RF Generation Message Board

....any ideas what i can use it for other than as a paperweight or door-stop?

Perhaps a bookend, coaster, table leg support, or better yet a PC Tower in disguise? Lol, seriously though how did that happen?

Send it back to Microsoft. They replace it if you have a warranty.

My friend found someone on Craigslist to fix his. Cost him $20 and about a half-hour, but it works like a charm now.

I bought it from the pawn shop i work at and several months later it went red ring on me. I called microsoft and was informed that it was registered under different name; the previous owner i assume. Because of that, the warranty for that console was void.
They offered to fix my console for $100. I declined and found another. A newer version sans faulty processor at discount plus i was able to take home while i made payments.
I've been through red ring before with another system; my first one. I sent that one in, got it back (refurbished with jammed power button...so lame). Then it was stolen in a break in. Given what I been through, I needed another 360 ASAP.

Hmmm, I think there might be a specialty store that could fix it but i don't know considering I had an electronics guy from work look at it....with no luck in reviving it. Thanks for the idea.

There is a fairly straight forward procedure that can be done if it's red ring, one I doubt your electronics guy knows. If it's literally dead and won't turn on, that's another issue all together.

My 360 red-ringed back in November. They got it back to me within 3 weeks. I followed the directions on xbox.com and they first sent me the packing box with shipping label. Then I sent it back to them all packed up. During the process you can track it's status and then get the tracking number to follow up on when it's on it's way back. Good luck. 8)

@froggin', I don't know what to tell you if it won't even turn on. I'd bite the bullet and pay MS to fix it since you don't have warranty. :-\

If there are any video game stores in the area they might be abelt o fix it.
One of the places near me has a kid who fixes most systems from 2600-360

It red ringed. I didn't mean to mislead when i put 'dead'. To me it's dead but it does turn on so I'll look into fixing it and mak some of my money back.

Worst comes to worst, sell it to game stop. You'll get about $40 for it, but that's better than a paper weight.

Then buy a PS3.

I'm telling you. People on Craigslist specialize in red rings. It would be easy and cheap. If it doesn't work, go form there. There's no reason to spend all that money on a new system when you may be able to easily fix the one that you have. It also doesn't pay to sell the system cheap to someone who'll just fix it and resell it for a huge profit.

Why would he sell his paperweight then turn around and buy another one? ;)

I already bought another one. This happened months ago and i'm just sick of looking at the broken one since it does nothing more than mock me.
anyways, if i can get it fixed cheap, i could sell it via ad in the local paper. i can totally make a profit and get those patches for fallout 3 and GTA4 or something. thanks guys.

Lol, so true.

Buy a PS3? LMAO HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Thats why I have 3 360's just in case one dies.

...But I have 1 PS3 knowing it WON'T die ;)

My friend's PS3 actually died. :P

I've heard of other people whose PS3's "died" too. They worked fine and then one day couldn't read a single disc. Weird. :-\

Ha! If it weren't for microsoft screwing up so badly with red ring, sony would have retained its bonehead crown award for defective systems. I remember when, at launch, 20% of PS1s were soon to be doorstops.
I guess no matter how new and hot the technology is, it all comes down to how much the company, or the manufacturer, really cares.

I don't know. Why would you waste your money on a Zelda game?

^^^Stop doing that!^^^

I second that.

If you want to quote someone, post what you want to say under everything else. (That would be after the last [/quote] tag)

^ You did it again but this time that's not your fault, it's mine.

By pressing the quote button two quote tags are being generated. But because I put one there in my explination, the forum "thought" that's where my quote ended. Errr, I hope that makes any sense. :-\


Long story short: you did it right this time, even though it doesn't look like it. :)

Oh bugger off you two. Also, remember that all electronics will fail sometimes, but it is the company's job to make them fail LESS QUICKLY. So cut them all some slack, after all, they are the 2 most powerful home consoles to date.

I understand about electronics failing at times however, I'll never cut anyone any slack if I spend a substantial amount of money only to find my system committing suicide in less than a year. It's bad business and just plain weak in my opinion.

That's bullcrap, almost everyone on this site owns decade+ old systems that still run flawlessly. Yet the current generation 360 has a 30% failure rate and we're just supposed to accept it? No, it's shoddy workmanship, and that's that.

I won't debate whether that purely speculative 30% number is accurate or not, but regardless, it's an issue that was resolved in 2007 with a hardware revision. These stories of RRoD are less common every month as older systems are taken out of circulation. So even if that number is accurate, it no longer applies. What I find hilarious, is how Sony defenders hang onto these numbers and ride them for all they are worth. You'd think they have forgotten that Sony has released systems with unacceptable shoddy workmanship in the previous two generations. Shitty hardware or not, it doesn't prevent me from owning PS1s or PS2s. Nor will it keep a X360 out of my living room.

For what it's worth, these same retailers claimed the 40Gb PS3 had a 40% failure rate. Take from that what you will, I don't believe either statistic.

I didn't want to argue PS3 vs. 360 so much as I wanted to suggest we shouldn't take shoddy electronics laying down. What Rob suggests is true, sure, everything fails at some point; but from refrigerators to consoles nothing seems to last anymore.

I brought up the 360 because personally that's what I see failing left and right. The percentage is probably not correct, but it's got to be up there. I mean, of twelve people who have responded to this thread, four people said they've had their 360s RRoD, and that puts it at over 30% because I know several people who have commented don't have 360s. Of four close friends who have 360s, only one hasn't had problems with his.

But I don't remember why I'm arguing this.

Because it's so easy to fall into arguing this kind of thing.

It's a pretty good guess. Many people who estimated it put it around here, although with the new board it's probably slightly less. I say probably becuase my own personal experience leads me to believe that it's still just as high.

I totally agree with Leon.

And while I'm at it, I'll pull another great quote of him out of the archives:

I'm still delaying the purchase of a PS3 further and further away. Somehow I hope I'll get a more reliable model, the longer I wait. I can buy one at the end of the generation for like €200 and get all the good games cheap, anyway.
Meanwhile, with the tons of money saved on not buying new systems/games I can buy a lot more good games from the past that I don't have yet. ;)

I'm just glad that a lot of my nostalgia and collection is geared towards simpler, cartridge based machines. Anything with a CD drive has an expiry date on it. I mean sure, the PS1 is my pride and joy, but I have several PS1's, several spare PS2's and my PS3 to play them on because I know these systems will die on me. Hopefully I'll be set for decades to come with all of my backups as I'm in this for the long term.

Too true, I completely agree. I remember a time I didn't have to worry about the life expectancy of a system.

Both systems have a had a huge downturn in failrure rates.
And of the two.
Sony has had every system crap out since they started. People have just come to expect it.

I want a system when it first comes out but i (almost)always wait a year or more so that all the bugs (hopefully) get worked out.
If everyone played it safe like i did the console wouldn't get revised and wouldn't be there for me to buy down the road.

So i appreciate everyone who buys systems shortly after they get released. Even if you are/feel like your just another percentage to the RROD ;)

Actually, from what I can tell, PS3 has been rock solid for the most part. I've heard very few instances of it dying.

When it was first released out of the initial 10 we sold 8 came back defective.
PS1 died laser arm motor would burnout/lock up
PS2 died or DREd different color DVDs or CDs sheild and on DVD tray would fall off.
PSP ejected UMDs and the inner button would jame and thumbsticks fell off.
PS3 came DOA or died or in one instance lit on fire (walmart store display)

Xbox power cables shorted and were replaced(xbox put a prevention plan into effect replacing them for free), HDs died, DVD drives died(can't remember which ones i think the samsung)
360 RRoD

GCN reading laser burnouts(not very common)
Wii VERY small number arrived DOA (something wrong with the chips?) also one or more of the dloadable updates were recalled, after causing systems to lock up, fixed and rereleased.

DC same as GCN but i believe more common.

Those are the problems i have encountered first hand or have seen getting worked on in shops. PS2 issues being the most common GCN being the least.

Systems are just more complex then they were years ago so problems are more prevalent. As for wires shorting out that there is no excuse for in my mind though.

If carts were cheaper than CD/DVD based media everyone would still be using it. There is much less that can go wrong just because there are so many fewer moving parts.

Because they have to be used in order to die.

You should write for Leno.

Anecdotal evidence does not an argument make as I can say the opposite in that within any given year of my store, I've only seen 1 come back defective. That has just as much weight. On the other hand, studies show less than 1% of Wii's and PS3's have a hardware failure.

Source 1 (http://gamer.blorge.com/2007/07/06/ps3-and-wii-failure-rate-less-than-1/)
Source 2 (http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/678514/Sony_PS3_Failure_Rate_At_02.html)

I love fanboys

Biblically?

@ Wolfman

I can agree with you on the anecdotal evidence i guess. But when possible i try to use personal experience. I worked at one of the top grossing stores in our region and one of the top 300-500 (depending on the week) out of nearly 2k stores nation wide.
I just don't see a store in your area bringing down the same kinds of sales figures.

Source one has figures varying between 30-61% on the 360 and says right in the article that the numbers are hardly scientific (do they mean factual)

Source 2 is Sony of Europe.
I don't know how well it did in Europe if their failure rate was comparable or what facts he had to back up his own statement. Plus seeing as he is the head of SCEE i don't think he wanted to smear his own product.

In all reality the arguments don't matter to me i've been lucky so far.
I have all but one of the systems mentioned and none of mine have died. (PS3)
My cuz has all but one of the systems mentioned with the same outcome.(360 there was one in his house but it was stolen.)

Neither of us have had trouble with anything other than the PS2. And i have 2 or 3 lying around somewhere so if need be i always have a backup.

Also Scott don't call me a fanboy. My allegence is with the games i like to play NOT the systems/manufacterers of said systems. I will have a PS3 its just a matter of time. Took me forever to get a 360 as it is.

I don't know about anyone else, but I'd rather have a console break in the first couple months I own it while it's still under warranty and it can be fixed at no cost to me. Rather than having it break in 5 years when it's hard to find a new replacement and it's not under any kind of warranty.

Also, something I feel should be added to this discussion, the 360 is cheap (and from what I understand easy) to fix. On any given day, there are ads on Craigslist for the repair for around $20 and I don't think a "professional" repair center charges much more. But what does the PS3 (or even the Wii) cost to repair? I never hear of 3rd parties repairing either system so it leads me to believe it's usually a complicated process which would cost more to fix.

So maybe it's better to have a console that will break and will cost $20-50 to fix than a system that may break and costs as much to fix as a new system.

In 2004 when I decided to buy a PS2, a local EB couldn't find a working one in their stock to sell me. First I ended up taking two dead ones home before they checked the rest of them after my second return. None of them worked reliably, we were there for like an hour. I finally just broke down and bought a new Slim model.

Over four years of heavy use later it still works perfectly. Meanwhile I've read so many testimonies of Slims being shitty machines over the years. Personal experience doesn't mean shit as a quotable average. If it did then the DS is as bad as any system I've ever seen. Both my DS and my wife's had to be replaced because of hardware problems. The one that she got as a replacement had dead pixels out of the box. Fortunately our screens never turned yellow nor did our hinges crack!

You know, I'm more paranoid about firmware bricking my systems than I am hardware failures. Just about every system with upgradeable firmware has had major problems. Every new update I wait a few days and see what the general consensus is before I update.

My friends DS had dead pixels.
Another had the touchscreen die
Dans Lite had the hinges shatter

I have the issue of it occasionally ignoring DS cards when they are in there and it has frozen on me a few times.
Its seen a few thousand hours of use* and way 30k miles of travel though.

* Maybe not play time but actual power time. I can't believe my battery still holds a charge to be honest.

Yup. CD/DVD/Blu-ray drives and hard disc drives really cause the most problems. I really do hope Solid State Drives will start to become more common in the next years/decade and that we'll eventually completely switch to it. That would be one less moving component. ;)

People seemed to think Nintendo made a bad decision of sticking with carts for the N64, but that atleast that system won't break as easily as disc-based systems.

@ Anthony - I wasnt calling you a fanboy. I know you are not a system fanboy only a MK fanboy and that is all good. I was calling Wolfman Walt a fanboy.

I love my thread. Thanks for making it so awesome guys  :)

Well they still kind of did make a bad decision staying with carts being that in spite of their compression techniques, the price was still too damned high and even then CDs were able to hold more memory.
Additionally, Nintendo wouldn't have burned Sony so badly on the original plans for the Playstation. Imagine if Corporal Hart and that wannabe Vin Diesel (er, Cortez?) went back in time to prevent that falling out? Hmmm only if a "TimeSplitters: Future Imperfect" were made to explore that possibility.

Right, because I state facts, whereas this whole time you've only been like "LOL! PS3 SUCKS" Where have I ever said that the 360 is a bad system? Oh, never. Sorry troll, you've got things wrong and I don't even have to rely on the generic "I own all the systems" argument to prove it. Nice try.

You rock! And yes I think Sony and the PS3 suck. Microsoft also sucks for so many bad 360's but I think it is a better system.  Dave in stead of Postmaster General can I have the title Postmaster Troll?

Wolfman look up some history before you start calling people trolls. I have contributed more to this site then you ever will.

I agree. Calling Tynstar a troll wasn't necessary.

"An Internet troll, or simply troll in Internet slang, is someone who posts controversial, inflammatory, irrelevant or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum or chat room, with the primary intent of provoking other users into an emotional response"




For all intents and purposes, he's a troll in regards to this thread. Sorry if you feel otherwise, but that's the truth. He has yet to contribute anything of merit and instead has taken every opportunity to just try and provoke an emotional response. If he atleast tried to prove any points he made, I'd agree with you about it being unneccesary, but he hasn't. It'd be like me going into a Wii thread and just going "Wii sucks!" over and over again with little variation.

K. Zero relevance to this thread where you've contributed nothing.

No really though scott, you are a troll.

Both online and off :P

I suppose i jump in and out of trolling states too. Sometimes its just fun to shake things up a bit.

Shut up troll.

So I contribute to this thread I would use it as a book end. Then buy a used 360 and that one will die some day and then you will have your second book end.

Happy Walt? HAHA

This thread is pathetic. Useless post here, yeah, but still.

Just so everyone knows, the PS3 has a new 80gb bundle with Motorstorm and Resistance for $400 ;)

A bundle with two games that are two years old? Who cares? Give us Motorstorm 2 and Resistance 2 and things would be more interesting. ;)

You know what, the 360 is already red-ringed, and you have yourself another one.  Why not use the first 360 as a learning tool to correct the red-ring issue.  Since it isn't under warranty any more, you have nothing to lose really.  I bought one that came red-ringed and followed the instructions at llamma(dot)com.  That 360 is working like a charm now.  You might have to get a few things like thermal paste and few tools but it's worth the effort.  And there are plenty of YouTube videos showing how to do this.
It's a thought, right?   

Walt has quite the rivalry with everyone.

Maybe he made sergeant? Stopped working as a guard/parole officer for pornstars whose names he could not disclose?

We figured out her name... ;D

Maybe he got shanked in a prison riot. :(

I do miss him.