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  • #2221492

    Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

    Locked

    by jdclyde ·

    I just got done dropping my MONTH OLD 360 off at the UPS drop off store to send back to MicroSoft. As soon as I walked in with the white shipping box MS sends you to return the defective product, the guy behind the counter said “oh, another xbox”.

    It all started with the RROD [i]”Red Ring of Death” [/i]

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360_technical_problems

    The store I purchased it from, GameStop, politely informed me that this $450 system I had purchased from them 3 weeks early was NOT something they stood behind. [i](Never would have got it through them if I had known they didn’t stand behind purchases)[/i]

    My only recourse, call MS. The lady that was clearly not in the US walked through it all with me, and it became evident my only option was to have them send a pre-paid box for me to return the defective product to them for repair. Five days later, I got my box.

    They had also told me SPECIFICALLY not to write XBOX on the outside of the box. Hmmm, think they were getting stolen during shipping? Naaaaaa. Turns out after talking to Mr. UPS, EVERYONE knows what that box is already because there is such a flood of them.

    I have been told I will get my system back in 2 to 3 weeks. Wonder if they do anything to try to make up for the considerable lost “goodwill”?

    Wish I would have gotten the SPS3. I had given my boys the choice and they wanted the 360. I should have known better.

    Has anyone else gone through this?

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    Replies
    • #2664379
      Avatar photo

      Not Personally JD

      by hal 9000 ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      Mainly because I was about to buy a 360 when I was told that 1 in 3 don’t work new out of the Box.

      Seems that M$ not only sells second rate Software full of bugs but also Hardware as well. One day when the 360 is no longer UG I’ll pull one apart to see what’s inside the thing in the way of Circuitry. They have to have something really Cheap & Nasty in there and I’m interested to see the Poor Design.

      Col

      • #2664352

        I would give it another 2-3 years before

        by the scummy one ·

        In reply to Not Personally JD

        they will be less than $50 on ebay.
        Just from my personal observations, they aint worth sh!t in the first place.

    • #2664354

      I warned ya’ll

      by the scummy one ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      I got one for Christmas last year. Although the problems I have had are different. My little bro got 1 and has had to send it in 3x for repairs.
      But, dont expect it in 2-3 weeks. The last 2x my bro sent his in it took 6+ weeks before being returned.
      The problem with mine is in the middle of playing (at random) it will freeze, or stop and tell me that the disk inserted is an XBOX 360 game and to insert the proper disk into the drive.
      WTF, the friggin 360 tells me the disk is a 360 game, but it decides it is not a 360 anymore so it cannot continue with it???

      Nah, this POS is never being returned to MS to make more money. I already dealt with their support on this issue for more than a week and a half. MS can kiss my A$$ if they think I will send this POS to them and pay them for it. When it dies, I got a nice hammer waiting for it.

      • #2664894

        I waited patiently

        by jdclyde ·

        In reply to I warned ya’ll

        figuring by NOW they would have a decent working system instead of the crap that it turns out they are pushing out the door.

        I am so pissed about the whole thing.

        Sounds like they need to revamp the things and put a big fan in the side of it to keep the little piggie from burning up. Most of what I have read said the failures are triggered by heat. Sure, using the wrong sodder and sh1t parts doesn’t help PREVENT heat problems…..

        I also read that MS is trying to say if you buy one of the aftermarket coolers, they suck off so much juice that THEY will kill the system. Need a cooler that has it’s own power source. [b]Sounds like a job for Morty![/b] Time for him to make another hacking/tweeking blog, this time, “saving your xbox”. 😀

        • #2664867

          yup

          by the scummy one ·

          In reply to I waited patiently

          before I even plugged it in, I got a 3 fan set with its own power supply.
          I also plugged the POS into a UPS. Maybe that is the reason that I havent had the red ring prob.. However, the freezing up is too annoying to bother with often, and telling me to put in a 360 disk is more than annoying. So the POS just sits there most of the time.
          I think after the first few months that I have had it, I probably only have about 20 hours (or less) on it. It gets an average play time of 3-4 hours every other month.

          Personally, I am now avoiding everything made by MS. Wont go near Halo, or MS mice/keyboards, or anything else that has their stamp on it.

        • #2664836

          With twin teen boys

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to yup

          On a weekend with a friend or two sleeping over, that thing can be one more hours in the day than it is off.

          Especially because we like to play the FPS games, so you have to take turns. After a few [i]hours[/i] it is someone elses turn.

          A lot of time, but then again, it is better than watching TV, which I almost never do.

      • #2657030

        “this POS”…

        by timbo zimbabwe ·

        In reply to I warned ya’ll

        … is how I referred to my PlayStation, or NoPlayStation. Nothing but probs with it, sent it back, told them to keep the damn thing.

        My 360 has purred like a kitten from day 1. No problems, but I did take heed at the potential for overheating and set it up accordingly. Keep the PS3… I’ll take my 360.

        • #2656983

          PS3 is built better and has a fail rate of less than 5%

          by phimuskapsi ·

          In reply to “this POS”…

          Whereas the 360 has a reported failure rate of 30-35% which is just unacceptable.

          However, I have a 360 and I had to send mine back as well. It wasn’t because of overheating the drive no longer opened, I take care of it too. Just one day it wouldn’t load games anymore.

      • #2974457

        they are back to two weeks

        by oz_media ·

        In reply to I warned ya’ll

        And there are many ways to solve the problem at home too, as I noted in my post to JD above.

        • #2974443

          Below, actually

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to they are back to two weeks

          And your solution, while the better fix, would void the warranty.

          Definitely something to look at when the warranty runs out, though.

          Would you believe I was told by MS that a fan unit would not be necessary to prevent another burnup? Of course you do…. ;\

    • #2664842

      As a popular Geek webcomic said,,,,

      by kjell_andorsen ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      I’ll wait for the XBOX 361 for workgroups….

      • #2664833

        I really should have known better

        by jdclyde ·

        In reply to As a popular Geek webcomic said,,,,

        I knew about the original problems with the power supply, but hadn’t heard anything about the RROD. I can’t believe I didn’t google it BEFORE wasting so much money on an MS product.

        Maybe I will be more sypathetic to people looking for product keys, just because MS has pissed me off so much.

        But hey, it is early. Maybe they will turn this around and make things right? Doubt it.

    • #2664829

      I’m on my 4th XBOX 360

      by smorty71 ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      I purchased a unit just after launch in December of 2005. I’ve had it replaced 3 times already.

      With each subsequent repair, the turnaround time has gotten longer.

      The first repair used overnight shipping to get me the empty shipping box and to get it to and from the repair facility. Turnaround time was about a week (would have been shorter, but it was sent in just before Christmas, so the repair facility was closed to 2 days).

      The last repair I had took about 5 days to get the box and about 27 days to get the repaired XBOX back.

      You can read more about my XBOX 360 repair ordeal here:

      http://www.smorty71.com/2007/08/got-my-4th-xbox-360.html

      • #2664806

        Ugh

        by jellimonsta ·

        In reply to I’m on my 4th XBOX 360

        I am glad I no longer play games. Only play online Dora and Curious George with my 5 year old daughter. 😀

      • #2664640

        NOW you say something…… :(

        by jdclyde ·

        In reply to I’m on my 4th XBOX 360

        I WOULD have just gotten a PS3 instead if I would have only known…..

        I am thinking I will be leaving the system on for a week straight when it finally comes back. If it is going to burn up, let it be right away while it is fresh in my head.

        Question, are you running a cooling unit on yours now?

        • #2664622

          I installed custom cooling fans early on

          by smorty71 ·

          In reply to NOW you say something…… :(

          I have multiple fans in my entertainment rack that pull heat out. Didn’t seem to make a difference.

          The rep on the phone told me it was a design flaw in the original design. She claimed that they had figured out how to fix it now.

        • #2556598

          I remembered the entertainment rack system

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to I installed custom cooling fans early on

          but was wondering if you ran anything directly on the 360 or not.

          I even read where MS claimed that some of the fans would leach too much juice and burn the system out. can’t win for losing.

        • #2556544
          Avatar photo

          While not on a X Box

          by hal 9000 ·

          In reply to I remembered the entertainment rack system

          Several years ago I did mount some extra fans onto a Audio Amp that was used professionally and was constantly overheating and clipping.

          I got a good laugh out of the next time that the Service Guy came out and claimed that the fans where overloading the Transformer causing the problem. Apparently he thought that the fans where 12 Volt when they where 240 Volt [i]Mains here[/i] I just let him rave on attempting to get out of repairing the unit and then asked how the Mains could be overloaded?

          The moral of the story is that they will try anything to get out of fixing/repairing a faulty design. On that one they not only replaced the unit UG but as a Factory Modification they incorporated my Fan Idea on all the existing units. The new ones also had the same thing fitted so that they would keep working. Of course the Power Transistors kept burning out and stopping the unit but they needed replacing with the correct rated components not the cheap rubbish that they where fitting.

          Maybe I should have kept the stupid thing and charged them for the cooling solution to their main problem. 😀

          Col

        • #2556524

          Sounds like the local Saturn dealer

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to While not on a X Box

          I picked up a Saturn just before Christmas (gets about 35 mpg). The problem with it? The locks they use suck ass. About 1/3rd of the time, you could not remove the key from the ignition. :-X One day, I was so pissed, I gave it a good yank, and now the key will come out in any position.

          When I had talked to the dealer about this, their first question was “how many keys do you have on your keyring”? Yeah, having more than three keys on my ring will ruin the ignition? I have never had this issue with ANY Chevy or Chrysler product.

        • #2557171

          Too much weight on keys

          by phake ·

          In reply to Sounds like the local Saturn dealer

          It is certainly possible for too much weight on the keys to mess up all of the mandated key and engine electrical security features…

          My wife will often have her cell phone and mini-wallet attached to her keyring and she occasionally gets a brief engine cutoff in her Chrysler minivan.

          I never get that problem with my keys (vacation driving) although I “only” have about a dozen keys….

        • #2454619

          Saturn and Chevy

          by daemonslayer ·

          In reply to Sounds like the local Saturn dealer

          FYI: Saturn, like Chevy (and, i know this is probably a duh, GMC) is a GM brand name.

      • #2659227

        Two 360″s and Belkin doesn’t like either. The PSP either!

        by robondell ·

        In reply to I’m on my 4th XBOX 360

        Can anyone here point me in the right direction so’s I can get my two new newly repaired 360’s and a new unrepaired PSP on line by way of a Belkin Pre N 8230-4 wireless router?

        Belkin folks don’t seem to know either!

      • #2974455

        Seeing as you are very technical

        by oz_media ·

        In reply to I’m on my 4th XBOX 360

        try this: http://techrepublic.com.com/5208-6230-0.html?forumID=102&threadID=254517&messageID=2659212

        I’ve had a few friends sove the problem now, and as of now it is still fixed.

    • #2664801

      It is all to do with heat

      by the listed ‘g man’ ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      They fit poor cooling systems in the 360. If they fail the chips fry.

      • #2664637

        Should not have been an issue

        by jdclyde ·

        In reply to It is all to do with heat

        less than a month old, and it has been running in the equivalence of a “refrigerated room” for the last few weeks. Between 41 and 55F average.

      • #2557277

        Easy fix if out of warranty

        by andy.nelson1 ·

        In reply to It is all to do with heat

        Yep ? seen loads having this problem here in the UK. Don?t know if there?s a spec difference here but they tend to go into what seems to be a ?safe mode? before actually getting destroyed. I?ve sorted 4 for friends who have bought them ?dead? off ebay for ?20-30 a piece. Then you just grab some good silver based heatsink compound, a larger piece of aluminium, strip, replace and add an extra bit of heatsink material and hey presto!!

        Anyone wanting to do this, check out the simple instructions here:-

        http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2006/6/16/4353

        • #2656910

          Other options

          by sublimedragon ·

          In reply to Easy fix if out of warranty

          Check around on Google also for xbox mod sites… some sell packages with custom heat sinks and cooling systems… I’ve even seen a liquid cooling system!!

        • #2656789

          only for an out of warranty system though

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to Other options

          if you pop it open to put on a different heat sink, bye-bye warranty.

          You did hear they extended the warranty covering the RROD out to three years, right?

      • #2974449

        Too true

        by oz_media ·

        In reply to It is all to do with heat

        A tinfoil heatsink that doesn’t keep it cool enough.

        Thermal paste and X clips should be replaced with Arctic and bolts.

        You can also get an external P/S with fan, liquid cooling systems and other goodies but using proper paste on the CPU and bolting it in seems to be effective.

    • #2556511

      “Standing behind” the product

      by seanferd ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      I believe all issues must be handled through MS. I don’t the that the retailer has a choice in this, either.

      • #2558076

        Up to 7 days for Gamestop

        by jdclyde ·

        In reply to “Standing behind” the product

        they will just give you a new one if you get a defective product.

        It used to be 30 days, but there has been such a flood of these defective 360’s they had to go to 7 days instead.

        I am surprised they will even carry it anymore.

        I wish I would have bought it at Target. they have their 30 days, satisfaction. I would have returned it and got the PS3 in a second.

    • #2557289

      Fast Repsonse

      by d.neal ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      Sent my 360 back after the RROD, shipped it in my own packaging so I didn’t have to wait for MS to send me a box and 8 days later I got the same one back working better than before and with one months free xbox live. OK so the problems shouldn’t be there to start with but at least I got quick service.

      • #2557288

        Working better than before?

        by the listed ‘g man’ ·

        In reply to Fast Repsonse

        How exactly?

        • #2557244

          How

          by d.neal ·

          In reply to Working better than before?

          I used to get a lot of can’t read the disk errors, especially mid game when cut scenes etc were loading. Since it came back this doesn’t happen anymore.

        • #2557184

          Nice

          by the listed ‘g man’ ·

          In reply to How

          .

        • #2657020

          I don’t know if that is really something to brag about?

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to How

          Your saying you had OTHER defects with the system beyond the RROD, and they fixed the system to how it should have been in the first place. How nice of them?

          I thought you were going to say it PERFORMED better during game play than when it was new. THAT would be an improvement, not just what is expected.

          Cool that you got it back quickly.

    • #2557286

      Got the new Premium with HDMI as a replacement

      by guillaume.finance ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      I went just 7 days before my 1st year warranty to Game (UK store) and luckily they replaced it with a brand new Xbox 360 Premium with the HDMI – hurray !

      The guy told me however that the problem of breaking down is probably still the same with this one… 🙁

      Such a shame that there are so many problems as it’s a nice gaming console…

    • #2557284

      Problems with newer 360s

      by techrepublic ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      Has anyone had a problem with the newer versions, i.e the ones with the HDMI port (the Halo version or the Elite)
      My understanding is that these models have an improved cooling system, and are less prone to failure.

    • #2557263

      We have been well and truly mugged! Twice

      by hughclinton ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      I have owned an xbox for nearly 2 years, but have hardly ever maanged to use it. Whenever I do, something else breaks or goes wrong. The RRR appeared when I was returning my intermittently locking up xbox to the store.
      When I got the new one home the wireless adapter stopped working. I returned my working Xbox steering wheel which seemed to have been quietly recalled, and when I got it back (very quickly I must say) It didn’t work at all.

      I have never had so much trouble with a single device – and I have worked on more computer systems than most people have had hot dinners! What a mug I must be – it’s been a truly awful thing to own. The PS3 is sooooo much better – quiet cool, more powerful, blue ray drive, and …… IT WORKS.

      • #2557258

        Perhaps M$ need a kick up the backside

        by graham wilson ·

        In reply to We have been well and truly mugged! Twice

        Because as far as I can tell, the PS3 cannot yet comepete with the Xbox on its primary function; a games playing unit.

        Okay the PS3 may be the more reliable, cooler, quieter hardware but its missing the most important thing a games console needs and thats games to play on it.

        At the moment I am ashamed to admit that if my 360 broke I would put the purchase of a new one on my credit card while the broken one was off to M$ for repair.

        This is because I dont yet have a realistic alternative console available to me.

        I cannot under any circumstances justify buying a PS3 yet because there simply isnt enough available on it.

        • #2657018

          I disagree Graham

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to Perhaps M$ need a kick up the backside

          The single most important thing about any product is that it is a quality unit that will work well.

          It doesn’t matter HOW many cool games there are, if you can’t play them because of defective hardware.

        • #2657157

          chicken and the egg scenario but you are incorrect because………

          by graham wilson ·

          In reply to I disagree Graham

          If there are no quality games to play on your choice of games console (and you bought it for actually playing games on) then ones chances of having fun playing games are not much more than 0%.

          However, if there are many quality games to play on a console and more on the way that at least arrive at some point rather than just reamining in the pipeline/pipedream for ever then ones chances of having fun playing games are much higher. Admittedly thuis can all come to a crushing end one evening mid play but even so.

          Dont get me wrong and tar me as some M$ lover and Sony hater. I have no alliegencies to any one hardware or software maker because thats rather silly. They make products I like or dislike just like anyone else that sells goods or services. I want competition in the marketplace because it benefits me, the consumer in the end. I do not wish failure any any one console maker, I want them all to survive, compete and force each other to innvoate more and keep trying to provide the better products and services.

          Its annoying me that right now its a one horse race. I want Sony to get off thier backsides, release some worthy games and make M$ sit up, take notice and improve!

        • #2658069

          It was very different early on

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to chicken and the egg scenario but you are incorrect because………

          when it was the ps2 vs xbox, sony was sitting in the drivers seat.

          Between the xbox live game play and more action games for the teen and mid 20’s people, (the main audience), sony fell behind. they have some cool games, but their focus was always the sports games. that was the main reason for going with a 360. MORE games to my liking. ps3 would have still kept me amused.

        • #2454737

          Definately True

          by graham wilson ·

          In reply to It was very different early on

          PS2 was definately streets ahead of Xbox when the Xbox was first released because Xbox had no games and was expensive. M$ though saw where games were going to go (online) and made their console online ready at release with the needed hard drive so as not to limit the online possibilities for patches, extra maps, modes etc.

          As time moved on games started appearing for it though and although there was alot of pc game conversions the console eventually became worth buying.

          I took the plunge myself and slowly but surely my PS2 was getting left behind. Sony never delivered the the much needed hard drive which pretty much made the console completely obsolete as it eventually became near useless for online gaming. Fortunately, Sony’s gaming arm survived on fanboyism and people who still hadnt made the jump to online games. During this time Sony wasted time and money on crap like the PS2.5 and PSP instead of fixing their primary product.

          This current situation could now go the other way if Sony would stop doing their usual trick of promising but not delivering and going off getting involved in other projects once the money has been made on the one that still isnt as good as it should be.

          I hope they do sort it out because PS3 could be something good. I have also heard they have dropped the ball somewhat once again with the online implementation. Shame that. Should have just shamelessly copied the M$ online implementation like Nokia have for their next N gage. hehe.

        • #2656442

          I agree 100%

          by jgraun ·

          In reply to Perhaps M$ need a kick up the backside

          The 360 is by far the console out there, just look at the sales vs. PS3. MS is crushing Sony. They may have won the Blu-Ray Battle but they lost the Console War.

    • #2557253

      didnt have many issues…

      by stangg ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      … apart from the odd freezing. Though after a while i did find it became a very effective room heater in those cold winter nights. That was over a year ago now though and i sold it in the first quarter last year as well, looks like i sold it just in time from what i read.

      • #2557248

        Never had a plm

        by sdkfljg ·

        In reply to didnt have many issues…

        I’ve never had a problem with mine (yet I suppose). I usually only play with my xbox 2x a week, but for up to 8 hours straight on a good night of CoD4. I did have issues playing Fable, but I just chalked it up to playing a regular xbox game. I may have jinxed myself, but I still love my 360 and if it requires hacking the box to keep it running, so be it.

    • #2557247

      Xbox Whoes will continue…..

      by yponson ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      I’ve had the same problem, after about one year of the purchase. I got my X-box replaced by Microsoft. And now? Well, my hard disk crashed and now I have to get a new one. I hope nothing else breaks down.

    • #2557240

      PS3 is just as bad

      by rcampos79 ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      I bought a PS3, after a month it stopped reading discs–ANY disc, dvd bluray u name it. I got the box, returned and got a shiny new one in two weeks. I hope it doesn’t break after the one year warranty…

      • #2557236

        Never had a problem with my PS3

        by iainb ·

        In reply to PS3 is just as bad

        I’ve never had a problem with my PS3, but my mate had a hoorible time with his 360, to the extent that after playing Heavenly Sword one night at my place he exchanged his 360 console and games and bought a PS3! All I remember about his 360 was that it was SO noisy!

    • #2557226

      rings…

      by src-brian ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      I just recently got the RRoD, and am waiting on my prepaid box to be sent to me. I bought my 360 used and it was manufactured back in 05 according to when i had it registered with MS. I’m not a hardcore gamer, so waiting 3 weeks or however long it takes is not a big deal to me. My particular error code was a general hardware error, and wont cost anything to get fixed. I’d like to get a PS3….but they are too expensive, and all of the games for PS3 are also for 360…so I’m not gonna run out on pay for an overly priced PS3 when I have a 360.

    • #2557222

      Good luck – first of many returns (going on 4 360s)

      by mongo_xbl ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      I am currently on my third 360 (first one RROD, second one RROD). Now the third one has lost the ability to communicate wirelessly with anything. Spent an hour on the phone with XBox support telling me to hit some bizarre combination of buttons on the controller. I had to laugh and ask the person – “do you understand what you just requested? Hard to do when the wireless controllers don’t work!”

      Meanwhile, the Wii has been flawless and I keep thinking about picking up a PS3.

    • #2557218

      retailers

      by symon.l ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      Most retailers wont cover any console’s like this that is what the warrenty is for, MS Xbox have always dealt with these fault I used to work on the Tech Desk for Xbox but it those days it was a case of calling up explaining what the fault was and we would arrange a courier to pick up the Xbox and swap it there and then like for like. I had 2 normal Xbox’s go wrong and 2 360’s go wrong, I dont know why these consoles are so doomed but never go to the shop you got the console from especially MS’s consoles go onto http://www.xbox.com call the toll free number this will save you alot of hastle in the long run.

    • #2557212

      XBOX 360

      by quasar kid ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      Both of my sons saved up their money and bought their own XBOX…from Gamestop…never had any problems with the XBOX or Gamestop. Now if you want to talk about the last American made car I bought I can give you some horror stories…

      • #2657095

        Original Xbox Dead 2x

        by davidota ·

        In reply to XBOX 360

        These are crap. My son’s has died 2x. The second death got lost in their access database and took two month to get a replacement. His WII is still working.

      • #2657013

        GameStop is a love/hate relationship right now

        by jdclyde ·

        In reply to XBOX 360

        When I went in with my boys to get our 360, the display showed you get the two games included with the system. I tell the clerk that was helping me that was the system we wanted.

        He went in the back room, carried it up to the counter and put it directly in a bag and said it would be waiting for us when we were done shopping. (needed to get extra controllers and a few games).

        We pay and leave.

        Putting the system together, and there were no games with the system. When I called them, they said they must have run out of systems that have the free game, but there wasn’t anything he could/would do about it.

        I talked to the manager from a different location, and she was dumbfounded when I told her what had happened. She took the game out of her stores inventory and hooked me up. I promptly went on-line to do the survey on the register slip. I gave her a shining review.

        I trashed the GameStop in the Midland Mall, here in Michigan, and informed them not only will I never go to that store again, I will make sure that everyone I ever talk to will know about how they do business and will do my best to steer everyone away from them.

    • #2557205

      RE: 360

      by loonit ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      Yeah man, my first x-box I had for about a month and it crapped out so I just brought it back to Wal-mart for a new one. The second one lasted about 3 months. The return policy on electronic items is like 30 or 90 days at wally world or something so I had to return my second x-box to Microsoft in their coveted little white box. I went through the same shhhtuffff that you described in your story, UPS, 2 to 6 weeks. It was more like 2 to 6 months, however now that I have gone through all that and have gotten my console back it works great. I have heard several different reason why this is happened to these machines but the reason that makes the most sense is soldering. I was told that there is a small soldered connection that breaks loose inside the machine when it runs for a very long time. The machine gets so hot inside that the solder softens. Thats enough babbling from me, anyway, the refurbished system works great, and xbox live is fun with friends, and Call of Duty 4 rocks man. Good luck

      • #2656979
        Avatar photo

        Do you realize what you are suggesting?

        by hal 9000 ·

        In reply to RE: 360

        Electronics Solder Melts at 310o C it starts to soften at 250o C so if the unit is producing so much heat to heat up the internal components to temps like that the actual Electronics must be frying long before the solder can begin to [i]soften.[/i]

        While the idea sounds great it’s just more of the same old story poor quality components making a poor quality product. But they save a very small fraction of a cent per unit when they make them so it’s OK.

        Not to mention the costs involved in running something like this it must cost about as much as a small room heater if it’s getting that hot so I would be expecting Horrendous Power Bills after playing one of these. But as it’s mostly kids who use these I suppose it’s the Idiot Parents who get lumbered with the bill. 😀

        Col

        • #2656948

          Col, One thing I read did talk about incorrect solder being used

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to Do you realize what you are suggesting?

          Gets hot, gets brittle, then snaps.

          Hey, I read it on the internet, so it MUST be true, right? B-)

        • #2656863

          Even brittle solder shouldnt just snap. It’s not as if the 360 vibrates lol

          by dave ·

          In reply to Col, One thing I read did talk about incorrect solder being used

          .

        • #2656790

          There are a lot of shoulds and shouldn’t’s in the world

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to Even brittle solder shouldnt just snap. It’s not as if the 360 vibrates lol

          and this fits right in.

          B-)

        • #2656380
          Avatar photo

          JD Electronics Solder has a High Silver Content

          by hal 9000 ·

          In reply to Col, One thing I read did talk about incorrect solder being used

          So it melts at a lower Temp that other Solder. Typically somewhere around 310o C give or take 5o C.

          If the unit is getting hot enough to make any Solder go soft the Component must be at least 15o C hotter than where the Leg enters the Solder. These Components are rated to 40-50o C maybe and quite often a lot less so they should [b]Self Destruct[/b] long before they get hot enough to have any effect on the solder.

          But even if they are only getting a tenth as hot as was claimed above they are one Power Hungry Resistor and I would personally hate to be paying for the Electricity that these things are using as they are wasting a lot of it as heat. That in itself is a [b]Sure Fire Sign[/b] of a [b]Very Poor Design.[/b]

          OH now that is on the Internet it must be so true mustn’t it? 😀

          [b]The M$ X Box 360 chews more power that a small room heater and sends the users and their Parents Bankrupt.[/b] Hey after all it is M$ we are talking about here. :^0

          OH BTW my electronic Soldering Irons do not exceed 312o C and I’ve yet to run into any problems with not being able to melt solder. Of course the cheap Soldering Irons without Temp Control are a different story and I’ve seen someone who shall remain Nameless attempt to use one of the Electronic Weller’s to solder up something with Plumbers Solder. Besides turning the Iron Black it wouldn’t even come close to melting that solder even when it had bits cut off it in an attempt to stop the heat leaching up the Solder Stick. Still I had to replace the tip just in case of Contamination.

          It was a lot of Fun teaching that one not to mess with my Tools. :^0

          Col

        • #2554749

          OI

          by loonit ·

          In reply to Do you realize what you are suggesting?

          Settle down there Captain Flux. I said that is what I was told. I could understand your mild outrage if I had said this was a solid conclusion after hours of experiment in a controlled environment. Awe who gives a $4!t anyway. cheers!

    • #2557189

      Even bigger mistake…..

      by rbtechguy ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      I made the bigger mistake of letting my 17 year old son purchase one from ebay. 20/20 hindsight always bites you in the aft end.
      After two weeks of use, it quit. Well, no returns from ebay seller, no Microsoft support. I did some research and found the list of problems that plague the system, and actually implemented some of the fixes….erasers, heat gun, etc… The tricks seemed to work, and the 360 has been running for two months, no problems. It’s a shame that customers have to resort to extreme measures to get the problem resolved.

      • #2557156

        Just luck I guess

        by noads ·

        In reply to Even bigger mistake…..

        Owned an xbox, in all the useless packing material came several notices about correct placement and heat issues. being the paranoid SOB that I am, purchased additional cooling before using. Never had a problem.
        Upgraded to the elite last summer, and although noisy with the intercoolers, again, never had a problem. My son, however didn’t have the same experience with his PS3. After numerous replacements for disk read errors and lockups, He now stays parked on my elite.
        Lucky me.

    • #2557153

      Not Yet!

      by theoracle1001 ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      I’ve had my box for several years now and I have yet to have any problems with it. (Knock on wood.) My wife had hers less time than I did and she had to send hers in. She didn’t have to wait long because they sent her a replacement. So be sure to copy or get your stuff off it before you send it in!

      • #2657011

        When you send them in

        by jdclyde ·

        In reply to Not Yet!

        they have you remove your harddrive and faceplate.

        At first we had been worried about losing our saved games, until they told us not the send in the HD.

    • #2657115

      Mine has been good

      by sigman ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      Bought a 360 late fall of ’06. We had the disk scratching problem just after Christmas ’06, sent it back, got another unit in two weeks, this one has worked well since – even the wireless adapter.

      Not trying to rain on anybody’s rant here, but ours gets 2-8 hours of use per day and its been great.

      • #2657101

        Fate has been reading TR

        by the listed ‘g man’ ·

        In reply to Mine has been good

        let’s hope they are not tempted.

      • #2657008

        They aren’t all bad

        by jdclyde ·

        In reply to Mine has been good

        it is ONLY about 1 in 3 ( 33%) of all systems that are bad.

        You hopefully can stay part of the 66%.

    • #2657099

      One returned

      by dpeter ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      I have to admit to did get the rings of death while playing Gears Of War. I did the towel trick and was able to get the Xbox working just long enough for me to beat the game. I returned the Xbox to Microsoft with no questions asked. The first thing I did though was go buy one of those cooling fans for the back of the Xbox and have not had a problem since. I guess its been about a year now.

      I am just glad I did not buy the HD DVD add on!!!!!!!!!!!!

    • #2657073

      Happy with mine…

      by techniquephreak ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      I bought one the night the came out, one of the early ones with video card issues. Sure, it died within two months, but Microsoft sent me a replacement via next day delivery. I haven’t had a problem with the replacement, and it has been running hard on a daily basis for almost two years now.

      Your boys know what they’re talking about. A good rule when it comes to consoles and video games? Defer to the wisdom of your children. It’s about the gameplay, stupid! Xbox Live is the ultimate reason to have an Xbox 360. PS3 and Wii have nothing comparable. No contest.

      And yeah, I’m a Halo fanboy, so Xbox is where it’s at for me. Disagree and I’ll pwn your ass. 😉

    • #2657040

      I ended up happily with a Wii

      by franmill ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      Same here, XBox was defuncto from the word go..
      Gave up after two returns and new problems, accepted fate and relegated it to the old computer box closet…
      Bought a Wii and could not have been happier, it fits all of us from the 7 ear old to the 60 year old adoptive parents…
      fmillmd

      • #2657003

        Wii was never a contender for us

        by jdclyde ·

        In reply to I ended up happily with a Wii

        we don’t do “cutesy” games, and that is the Nintendo nitch.

        First person shooters all the way, which is why we went with the xbox.

        Sony always spent more time on sports games, which is not our cup of tea.

    • #2657005

      This may be an unpopular statement, but….

      by daveaaa3 ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      If the XBox and PS whatever’s are causing this much trouble, it’s time to start thinking about using a PC for your gaming.

      • #2657000

        console vs pc

        by jdclyde ·

        In reply to This may be an unpopular statement, but….

        the pc games win out every time over ANY console, no questions asked.

        The problem is, we are comparing a $400 system to a $2000 system to play games.

        I also have twins, and two people can play on a console, two people can not play on the same PC. (actually, need a third for me….)

        I do have several game systems, but they are not high end systems.

        • #2974442

          ?

          by oz_media ·

          In reply to console vs pc

          “I also have twins, and two people can play on a console, two people can not play on the same PC. (actually, need a third for me….)”

          I play multiplayer games on my PC all the time with friends, USB joysticks X number of friends = multiplayer gaming, NHL09 etc. run flawlessly.

        • #2974439

          The REAL advantage PC games have over consoles

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to ?

          is the more options available by using the keyboard/mouse instead of a crappy controller.

          For a shootem’up, give me a mouse over a joystick any day.

          And the games we play are not FOR multiplayer on same system.

        • #2974433

          Thats true…

          by jamesrl ·

          In reply to The REAL advantage PC games have over consoles

          My son has had three friends over to play Mario Kart on the Wii, and the four of them can all play with one TV and one console.

          To play the same way on a PC would mean they all bring a computer, network cable, and I supply a hub. And one of the computers would have to act as server.

          On the other hand, I play with up to 63 other people on Battlefield, on maps that can be 10 or more square miles, but only on the PC.

          James

    • #2656996

      MS recieved the box 02/21/08

      by jdclyde ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      Following the tracking, and MS now has my 360. Wow, did they go cheap on the shipping, because it took them a week to get it.

      Of course, they never sent me a confirmation that they got it, but that is probably standard for them.

      Will post more as I get more information on this. I WILL be having a marathon session with this system when I get it back. Have my boys have some friends spend the night, and have the thing go for 48 hours straight. Might even connect it to the projector from work and run it through the surround sound. that would be cooooooool. B-)

      • #2656898

        Our is Delivered

        by blackdiamond ·

        In reply to MS recieved the box 02/21/08

        Hey,

        Ours was delivered today, we sent it out on Tuesday the 19th. We have never received any notice from them about them getting it on any of our exchanges.

        One of ours was lost on its return trip and they did not even let us know. After a very long time and not receiving it we called them to ask status and they said they were waiting for us to call about it because it was lost on the return trip.

        Keep an eye on service.xbox.com for status, if you registered your original 360.

        • #2656791

          I followed the UPS tracking code

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to Our is Delivered

          to see when they got it.

          I plan to keep a close eye on this pig.

          Not to mention, everyday the boys are asking when the xbox will be back…… 😀

        • #2656373
          Avatar photo

          JD maybe it’s a M$ conspiracy

          by hal 9000 ·

          In reply to I followed the UPS tracking code

          To get you to buy more XBoxes. You know just like M$ and Windows Vista, because I do business work I’ve been told by M$ Marketing to sell a new computer with a Vista License [i] Something like Vista Basic because it’s not going to be used[/i] and then install another License of XP onto the system and charge for both. One computer with 2 M$ Licenses for it. Sure sounds good for M$ at least.

          Actually I’m not actually sure that the guy was kidding either. 🙁

          AS for the X Box 360 maybe it’s M$ idea to get customers to buy several so that they always have a working one while the others are in for repair. 😀

          Col

    • #2656993

      Working On Number 5

      by blackdiamond ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      Hey,

      We have had our launch day 360 replaced multiple times. Right now ours is “Out for delivery” in Texas, this will make number 5. This one did not even make it two months. This time for not being able to read any disc inserted. Only had the RRoD once in all of these problems.

      The thing I hate is that to get all of your downloaded items to work again you have to do stupid human tricks for MS because your content is associated with the 360 it was originally Dl’d on. Which means more time on the phone and less time playing.

      Last time they did include a free 30 days of Live, no big deal as we already are paid up for a year.

      We know five people with a 360 and each and every one of them has had it replaced at least one time with our five times at the top of the number count.

      Not a contest we want to win.

      • #2656984

        repaired or replaced?

        by jdclyde ·

        In reply to Working On Number 5

        I know some people have been reporting some of both.

        I have my serial number, so am curious if I get mine back or just a referb.

        You would think they would have a stack of them referb’ed and ready to go, to reduce the turn-around time on these.

        • #2656981

          Replaced In Our Case

          by blackdiamond ·

          In reply to repaired or replaced?

          Hey,

          We have never got the same one back, I expect this time to be no different.

        • #2656870

          But were the ones you got back ‘Refurb’s?

          by dave ·

          In reply to Replaced In Our Case

          I would expect MS to do something with most of the ones that come back, they just want to get you a replacement sooner than they can fix yours. So they send you one that someone else returned two months ago which they think they have fixed.

          Nothing wrong with that except of course where there is a fundamental design flaw and they don’t have enough of the redesigned units yet.

          From what I hear, if you get one back with a second heat sink and a heat pipe cooling the processor, that is a ‘fixed’ unit or interim production unit, and may be reliable. Early repairs which did not include the extra heat sink were still problematic. You can only be truly confident in the new manufacture (lower power, cooler chips) units, and even those may have other problems than heat to contend with.

        • #2656801

          On my 3’rd and it took 3 tries to get a box in the mail

          by richardroles ·

          In reply to But were the ones you got back ‘Refurb’s?

          It took 3 attempts to even get my plain white box from them. 1 month later the thing shows up so that I can return the blasted thing!, In all it took 2 days shy of 2 months to even get it back from them. I am not impressed with their so called “Customer Service” either No compensation what so ever except for a month of free xbox live! WTF that does not cover it. Microsoft can bite my shiny metal A$$ ! ps After I had my xbox back a week later another empty white box show up at the door! I am keeping this one in case I need to return it again! And yes it all has to do with heat! I have mine up on stand so that air can flow freely even underneath. Just don’t block any air holes proping it up!

        • #2656792

          I had to laugh about their box

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to On my 3’rd and it took 3 tries to get a box in the mail

          as soon as I walked into the UPS store, they guy behind the counter says “oh, an xbox, huh”?

    • #2656968

      Secondary problem related to replaced 360s

      by osirisb ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      There is another headache that occurs when a 360 dies and is replaced. Apparently the licensing or DRM for downloaded content is matched to both your gamertag AND the console. This means that if your console is replaced you have to be connected to XBLive to access this content, presumably to verify your gamertag’s rights to it.

      I found this out the hard way when I recently took my newly replaced 360 on a weekend getaway and found that all of my arcade games had reverted back to trial versions, I couldn’t access new Halo3 maps (THAT I PAID FOR!!), and I couldn’t watch most videos. Downloading the content again doesn’t help.

      This may not be a problem for most people, but I take my xbox on trips and to LAN parties where this is a big issue.

      A mistake buying the 360? Probably.

      • #2656915

        Even Worse Sometimes

        by blackdiamond ·

        In reply to Secondary problem related to replaced 360s

        Hey,

        What is even worse sometimes is that the content is not available even when online. Our Crackdown content does not show that we have ever DL’d it and even when it would let you re-download some content with charging you again it would not work for any account but the main account.

        We called MS and they had us create another gamer tag and then several weeks later they called us back and gave us codes to input for the amount of money we had paid for everything. The problem is that now we have this gamer tag that we don’t use and can’t be deleted because the stuff is also associated with it.

        There has to be a better way. Seems like they could go into our account and associate the new/replacement 360s serial number.

    • #2656956

      The Xbox 360 HD-DVD Player

      by stumanca ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      I don’t think anyone’s mentioned anything about the HD-DVD player for the 360, yet. That brings all kinds of ire to me. The demise of HD-DVD standard to Blu-Ray really upsets me. What am I to do with all those HD movies when the player dies??? Use them for target practice down at the range??

      • #2656942

        PULL!

        by jdclyde ·

        In reply to The Xbox 360 HD-DVD Player

        yes.

        • #2656932

          Anyone with HD-DVD’s

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to PULL!

          should be selling them on ebay while they can.

          That or put them away for 30 years and then sell them as antiques.

      • #2656923

        At least

        by jamesrl ·

        In reply to The Xbox 360 HD-DVD Player

        At least the HD DVD player can play standard DVDs too.

        I remember in the 80s the RCA laserdisc, a 12 inch platter that was out when DVDs were a dream. When they were done, they were useless for anything new. What you had was all you would ever get.

        James

      • #2656893

        Thats what I did with the beta tapes

        by faradhi ·

        In reply to The Xbox 360 HD-DVD Player

        Oh well, the movies were all bad anyways.

    • #2656912

      It’s not that bad… really!!

      by sublimedragon ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      After seeing some of the posts on here, I have to wonder… how long are you running the machine for at any given time… in the manual for the system it says not to run the machine for longer than 6 consecutive hours without a cool down period. I faithfully adhered to that rule for a total of 11 months and then one day the kids were off from school and they ran it for something like 12 hours with no break. The next day (MY day off) I went to turn it on and lo and behold… the dreaded Ring o’ Death.

      My only problem was how long it took to get the system back (6 weeks, and only a 1-month live card for my troubles)

      When I got my system back (a totally new system) I found that certain games I had would not play (Gears of War and Tiger Woods 07) other than that the system was fine and I just traded my two games that didn’t work for Assasin’s Creed.

      Before I even played it once, I went out and got myself a 3rd party cooling device which is basically a series of 3 computer chassis fans that clips onto the back of the xbox, I gotta say it REALLY DOES WORK! But even with the cooler I still never run it longer than 5-6 hours without a cool down…

      XBOX 360 for me has been a great experience, especially for the games it has to offer.

      • #2656903

        Manual??

        by blackdiamond ·

        In reply to It’s not that bad… really!!

        Hey,

        They come with a manual? 🙂

        Ours is on all the time especially on the weekend, with watching movies, streaming music or videos and video chatting with an out of state daughter. Our first 360 which lasted longer than any of the others, over a year was on all the time as well.

        I would think that 6 hours would be a suggestion only. No one at MS has every questioned us about the amount of time the system is running.

        • #2656881

          granted…

          by sublimedragon ·

          In reply to Manual??

          I admit I’ve also ran my xbox longer than 6 hours while streaming, downloading, using Media Centre etc etc, but none of those activities really ‘pushes’ your xbox hardware at all. Try playing a game like Bioshock or GoW for any length of time and you will certainly see the temperature rise considerably…

          it seems to me that there are varying reports from all over the world about the xbox… some people have problems right out of the box.. others like yourself don’t seem to be having any issues. Obviously there are some serious quality control problems at the MS camp. (gee, who would’ve thunk it.. MS with poor quality control?? lol)

        • #2656857

          Issues

          by blackdiamond ·

          In reply to granted…

          Hey,

          Oh we have had issues. We are currently waiting for our fourth replacement.

        • #2656794

          Some people never have a problem

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to granted…

          I had mine within the first few weeks of owning the box.

          limit to six hours, huh? yeah, that is going to happen, not. about the only time it isn’t on is when we are at work/school, or asleep, between my two boys and myself. Easily 10 hour stretch, taking turns playing the one player games.

      • #2657746

        Fans – back of the xbox

        by the listed ‘g man’ ·

        In reply to It’s not that bad… really!!

        Will do not good. The cold air needs to pass over the components and then out the back, not blown in from the back only to be passed back out & in & out…. – this will make things worse!

    • #2656443

      No problems here

      by jgraun ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      I got mine about a month after the launch and I havent had any problems. I do have a lot of ventilation where mine sits. PS3 isnt much better a friend of mine has one and he is on his 3rd one, hopefully 3rd time is the charm.

    • #2656429

      Yep, 2 of ’em, 1 PS3, 1 Wii…

      by mellis ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      I bought my son an XBOX 360 at launch as a Christmas present. Bought one for myself about 6 months later. Got my son a Wii the following Christmas. This past Christmas, got my son the PS3. My Xbox, which was the newer one, failed with RROD after about 6 months. My son’s failed with RROD about two years after purchase. Microsoft promptly extended the warranty (twice) and replaced both xboxes (total turn-around about 2-3 weeks).

      Microsoft obviously has a hardware design flaw related to heat. However, they were quick to repair/replace them and I feel like they have supported me well. Much better than some other companies I have dealt with.

      Having 2 xbox360’s, 1 wii and 1 PS3 in a single household has allowed us to evaluate the positive/negatives of each system.

      The XBox360 has the most and best games (IMO). The online experience (gamer score’s, marketplace, etc.) is much better with XBox. The wii is fun, but is not comparable in graphics or power. The PS3 is probably the most powerful machine but its potential, at least in the games we have, has not been fulfilled. The games seem more washed out and the graphics are not as “next” gen as the Xbox360–at least IMO.

      So, even though both of our XBox360’s have failed with RROD, it is still the favorite of both my son and myself. A great gaming experience, the extension of the warranty to 3 years, and breadth of games on XBox360 causes me to make some allowance for its failures.

      PS3 made a powerful system that is apparently harder to develop games for than the XBox360–maybe they got the hardware thermal design right, but it just isn’t as much fun–at least not yet.

    • #2560499

      Got the system back

      by jdclyde ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      well, technically, they kept it for a month and then sent me back a different system.

      If they were going to swap it out, why would/should it take them three weeks?

      They must have been having a lot of problems with UPS because they switched over to Fedex now.

      Will wait and see how long THIS system lasts.

    • #2562142

      30 to 40% failure rate

      by dr dij ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      is what an article I saw said.
      due to poor design, overheating.

      • #2973564

        The BAD thing is

        by jdclyde ·

        In reply to 30 to 40% failure rate

        they have known about this major design flaw for a long time.

        They were SUPPOSE to have had it resolved, but here I am, with another dead 360, just in time for Christmas….. X-(

    • #2973566

      Death of the Xbox, round two

      by jdclyde ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      Ok, here it is, 10 months later, and my Xbox360 has died AGAIN. Same problem, the RRD (Red Ring of Death)

      At least it lasted longer than the first box, which was only a month. X-(

      Anyone else still having problems with their 360?

      • #2973523

        Thanks JD

        by jamesrl ·

        In reply to Death of the Xbox, round two

        My son really wants a 360, despite the fact we have a Wii. As time goes on, there is less reason to get another console, there are enough titles on the Wii now.

        For example, Stars Wars Clone Wars and Star Wars Force unleashed – light sabre duels with the Wii controllers promise to be way more fun than mashing buttons on the 360 controller. And Call of Duty World at War looks good for a FPS on Wii.

        But your problem is the icing on the cake. He has friends who have 360s with no problems, but my argument he can go there and play if he wants.

        James

        • #2973522

          COD looks so sweet

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to Thanks JD

          Saw the ad last night. Too bad I am not in a position to jump ships.

          For the price of a console, it is always better to spend the $250 on more games, than having a second console of a different brand.

          The boys do play Halo2 and COD3 a lot.

          The amount of playing has been going down because for birthdays and such, I have been trying to direct gifts to “REAL” activities, instead of digital.

          The big thing the boys are asking for this year? Clothes from American Eagle.

          Other than looking forward to my yearly sweater from my stepdads stepdad, I don’t think I EVER asked for clothes as a kid. Now I ask for “work” clothes.

        • #2973521

          Since they don’t read TR

          by jamesrl ·

          In reply to COD looks so sweet

          My youngest – just turned 11, wants a guitar. She has begun to sing in a choir, and she can get the basic guitar lessons at school. But she is a very petite 11, so a full size acoustic wouldn’t work. I can get a 1/2 size or 3/4 size at the local music store for about $100. I would be happy to buy used, but can’t seem to see these sizes on craigslist or kijiji, so will buy new.

          Thirteen year old girl wants the rest of the Twilight trilogy. Got her a “toy” video camera that records onto SD cards (I have a few spares).

          Son will get Force unleashed – had to chose between that and the Star Wars clone wars lightsaber game…

          My son finished Halo 3 at his friends. It looked cool but really more of the same. He has played out Smash Bros brawl and Mario Kart. I’m looking for Tiger Woods for Wii on sale as we would play that together.

          James

        • #2973513

          Halo

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to Since they don’t read TR

          They just play on-line, not against the console. They had completed the game in a day.

          We don’t have 3 yet.

          Odd sizes. Does make it hard to find good used. I had the same problem with ThingOne when buying him a compound bow. He is left-eye dominate so has to shoot left-handed. 🙁

        • #2973507

          I’m not the type to cheap out

          by jamesrl ·

          In reply to Halo

          On musical instruments, being a musician myself, but she is the youngest and she will outgrow it in a couple of years. At that point I can buy a full size if she is still into it. For $100 the student size is a “real” instrument, not plastic. I googled the cheap full size ones ($69) that Wallyworld sells, and the reviews were terrible. I’m not a guitar player, and I hated the tone.

          I played the original Halo on the PC and loved it. Might get 2, since I have Vista on one partition and a kick ass card. Should be able to find it cheap.

          James

        • #2973500

          Not cheap

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to I’m not the type to cheap out

          I always look at it, as I have a set amount I am willing to spend. If I can find a higher end USED model, then it is good all the way around.

          There are many products I go used with more than not. Only one of my firearms was new, but have never had any issues with any of them. Only one of my guitars was new, and the same.

          Has nothing to do with being cheap.

        • #2973282

          So – what is a kick ass card then ? …

          by older mycroft ·

          In reply to I’m not the type to cheap out

          Always good to keep up. If my lowly system has expired, I’d rather know now.

          [i]2MB E8500 Core 2 Duo, 512MB/Nvidia 8800GT.[/i] – Oh yeah… XP Pro.

        • #2973272

          My system….

          by jamesrl ·

          In reply to I’m not the type to cheap out

          is Dell Dimension 470 – used of course, heavy duty workstation machine with 2 Xeon Processors at 3.2 – hyperthreading but not true Duos. I see 4 cores in the Task Manager, but it isn’t as fast as a quad core for sure. I have 4 GB of dual channel ECC RAM.

          My video card is a Radeon 4850 – not the fastest card they make but plenty fast. I have a 8800GT (with only 256) and the 4850 is faster. I use XP Pro in one bootable partition for my gaming, with Vista for the rest of the family. But Halo 2 requires DX10 so its a Vista only game. Yes I know there are people who have hacked it to run on XP.

          James

      • #2973260

        Funny sea story.

        by xnavydk ·

        In reply to Death of the Xbox, round two

        I was on a ship in the north pacific somewhere and my buddy in the next office over, kept having issues with his and After I had to listen to him scream at it for weeks. finally it flamed up, caught fire and he had to jettison it overboard… It was hilarious seeing him run by with a flaming 360 in his hands cables trailing.

        • #2973254

          Well, how do you get warranty service?

          by cmiller5400 ·

          In reply to Funny sea story.

          If it is at the bottom of the sea? :p

        • #2974540

          you dont

          by xnavydk ·

          In reply to Well, how do you get warranty service?

          he ate it

        • #2974462

          OUCH.

          by cmiller5400 ·

          In reply to you dont

          That is one heck of an expensive meal. No fire extinguisher available? Wow. I’d hate to burn that amount of cash. (no pun intended)

        • #2974456

          I see…..

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to Funny sea story.

          Did he even TRY to call support?

          I know I would not be pleased.

          At least mine is still under warranty and will be calling them tonight on it.

        • #2972455
          Avatar photo

          Did he even try contacting Technical Support

          by hal 9000 ·

          In reply to Funny sea story.

          Seems to me that replacing a single X Box Unit would be considerably cheaper to those concerned than being required to repair a burnt out Cabin/Ship.

          Of course there still should have been fire extinguishers around that could have been used rather than the need to throw it overboard. 😀

          On some Merchant Ships just taking an Open Flame on Deck is a Major Fire Hazard that isn’t tolerated.

          Col

        • #2972448

          I think it was a knee jerk reaction

          by xnavydk ·

          In reply to Did he even try contacting Technical Support

          Its a US military ship, and I think he was more upset that he tossed it then he was upset it flamed. He was also worried the captain was going to ban any sort of gaming system on the ship, such being the Military. But I personally don’t think he was thinking except for OH CRAP!…

        • #2981481
          Avatar photo

          Yea some Officers & Captains

          by hal 9000 ·

          In reply to I think it was a knee jerk reaction

          Are funny that way. Open fires are not well liked in a situation like that particularly if it’s anywhere near a Magazine. :^0

          But I do understand that these ships have lots of Fire Drills where you have to be able to get to the Open Deck without the aid of Torches, Lights so maybe it would be a good exercises for a Fire Drill let a few 360’s cremate themselves and see just how long it is before the Ratings reach the deck. Of course you would have to make sure that the Capitan knew all about the Exercise as it wouldn’t pay to inconvenience him would it? 😀

          Col

    • #2974458

      an easy fix

      by oz_media ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      This very common issue was supposed to be resolved by changing the heat sink in the main unit this fall. The new gen ones are supposed ot be fine, apprently not.

      there are a few websites illustrating the weeny little tinfoil heat sink and ways ot beef it up. You can also add a secondary fan to the system to keep it cool and avvoif the RED button issue or a power supply with fan as shown here: http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/06/intec-offers-up-another-xbox-360-cooling-solution-the-100-powe/

      Another common issue for teh red ring was due to the thermal paste and X clamps used on the CPU. This is apprently fixed by using arctic silver instead of thermal paste and bolts instead of X clips.

      you’ll have ot Google that one though.

      Good luck, how ‘tardish is that! 😉

      • #2974445

        Frick that!

        by jdclyde ·

        In reply to an easy fix

        it is under warranty. Let them fricken fix it, AGAIN! B-)

        Yeah, at the time the first system failed, they CLAIMED to have found the source, so my replacement would have been “fixed”.

        • #2974441

          “Bolting in”

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to Frick that!

          are there brackets, or does this require some fabricating?

        • #2974438

          I haven’t done that one yet myself

          by oz_media ·

          In reply to “Bolting in”

          But a friend has, I believe the connector plate is the same as most CPU’s and thus has predrilled/tapped holes for the bolts.

          I think the Arctic paste is the most important though.

        • #2974440

          But they never will

          by oz_media ·

          In reply to Frick that!

          as you can see, MS just replaces failed components, they just put a bandaid on it, they don’t resolve the issue.

          The external power supply with fan may help, and wouldn’t void your warranty if it did. But otherwise you will juts be constantly sending it back and waiting whil ethey replace burned out components. Fk the warranty , fix the problem instead.

          It’s just lik emodding one, if you add a mod chip, yuo void teh warranty, but you also get to download any game you can possibly imagine and throw it on a CDRW or teh HD itself and play it for nothing.

          I have a good friend with a 360 with a terabyte harddrive, external, that he rigged into it. He has every game, movie and song imaginable on the HD and runs it as a media centre on his flat panel. No warranty but what a score!

    • #2967921

      works fine now

      by markschu ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      I too had the “red ring of death” about a year after I purchased a 360 (brand new when they came out). I sent it back and received it from Microsoft fixed about 2-3 weeks later. It has been over a year and a half and I have had NO problems with it since. I LOVE MY XBox 360 and would take it over a PS3 ANYDAY!!!

    • #2973893

      Only platform for Fable

      by stygmata ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      Honestly, that was the deal maker for me. I’m not a huge console guy, but I finally decided after my Quake and Doom phase that computers were for computing, and consoles were for games.

      The 360 is not a great platform. It is too crippled by Microsoft’s desire to *make* it a platform. While it is more open than the Wii, the PS3 is a more truly open platform device and is good for more things (Linux terminal, Blu-ray player). The PS3 really does approach being a true convergence TV device, while the Wii is a mere game platform and the 360 is stuck somewhere in between.

      But, it has Fable and that was the seller for me. The game is just that good. Plus, the multimedia features are getting better – Netflix is a huge bonus, and PlayOn is getting better all the time as well. Those are both signs of openness of the platform, and let Microsoft please take note.

      Oh – and it really would help if the hardware didn’t s*ck b@lls, too. Fix the overheating.

    • #2973811

      R.R.O.D.

      by emmetgibson ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      I’ve had the same problem,mine occoured 18 months after the day of purchase and MicroSoft repaired it with no quibbles,i bought a 360 this time round because i had the same problem previously with a ps2,the difference been that i had to pay over half the cost of my ps2 to get it repaired even though sony admitted that the console had a flaw,and they made it sound as if they were doing me a favour by repairing it at half the cost of a new console!

    • #2972882

      GameStop’s Secret

      by sbatdorf ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      GameStop has found a fix for the “red ring of death” which they install when they refurbish an Xbox 360. So you are probably better off buying a refurbished one from GameStop rather than a brand new one!

    • #2981068

      Sent the system back, for the second time

      by jdclyde ·

      In reply to Anyone else make the mistake of buying an Xbox360?

      It was annoying the jerk I got when I called MS about returning the system. He had me checking other things, trying to pretend that it might be something else.

      He was far from friendly.

      They offered to let me print my own label to save on the two days for them to send me a box, but I passed on that. Didn’t have a box the right size, and was not going to deal with damage in shipping that they could blame on my packing. X-(

      There can’t be any way that they are still F’ing the systems up anymore, is there?????

      • #2980964
        Avatar photo

        JD M$ Motto is Near Enough is Good Enough

        by hal 9000 ·

        In reply to Sent the system back, for the second time

        Always has been still is just look at any of their software. You should expect to replace these items at least once every 6 months.

        How else do you expect M$ to generate their Income Stream?

        I hope you are not suggesting building something that was correctly designed from the word go are you? I don’t think that is possible from M$ at least and they would never think to do things that way because it’s never been necessary previously.

        I’m surprised that this [i]far from friendly[/i] person actually even offered to send out anything or even suggest that there was a problem not introduced by the user. After all he did eventually send out the Packing so it could be returned so he was very friendly. Normally they would have just told you to buy a [b]New One as this one has worn out.[/b] But maybe this time you should keep the Packing because you know what’s going to happen sooner or latter don’t you. 😀

        Col

        • #2980962

          His “advice” to keep this from happening again

          by jdclyde ·

          In reply to JD M$ Motto is Near Enough is Good Enough

          unplug the unit from the wall when not in use. WTF? Can’t I just turn the bastard off????

          It was not what I would ever point out as a “good” experience. Would have rather given him one of Scummies hacking “treatments”…. ;\

        • #2979442
          Avatar photo

          I can’t say I blame you there

          by hal 9000 ·

          In reply to His “advice” to keep this from happening again

          That is exactly how I feel whenever I have to deal with M$ Licensing.

          There they seem helpful but just give the wrong directions every time so you end up more confused than when you started. 🙁

          Col

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