Red Ring of Death #6. No surprises. Not even annoyed anymore.
Written by Jim Squires   
Monday, 13 October 2008 05:46

This is the sight I was just greeted to in my living room, and I'm not even slightly annoyed.  Why bother?  I think at some point I've just learned to accept this as an inevitability.  If you've read my rant from July 07 on the subject, you'll know I'm now entering my sixth console.  SIXTH.  So fuck it.  I'm just glad it happened before the 3-year RROD warranty ran out, and I'm amazed this one served me well for two full years.  That has to be some kind of a record.

I'm with Dan about choosing PS3 over 360 nowadays. Hell, I blazed that trail nearly a year ago.  My PS3 is the primary in our household now, which probably explains why this 360 lasted 2 years.  Don't get me wrong -- when great 360 exclusives or great Live Arcade titles hit, or if I want to stream video from my Mac, I'm happy to fire up the big white box.  But since the damned thing seems to go on the Carousel every 6-18 months, it just seems like it's forcing me to baby it.

And on a sidenote, tech support was as sharp as ever.  I still don't have my repair order in because "we're currently upgrading systems to better serve you," so they couldn't push through a repair.  Because I know that's when I'd schedule my system upgrades -- on a Monday morning at 10AM EST.  I spoke with two reps who both told me to call back this afternoon.  Though one of them had the audacity to ask me what games I play.  I should've told him that I play PS3 games so that I don't have to keep calling his sorry ass.

Le sigh.


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Comments (17)Add Comment
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written by Utopaline, October 13, 2008
Hey Jim, sorry to hear that. I really think I'm a lucky guy. I have had mine since launch and it ringed on me once, and that was cause I didn't have the 6 hour timer on, and left it on for like 16 hours in a game welcome screen. that's the only time that I've had a problem. that was a year ago, and it's not come back yet. now, my luck November 22nd it'll happen, but I think I'm good, must be one of the 66% of launch ones.

Uto
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written by Peachey, October 13, 2008
Try SEVEN Xbox 360s. Yes, I'm on my seventh. If I didn't like the games and the system so much, I would have given up long ago. Ironically, during the system's launch and as the failure rate stories were flying about, I chalked it up to just plain over-exaggeration. Then, almost a year to the day I got my Xbox 360, it crapped out on me. After that, any replacement through either EB Games (who stopped replacing broken Xbox 360s with new ones because it was costing them too much) or Microsoft themselves, would last all of one day to three months, up until I got my most recent console which I believe has lasted me a little bit over a year now. There was a time that whenever I turned on my Xbox 360, I would hope and pray that it would actually work. I've become comfortably confident with my current Xbox 360, which means I'm likely a week away from the dreaded three-red-lights, right in time for the fall gaming season rush in which I'm committed to perform several high profile reviews.

To think how well Microsoft would have been doing right now had they not totally fucked-up...
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written by Dan Zuccarelli, October 13, 2008
My Elite has been working at the moment, but I figure it's only a matter of time before it shits the bed.

If it werent for Rock Band 2 I dont think I'd even bother getting it fixed again, not with NXE coming down the pike.
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written by Oni, October 13, 2008
I've always considered getting an Xbox 360, but the thought that it will die (yes, will) is an annoying nagging thought in the back of my mind.

That's why recently I've been leaning a bit more toward a PS3 than an Xbox. The odds of a PS3 dying are slim to none, whereas w/ the 360, the 33%+ failure rate is disheartening to say the least.

Don't feel too bad, though. Cresente has gone though like, 11 now, several of them developer units.
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written by Mike, October 13, 2008
Sixth (and Peachy's seventh) that is just unreal! I'm on my third.
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written by Dan Zuccarelli, October 13, 2008
For the record I'm on my 4th
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written by Braynbasher(Dale), October 13, 2008
Dan Z. what happens if turns out that you like the NXE are you going to come on here and re-rant that you could have been wrong. Just a question?I could end up hating it too, but what if you start to like it?
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written by Braynbasher(Dale), October 13, 2008
Sorry just got mine back last week.(2nd) Came back in less then a week and half. Jim what you want to do is send it in your own box that way it comes back faster.
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written by Dan Zuccarelli, October 13, 2008
If I like it I'll be the first one to admit it. I have no problem swallowing my pride if that's the case... but I seriously doubt that'll happen
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written by Braynbasher(Dale), October 13, 2008
LOL are you guys going to see any scary movies at out local cinemark soon?
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written by SuicideNinja, October 13, 2008
That's no good to hear. My launch 360 lasted almost a year. It's still going strong since that repair (sold it to a friend to buy another). No issues with my Elite which is over a year old I believe.

I bought an RROD console on ebay to check out the guts. MS's original poor design is glaringly bad (undersized heatsink and cheap x-mounts). You have to see it in person to really get a feel for it. I was actually able to fix it, but that's not for everyone.

I've had 6 PS2's that all DRE'd, so to me the 360 is doing pretty damn good. LOL. I'm glad MS isn't asking for $40 to fix it within warranty like Sony did with the PS2's. I don't see how it took Sony 13 revisions of the PS2 to fix DRE. We'll see if MS does the same crap....what are they on, 4 or 5?
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written by Braynbasher(Dale), October 13, 2008
Jim I forgot to say Happy Thanksgiving Canada.
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written by Jim Squires, October 13, 2008
Thanks Dale!
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written by Utopaline, October 14, 2008
Nice to see someone bringing up the shitty quality of the PS2 at launch...see the net wasn't the powerhouse for bitching and complaining that it is now, so no one knew about that failure rate. Stuff happens, I'm glad the P$3 isn't failing like the 360, but we will see.


Uto
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written by Ryan Hewson, October 14, 2008
The PS2 problems were bad but they weren't like the RRoD. It's not just the state of internet reach. Many of the infamous Disk Read Errors could be corrected with a screwdriver. And replacement (refurb) units didn't continue to fail like the 360, which is actually the lion's share of the problem, IMO.

The 360 needs a radical redesign but somehow I don't think it's ever going to get it.
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written by Xerxes3rd, October 14, 2008
@SuicideNinja: How did you go about repairing it?
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written by MC, October 14, 2008
And thus, I will never buy an 360.

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