Worried about my Xbox 360 dying

[fustercluck]

I recently got an Xbox off ebay and I thought I'd be happy to have it, but I'm real nervous it's going to die soon. It was manufactured in OCT 2005 (launch console). I hear about all these different people who are on their 4th xbox. Plus it's used obviously. I wondering if A) It's most likely going to die soon and i've made a bad investment or B) The fact that it's lasted this long means it's a good one. It doesn't have any slow downs or problems. Any chance there's some warranty left on this thing I could maybe take advantage of if it were to die? Help me become less worried 🙁 - Or just be honest rather.

 

[tatteredpotato]

For Ring of Death (the most common source of failure) you have 3 years from date of purchase. Microsoft's warranty states that they only cover the original owner, although I haven't heard of them denying people work because they are not the original owner, they usually will transfer the warranty to you.

Also there's a good chance yours will not die, although they sometimes give no warning before just giving the RROD.

 

[fustercluck]

A good chance my 360 will never die? Excellent! Just what I wanted to hear 😀

Well, I know it won't last forever, but any chance it could last another 3-5 years?

 

[BD2003]

No one knows the true failure rate of the 360, but its pretty clear that they die quite often. I doubt a launch console is any more likely to die than newer ones since they havent updated the hardware until very recently, but it all depends on what you consider a "good" chance.

It only took 2 months for mine to die. If yours lasts 5 years (or even 3), consider yourself blessed. I personally don't know anyone who has a launch 360 thats still going strong. It may very well last years, but don't be surprised if it dies tomorrow either. You most likely wont see the RRoD coming - it just happens, and thats it.

The good news at least, is the longer it takes before it dies (as long as its not past 3 years), the more reliable your console will be when you finally send it in, since they might replace it with newer hardware.

 

[tatteredpotato]

Originally posted by: BD2003
No one knows the true failure rate of the 360, but its pretty clear that they die quite often. I doubt a launch console is any more likely to die than newer ones since they havent updated the hardware until very recently, but it all depends on what you consider a "good" chance.

It only took 2 months for mine to die. If yours lasts 5 years (or even 3), consider yourself blessed. I personally don't know anyone who has a launch 360 thats still going strong. It may very well last years, but don't be surprised if it dies tomorrow either. You most likely wont see the RRoD coming - it just happens, and thats it.

The good news at least, is the longer it takes before it dies (as long as its not past 3 years), the more reliable your console will be when you finally send it in, since they might replace it with newer hardware.

My launch console died in about a month, and that replacement has been going strong ever since. Although it has an annoying freezing issue in certain games.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Originally posted by: ropeadope
A good chance my 360 will never die? Excellent! Just what I wanted to hear 😀

Well, I know it won't last forever, but any chance it could last another 3-5 years?

No one really knows. All we know is that ALL consoles have the same problem.

 

[darkswordsman17]

If it does die, Microsoft will likely take care of you since its a launch console (which I think they said they would cover you if it fails at any time, but thats probably only within reason, say a couple of years or something). I would call up Microsoft and see what they have to say (about how long they'll support you should it fail). If its not as long as you'd like, ask if they'll sell you an extended warranty (its about $20 per year IIRC). Of course, it might not be worth it for you to do that, as who knows what the 360 will be like in a couple of years, it might have a lot of new features or be smaller or something and will undoubtedly be less expensive, so you might be better off buying a new one a few years down the road, as there's no guarantee that Microsoft will replace yours with one of the newer ones.

 

[potato28]

If you want to make sure ti doesn't overheat, just buy a laptop cooler than plugs into the USB port. Keep it on low when your in the dash and high/medium when your playing games. This won't prevent the RROD, but it should help reduce the risk of it.