360: Success, failure, or other?

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 12:32 pm

I know when I have posted in the past that there seems to be an inordinate number of 360 failures compared to other consoles, some have pelted me with rocks and garbage, saying this is normal.

MS even says only 3 percent of the 360s produced have been defective.

I say horsesh*t, as I'm reading a lot more posts about these machines breaking than the other launch consoles during the "Net forum age," the DC, PS2 and Xbox.

The shoddy build quality is one thing that's scaring me from buying a 360 now.

Is there a "magic manufacturing date" from when the units are perceived to be more reliable, like when MS started using Hitachi and Samsung drives in the Xbox instead of the sh*tty Thomsons? And when is the new, supposedly more reliable 360 available?

Thanks,
PK

Danimal66 · Post by **Danimal66** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 12:43 pm

We bought 10 for the people in my office and I am the only one who had to return theirs. Granted I returned it twice before getting one that worked.

People with problems are far more vocal then those who aren't having any. So while I feel the same way you do PK that it seems much higher then 3%, I bet the statistics probably do bare out 3%.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 12:44 pm

Good point, Dan.

Take care,
PK

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 12:46 pm

my launch one also is still going. I will knock on wood now though.

DivotMaker · Post by **DivotMaker** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 1:20 pm

pk500 wrote: Is there a "magic manufacturing date" from when the units are perceived to be more reliable, like when MS started using Hitachi and Samsung drives in the Xbox instead of the sh*tty Thomsons? And when is the new, supposedly more reliable 360 available?

Thanks,
PK

Kinda doubt there is any magical manufacturing date. It seems that there are inherent design flaws in this particular version. I have NEVER seen so many people complaining about dead 360's and the dreaded "3-rings of red lights".

I don't think they will truly resolve this until they start producing the 65 nm versions next year. The ONLY way to get a 360 right now is with an extended warranty and unfortunately, while that works and gets you right back in the game (CompUSA TAP warranty), spending $45 every 6 months is not my idea of a good deal....

TheGamer · Post by **TheGamer** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 1:32 pm

fsquid wrote:my launch one also is still going. I will knock on wood now though.

My launch 360 has been perfect, I do have a purchased warranty, so of course as soon as it expires my 360 will crash.

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 2:03 pm

Mine is 5 mos old and has been almost perfect...

I have gotten 3 or 4 dirty disk errors with NCAA....but since it hasnt happened with any other game Im thinking maybe I actually do have a dirty disc...

I am knocking on wood though...The dreaded words dirty disc error strike fear.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 2:36 pm

DivotMaker wrote: The only saving grace for me is that I can have a brand new 360 up and running in 30-40 minutes because of the warranty at CompUSA. However, I do pay for that each time a 360 dies and the first time I did not mind so much, but this time it is getting my attention and while I can afford to keep doing it, I am thinking these units have some serious issues that need to be resolved for the long-term. Good thing I have NHL 07 to play now and Tiger 07 coming out next month or that machine would likely be collecting dust....

What do you mean pay each time?

Isn't it under factory warranty?

Or under the extended warranty you bought?

Is there some deductible or do you have to pay to ship it back?

DivotMaker · Post by **DivotMaker** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 2:42 pm

wco81 wrote:
What do you mean pay each time?

Isn't it under factory warranty?

Or under the extended warranty you bought?

Is there some deductible or do you have to pay to ship it back?

The warranty is CompUSA's TAP warranty. Each time you utilize the warranty, you have to purchase another one. Basically it ensures me of two things...

1) I always get a brand new system

2) I can be back up and running in 30 minutes or so

I do not care for MS' warranty where you have to ship it back to them and no telling what you get in return. Plus, both machines I have replaced were out of the 90-day warranty period and I would have had to pay (until today) $139.50 to repair/replace the defective units and wait at least two weeks for the full transaction to occur.

LAking · Post by **LAking** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 4:56 pm

I got mine in february or march i believe. Haven't had any trouble with it yet (knock on wood). I'll have to check the manufacture date.

grtwhtsk · Post by **grtwhtsk** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 5:00 pm

Got mine at launch, and no problems at all (knocking hard on wood).

HipE · Post by **HipE** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 5:05 pm

I also have a launch 360 that hasn't had any problems at all (yet). Now that MS has extended the warranty to a full year, I'm wondering if I should buy the extended warranty since it seems inevitable that my 360 will die at some point.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 7:19 pm

My launch 360 is still going strong. I don't have a warranty for it, and I'm a bit worried about that. Is it too late to purchase one?

Diablo25 · Post by **Diablo25** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 7:51 pm

I also have a launch 360 and, until the other night, I had no problems. I got the 3 red rings after the 360 froze during an NHL07 online game. I thought I was screwed but it was fine after a few minutes. That was a week ago...everything is fine.

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 11:33 am

PK in light of the recent announcement I think we were right in feeling it was more then 3% because it was.

I just can't believe Microsoft owned up to this publicaly and is offer to extend the warranty and re-pay people who had to pay fro repairs.

I guess if you buy one, make sure the born on date is afte4 1/ 06

Inuyasha · Post by **Inuyasha** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 12:58 pm

I'm in the same situation as pk. I desperately want to get a 360, but not sure if I can give a valid excuse to spend the bones on it (instead of diapers, toys, etc...). Looks like all the action, online and offline, is on the 360, and sometimes I feel like I am missing out.

Kissrox · Post by **Kissrox** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 2:13 pm

The question I have is what does MS considered a malfunction? The system or the power cord? I returned mine because of the power cord failure and got a new one, granted I had the EB warrenty. I had to pay to the warrenty again, though. 3% could be with the system but I would say closer to 10% had a failure with the powercord overheating causing the system to crash, the dreaded red ring.

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 4:14 pm

Kissrox wrote:The question I have is what does MS considered a malfunction? The system or the power cord? I returned mine because of the power cord failure and got a new one, granted I had the EB warrenty. I had to pay to the warrenty again, though. 3% could be with the system but I would say closer to 10% had a failure with the powercord overheating causing the system to crash, the dreaded red ring.

I purchased mine in late January and have had no problems with it. However, a few weeks ago, I left my cord (not the power pack part, just the plug part) at a friend's house out of town.

Long story short, the cord got lost in the mail and I called MS to see if I could purchase a new one. They actually sent me one for free (nice), but asked if I had a two-prong or three-prong connection to the power pack. I found it interesting that they had two types floating around out there, and maybe one was more unstable or unreliable (I have the three prong type).

I don't think the build quality is anything to worry about. Launch PS2s were notorious for being wonky, but I had one that was used a lot and still worked flawlessly when I gave it away a couple years ago. Both my GameCube and XBox conked out within the first month of owning them, yet my 360 has been performing very well.

Not saying there aren't issues, but boards like this can tend to make these issues seem more widespread than they really are.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 5:08 pm

Brando70 wrote:Not saying there aren't issues, but boards like this can tend to make these issues seem more widespread than they really are.

I remember when the subject came up before I used the gamertag thread as my DSP population and the failure rate was alarmingly high...maybe something like a third with some on their 3rd one. I'm not saying that number can be applied to the entire population of 360's, but there's *no way* the failure rate is 3%. It's probably between 10-25%.

kevinpars · Post by **kevinpars** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 12:24 am

My damn THIRD 360 died tonight. I have only had this refurb since September 11 - less than 2 weeks. At this point, I could not recommend this console to anyone. I am pretty damn soured on gaming. How can you get all excited about a game when in the back of your mind you are wondering if the next time you boot up you will get the red rings of death??? So once again I will be contacting xbox support and waiting for the coffin to arrive late next week. Once again I will be without an xbox 360 for multiple weeks.

By the time I get the next one back, the score will be this:

Months as an Xbox 360 owner - 9
Months waiting for my 360 to be repaired - 2

That means almost 25% of the time, I have not been able to even use the damn thing.

vader29 · Post by **vader29** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 9:28 am

Well both Thursday and Friday evenings I was having intermittent freezing and Saturday morning I got the 3 red lights so I unplugged and reseated the power cord and it worked for a few hours yesterday with no problems, powered it on this morning and the xbox boot screen came on and froze, then I restarted and got the 3 red lights again and now I keep getting them so mines officially dead. Had it since January 1st.

Gurantsu · Post by **Gurantsu** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 10:57 am

My launch 360 is still going strong so far, and it gets used a lot as both a game machine and our DVD player. I have had a lockup on Test Drive once where I had to reboot it, then it happened again the other day, but I let it sit and grabbed a drink before rebooting it and when I came back it was running again, just took a long pause when restarting a challenge. Other than that everything has been fine.

DivotMaker · Post by **DivotMaker** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 11:31 am

kevinpars wrote:My damn THIRD 360 died tonight. I have only had this refurb since September 11 - less than 2 weeks. At this point, I could not recommend this console to anyone. I am pretty damn soured on gaming. How can you get all excited about a game when in the back of your mind you are wondering if the next time you boot up you will get the red rings of death??? So once again I will be contacting xbox support and waiting for the coffin to arrive late next week. Once again I will be without an xbox 360 for multiple weeks.

By the time I get the next one back, the score will be this:

Months as an Xbox 360 owner - 9
Months waiting for my 360 to be repaired - 2

That means almost 25% of the time, I have not been able to even use the damn thing.

I feel 2/3rds of your pain (on my 3rd one now). This is getting BEYOND ridiculous. I think that once you have had the INCONVENIENCE of a THIRD system crater, MS should be providing you a spare 360 to use for when the one you are using craters.....

JackDiggity · Post by **JackDiggity** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 12:53 pm

DivotMaker wrote:
kevinpars wrote:My damn THIRD 360 died tonight. I have only had this refurb since September 11 - less than 2 weeks. At this point, I could not recommend this console to anyone. I am pretty damn soured on gaming. How can you get all excited about a game when in the back of your mind you are wondering if the next time you boot up you will get the red rings of death??? So once again I will be contacting xbox support and waiting for the coffin to arrive late next week. Once again I will be without an xbox 360 for multiple weeks.

By the time I get the next one back, the score will be this:

Months as an Xbox 360 owner - 9
Months waiting for my 360 to be repaired - 2

That means almost 25% of the time, I have not been able to even use the damn thing.
I feel 2/3rds of your pain (on my 3rd one now). This is getting BEYOND ridiculous. I think that once you have had the INCONVENIENCE of a THIRD system crater, MS should be providing you a spare 360 to use for when the one you are using craters.....

Wow. I feel bad for both of you guys. I have not been inclined to buy a 360 at all. I was going to get one for my son on his 11th birthday but he didn't want one. He said he's happy with his Xbox and opted for a trip to South Bend and the Michigan/ND game instead. I wasn't going to argue with him.

I am sure he will want one some day, but at the moment gaming is not as important as his academics and playing real sports. He games an hour or two a week. I don't think he gives a rats arse about the graphic upgrade of the sports games he's having fun with. If it ain't broke why try to fix it?

God Bless the lad!

kevinpars · Post by **kevinpars** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 9:06 pm

Smart kid! Honestly, the sports games on the regular xbox have been as good or better than the 360 versions with a few exceptions. And some of the exceptions - like Tiger Woods for example - can be purchased for the PC.

It is very frustrating to me because when it is working, the 360 is a great machine. I use it to stream music off my PC hard drive, play both arcade and regular games and have downloaded tons of demos and videos and other content -both free and otherwise.