XBOX 360 Owners, I am flustered...AGAIN

[souldog]

My Xbox has the dreaded "red ring of death." Have any of you experienced the "red ring?" If so, any suggestions or ideas of how to fix this?? Do I take my console to a Game Tech and pay for repairs, or send it to Microsoft and pay what I assume will be a lot of cheddar?

I've read a couple things on the internet speaking of how to fix this problem with a technique such as "overheating" the Xbox unit, but that seems counterproductive to the lifespan of the console...so I don't know.


Here's a photo of what it looks like in case you were'nt aware:

(Hopefully since it is a learning aid, it will be allowed to be posted in here... :whistling: )


Suggestions? Horror stories of your own? I feel so lost!! How the heck am I supposed to play Live with Swissy now?!? All my "de-stressing" time has been destroyed by that stupid ring!

 

[Bxcigrfan]

where did you buy it from? did you get the service protection?
you could send it to Microsoft and see if they send you the supposed "new motherboard" xbox which supposedly does away with the red ring of death

 

[NASTY]

If you bought this 360 and did not get an additional warranty from the store, then you would have to contact Microsoft. They would then send you a box and some shipping supplies. You would send it to them and they would refurbish it or give you a new one at no charge. The process takes 4-8 weeks....ouch. I did this 2 times already. PM me for more info.

 

[OzPod]

As long as it's been within 3 years and you bought it brand new, it's still in warranty.

Funny this happens to you. Mine went about 3 weeks ago, ordered the "coffin", got it sent in then back, played for about a day only to RRoD again less than 24 hours back. So right now, it's being repaired yet again.

Your best option is to just get rid of it and get a new one, I know, price is the problem. But it's the only 100% guaranteed way for it to completely drop the RRoD(for now :0 )

 

[IanHummel]

I am on my 5th Xbox 360 from MS. This one has been ok, so far.....

 

[bfisher88]

I bought mine used 2 years ago, hasn't given me a problem ever. Guess I'm lucky...

 

[Niko]

Hmm, I have had my PS3 since the day it came out and "0" problems... (Sorry, not really a PS3 fan boy but had to share.)

 

[MindRiot]

Microsoft extended the warranty on the ROD consoles, I would contact them first. I think they ship you a box to return it in then either repair or replace it for free.

 

[Swissy]

We had the dreaded ring on the 360 at work (hehehehhe) and called M$. Ended up sending it in, and got a new unit back (as told my the new serial number on the unit)

Reading thru the 360 sites, there is a lot number you want to avoid being under.... don't recall what it was tho. Newer units do not have this problem.

Guess I'll have to go on killing without you...

 

[Gawl]

Yeah the newer models have a different cooling system in them which doesn't fall prone to the red ring of death. The old cooling units form cracks from the stress of heating up where as the new one's are cooled an entirely different way. You probably saw the towel method which works because it heats the unit up higher than is supposed to go which causes the cooling units to flex more and seal the cracks. The elite units with the exception of a few lots are all using the new cooling system.


Give MS a call though and send it in. I had a unit I bought at launch, got the ring and they fixed it no problem. I ended up getting a special edition halo 360 for the HDMI inputs and sold my refurbed one to my friend. Just 2 weeks ago he got the red ring of death on it. He called up MS and sent it in, got it back earlier this week and its running like a champ. They say 4-8 weeks but its usually a lot sooner.

Also, since we have a thread going, should post our gamer tags in case we want to get in on the killing together, mine's Gawl88.

 

[TheVitaleMob]

Also, since we have a thread going, should post our gamer tags in case we want to get in on the killing together, mine's Gawl88.

TheVitaleMob

Good Luck Souldog, MS is pretty good about getting the RRoD handled via warranty. I bought mine about 3 months ago from Costco, so luckily, I shouldn't have to worry about it.

 

[chainer]

On my 3rd Xbox... First one, red ring, second one broke under warranty, third one was an Xbox Elite, and the disc tray would randomly SHOOT disks out...

Microsoft is good about fixing the Red Ring, even out of warranty, I think they extended it actually. Otherwise, you pay 100 bucks and get it shipped to/from, 1 year warranty, and 1 month XBL. Worth it? Maybe, but it might break again in another year. I'd bank on it actually.

A lot of my friends have taken their Xbox back to stores and done a "swap out," which is illegal and, IMO, bad karma. I'm guessing that you wouldn't consider that option, either

EDIT: Oh, also, just because you have a new unit, doesn't mean it is not going to break because of some other internal, non-user based error.

 

[souldog]

On my 3rd Xbox... First one, red ring, second one broke under warranty, third one was an Xbox Elite, and the disc tray would randomly SHOOT disks out...

DO TELL!!! :0

And no, I wouldn't go "swap" the units out, too much integrity. Thanks for all the good advice guys, looks like I'm calling Billy up to tel him his $300 dollar DVD player don't work no more!!! :laugh:

 

[TBaGZ]

Gamer nerds!!

 

[jy0567]

Sounds to me like the X Box is not the game console of choice. Seems like alot of malfunctions going on. Anyone know just how many returns MS has had on the consoles. I thought about getting one for the nephew but not sure i want to now.

 

[souldog]

Sounds to me like the X Box is not the game console of choice. Seems like alot of malfunctions going on. Anyone know just how many returns MS has had on the consoles. I thought about getting one for the nephew but not sure i want to now.

It is a good console to have, it's far more affordable than the PS3, and the title library is bigger. From what I understand, the current release Xboxes have hardware upgrades and cooling system upgrades, so this shouldnt happen. I've owned mine for about a year and this is the first I've heard of it.

Plus the Xbox's price went down for the Holiday Season. The problem is that Microsoft rushed the Xbox 360 at release, and I personally believe they skipped a few steps or didnt test thoroughly enough...but that's jmho.

Gamer nerds!!

You, me, the parking lot at Joe Joe's McDonald's, 3 PM. Knives only, you're goin' down TJ!!

 

[chainer]

On my 3rd Xbox... First one, red ring, second one broke under warranty, third one was an Xbox Elite, and the disc tray would randomly SHOOT disks out...

DO TELL!!! :0

Well, one day I decided it was time to play COD4, popped the game in... waited a second... Then a terrible noise literally shook my Xbox, the tray shot open, and the disk, while still spinning furiously, launched out of the tray and across the room. Since then, my xbox wouldn't read discs, and if it tried to, it would spit em out like rotten food. Unfortunatly, Mass Effect perished in this way. Apparently, this has happened to other Xbox Elites. MS told me it had something to do with a obvious programming flaw, and the optical sensor was malfunctioning, causing the tray to open randomly. I'm not quiet sure on all the logistics.

Seems like alot of malfunctions going on. Anyone know just how many returns MS has had on the consoles.

Well, according to many quality retailers, about 30%... Honestly, I don't know of anyone IRL that has had an Xbox for over 2 years that still functions. My launch-day PS3 still works just fine, though... Same with my launch day PS1 and PS2. My original Xbox? Nope.

While I worked at Circuit City, we saw a LOT of attempts to "swap" out Xbox consoles, and even more attempted to return them to us claiming we sold faulty goods. Not that I wouldn't put it past CC to pull something like that, but this is solely MS' fault.

 

[TBaGZ]

Sounds to me like the X Box is not the game console of choice. Seems like alot of malfunctions going on. Anyone know just how many returns MS has had on the consoles. I thought about getting one for the nephew but not sure i want to now.

It is a good console to have, it's far more affordable than the PS3, and the title library is bigger. From what I understand, the current release Xboxes have hardware upgrades and cooling system upgrades, so this shouldnt happen. I've owned mine for about a year and this is the first I've heard of it.

Plus the Xbox's price went down for the Holiday Season. The problem is that Microsoft rushed the Xbox 360 at release, and I personally believe they skipped a few steps or didnt test thoroughly enough...but that's jmho.

Gamer nerds!!

You, me, the parking lot at Joe Joe's McDonald's, 3 PM. Knives only, you're goin' down TJ!!

RODNEY KING!!!

 

[Gawl]

Yeah MS had a lot of issues with their consoles to start. I actually had my launch day console for about 2 years before I got the red ring. As far as it not being a good console, that I disagree with. Main reason being is that MS did the 360 right by listening to what gamers care most about....the games, and they made a network that works fantastic for online gaming. The LIVE experience with the 360 is great, the servers are stable and very rarely is it ever faulty or down. The PS3 on the other hand is still working on getting stable networks going, hell they got so swamped with MGS4 online they shut it down.

They are also now incorporating Netflix and all the movies that you can watch on Netflix over the internet you will be able to stream through your 360. They also have movies for rent, TV shows for download, and tons of content for games on LIVE. I believe you can also hook up your 360 to work as a Tivo through AT&T's service.

I own both and the only reason I kept my PS3 is that Blu Ray won the format war. I 1 PS3 game, MGS4 and will pick up God of War 3 when it comes out. Otherwise if the title is a console only release and not for PC, I always go for the 360.

The main issue with the console has always been the red ring, and they did extend the warranty which imo deserves a tip of the hat to them, hell if I'm not mistaken they still aren't generating much if any revenue from console sales at this point.

 

[NASTY]

Anyone who has both PS3 and a 360 would tell you that the 360 is a better gaming console. Although the PS3 has a whole lot of everything else, the games are a distant second to the 360. Take COD 4 for example, the game play on the 360 is phenomenal. I find the same game for the PS3 lacks in graphics and overall game play. The only advantage as far as games that the PS3 has is Socom which is dropping next week and that means I won't be playing my 360 for about a year....lol. Well maybe to play my NBA 2K9. NASTY LOS is my tag.