Microsoft strikes again, the dreaded red ring of death
You've had your Xbox 360 for years, and you're convinced that it's the pinnacle of gaming excellence. The problem is you've finally gotten that dreaded red ring of death. What are your options?
The first option might be to go all out and buy a brand new xbox. After all, the prices have dropped, and it's only $299 for a brand new Xbox. One of the best benefits of the new Xbox 360's is the HDMI output, the older versions only had the HD Component cables which pretty much eliminates its coexistence with your cable box, so that you're forced to decide between killing your friends in Halo 3 in high definition, or watching the Jaguars whoop up on the Titans in HD.
Also the newer versions of the Xbox 360's are coming out with larger hard drives. In fact the new version of the Xbox Basic that sells for $299 has a 60GB hard drive. That in and of itself is a good reason to "upgrade".
Microsoft also claims that with the new Xbox 360s they've made some of the chips smaller which should reduce overheating. And it does appear that the first models that came out almost all failed while the newer versions have gotten quite good. We'll see if they really have licked the problem.
Second, for those with electronic experience, the repair itself is pretty straight forward. However, I must reiterate that you should have extensive electronic experience to undertake this, a small slip and you'll end up killing your entire system. There are ebooks, message boards, and video tutorials on how to fix xbox 360's so there is definitely some help out there if you're feeling adventurous.
Third, and probably the safest bet is to send the console back to Microsoft. Just by calling them, they will send you a box to send the console in. It will cost roughly $140 to get Microsoft to make the repairs, however that's still quite a bit less than buying a whole new system.
As a fourth alternative, there are plenty of independent repair firms that will fix xbox 360's. These repairs start at around $69 and go to around $200. Make sure you look for a company with a good warranty, and that guarantees their work.
Hopefully these tips will give you an idea on how to repair your Xbox 360, after all, all is not lost, and you have plenty of company as there have been massive hardware failures associated with the Xbox 360. And owning a 360 will be even better when they pair with Netflix to stream over 10,000 movies. Should be a great time to be a 360 owner.
Tagged with: Computers • Microsoft • Repair Service • Video Tutorial