Poll: Which Xbox360 system Red Ringed the most? A study not a witch hunt. Edit: More options.

[Jaythulhu]

Uhm, which name was given to the first ones released? With the hard-drive, remote and all that in the box? I had that, and it lasted me a while. Blew up about 12 months ago. (Yes, blew up. No red rings for me, but a lot of acrid smoke and a zap noise that nearly made me crap myself).

 

[mokes310]

I've had 8 different consoles since my first 360 purchase in Oct. 2006. I currently have a refurb pro and a brand new arcade. The arcade was purchased in July, and is now exhibiting symptoms of the RRoD...make that soon to be 9 consoles...

Bad luck. Are they all replacements of the first purchase? How many have you paid for?

I've purchased two, and six, soon to be seven will have been the "refurbished units," which is just M'soft code for, "broken again in two months." I really think that their whole policy regarding the refurbished units is completly awful. How can you keep sending someone a refurb when they've clearly had nothing but problems with them???

 

[MrGFunk]

I've had 8 different consoles since my first 360 purchase in Oct. 2006. I currently have a refurb pro and a brand new arcade. The arcade was purchased in July, and is now exhibiting symptoms of the RRoD...make that soon to be 9 consoles...

Bad luck. Are they all replacements of the first purchase? How many have you paid for?

I've purchased two, and six, soon to be seven will have been the "refurbished units," which is just M'soft code for, "broken again in two months." I really think that their whole policy regarding the refurbished units is completly awful. How can you keep sending someone a refurb when they've clearly had nothing but problems with them???

The RROD is my main concern with buying an Xbox. Hence the study. All my friends that have 360's except one (6 people) had to get them replaced. One has had three, the second broke the day he got it as a replacement. That's terrible.

It's also the time when it's sent back for repairs. If I'm paying for a console I wanna play it. The odds of getting a duff one are so high I'm not convinced. Bioshock was a main reason to get one but I borrowed a friends unit to play it.

I'll buy one for Alan Wake if they don't port it (unlikely) and it's as good as I hope.

 

[pxZero]

Virgil answered pure genius.
I was going to mention most of what he said, but just read his post. The only thing I might mention is something that he didn't spell out but should be obvious:

The number of people who bought the Premium/Pro versions is significantly higher than all the other 360 systems. Even if the Elite and Arcades broke just as often as the Pro/Premium, you'd still end up with it looking like they failed 3x as often through numbers alone.

Luckily, as I understand it, they removed the 3 year warrenty on the RRoD and made it lifetime? I've seen things both ways though, so... don't trust me on that. But 3 years is a good long time. If it's going to break from faulty hardware, trust it will in that time. Also, they send you a shipping box free, repair it free, and ship it back to you free all through expediated parcel post - (mine came with a free 1month xbox live card too...). So yeah, the hardware isn't perfect, but the service is at least reasonable.

Honestly though, just read Virgil's post.

 

[Garzo]

My first one had a power supply that went after two days but was replaced with a whole new console under 28 day faulty returns policy at the shop. Second croaked on red ring about a year later. Got the replacement.

 

[wrightofway]

I got a Premium in mid-2006 and I have never had a problem with it.

 

[mokes310]

I've had 8 different consoles since my first 360 purchase in Oct. 2006. I currently have a refurb pro and a brand new arcade. The arcade was purchased in July, and is now exhibiting symptoms of the RRoD...make that soon to be 9 consoles...

Bad luck. Are they all replacements of the first purchase? How many have you paid for?

I've purchased two, and six, soon to be seven will have been the "refurbished units," which is just M'soft code for, "broken again in two months." I really think that their whole policy regarding the refurbished units is completly awful. How can you keep sending someone a refurb when they've clearly had nothing but problems with them???

The RROD is my main concern with buying an Xbox. Hence the study. All my friends that have 360's except one (6 people) had to get them replaced. One has had three, the second broke the day he got it as a replacement. That's terrible.

It's also the time when it's sent back for repairs. If I'm paying for a console I wanna play it. The odds of getting a duff one are so high I'm not convinced. Bioshock was a main reason to get one but I borrowed a friends unit to play it.

I'll buy one for Alan Wake if they don't port it (unlikely) and it's as good as I hope.

Well, I had a PS3 and sold it a week after I bought it. I hated it quite a bit. I was in Best Buy the day it was released, and I just jumped in line to pick one up.

First problem was the bluetooth controlers. My roommate and I both had bluetooth headsets for our phones, and each time we got a call, the controlers would completly wig out.

Second problem was the online community. I just didn't feel that the people on PSN we're as fun to play with as people on LIVE. I had the 360 for quite a while before I bought my PS3, and I felt that LIVE was far and away better than the PSN.

Third was the selection of games. I just felt that the library in which Sony was marketing was far less interesting to me than the 360 library was. I just wasn't interested in the titles that Sony had...Resistance BLOWS!!!

Fourth was the fact that the six-axis was god awful, and there was no rumble in the controlers.

Fortunately, I was able to package it up and sell it on ebay with the warranty, games and blue ray discs for nearly double what I had paid for it. I used to be a die-hard Sony fanboy, and now I'm thankful that I'm off of the Sony drug I would say that with all of the negatives that I've had with the 360, they were still less than the troubles with the PS3. It's really all up to what you prefer though, hope I've been able to help.

 

[kapzer]

I think I got one of the good 360s...never had a problem o.o

 

[Vek]

I'll vote no problem All, but I've got the Halo 3 limited edition version.

 

[LukeUK90]

I personally had a 20gb Premium which RRODed after a while, then got a pro. Which I haven't had a single problem with.

I work at the game retailers "GAME" and mainly we get Premium's back as faulty, very rarely get Arcade's or Elite's back at all. So I'd have to say Premium's hands down.

 

[Tomany2]

dude im sorry to say but you poll will probably be inaccurate. more people buy pro over elite because their cheaper. so therefore more people with pro = more RRoD for pro.

but yes... the elite doesn't RRoD as much. just putting that out there


oookkkk soo RRoD yeah i got mine on my pro(lol Stupid pro) like nov. 15 and i had mine for over 2 yrs so i really dont see the problem the only thing im mad about is that it took Xbox 3 weeks to ship me a box to put it in XD

 

[BallPtPenTheif]

I just got my 360 so I don't think I'm a valid test sample.

However the warranty program is over $50 for a $200 console.... at a 25% cost of the total, that would mean that the failure rate is probably 15%-20% if that warranty program is to be profitable. That or they have a lower failure rate and are using the high warranty cost to subsidize their past expenses on replacement consoles.

FYI

 

[ygetoff]

isn't it weird how the vast majority of people who have xboxes have had no problems with RROD?
is it just overpublicised?
or what?

 

[B4D 9R4MM3R]

Bugger died a week ago now, but it's served me from the month it came out. All in all, it's done well enough for itself, even if it was a bit noisy.

 

[forever saturday]

i heard that the cheap version is most likely to break because it has no hard drive. but i cant prove it.

 

[MrGFunk]

I personally had a 20gb Premium which RRODed after a while, then got a pro. Which I haven't had a single problem with.

I work at the game retailers "GAME" and mainly we get Premium's back as faulty, very rarely get Arcade's or Elite's back at all. So I'd have to say Premium's hands down.

Are you saying i should buy Premium or that it dies the most?

isn't it weird how the vast majority of people who have xboxes have had no problems with RROD?
is it just overpublicised?
or what?

6 replacements (and multiples) out my 7 friends is a vast majority of people with problems. we're older as well, they don't transport them, most of them don't play 24/7. It's publicised for a reason. Man i've just thought of asking all of them what units they have. I think they've all got pros.

I just got my 360 so I don't think I'm a valid test sample.

However the warranty program is over $50 for a $200 console.... at a 25% cost of the total, that would mean that the failure rate is probably 15%-20% if that warranty program is to be profitable. That or they have a lower failure rate and are using the high warranty cost to subsidize their past expenses on replacement consoles.

FYI

I expected the warranty to be free. This basically means, unless they've solved the problem, the true price of a 360 is the price plus $50. I'm am fully annoyed about that.

 

[Virgil]

Are you saying i should buy Premium or that it dies the most?

Both. The Pro is the most popular unit, and the best unit for new purchasers. More are made than any other type. Given an equal failure rate, the most popular unit would always have the most failures numerically. What you'd actually care about is percentage of failure, but if you buy any of the new retail consoles you're going to have the same (relatively low) chance.

The vast majority of failure problems were from the first revision of the console - either they purchased it near release, or they ended up getting an older unit off the shelves.

Man i've just thought of asking all of them what units they have. I think they've all got pros.

If they knew what they were purchasing, they almost certainly do. Though for a time the Elite would have been worth it if you needed the HDMI connection.

I expected the warranty to be free. This basically means, unless they've solved the problem, the true price of a 360 is the price plus $50. I'm am fully annoyed about that.

The repair/replacement for RROD from Microsoft is free - they cover the shipping as well. They also give you one month of Xbox Live. I think he was referring to purchasing an extended warranty from the store.

 

[ygetoff]

isn't it weird how the vast majority of people who have xboxes have had no problems with RROD?
is it just overpublicised?
or what?

6 replacements (and multiples) out my 7 friends is a vast majority of people with problems. we're older as well, they don't transport them, most of them don't play 24/7. It's publicised for a reason. Man i've just thought of asking all of them what units they have. I think they've all got pros.

im just saying that of all the things i've seen and all the people i've known have had no problems with RROD.
and i have an idea why you're friends have the problems with it:
do your friends have older versions? because the older versions have a specific chipset that has the problems with overheating.
new xboxes are manufactured with a different chip that doesn't have those problems.
perhaps the reason why the pro has the most problems is that the most people buy it. or maybe it has a specific chip that causes the problems.

 

[LukeUK90]

I personally had a 20gb Premium which RRODed after a while, then got a pro. Which I haven't had a single problem with.

I work at the game retailers "GAME" and mainly we get Premium's back as faulty, very rarely get Arcade's or Elite's back at all. So I'd have to say Premium's hands down.

Are you saying i should buy Premium or that it dies the most?

The Premium was the one which died the most, but now it's been replaced by the Pro, which I've found to not have problems at all, at home and work.
At the current price as well you're getting your money's worth for a 60gb Pro. I'd say it's a safe bet but that's just me.

Edit: Also just realised my mistake before, should of said "Pro Hand's down", not Premium. Apologies.

 

[BallPtPenTheif]

Anyone that has the original, non-HDMI units has approximately a 30% chance of having the console die within 3 years. Any of the revisions after that should be significantly more reliable - the newest ones (made since September 2007) shouldn't really have any more problems than any other piece of electronics.

I might add that as a purchaser of a new 360, it was very taxing and frustrating to research and learn about these hidden hardware variations. Electronics consumer's shouldn't have to rifle through a pile of 360s like they were spoiling produce, turning them over, reading manufacturing dates, squeezing the boxes to see if their mooshy inside.