve had mine since January of 2005 (not a launch model built in 12-2004). I had very good ventilation and didn’t play too often, yet saw infrequent freeze ups during play. Usually a restart fixed it for a month or more…
Recently mine started freezing very often and then I too got the RROD after a freeze up incident. My console was just received by the ‘repair’ center today — here’s to hoping I do not suffer the same fate!
If they can’t fix them they should just scrap the darn returned units and ship out HDMI equipped 65nm cpu boxes!
Here’s to that dream huh?
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On Nov 21, 2007 @ 6:52 pm, Jibi Said:
@GBallew, there’s not much you can do in under an hour. I have the console sitting out in the open with no air holes blocked. The unit gets amazingly hot after 10 minutes or so. I also keep the A/C on 70 degrees, so I don’t think it’s really anything I’m doing … it’s just a crappy console.
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On Nov 21, 2007 @ 6:55 pm, 16 coming through roofless Said:
An Auburn fan? Alabama is going to whip that ass. Tuberville to A&M. 1957.
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On Nov 21, 2007 @ 6:55 pm, Dtest5477 Said:
over a yeah on mine and no issues. great games = great console and for me thats still 360. PS3 = too $$ and very very few good games.
and yes i agree with jibi, HD gaming is always the way to go. 42″ 1080i for me.
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On Nov 21, 2007 @ 6:59 pm, GBallew Said:
@Jibi
Granted there are problems with the consol, but its an electronic, there are faulty ones. And yes, the rate that the R.ROD show up are alarmigly high, however avoidable. Under an hour, it was a problem with your particular consol, not the 360 line as a whole. As unfortunate as the problem is, did you ever think that maybe you were given a refurbished consol, and if that were the case, you’d have no idea as to how it was treated before. If they just simply repaired your consol, it might not have been done right.
This problem does not show every 360 as being bad consoles.
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On Nov 21, 2007 @ 7:19 pm, Ryan Said:
Sixth XBox360? Send me one of ‘em, I’ll send it in for repairs. I’ll even pay for the shipping.
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On Nov 21, 2007 @ 7:39 pm, BlissX Said:
Um, buy a 360 at BestBuy and get their 2 YR PRP (Product Replacement Plan). DUH. If your 360 dies, no need to get a refurb, you get a BRAND NEW ONE.
BB PRP > 360 Warranty
I don’t believe that you personally bought 6 Xbox 360’s. If you did, sorry, but you’re either retarded or spoiled.
That, or you mistreat your gear. I’m on my 1st 360 (since early 06) without a single hitch, minus random freezes that occure about once a month or less. Remember, ventilation is key with the 360’s. My friend stashed his away in his home theatre cabinent and Mr. RROD decided to say hello. Guess he couldn’t handle the heat.
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On Nov 21, 2007 @ 7:53 pm, BryanDog Said:
MS Xbox 360 is a piece of garbage, I got my for 3 days and it fails on me. My PS3, well, what can I say, it is still running and with Drake, wow…unbelievable.
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On Nov 21, 2007 @ 7:55 pm, steve Said:
We just sent in our PS3 for repairs. My brother was playing R&C and the game kept freezing up. We tried some other games and it started getting worse. I’ve heard of others on the internet having a hard time with sony warranties, hopefully we get ours back with no problem. Our PS2 also died last year and we threw it out.
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On Nov 21, 2007 @ 8:24 pm, ... Said:
i bout my xbox 360 when it came out. Ive gotten the Red Ring of Death a couple times but never had to send it in for repair. When i got the Red Ring, i just turned off my console and left it off till it cooled down.
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On Nov 21, 2007 @ 8:43 pm, Jeff B. Said:
This is not only the reason that I will never buy a 360 but also why I say that anything Microsoft touches breaks in some way except for WM, WM seems to be the only thing MSFT makes that doesn’t suck.
(PS3 all the way snitches!!!!1!!!!!!!1!!)
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On Nov 21, 2007 @ 9:53 pm, Jordan Brown Said:
I know of a few people on their 4th or 5th, and many people who have gotten RROD on delievery of a replacement..
My premium died in 6 months, my elite hasn’t died yet in about a year but I am getting disc tray noise and I know it’s about to give out… hopefully I make it past a year so my Game Crazy warranty kicks in for a straight replacement.
PS3 has no issues, other than the stupid news ticker they added on the 2.0 update… That thing freezed my system up a few times, turned it out and now it’s fine.
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On Nov 21, 2007 @ 10:16 pm, coldcc Said:
Jibi is not BG he said BG has bought around 6 360’s. Why does everybody think every post on here is BG when they clearly have other posters.
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On Nov 21, 2007 @ 10:39 pm, rage2k5 Said:
i have not had any problems with my original xbox 360 that i got on its release date, i must not have any bad luck lol
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On Nov 21, 2007 @ 10:42 pm, Dtest5477 Said:
Jeff B. - WM is the best MS product? hahahaha!
Its second to worst next to Vista.
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On Nov 21, 2007 @ 11:22 pm, mingkee Said:
a member of my home had this problem, and his 360 was out of warranty, luckily it has this “exception”
send it back about 2 months ago, and received repaired one, and no problem thereafter
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On Nov 22, 2007 @ 12:53 am, akg Said:
Why the hell would you buy six 360’s? Are you retarded?
Obviously if you’ve gone through that many consoles, its your fault.
Shit, my 7 year old nephew still has the one I bought him at launch.
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