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?








Option 1
Buy that bestbuy deal (56″ Samsung DLP 1499.99 and get a free XBOX360 pro w/2games included inbox), Sell the DLP for regular price 2199.99, buy games and an intercooler
ooooorrrrr….
Option 2
Just get a Sony PS3 to compliment (that great piece of visual product you got there) from walmart on Saturday, and get 10 free bluray movies free, plus 5 more by mail-in rebate,sell the 10 movies and purchase Uncharted, Warhawk, COD4 and Assasin’s creed. and you should be happy until MGS4 or UT3 comes out.
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This is kinda funny.
I had an Xbox 360 for a couple of months, never had such a problem.
Funny thing is, when the PS2 came out…back in 200x or something, i bought it within the first week.
unfortunately, i had the ones that could only play for 1000 hours or something before it stopped working. Ive had more problems with PS’s than with Xbox haha
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@BlissX
U should write a book about it. “How to handle the heat: 360 luckiest story”. hahahhaaa
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I have had the same thing happen to me. Only problem is, I am currently deployed and limited to 15minute phone calls. I cant even get to talk to someone at customer care before I am cut off. So I just dropped the money for a 360 Elite, have had no problems so far.
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ok you buy any version below th eleite or You WILL get rrod
thi hast to do with certain low end chipsets in those motherboards. look for the ones comming out next year with theFalcon chipset in em makes a BIG difference.
it’s just like buying eraly gforce cards back in the day. you never bought anything below a gforce 4 cause 2’s and 3’s would burn up and you never bought the evga versions you bought th ones with the BFG/Asylum chipsets.
this is the same principle.
Be thank full you have your lunchbox 360 an be thankfull for the men an women of the armed forces that do what they do so you can bitch about consumer electronics. And be thankful for your freedom of speech an others you take for granted.
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This retard did not buy 6 consoles, the sums don’t add up cus there is no way all of these consoles would have been out of warranty in the short space of time the 360 has been out.
This is obviously a sad sony fanboy lol.
I think the thing that troubles ps3 fans the most is why their old ps2 friends keep going back to microsoft even after their xboxs break….
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@ JIBI
Next time get the halo3 or Elite edition 360. They are more better built, enhance cooling system.
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This site is a fake! Who would be stupid enough to buy six consoles??
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Hahaha…… I get it now!!! This is the reason that sales of the xbox360 are doing so well. Because people are re-buying these units to replace their “@$#*ed up units. Its not more people, buying its the same people replacing. Wow!!! Thats genius!!!
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oh Yeah, Happy Turkey Day, to all the readers and the staff of BoyGenius. Enjoy the “itis”.
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ok.. there is a problem with the xboxs, I cant stand it when someone gets all butt hurt about it and says its the users fault it broke, its not its just a bad machine end of story
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People don’t read? Shocking? BG is impatient and doesn’t deal with warranty returns, he just buys new ones instead..
But to the defense of people thinking BG writes every post, up until recently, visiting on a Windows Mobile device, you could not see post authors… so perhaps we should give them benefit of the doubt….
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“IDK what you guys are doing to your 360’s. I’ve had mine for about a year now…”
Haha! Ya see, that’s the thing about a 40% defect rate - there are still gonna be 60% of the people out there saying “what’s the big deal?”. I guess if Microsoft reaches a 100% defect rate, they’ve got REAL problems.
Kudos to MS though, for being savvy enough to take full advantage of human psychology.
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Dtest,
I don’t know really all I have to go on is my WM5 and WM6 phones my Vista laptop and XP desktop and my friends 360 which can’t hold itself together for more than a week. So yea I guess WM might not be the best for some, but to me WM seems to be the best right next to Windows 95, 98, and XP.
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First of all i am not commenting in order to slag the 360 off - it is a great console with great games and online capabilities. It is however a poorly designed machine - as an object it doesn’t do it’s job that well with enough consistency. I had my 360 first; it died of RROD - i too was too impatient to wait so i purchased an elite (in part due to HDD and HDMI). Call me stupid, call me whatever but i was happy with this choice. Before this happened i also bought the PS3 and the Wii and spend a great deal of time on all three consoles. I have had the occasional glitch with PS3 but nothing major. Wii has played perfectly every time. My elite has been solid since but i still fear that it will die some day soon and this worry cannot be denied as the evidence is that they do die, regularly. That said PGR4, Orange Box and Bioshock are playing beautifully. Assassins Creed on PS3 plays beautifully though i understand that some people have had problems with this. At the end of the day guys stop slagging each other off, simply keep the pressure on ALL of the manufacturers to step their game up. MS with console reliability. PS3 with range of games and those delays and Nintendo with (perhaps) graphics and some games for the non-casual gamer. But hey fanboys will be fanboys, those that are simply gamers will get on with life and enjoy!
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It could be your PSU - it’s a new console but the same PSU right, because they just asked for the console? They should have got you to power on your red-ringed 360 and check the PSU light, if it’s yellow when your 360 is on the PSU is killing your 360. It’s the cause of a lot of multiple repairs.
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Oi all u stupid fools telling NOT to blame MS can go fuck yrself. Maybe yr console hasn’t had any problems but the RROD happens to 33.3% of ALL 3shitty users. So maybe u havent had a prob but PLENTY of us have. And yes u silly twat I DO take v good care of it, just as good as I do with my PSP PS2 Wii AND PS3 (which have never failed me). So when the 3shitty fucks up who exactly should I blame?? Myself?? Yes that’s it, blame myself for being duped (yet again) by MS!! Just face it u 3shitty fanboys the 3shitty is a piece of over-priced marketed crap!! It’s gonna fucking die out in a year or 2 anyways. GTAIV is gonna be the LAST GTA we’re able to play on the 3shitty. so FUCK IT!!
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u guys r just haters. if your 360’s are fuckin up like that you are probably abusing em. i havent had a single issue with mines and i use it day end and day out. and with all the exclusive titles on and coming 2 xbox, ps3 doesnt even compare. i think all u guys are jus mad because since microsoft stepped into the gaming world playstation just hasnt been able to compete.
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Well, I used to be a Naysayer, I had a launch console. My finally died this past Tuesday. I am going to be picking one up this morning, I can’t waith the 4-6 weeks to get it back! I’ll freak out!
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What the F#@$ is going on with ‘next gen’ consoles. I mean seriously I am on my second 360, and last night my PS3 went belly up. Before anyone goes on about you should take care of your console blather, I do. They sit in an open air stand, and are regularly air dusted to clear the vents.
I think the real enemy here is flipping Chinese production. I am so sick of the dink bastards and there shoddy workmanship. F Chinese products!!!
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I have a launch console still going strong…
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I’m currently on my THIRD damn 360… To all of you people saying that it’s just people mistreating their consoles… STFU! There’s no fucking way that 40% of all 360 owners are mistreating their consoles… unless the console is meant to be kept unplayed in a fucking freezer or something. Face the facts: While the 360 may have some good games that are undoubtably fun, the console itself is a peice of shit. End of story. Any other product with above a 15% failure rate would have been recalled, but not the 360. Why is that, one might ask? Because it’s Microsoft. It’s unacceptable. And also to all those people who bandy about MS having reached the 10 million consoles sold mark… That number is actually the number of consoles SHIPPED, including repairs and refurbs. So really, when one takes into account the 40% failure rate, they’ve probably only SOLD about… 7 million.
I have a PS3 and a Wii, and neither of those have EVER had a problem. Explain that, if I keep them the same way as my 360. The thing’s a peice of shit. That’s all there is to it.
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well i had my xbox360 every since it hit door.i had no promble it still works like clock work.the only thing i can say stop put it on carpet/carpet hold a charge that will kill anything.so have 4 xbox360 all work just find.even halo3 one. so what the hell you talking about ! ps 3 sucks xbox kicks but and wii cant play dvds.so xbox 360 is it all the way
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what a crap argument “my console is ok and has been since launch” - that hardly helps the people who’s consoles are dying without mistreating them. Any retard that thinks i am prepared to spend £2,500 on consoles and HDTV and then leave them to get covered in crap needs to get their head sorted. I’m certainly not a MS hater, im a realist - the stability of the console sucks ass - plain and simple. If this was not the case why would MS be covering RROD for such a long period of time with free repairs? But never mind guys, you let MS off so they can keep laughing at you. I for one will keep providing them with negative feedback WHEN i experience problems with their console. If my PS3 or Wii do the same Sony and Ninty will also be getting a mouthful. What amazes me is the blind loyalty some guys have; for gods sake; you paid good money - make sure you get what you paid for. And if you did get a console that hasn’t died count yourself lucky and stop claiming others aren’t looking after their consoles.
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I agree, just because your lucky to have no problems with your system you got at launch, doesn’t prove that nobody else could be having these problems. In fact, the proof that Microsoft put Billions aside due to cover failures and recalls, proves that they do exist, and Microsoft knows this.
I love the games Microsoft provides, if they were available on PS3 I wouldn’t have to bother. I bought several (3) XBox’s (original not 360’s) that failed, and scratched several games. I loved the games so much, I bought them again (KOTOR, DOOM, HALO), and replacement system, because they were not available elsewhere.
I love technology and inovation. 360 doesn’t appear to be much a change from the original XBox (which I loved for having a hard-drive to save games and music onto) ,but has the same game play with a prettier face. PS3 is a generation leap from PS2 technology wise, and Sony isn’t afraid to try something different (Cell, Blu-Ray, Motion-Sensing, Eye Toy, Lair). Wii is a revolution in playing games for Nintendo (Wii Mote), it’s fun and ease of use brings families together.
What I love about the PS3, is that the Blu-Ray format the games are on seem more resistant to scratches than regular DVD’s. With 3 kids under 8yrs old, that is very important to me.
There are benefits to every system. But if every game was available on every system, I would play them on the PS3 for hardcore and racing games, and Wii for family and sports games.
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