My Xbox red ringed... Has yours?

[OcellotJenkins]

Wow, I didn't realize just how shitty these things are.  I was hoping to buy one sometime this year (for Rockband), thanks for saving me the money and headaches.

[Zetleft]

I have friends that break their xbox's on purpose before the warranty is up so they can get it replaced and get a renewed 1 year insurance.  That fact has kept me from buying one until its fixed. 

[Kitsune]

Bascially well over half the units represented in that survey have failed.

This is why America is losing technical jobs to everywhere else on the planet.

Seemingly Gamespot has read your mind and is running this very same poll. That or they just steal all their shit from F13. either is fairly likely.

Nope.                                                             (40%)      3,493

Yeah, but I got it replaced for free.                          (15%)    1,370

Yes. And I had to pay to get it fixed.                        (5%)    469

Yes! Twice!                                                          (5%)    450

@#$% YES!! More than twice!!!!!                             (7%)      626

Pfft! You think I would actually buy an Xbox 360?    (26%)    2,262

Beings I suck at math and it's 5am I have no idea what those numbers mean. But looks like the failure rate is rather high to me.

26% of the answers indicate that the person doesn't own an Xbox.  Of the 74% remaining, 40 have had no problem, while 34 have.  That equates to 46% of the people with an Xbox reporting a failure.  That is not well over half, as it is in fact less than half.

46% is still a huge godawful number that the MS engineers should be ashamed of, yeah.  In my experience, though, statistics are a poor yardstick for judging the reliability of electronics.  I had one of the first PS2s built, and it ran like a champ right up to the day that Gamestop had a good trade in offer for PS2s.  It's probably still chugging along for its new owner.  Everywhere else I heard stories about people being on their second or third PS2, and that the original models were full of flaws, but I never encountered any problems.

Too many variables exist in complex electronics to be able to point at an individual machine and say that it will or won't fail.  Maybe it was assembled by the best guy in the plant, maybe it was the new kid's first machine.  Maybe he was having a good day, maybe his wife just left him.  Maybe the delivery guy dropped it a few times.  I've seen twenty-five-year-old TRS-80s boot, I've seen two-day-old Macintoshes crash.

If you want an Xbox, get one.  If you're afraid it might break on you, then do what you can to improve its odds by giving it a stable spot to sit on and as much ventilation as possible.  I don't have one myself, but that's because it only has one game I actually want, not from reliability fears.  Everything breaks sooner or later.

[schild]

Everything breaks sooner or later.

I'm pretty sure my Super Nintendo will last well past my death. It might see the end of the world with the roaches.

For all it's faults, the Jaguar is an incredibly robust machine also.

I'm just being a wiseass.

Also, the original gameboy.

[Merusk]

Also, the original gameboy.

I still have one. Runs well so I can play Yoshi whenever. Woot.

[bhodi]

Which way should I set my 360, vertically or horizontally?  Which way protects the dvd drive more?

Horizontally ONLY. Playing discs vertically voids your warranty since the disc can apparently slip off the track and damage the drive innards, and when you call support when your shit breaks and they find out you were playing it vertically, they cackle and hang up on you. Even though it's displayed on several ads as standing up.

[Righ]

26% of the answers indicate that the person doesn't own an Xbox.  Of the 74% remaining, 40 have had no problem, while 34 have.  That equates to 46% of the people with an Xbox reporting a failure.  That is not well over half, as it is in fact less than half.

I see what you did there. Trippy said "half the units" not "half the respondents". This makes a difference when some of the respondents are reporting two or more units failing. Assuming each of the "more than twice" respondents is claiming three failures, thats 4,617 failures to 3,493 non-failures. Apparently America is losing technical jobs because its full of blithering MS fanbois who pounce on criticism without reading carefully enough to comprehend what is being said. 

[Signe]

Well, maybe I don't want one of these things.  I'm very clumsy and it sounds like I might accidentally hit with a hammer hundreds of times.   

[Strazos]

Horizontally ONLY. Playing discs vertically voids your warranty since the disc can apparently slip off the track and damage the drive innards, and when you call support when your shit breaks and they find out you were playing it vertically, they cackle and hang up on you. Even though it's displayed on several ads as standing up.

Do you have documentation of this?

[Kitsune]

26% of the answers indicate that the person doesn't own an Xbox.  Of the 74% remaining, 40 have had no problem, while 34 have.  That equates to 46% of the people with an Xbox reporting a failure.  That is not well over half, as it is in fact less than half.

I see what you did there. Trippy said "half the units" not "half the respondents". This makes a difference when some of the respondents are reporting two or more units failing. Assuming each of the "more than twice" respondents is claiming three failures, thats 4,617 failures to 3,493 non-failures. Apparently America is losing technical jobs because its full of blithering MS fanbois who pounce on criticism without reading carefully enough to comprehend what is being said. 

Are you still upset that you don't know how to maintain a Macintosh?  Don't feel bad, we all have to start somewhere.  I suggest OS X Tiger: The Missing Manual, by David Pogue.  It's a surprisngly helpful book.

While you're reading it, I suggest you contemplate that a unit that is repaired and sent back to the owner is not, in fact, a new unit.  Neither is a refurbished unit.  Any breakdowns past the first represent a previously-failed unit failing again, not a good unit going bad.  Electronics that have taken some damage and been repaired simply can't be trusted; one never knows when a capacitor is teetering on the edge of blowing, or if a circuit will be prone to shorting the next time there's a power spike.  It's fairly shitty of MS to send back repaired and refurbished machines; the grim reaper is hovering over all of them and they have to know it.

[Trippy]

Are you still upset that you don't know how to maintain a Macintosh?  Don't feel bad, we all have to start somewhere.  I suggest OS X Tiger: The Missing Manual, by David Pogue.  It's a surprisngly helpful book.

What's with all the insult flinging? You looking for a ban?

As for your point about refurbished units, that's a good one. However some of those replacement units in that survey almost assuredly would be brand new since there are people like schild who like to buy the replacement guarantees from the stores so they don't have deal with sending in units for repair. Others may have broken down within a store's return window and so were also exchanged for new units as well.

[bhodi]

Do you have documentation of this?

OK I am mostly wrong; I was misremembering. The issue is it scratches discs, not the 360 innards. Microsoft says it's OK to have it either direction, but there is a plethora of people who talk about discs getting scratched if you move the console, and some people have claimed that it can scratch the disc when vertical with no more movement than walking into the room or a light bump... so horizontal is safest.

Microsoft will of course not reimburse you for these discs, and then wiil laugh and hang up on you.

[Kitsune]

Poking Righ with a stick is one of life's few undiluted pleasures, it's all in good fun.  I hate using emoticons, but ought probably have stuck a  :-D to the end of it.

But you're right, some of those returns undoubtedly are store returns for a replacement new model.  Unless someone's been naughty and is recycling the returned units as new...  Kinda makes one wonder whether Microsoft's being above the board and only selling truly new hardware in those boxes in the stores.  It would certainly explain the failure rate if they weren't.

[Righ]

Eh, your stick is too short mate.

[Strazos]

OK I am mostly wrong; I was misremembering. The issue is it scratches discs, not the 360 innards. Microsoft says it's OK to have it either direction, but there is a plethora of people who talk about discs getting scratched if you move the console, and some people have claimed that it can scratch the disc when vertical with no more movement than walking into the room or a light bump... so horizontal is safest.

Microsoft will of course not reimburse you for these discs, and then wiil laugh and hang up on you.

This is funny, because most of the "ringed" discs I see come back (overwhelming majority), when I ask the customer, they say they have the system hitting horizontally. We've been telling people to stand the units up, and we've had Very, Very few people come back with problems that have been standing the unit up on a stable surface.

Not trying to be a dick or anything; this is all anecdotal. Though, I am operating under the understanding the the system was originally designed to operate vertically, and the pads were added Very late in the process to allow horizontal operation. I could be completely wrong about all of this.

[Samwise]

After reading this thread I'm utterly confused.  I thought the whole point of console gaming was that consoles require less maintenance than PCs.

[Chimpy]

After reading this thread I'm utterly confused.  I thought the whole point of console gaming was that consoles require less maintenance than PCs.

Not in Microsoft Russia.

[LanTheWarder]

It's amazing to me that almost every single person on this board that has one has had it fail....

I'm glad I didn't pay for mine.

[Signe]

r u criminal?

[Murgos]

It's amazing to me that almost every single person on this board that has one has had it fail....

I'm glad I didn't pay for mine.

Mine hasn't failed.  Yet...

You are just seeing the people who had problems.  This is typical of message boards which, if you check message boards for information on something, generally makes everything seem like crap.

[Azazel]

This thread shows the primary reason I don't yet have a 360. (well, actually, the only reason by now). And unless MS fix their shit, I may never get one.

[Merusk]

This thread shows the primary reason I don't yet have a 360. (well, actually, the only reason by now). And unless MS fix their shit, I may never get one.

Ditto.  There's been a few times over the last year and a half I had bonus money that was all mine, and I considered getting one.  Then I remembered the x-crash stories and figured I'd better wait a bit.  It's disheartening to hear the problem hasn't been fixed in the Elite either.   So far it's looking like I won't be buying any of the current gen consoles for another year at least.

[Yegolev]

Target service plan for $29.95, covers normal wear-and-tear for replacement.

[bhodi]

Not trying to be a dick or anything; this is all anecdotal. Though, I am operating under the understanding the the system was originally designed to operate vertically, and the pads were added Very late in the process to allow horizontal operation. I could be completely wrong about all of this.

The real problem is that Microsoft isn't admitting any sort of problem and won't release any sort of failure or repair figures. The only way people know that there's a widespread problem is through notoriously spotty online polls and personal stories, and the only way people know Microsoft is trying to alleviate the problem is by cracking the newer Xboxen open and comparing the differences. It's ALL anecdotal.

[Azazel]

Target service plan for $29.95, covers normal wear-and-tear for replacement.

doesn't exist in my country.

shouldn't need the fucking thing anyway.

[schild]

Target service plan for $29.95, covers normal wear-and-tear for replacement.

doesn't exist in my country.

shouldn't need the fucking thing anyway.

Ya know, things break.

Also, we get what we pay for I suppose. There's a reason the PS3 is $600.

[Rasix]

Xbox Elite + wireless adapter (to get near PS3 functionality) is almost as expensive as the PS3 and it doesn't even have bluray.  PS3 would have been a no brainer for me if it had the games.

This thread just makes me afraid to turn on my 360.   Good thing that Grim Grimoire came out I guess  :-D

[Roac]

Ya know, things break.

Also, we get what we pay for I suppose. There's a reason the PS3 is $600.

People would have to actually use their PS3s to get a good metric on how often they break.  

[Azazel]

Yeah, they do break. The 360 is a step beyond, though.

Now you mention it, neither my GameCube nor my Wii have exploded yet either. Nor my really fucking old PS2. I"ll get the ps3 maybe this Christmas, maybe next Christmas, or whenever.. I'll wait till there's enough software for me to give a shit about, and when the price drops to a point where I feel it's personally worthwhile. For me.

As for bluray, I still don't give a fuck. I just don't care. At all.

[schild]

No one said anything about Blu-Ray, fuckoff.

The point was that at $400, you should expect the 360 to break, it's too cheap for the high tech shit inside.

There is absolutely no question, the 360 has turned out to be a flimsy piece of shit, just not for any of the reasons people found at launch. It's still not scratching my discs or overheating. It's just got some economical motherboard design... :P

[Signe]

I'm afraid of nearly everything in the fucking world.  I'll damned if I'm gonna be afraid to turn on the 360 I don't have yet.  I've only ever had one problem with a console so far.  It was our PS2 that we bought when they first came out, a couple years later, and Righ fixed it and there's been no problem since.  If we have to replace it, we might replace it with a PS3 if they sort out most of the backwards compatibility issues.  Dunno.  It really annoys me that all you rats are having fun with your 360s and I'm not so that's number one on my list.  If it breaks I'll kick it's ass.

[schild]

PS3 if they sort out most of the backwards compatibility issues.

What backwards compatibility issues?

[OcellotJenkins]

PS3 if they sort out most of the backwards compatibility issues.

What backwards compatibility issues?

schild, have you hit this issue?

No, my set does 720p just fine. But, it fucks up the PS2 thing. You've heard reports about PS2 stuff looking better on the PS2. That's because the PS3 isn't outputting through HDMI or Component when the PS2 shit is enabled at 480p. It's not anti-aliasing either. In other words. Man, PS2 games suck balls on it.

[Riggswolfe]

It's amazing to me that almost every single person on this board that has one has had it fail....

I'm glad I didn't pay for mine.

What's amazing to me is I know no one off this board whose 360 has broken, and this covers all my friends and several of my coworkers. I've had multiple brownouts and gotten the red ring once. It's fine. I dropped my 360 off the shelf it's on once when trying to move the shelf to fix some wiring issues. No problem. I've gone through phases of playing it for 6-10 hours at a time for weeks at a time and not a damn thing has gone bad.

I've got a friend whose moved 4 times since he got one. No problem. And his kids bump into it, knocked it down when he had it vertical, etc. I've got another friend whose house burns my eyes because he smokes so much. His 360 is fine.

I think you guys must all live in some sort of high radiation area...

[Signe]

PS3 if they sort out most of the backwards compatibility issues.

What backwards compatibility issues?

Oh, maybe they fixed it?  Like Ocelot, I haven't been reading much about it except here.  I've been cutting down on reading as it sometimes seems to make me smarter and better informed.  Being well read gives me a headache.