my xbox 360 broke

[timrpgland]

Just died on its own Saturday. The red lights of death. Tried calling support and did what they told me. No luck. Now they expect me to pay them $160 to fix something that broke on its own. I told them hell no. I bought the fucking thing on 7/01/2006 and 4 months later (1 month after its warranty) the fucking thing breaks and they won't fix it? I can see if I dropped it or something but nope.

I know people have had a lot of issues with the 360 but I expected 8 months after the launch that maybe at least some of the issues would be fixed.

I won't be sending it in to them, that's for damn sure. I'd rather just let it be and maybe buy a new one sometime down the road than get a refurbished broken machine back for $160.

For now here is what I'm going to try http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYv6b7MndJk

Anyone else have some insight? I've spent $1000 on this thing in the 4 months I've had it. Maybe $160 to repair it isn't a lot but for me it's more the principle of it all.

[MrAdventure]

what about that PR stunt where they started repairing some units for free? i guess there could be a cut-off date since they only seem to want to fix the initial launch batch

if you do buy it again, extend the warranty or buy it from costco (they have a return policy worthy of utilizing)

[kahljorn]

or go to xbox 360 headquarters and start punching people in the face until they admit they're wrong and they are shitty console designers.

[Shifty]

or go to the store and return it if you got extended warrenty or it might still be covered under the warrenty by the store.

[timrpgland]

I dug up my reciept on Sunday but the store warranty is a 90 day warranty. Same as what they gave me over the phone at microsoft. I got it from Target, friend got me $50 off the premium price. I was dumb thinking that if it didn't break in 3 months it'd probably be ok.

We'll see how the task of taking this screwless monster apart goes tonight. I'll fix it myself or office space it out on the street.

[Shifty]

sell it on ebay and put in very very fine print does not work.

[ArrowX]

Yeah do that. This is the main reason I'm not picking up a 360 until 07. By that time if the bugs aren't worked out I'm not even gonna bother, and pick up a Wii.

[FartinMowler]

The guy putting a heat gun on his board is an idiot :/

[DuFresne]

or office space it out on the street.

Now that I'd love to see a video of!

[DuFresne]

actually...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2EaV86ZDiI

I'd still like to see Tim smash his, though.

[MetalMilitia]

The guy putting a heat gun on his board is an idiot :/

I don't think there's really a better way of melting the cracked solder, especially when you don't know exactly where it is :/

[Chojin]

this is why every system that I buy I buy from compusa or gamestop/eb and get at least a 1 year warranty tacked on ;<

Gamestop/EB's warranty is totally boss btw ;> $20 and as long as you have all the parts you can exchange it. Even if you just fucked up a modchip or went crazy with an axe one night or something ;>

[timrpgland]

Yeah I guess I learned my lesson about warranties with these. It still doesn't seem right that they can't backup such an expensive product themselves. I've never had trouble before this so maybe I've just been lucky til now. Still have my first of every console I own except my NES and Genesis.

[Chojin]

I've had at least two Playstation 1s die on me before ;<

[Ninjavenom]

I laugh when people buy a laptop from me without even considering and extended warranty. When i buy a PS3, you can be absolutely sure that i'm buying an extended warranty. Consumer Reports shits on them, and every time someone want to return something out of policy because it broke, i tell them to go fuck themselves. It feels good 8-)

[zeldasbiggestfan]

I havent heard anything about the wii shitting out on people yet but Im still getting an extended warrenty.

[Fathom Zero]

I havent heard anything about the wii shitting out on people yet but Im still getting an extended warrenty.

Is it even in stores yet?

[zeldasbiggestfan]

No but people who have tried it say its been working fine.

[Shifty]

tried it, they havent owned it. you really are a fuckin moron.

[zeldasbiggestfan]

At least I dont have a kid fuck face.

[Misdemonar]

thank god :lol

[zeldasbiggestfan]

Why does everybody say that to me!! :(

[Fathom Zero]

At least I dont have a kid fuck face.

Are you implying that he looks like a kid-fuck?

[Grislygus]

Accusations of child molestation, that's a new one. Let alone the unique phrasing.

Niceties aside, THEM'S FIGHTIN' WORDS.

[Chojin]

actually i thought the kid line was pretty boss ;<

for those of you not in the know, shifty got a girl preggers. you can read all about it in loveline

[Shifty]

yup its there its fun tho :P

[thebiggameover]

link please. i cant find it....

[Supafly345]

This exact thing happened to me, in the same exact time frame. 1 month after the warrentee it breaks down. I havent' sent it into them yet, but I am thinking that I will.

[timrpgland]

I took the beast apart (for the most part) yesterday. Didn't have enough time to dig much deeper but pics and progress to come.

[timrpgland]

After a lot of messing with it and eventually trying the "hot air gun method" I got the son of a bitch to work last night.

The problem now is that it's running too hot and will occasionally crash and give the 2 left side red lights. I think I can remedy that issue though.

I'll post pictures of the stupid ordeal tonight.

[MetalMilitia]

Did you re-apply thermal paste after dis-assembling the HSF (heatsink fan unit). Assuming it needs some.

[timrpgland]

That's what I was thinking, there was some left but apparently not good enough. I can also rig up some extra cooling device after the fact. I didn't have any paste to do that last night though. I'll be back to messing with it again after work.

[MetalMilitia]

Not sure how much you know about this kind of thing so don't take the following post as being patronising:

Some really good thermal paste is Arctic Silver 5, but when you apply it do not apply too much; there should only be a very thin layer covering the entire core.
You should also ensure that the core is completly clean before applying a new layer of paste. There are specialised alcohol based cleaners available or if you have something similar it should work just fine.

If the base of the heatsink appears slighly rough or tarnished give it a good clean with fine wirewool (away from electonics!). It's not 100% neccacary but will give better thermal contact between the core and HSF.

[timrpgland]

It's really hard to "get to me" so, definately, no worries.

I'm not huge on this stuff anyway, especially these days, I used to put together and fix PC's years ago so I know at least what things are. :)

I think Best Buy carries thermal paste but not totally sure. There aren't many computer stores here in town. Any idea where I can find the kind you speak of? Hardware store maybe?

[MetalMilitia]

Any computer hardware shop shold carry it or something similar, if not NewEgg will definatly have the exact stuff.

Basically all you need to watch out for are the thermal pads. They don't work well at all.