Red ringed!

[CaptJimboJones]

After 14 months, I woke up this morning, turned on my Xbox 360 and got the dreaded red rings. I was expecting it at some point, given the high rate of occurrence, still, it's a bit of a shock when it happens. *sigh*

Regardless, I actually give Microsoft credit for how easy it is to set up the repair. It only took about five minutes online to report the problem and arrange to have a box shipped so the unit can be replaced, and it won't cost me anything.

A question for other RROD victims, how long does it generally take to get the replacement unit? And are they sending the newer ones that (supposedly) don't have this problem, or am I looking at another RROD at some point down the line?

 

[Phillip Culley]

I've not had the RROD myself (touch wood!), however from the reports I've heard the turn around is a little over a week or two. As to what you get, again from what I gather they send you a new console (which is why they tell you to disconnect the hard drive before shipping), which should have the newer chipset.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I saw this title and heard Peter Gabriel singing in my head, "Red rings is coming down...Red Rings....".

 

[Aragorn]

You don't get a "new" console, you get someone else's "refurbished" console. Then you have to transfer your license over. But they were pretty fast about it when I had to send mine in. What was funny was when I took the box to UPS to send it back, the lady at the counter immediately knew what it was because of how many times she had seen the return label.

 

[Brolan]

It depends on the unit you have. If you look on the back of your 360 you can see the electrical panel. Look for the current demand for the 12V line. If it says 16.5A you have the original design and likely a boat load of problems in the future.

14A and you have the redesigned Falcon chipset, hopefully less problems.

Yours is too old for this but, if you see 12.1A you have the new Jasper with the smaller process. Hopefully these will be trouble free.

 

[CaptJimboJones]

It depends on the unit you have. If you look on the back of your 360 you can see the electrical panel. Look for the current demand for the 12V line. If it says 16.5A you have the original design and likely a boat load of problems in the future.

14A and you have the redesigned Falcon chipset, hopefully less problems.

Yours is too old for this but, if you see 12.1A you have the new Jasper with the smaller process. Hopefully these will be trouble free.

Great advice, I'll definitely check it out when the replacement arrives.

 

[Capt. Vulcan]

Lucky for you your warranty was still good. Mine, even with the extension ended in march 2008.

 

[gh4chiefs]

This morning one of my co-workers who has a 360 informed me that his FOURTH Xbox has just died. He said that's it, he's done.

Back around Xmas, I decided to get back into the Xbox world after getting rid of my previous unit (which had died once). I got one of the new Jasper units thinking "Surely they have the problems fixed by now." So far, so good, it seems to work fine. But I have to tell you, I really don't have any confidence in it, regardless of it being a Jasper.

Another co-worker and I were discussing the Xbox vs PS3 sales numbers and I guess Xbox has pretty much trounced PS3 all the way around. And we just don't get it. How can a unit that is notoriously unreliable be such a big seller compared to the PS3? Yes the Xbox, when it works, is an amazing machine, but as a person who owns both systems, I have to tell you, it's pretty much the same experience.

It's really puzzling how the Xbox continues to dominate when more and more people that I come into contact with that have a Xbox have had system failures. Granted I don't know as many people who own PS3s, but so far, of the ones I do, not one of us has had a failure. Of the 7 people that I personally know with Xboxes, 5 of us have had a least one failure, and a 6th person who hasn't had a failure yet, got rid of his Elite because it was making noises and he thought it was about to fail.

Yet Xbox rolls along trouncing PS3 sales numbers every step of the way.

 

[Chess Piece Face]

This morning one of my co-workers who has a 360 informed me that his FOURTH Xbox has just died. He said that's it, he's done.

Back around Xmas, I decided to get back into the Xbox world after getting rid of my previous unit (which had died once). I got one of the new Jasper units thinking "Surely they have the problems fixed by now." So far, so good, it seems to work fine. But I have to tell you, I really don't have any confidence in it, regardless of it being a Jasper.

Another co-worker and I were discussing the Xbox vs PS3 sales numbers and I guess Xbox has pretty much trounced PS3 all the way around. And we just don't get it. How can a unit that is notoriously unreliable be such a big seller compared to the PS3? Yes the Xbox, when it works, is an amazing machine, but as a person who owns both systems, I have to tell you, it's pretty much the same experience.

It's really puzzling how the Xbox continues to dominate when more and more people that I come into contact with that have a Xbox have had system failures. Granted I don't know as many people who own PS3s, but so far, of the ones I do, not one of us has had a failure. Of the 7 people that I personally know with Xboxes, 5 of us have had a least one failure, and a 6th person who hasn't had a failure yet, got rid of his Elite because it was making noises and he thought it was about to fail.

Yet Xbox rolls along trouncing PS3 sales numbers every step of the way.

PS3 is losing because of 3 things:
1 360 had a year's head start
2 Price - PS3 is too expensive
3 PS2 is still going strong

(I say this as an extremely impressed PS3 owner. I love the hardware - but it was a gift. One that I never would have purchased myself until the price came down.)

 

[Haggis and tatties]

After 14 months, I woke up this morning, turned on my Xbox 360 and got the dreaded red rings. I was expecting it at some point, given the high rate of occurrence, still, it's a bit of a shock when it happens. *sigh*

Regardless, I actually give Microsoft credit for how easy it is to set up the repair. It only took about five minutes online to report the problem and arrange to have a box shipped so the unit can be replaced, and it won't cost me anything.

A question for other RROD victims, how long does it generally take to get the replacement unit? And are they sending the newer ones that (supposedly) don't have this problem, or am I looking at another RROD at some point down the line?

You will get a refurbished one, probably your present 360 box with a new Mobo and DVD drive in it, although seeing as you have a older system you will have one of the older out of date motherboard configs........It take now about 2 week to return too you....you wont get a new Jasper mobo in your 360 because your present PSU would kill the new Mobo dead as the new jaspers use less power, plus the power connections physically wont allow you to plug a older PSU into the newer 360 revised Motherboards.

My first 360 which i bought on Feb 2006 was brilliant and lasted right up until mid 2008, after that i sent the same 360 back 4 times to MS for repair, and i gave up with it just before xmas and coughed up for a new 60gig which uses less power and is a lot quieter......and low and behold its started to show 3 and 1 red light on a few occasions now, switching it on and off a few times as made them disappear but i hold my breath every time i now switch it on.......I am now of the opinion that the RROD is incurable no matter what revisions MS make to the motherboard on the 360.

 

[gh4chiefs]

2 Price - PS3 is too expensive

I guess I understand the price thing in a way, but it's kind of like the old saying "You get what you pay for." Maybe I have a skewed way of looking at things but I'd rather pay more for something that works than something that's notoriously unreliable.

Look at cars for example, Honda and Toyota are more expensive than comparably equiped American made cars but they generally outsell them because (rightly or wrongly) Hondas and Toyotas are perceived to be of better quality. People with pay for (perceived) quality.

 

[gh4chiefs]

and i gave up with it just before xmas and coughed up for a new 60gig which uses less power and is a lot quieter......and low and behold its started to show 3 and 1 red light on a few occasions now, switching it on and off a few times as made them disappear but i hold my breath every time i now switch it on.......I am now of the opinion that the RROD is incurable no matter what revisions MS make to the motherboard on the 360.

Holy crap, so you're telling me you got it this past Xmas and it's RROD now? Do you know if it's a "Jasper" unit or not?

 

[Haggis and tatties]

No its not the Jasper model unfortunately, bit its does use less power as the PSU is 175w and it is quieter.....its the revision just before the Jasper mobo.

Still i was quite surprised to see any RROD on it so quickly, and the RROD lights have only appeared on start-up, never while on...... its always seems to be cool, and playing everything from the HDD you would think would again help keep it cool.

 

[gh4chiefs]

Well I suppose that makes me breathe a little easier, but still that's disheartening to hear that it happened that fast to you on a new unit.

One has to ask, why can't MSFT get this right? What is the problem, is it a design flaw, or is because they're being cheap in the manufacturing process? It's just amazing that after 3 years they STILL can't get this resolved unless of course it turns out that the Jasper unit does indeed fix it.

 

[Haggis and tatties]

^^^I am beginning to think that its more to do with the actual 360 box and its small size, and that pathetic plastic funnel they use as a method for extracting the heat......more than a Mobo issue.

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

One red ring to ruin them all!

 

[gh4chiefs]

^^^I am beginning to think that its more to do with the actual 360 box and its small size, and that pathetic plastic funnel they use as a method for extracting the heat......more than a Mobo issue.

You're probably right. And it wouldn't suprised if the problem isn't made worse by some cheap materials/solder used in the manufacturing process. In other words, maybe it's both a design AND manufacturing process problem.

One of my co-workers supposedly has been hearing rumors of a "Xbox slim" model coming out later on (I personally haven't seen this anywhere.) But when he tells me about this, all I can think is "Are they out of their F'ing minds?"

 

[Rii]

I guess I understand the price thing in a way, but it's kind of like the old saying "You get what you pay for." Maybe I have a skewed way of looking at things but I'd rather pay more for something that works than something that's notoriously unreliable.

Look at cars for example, Honda and Toyota are more expensive than comparably equiped American made cars but they generally outsell them because (rightly or wrongly) Hondas and Toyotas are perceived to be of better quality. People with pay for (perceived) quality.

A games console is not a car, or a DVD player. Most purchase game consoles to play games, often very specific games that aren't available on other platforms. It's not surprising that the ability to play Halo 3 triumphs over an increased risk of hardware failure for most. Cars are all capable of performing the same general functions as each other, games consoles aren't nearly so close. If you want to play Heavy Rain you're probably not going to be content with a different game that vaguely resembles it in various superficial or mechanical ways, you want Heavy Rain.

 

[gh4chiefs]

That's true. I guess I just don't see EITHER system as having enough exclusives to necessarily single one out. But I guess if you just love Halo, you're gonna get a 360. Your point is well taken.

 

[Amaris]

It depends on the unit you have. If you look on the back of your 360 you can see the electrical panel. Look for the current demand for the 12V line. If it says 16.5A you have the original design and likely a boat load of problems in the future.

14A and you have the redesigned Falcon chipset, hopefully less problems.

Yours is too old for this but, if you see 12.1A you have the new Jasper with the smaller process. Hopefully these will be trouble free.

I got a RROD 3 weeks after I got my XBOX 360. It's the new Jasper console. My XBOX 360 is refurb though, which means no warranty coverage by Microsoft, so my seller said they would fix it and send it back. I should get it here in about a week or so. Three weeks.

Well I suppose that makes me breathe a little easier, but still that's disheartening to hear that it happened that fast to you on a new unit.

One has to ask, why can't MSFT get this right? What is the problem, is it a design flaw, or is because they're being cheap in the manufacturing process? It's just amazing that after 3 years they STILL can't get this resolved unless of course it turns out that the Jasper unit does indeed fix it.

There's no excuse for it. I'm typing this out on an iMac. One, you can't hear it, and two, it's slimmer and more compact than the XBOX 360 and I use far more intensive programs on it than a videogame, and it stays on 24/7, without a single heating issue.

J.