XBOX 360 3 red lights of doom

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8 weeks? That seems a bit excessive.

I'd go with the PS3 (a slightly inferior system) for reliability alone.
 
Venty, I'm sorry for your loss. Mr Orthonut is very close to his XBox.
 
do you know whether this is the updated one with the Falcon chip? that really does suck that it crapped out on you. I thought the RLOD were a thing of the past
 
do you know whether this is the updated one with the Falcon chip? that really does suck that it crapped out on you. I thought the RLOD were a thing of the past

Maybe you can call back MS and ask for one of those Falcon chips to be included in your repair model?
 
I recently got the 3 red lights of doom on February 3rd, reported it online that night, got the box by February 7th, sent in on the 8th, and received another one back on the 18th, for a total of 15 days sans Xbox. Not too bad, I'd say. Plus, they included one month free of Xbox Live Gold.
 
that sucks dude. My xbox is getting up there too. hopefully, it wont happen.
 
8 weeks? That seems a bit excessive.

I'd go with the PS3 (a slightly inferior system) for reliability alone.

Umm, I hate to disappoint you buuuuuutttttt....

My beloved Playstation 3 bit the dust two weeks ago. I had it for all of eight weeks before I got Sony's own version of the red ring of doom. THE BLINKING RED LIGHT OF DEATH.

Here's what it looks like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVXzN7jCcRA

Sony shipped out a box to return it in, and plans to send me a new PS3 in 10-14 working days. Better than Microsoft, but nowhere near what Apple will do for you. They'll ship you a new <whatever> as soon as their rep decides you're going to do an exchange.

What really blows is that Sony doesn't bother to replace any software you purchased and downloaded at their online store, even though there's a record of the purchase. The best the phone rep would do is put a "note on my repair order" that I lost about $20 worth of software, so they might give me a credit.

What blows even more is that I lost about 50 hours worth of progress on COD 4 multiplayer!!! I'll have to start over from the beginning.
 
Vent-That sucks. Here's your temporary solution. Go to Wal-Mart. Purchase an Arcade XBOX and slap your hard drive on there. Take it back within 30 days, get your money back.

kraphty
 
PS3s are extremely reliable - 1-3% failure rate

X360s range from 10 (falcons)-30% (older)

Plus, w/HD-DVD dying out and MS being too stubborn to make an add-on Blu ray player, PS3's the better choice. X360 had the top games of '07, but, with it's exclusives, Sony's got '08 by far. The multiplat differences between the two are much less evident now that devs are finally "getting" the PS3.

Might miss LIVE - that would be the best reason to choose a 360 over a PS3, but Sony does have HOME coming out soon
 
PS3s are extremely reliable - 1-3% failure rate

X360s range from 10 (falcons)-30% (older)

Plus, w/HD-DVD dying out and MS being too stubborn to make an add-on Blu ray player, PS3's the better choice. X360 had the top games of '07, but, with it's exclusives, Sony's got '08 by far. The multiplat differences between the two are much less evident now that devs are finally "getting" the PS3.

Might miss LIVE - that would be the best reason to choose a 360 over a PS3, but Sony does have HOME coming out soon

Sony has crap games.

Fine it'll have MGS 10 or whatever but thats it. Everything else is cross platform except stuff like Halo and Gears (reason enough to own an XBOX, that resistance fall of man game is AWFUL).

Not nearly enough reason to buy a PS3.

I was a bit miffed that my system bit the dust for no apparent other reason that updating HALO3. But what else can you expect from a monopoly that puts out products before they've been properly tested and are loaded with bugs.

I'd buy a friggen mac if they made all the PC games for it. Just not the case.
 
Well for me the choice was pretty clear - Xbox Live is THE reason to get xbox 360 over PS3. I have a bunch of games for the console but Halo 3 has me coming back frequently and it never gets old. In fact, i'm a huge Madden fan and my Madden 08 has only gotten 2 games worth of action time.

Don't get me wrong, i think the PS3 is an amazing machine and when software developers are finally able to harness its true potential, it'll be out of this world. But until they have a better online service, xbox360 is a clear cut winner. IMO
 
Sony has crap games.

Fine it'll have MGS 10 or whatever but thats it. Everything else is cross platform except stuff like Halo and Gears (reason enough to own an XBOX, that resistance fall of man game is AWFUL).

Not nearly enough reason to buy a PS3.

I was a bit miffed that my system bit the dust for no apparent other reason that updating HALO3. But what else can you expect from a monopoly that puts out products before they've been properly tested and are loaded with bugs.

I'd buy a friggen mac if they made all the PC games for it. Just not the case.

Fair enough. X360 had a year head start so it has more games. All their exclusives are also on PC though. MS has almost no internal developers anymore, they're relying on multiplats (GTAIV) and paying off third parties (Gears). Sony has an unending source of developers that will keep cranking out exclusives

X360 has too many issues - lack of required HD on all SKUs (newer games are requiring HD for certain aspects), use of DVD instead of hi def format for games (devs w/trouble fitting games into it, some adding free dls after release because they could not fit everything into DVD - others are lowering resolution, like Halo 3 at 640p, PGR4 at 600p), unreliability (even the new falcons, also, warranty covers RROD, but not their disk drives which also break alot), and money gouging by M$ (LIVE, and anything you want to upgrade, you must do through MS)

On the other hand, devs are finally starting to take advantage of the stronger processing power of the PS3; and they have the space (HD/Bluray) to turn games into movie-like experiences (Uncharted, Heavenly Sword, Ratchet).

For the future, the library of games for PS3 is stronger and more varied. Metal Gear, Twisted Metal, Final Fantasy, SOCOM, God of War 3, Gran Turismo, Killzone 2, Resistance 2 (w/60 mp), Getaway 2, Tekken 6, Little Big Planet, ICO, Wardevil, and many more.

Anyways, who's really going to have time for games once intern year hits?
 
Miine had the 3 red lights also last year, just after out of warranty, but since it was a known issue, they got me a new one in a couple of weeks. The replacement should have the updated board. I was told it was a cooling issue, which should be resolved. Also the warranty for 3 red lights is now something like 3 years. Also the whole console is now 1 year if I'm not mistaken.
 
PS3s are extremely reliable - 1-3% failure rate

X360s range from 10 (falcons)-30% (older)

Plus, w/HD-DVD dying out and MS being too stubborn to make an add-on Blu ray player, PS3's the better choice.

That's funny, because the 360 is 100% better than the PS3, making your reliability stats not only without reference, but wholly unbased as an argument for which system is better. The 360 is just plain a better system (not to start a flame-war), and I have had mine for over 2 years with no complaint. Also, you might feel differently about the superiority of Blu-Ray when you read some of the recent news about Sony paying competitors millions, almost billions to adopt their format. IF they were CLEARLY so much better, that would obviously not be the case.
 
That's funny, because the 360 is 100% better than the PS3, making your reliability stats not only without reference, but wholly unbased as an argument for which system is better. The 360 is just plain a better system (not to start a flame-war), and I have had mine for over 2 years with no complaint. Also, you might feel differently about the superiority of Blu-Ray when you read some of the recent news about Sony paying competitors millions, almost billions to adopt their format. IF they were CLEARLY so much better, that would obviously not be the case.

I have no reason to lie. It's an anesthesia board, I don't want to turn it into a flame war. Regarding the Xbox issues, I don't need to reference it, it's so widespread that all you have to do is google it. The Xbox reliability problems are pretty much common knowledge by now. BTW, the following links were just the first that came up on google:

New Study, 16.5 and growing:
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3166259

http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/200808/196/New-study-has-Xbox-360-failure-rate-at-16

Previously reported 30:
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/gaming/xbox-360-failure-rate-30-says-retailers-271487.php

Prevously reported 10 (falcon):
http://gizmodo.com/346891/new-xbox-360-failure-rates-still-around-10-percent


Additionally, it wasn't Sony buying companies that created the format war. It was MS paying paramount/dreamworks 150 million last fall. The format war would've been over before the holidays if not for that. There's a NY Times article on it.

Toshiba (HD-DVD) dumping Microsoft for Sony:
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=10826
 
I just got the 3 red lights this afternoon and I couldn't believe it happened. I was in the middle of playing halo and it seemed like the power shut off, but my TV was still on...so when I went to the closet to see what happened there it was! Luckily when I turned it off and rebooted everything was normal. Im just scared it will happen again. I've only had my 360 since September so its not that old. I did get a 3 year warranty from Target when I bought it though.
 
Well for me the choice was pretty clear - ... I have a bunch of games for the console but Halo 3 has me coming back frequently and it never gets old. In fact, i'm a huge Madden fan and my Madden 08 has only gotten 2 games worth of action time.
... IMO

Scary. This is how it runs in my house as well. 90% halo 3, 10% madden 08 when I get pissed off at getting killed by 8 year olds.

Don't worry Vent (and Indie4 because if it happens once, it won't be long before it goes for good), Microsoft is pretty fast about getting the new unit out to you. It only takes a day or 2 once they receive your old xbox to check it out and get the new unit shipped. The time delay comes from the use of ground shipping. I had a new xbox about a week and a half after I sent my old one in.
 
I have a PS3 and don't regret getting it. It's compatibility with Blu Ray leads to one awesome movie experience. Sure online isn't as smooth as Live but I never want for COD4 online multiplayer matches.

As far as console exclusivity, I think that will be a thing of the past soon. I see titles in the future being simulataneously released for all capable game systems. At least that's my dream.
 
thats my biggest fear Vent. you will be in my prayers

It happened.

She's gone down to the bottom of the sea wit' her tree red lights maties.

I called my xbox folks at 1800 4MY XBOX.

I'll be up and running again in a mere 8 weeks.
 
Vent,

First of all, sorry for not posting this sooner; but I was (and am currently) getting killed by MS2, so I didn't post this then. Anyway, my friend got a 360 this past christmas and has this: http://gear.ign.com/articles/703/703791p1.html

We've had multiple 4+hour sessions playing COD4 and Forza Motorsport 2; and have never sweated it. It may not reflect temperatures inside, but at the end of some long sessions, I've put my hand on the console, and its been cool. I usually just lurk on the gamer talk even though I'm a fanatic as well, but since I haven't seen anyone else mention it; what the heck?

Possible cons: The fan is definitely audible, but is drowned out by any decent amount of in-game audio; much less that coming from the gangsta 50-inch plasma I vaguely remember you mentioning. I only notice it during the pauses in loading.

Well, since I'm already on the subject of gaming, I'm sure y'all know about it already, but after we beat COD4, at the very end of the credits and the last photo of "the team," we started the last level, "Mile-High Club." Mentioning it simply 'cause I didn't see any talk of it amongst all the COD4 stuff.

Game on, good sir.
-Bert
 
get a good aftermarket fan system. they just clip on the back of the xbox and plugs into the power inlet. i've had mine for a year and still going strong. its better for airflow and heat dissipation if your xbox is free standing and not shoved into a narrow cabinet or shelf.
 
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