RRoDed

[nickfil]

After buying it new and lightly using it for less then a full year I'm already red ringed. Ugh.

I have target's warranty on it, but I'm wary after reading this on target's site:

I purchased this for my XBOX360 2 years ago. My XBOX broke about 3 months ago. The disk reader would not read any disks. The first time I called for repair I never recieved the box to send it out in. So I called again and they sent another box out and I sent it to them. I recieved my XBOX back a week later in worse condition then when I sent it out. The repair place they sent it to no longer did buisness with target so all they did was cleanit off. Now on top of not reading any disks it makes a horrible sound like it is eating the disk. So I called and had them and had another box sent to me and was sent to a place called MicromedicsInc. That was a months ago. Call Micromedics they cant fix it. So I called Extended Service plan and come to find out that they are not working with MicroMedics anymore! Now I have to wait and see If I am going to get a gift card to buy another Xbox. This should take another 3 months!

Its not an isolated case. 4 out of the 7 reviews were from xbox owners, all saying they got it back in worse shape than when they sent it.
Anyone send one in to microsoft? How long does it take to turn around?

FUN FACT: after searching twitter, 10 people complained about RRoD on their xbox today. JUST TODAY.

[elvis]

A friend of mine ran his for about 100 hours and got an RRoD. It's utterly ridiculous how quickly these units fail.

Goes to show what happens when you cheap out on your mainboard supplier I guess.

[D.D.D.]

And people still complaining about it is exactly the reason why I'm hesitant to pick one up... There are a lot of games I'd like to play on it but when every system I have since the NES came out still works, this doesn't exactly sell me on it's reliability.

[elvis]

but when every system I have since the NES came out still works, this doesn't exactly sell me on it's reliability.

Same for me. My biggest concern is what happens if your XBox 360 RRoD's outside of the warranty period. Within the first 12 months is fine, but if you're at year 3 or 4 and it goes, you're up for a whole new console.

I'm still playing my original Sega Megadrive and Master System consoles. Next-gen gaming is all good and fine, but the piss-poor quality of the hardware base units is really concerning.

[itsamemario]

the RROD problem is well-publicized...if you buy a 360, you know it's part of the deal...

i'm hoping the new jaspers prove to be reasonably reliable

[elvis]

the RROD problem is well-publicized...if you buy a 360, you know it's part of the deal...

Well publicised to whom? Folks with regular ties to the internet, yes. Average mums and dads, no.

"Buyer beware" does not make up for lousy products with known defective attributes.

[corn619]

While it may have a great game lineup, the 360 is pure garbage. Microsoft has always had a bad rep for shitty hardware, but this is crazy. First the original Xbox failure to read discs and catch on fire, then the RROD issue and also the steering wheel catching on fire issue. Its amazing this fuckers have been able stay in business. Any other company with a track record this bad would be out of business. I have a feeling M$ won't be so popular next console generation.

[nickfil]

While it may have a great game lineup, the 360 is pure garbage. Microsoft has always had a bad rep for shitty hardware, but this is crazy. First the original Xbox failure to read discs and catch on fire, then the RROD issue and also the steering wheel catching on fire issue. Its amazing this fuckers have been able stay in business. Any other company with a track record this bad would be out of business. I have a feeling M$ won't be so popular next console generation.

yeah- the dirty little secret is that the even though xbox has the best games with the largest network is that the hardware is awful. I have a second xbox360 that i fixed up, but it is real picky. For some reason as soon as it gets hot you can't swap games. It'll play that first game you put in fine for as long as you want to play it. Load everything alright. But the moment you swap games it won't read it. I really hope that whatever console comes next that it is completely backwards compatible and actually holds up over time. I would love to keep playing the games that i love on the xbox over the years, but its looking more and more like i would need to have a new one every 2 or 3 years. I guess i'm supposed to keep buying until i get one that is luck of the draw not built like shit.

It is pushing me to the ps3 for sure. Next big piece of gaming equipment on the list is it and anything that i can get on the ps3 i will, because this shit is just unacceptable.

[elvis]

Its amazing this fuckers have been able stay in business. Any other company with a track record this bad would be out of business. I have a feeling M$ won't be so popular next console generation.

Here's a secret for you: they're losing money on XBox.

I don't have the stats on hand, but they lost something like $30 mill all up on the first XBox, and are even worse off on the 360 due to the console returns (something like $50 mill down after year 1, I believe).

For starters, they sell consoles at a loss (so do Sony). The idea is what they call the "razor blade model". i.e.: Razor manufacturers make a huge loss razor units themselves, but make all their money from the razor blade sales later on. Microsoft and Sony are employing this method selling consoles at a loss, hoping to make money back on the games on 5+ years. The difference being that Sony made money on PSX and PS2, whereas Microsoft didn't ("why" is still up for debate - ease of modding, people buying consoles en masse for Media Centre installs, etc are all possibilities).

Nintendo are the only console selling company left who sell consoles at a profit, largely because they don't use "bleeding edge" hardware, which means what they do sell can be sold relatively cheaply and still with profit on top, and that it doesn't break as often or suffer overheating issues.

With that said, Nintendo only make money from games. For them to make a loss means corporate death. Microsoft and Sony have so many different sales avenues that for them to make a loss doesn't mean a thing. Microsoft themselves announced they're perfectly happy to continue making a loss well into their third console generation (i.e.: whatever succeeds the XBox 360), as it's all a part of their overall business plan. And as a company who overall made $17 billion profit just this year (entirely due to software sales - in particular Microsoft Office), losing $50 million (or $0.05 Billion) to XBox 360 over a couple of years doesn't mean anything to them.

Sony are still losing money on PS3, but the amount they're losing is shrinking rapidly. They're well on track to pulling a profit soon, and will no doubt make one overall if they repeat the successes of PSX and PS2.

So no, Microsoft aren't going out of business any time soon, even though they're losing money hand over fist on their consoles. They can keep this sort of crap up for decades to come yet.

[corn619]

Its amazing this fuckers have been able stay in business. Any other company with a track record this bad would be out of business. I have a feeling M$ won't be so popular next console generation.

Here's a secret for you: they're losing money on XBox.

I don't have the stats on hand, but they lost something like $30 mill all up on the first XBox, and are even worse off on the 360 due to the console returns (something like $50 mill down after year 1, I believe).

For starters, they sell consoles at a loss (so do Sony). The idea is what they call the "razor blade model". i.e.: Razor manufacturers make a huge loss razor units themselves, but make all their money from the razor blade sales later on. Microsoft and Sony are employing this method selling consoles at a loss, hoping to make money back on the games on 5+ years. The difference being that Sony made money on PSX and PS2, whereas Microsoft didn't ("why" is still up for debate - ease of modding, people buying consoles en masse for Media Centre installs, etc are all possibilities).

Nintendo are the only console selling company left who sell consoles at a profit, largely because they don't use "bleeding edge" hardware, which means what they do sell can be sold relatively cheaply and still with profit on top, and that it doesn't break as often or suffer overheating issues.

With that said, Nintendo only make money from games. For them to make a loss means corporate death. Microsoft and Sony have so many different sales avenues that for them to make a loss doesn't mean a thing. Microsoft themselves announced they're perfectly happy to continue making a loss well into their third console generation (i.e.: whatever succeeds the XBox 360), as it's all a part of their overall business plan. And as a company who overall made $17 billion profit just this year (entirely due to software sales - in particular Microsoft Office), losing $50 million (or $0.05 Billion) to XBox 360 over a couple of years doesn't mean anything to them.

Sony are still losing money on PS3, but the amount they're losing is shrinking rapidly. They're well on track to pulling a profit soon, and will no doubt make one overall if they repeat the successes of PSX and PS2.

So no, Microsoft aren't going out of business any time soon, even though they're losing money hand over fist on their consoles. They can keep this sort of crap up for decades to come yet.

I know the production costs of a Xbox and PS3 is higher than what they sell it for. What I'm saying is people that are stupid when they will buy crap when they know there crap will fail in a year or so. I bought a 360 launch model before RROD was a known issue. But people that bought a 360 knowing the high failure rates are pure dumb. Most companies that make crap are not able to stay in the video game business. Especially considering when there are so many other choices out there. Its simple make crap and people won't buy it Microsoft being the exception for some reason. I think the next Xbox won't be as popular as the 360 because of the failure rates of previous generations. Or at least I hope.