Deals.Woot

@shrdlu: :) glad to be able to help.

good post!

Great post!!! I was just shopping for one today, and now I know to stay away from those!!!
Thanks!!!!

If the system is modded and it has been banned by xbox they also did something that locked up the hard drive so you have to fix the hard drive before it will work also. So unless you want to learn how to fix the hard drive its not a good buy because it wont work

There are so many re-furbed xbox 360s and not so many of the other gaming systems, is the 360 a POS? Why so many refurbs?

Great post. totally didn't realize this was an issue.

Also, i would be weary of any refurbished xbox 360 without a good warranty. I had my xbox for years, it broke outside of the normal Microsoft warrranty so i was forced to buy a new one. Bought a refurb xbox 360 from Gamestop (no plug intended) for $140 with a $20 1-year full coverage warrenty. Good thing i got the warrranty because the next day the refurb xbox 360 broke. returned it, got another refurb, also broke. the third one has been working fine (knock on wood). IF YOU GO WITH A REFURBISHED XBOX 360 GOOD IDEA TO GET A WARRANTY.

happy shopping.

Good point David

Regarding 360 build quality: I have had to replace mine three times in three years now (all under warranty). Kracker, sounds like you just got a good one.

@larrygate: The first batch of Xbox 360s (made in the 1st year of release) had a hardware issue where if the system overheated, it could melt the soldering on some chip. When this happens you get Red Ring of Death where the power ring flashes red. This is covered under Microsofts warranty and I believe they even extended their warranty to cover this particular defect for more than 1 year.

Most of the Refurbished Xbox 360s are systems that had RROD and have since been fixed. As some of the above posts mentioned; make sure if you buy refurbished that you get a decent warranty.

I had a RRoD on my first 360, this second one has lasted quite a while now. I don't see any problems.

If you do get the RRoD there is a way to squeeze a little bit of life out of the unit... I won't post it here though because it goes against everything I was taught when dealing with electronics. I'm sure a google search can bring it up though if you reeeeeeeeally want to know.

Good point.. because if you can't get online and teabag someone, is it really even worth having??

@kracker04: I might've said the same thing a couple weeks ago... but mine got the red ring of death (hardware failure) through absolutely no fault of my own a couple weeks ago after less than two years of ownership. Luckily, Microsoft admitted fault in this matter a while back, and so have a three year warranty for that particular issue. Fact is, XBOX360s have about a 50%+ failure rate within the first few years, and unless it's that particular error, you're not covered after the one year warranty. Almost every one of my Xbox Live friends has had their system fail, and Microsoft knows their console is built poorly and poorly tested-- fact is, they just don't care.

@bobthegoat2001: Just look at the numbers. Everyone I know with an Xbox has had at least one red ring, a few have had more. So averaged together there's probably at least one RRoD per Xbox owner. When it gets fixed they all get new/refurbished ones which haven't failed yet. So that comes out to at least a 50% failure rate.

I'm not trying to bash the Xbox, I'm just looking at the numbers. It's still worth getting one, especially since Microsoft extended the warranty to cover it. This post actually got me thinking about getting a banned Xbox since I don't care about the online part and would only use it to play through a few games that don't make it to PC

@odie1344: This is not the place to talk about different consoles. Go elsewhere or pony up some cash and go buy all 3.

@ajlo: The problem is heat-related. The best way to keep your 360 from RRODing is making sure it's in a spot where it's well ventilated. Anything blocking the vents or putting it in a small enclosed area increases the chances that the console cooks itself too hot and points on the CPU/GPU lift from/lose contact with the solder. (Poor thermal design on Microsoft's part)

Once you have an RROD'd unit the only fix that seems to last is reflowing the CPU/GPU solder, this requires some specialized equipment (can also be done with a decent heat gun if you're brave). The X-clamp fix by itself hasn't lasted too long for most people I know and the "towel trick" (which I'm assuming is what davidgreen7373 was referring to) doesn't last long at all and often does more harm than good.

Microsoft did make some efforts to address the problem over the different revisions, the later ones are more reliable and the slim uses a combined CPU/GPU in one chip so shouldn't have the problem at all.

At www.AceBeach.com you can get a Brand New Xbox 360 250GB with a wireless controller and a 1 year limited warranty for $275.00 Add coupon code "acebeach20" for $20 off any order of $200 or more.
http://www.acebeach.com/xb36025cowic.html

@odie1344: LOL! A Wii? That's a complete and utter POS. I could draw better graphics with a crayon. No online, no games, awful graphics. The gamecube is better for gods sake!

My first xbox 360 DID have RROD but my second has not failed me. 5 years now without any issues except for my disc tray that likes to open whenever I try to close it (I can just hold it closed for 3 seconds and it'll stop) but that's only because I recently dropped it.