360 #5 goes belly up. Does this ever end???

[divorced]

My 360 Elite has gone belly up. Un-freaking-believable. This is the first time it does not RROD on me, it just doesn't come on the screen. The green light on ther front comes on, but nothing else. If I didn't have so much invested in 360 games and Xbox Live stuff, I would pitch this garbage and go to a PS3. This is just ridiculous!!

[J. Matthew Zoss]

I just sent in my first Elite, for broken Xbox #7. Welcome to the upper level.

[McKnight]

My 360 Elite has gone belly up. Un-freaking-believable. This is the first time it does not RROD on me, it just doesn't come on the screen. The green light on ther front comes on, but nothing else. If I didn't have so much invested in 360 games and Xbox Live stuff, I would pitch this garbage and go to a PS3. This is just ridiculous!!

It's still in warranty though surely?

[baren]

When mine died (accompanied by 4 dead development models at work) I decided that that piece of incompetent hardware did not merit giving them a stream of extra money to replace faulty boxes. I converted to PS3 about a year and half ago and haven't looked back.

[Morberis]

My last xbox failed in October or so, that's when they I discovered that they've made some changes to their warranty system... Getting in a refurbished unit no longer nets you a new warranty period as well. Meaning that if I had sent in my broken xbox any new box I would get in return would be out of warranty in another 3 months.

[Omniscia]

I'm starting to worry about mine, but I can't seem to find the proper thread for it, so I'll just worry about it in here.

Anyway, it's definitely running hotter than usual -- maybe there's some dust buildup? -- and has been freezing up more frequently than I'd like. Last night, it locked up in the middle of a Rock Band track and I had to unplug it to reset it; the power button didn't work.

Maybe it's just jealous 'cos my PS3 is finally on the way.

[Balasarius]

My 360 Elite has gone belly up. Un-freaking-believable. This is the first time it does not RROD on me, it just doesn't come on the screen. The green light on ther front comes on, but nothing else. If I didn't have so much invested in 360 games and Xbox Live stuff, I would pitch this garbage and go to a PS3. This is just ridiculous!!

It does that when it can't find a display / TV. Like when your TV is set to a different input. Check the HDMI cable.

[McKnight]

My last xbox failed in October or so, that's when they I discovered that they've made some changes to their warranty system... Getting in a refurbished unit no longer nets you a new warranty period as well. Meaning that if I had sent in my broken xbox any new box I would get in return would be out of warranty in another 3 months.

Hold on what now? When did this happen?

Oh well, guess that means I'll be getting a PS3 if my xbox breaks down again now.

[mkozlows]

My last xbox failed in October or so, that's when they I discovered that they've made some changes to their warranty system... Getting in a refurbished unit no longer nets you a new warranty period as well. Meaning that if I had sent in my broken xbox any new box I would get in return would be out of warranty in another 3 months.

That's always been the policy. If it breaks while you're in warranty, you get the longer of the original warranty or 90 days. If it breaks while you're out of warranty and you pay for a fix (which: bad idea given how cheap the new Arcades are and how wildly unreliable refurbs are), you get a 1-year warranty.

[divorced]

I'm thinking of just picking up an arcade. I have my 120-gig drive, 2 wireless controllers, wireless connection thingie, etc. Is there anything else that does not come with an arcade?

[baren]

I'm thinking of just picking up an arcade. I have my 120-gig drive, 2 wireless controllers, wireless connection thingie, etc. Is there anything else that does not come with an arcade?

Assurance of quality?

[Alistair]

Have you thought about switching to PC?

[McKnight]

I'm thinking of just picking up an arcade. I have my 120-gig drive, 2 wireless controllers, wireless connection thingie, etc. Is there anything else that does not come with an arcade?

You wont be able to use HDMI (that's a future that's reserved solely for Elite, IIRC)

But other then that an Arcade will fill your 360 needs perfectly, especially with what you own already.

[quatoria]

Damn, folks, I've played the hell out of my 360, and I had RROD problems with the early model, but nothing like the issues being described here. There's no question that MS made some badly designed and unreliable hardware - but if you're on Xbox 360 number 5 or above, I have to ask - is there any chance your storage situation is contributing to the overheating problem? Do you have it in an electronics cabinet that's sealed up, or has closed sides / back, or some other bad airflow situation? Is your power supply on a carpet and choked with dust? Do you use compressed air to blow it out periodically, as you would with a standard PC?


You wont be able to use HDMI (that's a future that's reserved solely for Elite, IIRC)

But other then that an Arcade will fill your 360 needs perfectly, especially with what you own already.

All modern 360's have HDMI. I replaced my faulty original model with a 360 arcade, and it's currently connected to my HDTV with HDMI.

[jason]

The Arcade has HDMI. HDMI was simply never added to the now discontinued Core system. Pro, Elite and Arcade all have HDMI on them now.

[Crater]

Actually, most new 360s come with an HDMI port at this point. A friend of mine bought an Arcade model at the end of last year, and it has HDMI.

Edit: Just like jason said.

[mkozlows]

Damn, folks, I've played the hell out of my 360, and I had RROD problems with the early model, but nothing like the issues being described here. There's no question that MS made some badly designed and unreliable hardware - but if you're on Xbox 360 number 5 or above, I have to ask - is there any chance your storage situation is contributing to the overheating problem?

We're waaaay past blaming the victim when it comes to 360 failures. Early 360s broke a lot, and refurbs broke even more. When you have that many failures, you're going to have lots of people with multiple failures, even when they've done nothing wrong at all.

[quatoria]

Which is, of course, why I made it clear that I wasn't doing that, and specifically acknowledged the poor hardware quality. However, newer 360's are much more reliable, which means it isn't foolish to consider issues of usage and storage when encountering major reliability issues with current revision hardware.

[Bill]

I'm surprised at the failure rates described here as well. I just got my first RROD on a unit that I've been using for a little over 3 years now. Fortunately, and surprisingly, they still considered it under warranty and are fixing it for free.

[Rimbo]

When my second 360 broke, I didn't even bother sending it back. I figured out how to identify a Jasper, went down to GameStop and bought a brand-new system... and made sure it was the Jasper.

[Vesper]

I've had a broken 360 since late last year that's out of warranty. I just play PS3 and PC instead, because I don't want to put any more money into this crappily designed hardware. I'll wait for a "slim" model or something that has a new design.

[Anti-Bunny]

I've had a broken 360 since late last year that's out of warranty. I just play PS3 and PC instead, because I don't want to put any more money into this crappily designed hardware. I'll wait for a "slim" model or something that has a new design.

Same.. I got the shipping label for my broken Xbox all ready to go, and just never bothered getting a cardboard box for it.. it's still collecting dust in the closet. Why bother? I have a PC and a PS3 that are clicking along just fine.

[divorced]

Damn, folks, I've played the hell out of my 360, and I had RROD problems with the early model, but nothing like the issues being described here. There's no question that MS made some badly designed and unreliable hardware - but if you're on Xbox 360 number 5 or above, I have to ask - is there any chance your storage situation is contributing to the overheating problem? Do you have it in an electronics cabinet that's sealed up, or has closed sides / back, or some other bad airflow situation? Is your power supply on a carpet and choked with dust? Do you use compressed air to blow it out periodically, as you would with a standard PC?



Well, I can't claim to blow compressed air into the power supply (does it even have an opening on it??), but my 360 is not in any type of entertainment system closed up. It sits out in the open, on the bottom shelf of a glass tv stand. More than enough air flow in that area of the room. I dunno, 5 systems going bad seems awfully high. That average is one a year and that's just too many.

I wonder if major Nelson will interview me for his podcast and my concerns? I'm betting not...

[Coca Cola Zero]

My first 360, circa 2006 died (RROD).... must have been soon after Crackdown came out because I was pissed it died during the Halo 3 beta. I sent it back to Microsoft and they refurbed it for free. Later on I bought an Elite to replace that unit and sold the refurb for cheap to a friend. I later bought a second Xbox 360 to act as a second system (because I used to LAN Halo 3 a lot at my place with friends and hated running split screen). Both my Elite and the second Pro have never had a single issue. The original 360 that I had to have refurbed eventually went RROD again and my friend had to give it back to me to send to Microsoft (since it was registered in my name from the first incident), but Microsoft fixed it for free again and this was only like a month ago (a couple of years after the first RROD refurb), so I assume whatever changes they made to warranty length do not apply to RROD issues.

tl;dr -- My first old 360 did wind up on the refurb treadmill and has had to be sent back twice, but at no cost to me (except lost access to the 360 for 1-2 weeks) either time . My Elite and HDMI-ported Pro have never shown a single issue despite years of usage.

All of the anecdotal evidence from my friends suggests units from the Elite era on are way, way, way less likely to ever RROD on you, and 3+ returns are only common for people stuck on the refurb treadmill with an old unit. However, there are always going to be statistical outliers who get fucked more than average.... sucks to be you!

[Rock8man]

Yeah, my experience is the same as CCZ and Quatoria. Early on among me and my friends and family, we had lots of RROD, and refurbished units had to be sent back again multiple times. But the last refurb they sent me has now lasted two and a half years, and the Falcon Arcade I bought has lasted three years now with no problems, and the latest revision arcade I bought last year for the basement has also had no problems yet. And none of my friends have reported any RROD or any other problems lately either. Same with all my family members that have 360s. Since they nearly all had problems in the past, I have to conclude that there has to have been a remarkable improvement in the hardware. Or, we could have all gotten much luckier, I suppose. I'm probably tempting fate by posting this.

[jason]

My Elite RROD once. The wife was playing Tomb Raider and paused the game... left it that way for three days! I had been swamped with work and stuff and hadn't even been in the room we had the 360 in, but I went to go play a game and noticed it was already on. It was locked up, pulled the plug on it, red ring.

Other than that though, not a single problem with it. Bought it on the day the Elite came out and that red ring incident happened less than 4 months in.

[BlueJackalope]

Yeah, my experience is the same as CCZ and Quatoria. Early on among me and my friends and family, we had lots of RROD, and refurbished units had to be sent back again multiple times. But the last refurb they sent me has now lasted two and a half years, and the Falcon Arcade I bought has lasted three years now with no problems, and the latest revision arcade I bought last year for the basement has also had no problems yet. And none of my friends have reported any RROD or any other problems lately either. Same with all my family members that have 360s. Since they nearly all had problems in the past, I have to conclude that there has to have been a remarkable improvement in the hardware. Or, we could have all gotten much luckier, I suppose. I'm probably tempting fate by posting this.

This is my experience as well. (I'm probably cursing myself) but after four fixes I traded my older 360 for an Arcade unit, got an extra wireless controller and an HDMI for the difference (it was about $60) and kept the 20 Gig HD. btw I keep mine on top of a shelf all by itself.

This isn't to excuse Microsoft, if not for Sony's arrogance we would all be playing PS3s by now.

I do not expect M$ will get the same pass the next generation.

[mkozlows]

I do not expect M$ will get the same pass the next generation.

As I've said before, they won't have this problem next-gen. Whatever the biggest problem of the previous gen was, that is the thing that everyone will focus on during the next cycle. So the 360 is capable of being cost-reduced in a way the Xbox 1 wasn't, and the Xbox Next will be designed not to break a lot.

[divorced]

OKay, does anyone know the award for the biggest moron of the year? I'd like to nominate myself please. Went and bought another Elite (like I said, stupid.). Came home and did some laundry. Guess what got washed with the jeans??? The receipt of course. No worries, surely nothing can happen. Before hooking it up, I called a bud to tell him of my weekend of awesomeness. He said, "Dude, that happened to me too. Just unplug all the wires in the back, wiat a couple of minutes and hook it back up." I did so, and lo and behold the damn thing came back up pretty as a picture. So now I have an Elite that I don't need and can't return.

Ain't life just grand???

[Rock8man]

Are you sure about that? I'm pretty sure they'll have some kind of records and can tell if you bought something there that recently. Did you charge by credit card or debit card? You can tell them about that, I'm pretty sure they'll accommodate you.

[John Many Jars]

Consoles are gay

[McKnight]

OKay, does anyone know the award for the biggest moron of the year? I'd like to nominate myself please. Went and bought another Elite (like I said, stupid.). Came home and did some laundry. Guess what got washed with the jeans??? The receipt of course. No worries, surely nothing can happen. Before hooking it up, I called a bud to tell him of my weekend of awesomeness. He said, "Dude, that happened to me too. Just unplug all the wires in the back, wiat a couple of minutes and hook it back up." I did so, and lo and behold the damn thing came back up pretty as a picture. So now I have an Elite that I don't need and can't return.

Ain't life just grand???

If it's still sealed you should have no problems returning it, receipt or no receipt. Especially if you payed using a credit/debit card.

[divorced]

Nope, paid with a check. I hate using debit cards as it is too easy to lose track of what I've done. I keep the credit cards in the wallet as much as possible as well. I called and talked to the manager and he said they would need the receipt for a refund. So I'm bummed.

[McKnight]

Nope, paid with a check. I hate using debit cards as it is too easy to lose track of what I've done. I keep the credit cards in the wallet as much as possible as well. I called and talked to the manager and he said they would need the receipt for a refund. So I'm bummed.

Eh, you paid by check... just bounce the check. They'll call you for money, you return product. Easy peasy.

[divorced]

Eh, you paid by check... just bounce the check. They'll call you for money, you return product. Easy peasy.


Oooh, can't do that. Don't want a bounced check on the credit report. I'd rather be stuck with the 360! I'll figure something out.

[rei]

you didn't count the number of red rings? there's specifically one to indicate the video cables are not plugged in properly.

[Coca Cola Zero]

Eh, you paid by check... just bounce the check. They'll call you for money, you return product. Easy peasy.

He'll almost certainly get hit with a returned check charge in the $30 range, plus this sort of thing often goes on record so next time he tries to use a check with a retailer that looks it up he might get denied based on the previous bounced check, etc. Not to even get into the practical matters of how you plan on bouncing a single check without moving all the money out of your account somewhere else temporarily, and the chaos that could cause if it causes other outstanding checks to bounce.

Uhm. Yeah, easy peasy.

Having said all of that, jesus who still pays anything (but rent, maybe) by check? I use debit cards for lots of stuff and I have no problem tracking it, in fact it is easier to track than checks with my bank (wells fargo) because debit transactions post to their website almost immediately.


You really should try returning the box anyway if it is still sealed, a lot of places will take it back with no questions asked, especially if it is on the same day or like a day later. In your case, they probably won't though because it seems pretty clear to me that the universe is very much against you.

[McKnight]

Oooh, can't do that. Don't want a bounced check on the credit report. I'd rather be stuck with the 360! I'll figure something out.

I'm thinking of various things you can do from the banks end to avoid a bad credit rating but to be frank your right, it's probably not worth the stress.

Only other thing I can think of is legging it to the shop asap, checks get cashed once a week in most of the places I've worked (at the same time wages are put through). It's just a case of convincing a lazy manager to open the safe and take out your check, proving you bought the damn thing there (it's barcode will be registered with their system anyway).