The Truth About Xbox 360 "Red Ring of Death" Failures

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Q: So what do you think the real failure rate of the Xbox 360 is? Some have estimated it as high as 30%. I got my Xbox in early 2007 and so far so good but what do you think the chance is that it's going to die on me one day.

It's around 30%, and all will probably fail early. This quarter they are expecting 1 M failures, most of those Xenons. Some of those are repeat failures. Life expectancy is all over the map because the design has very little margin for most of the important parameters. That means it's not a fault tolerant design. So a good unit may last a couple of years, while a bad unit can fail in hours. I have a launch unit and have not had a single problem with it. And it's used a lot. But I don't know anyone else with a 360 that hasn't broken, except you now. There's no way to tell when yours might die. But the cooler you can keep it, the longer it will probably last. So stand it up, keep it in free air, etc. :Note : Xenon was the code name for the first Xbox 360 mother board.

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/digitaljoystick/archives/129866.asp?source=rss

Wow that's brutal.

My Xbox has been alive for about... 9ish monthes... so I have no worries. and if it does RROD out then I get a free repair!

Mike, whats the repair process? How long does it take to get a replacement?

The reason I'm asking is because I'm thinking of getting one of the game consoles and to be honest I was leaning towards the 360 because it has many more games but on the other hand the PS3 is reliable, to my knowledge.

Well I've never had to send in a damaged console. My FIRST 360 had a graphics failure so I just took it back to Costco, waited the next month or two out, and then bought the Elite.

But from what I hear it can be from a week or two, to a month, depending on the problem.

I have had my 360 since the day they came out and haven't had 1 problem with it. Now that I just said that i am knocking on my head(Wood). Good product I hope my new PS3 performs the same way. It is all a crap shoot. Same with everything except my samsung bd-p1200. Total piece of junk. Will never buy another Samsung product again.

I've been reading some pretty negative reviews about the Samsung bluray players as well as the combo HD DVD/bluray players. I was thinking of getting one of the combo players down the road once all the specs were finalized on the bluray side but now I'm not so sure.

Stay away. Stay very far away. Before my PS3 I couldn't watch POTC3. Samsung has known about this problem since dec. 12th, according to their website, and have not come up with a fix yet. 3:10 to Yuma same problem. There are more movies my player won't play but those are the only two that I have had problems with. I have even read posts on othe web sites that they are not going to be providing support for my player anymore. Just a rumor but that would not be good.

Sorry, I didn't mean to turn this into bashing samsung.

[Post edited by spenc7798 on Jan 20, 2008]

The repair process is pretty painless, except for having to wait the week or so until your system comes back. All you have to do is call M$ and they send you a prepaid box. You pack up your 360, ship it off to them and get a replacement sent back. I presently have an elite and haven't had any problems with it. The newer 360s have cooler microchips and better heat sinks so they are pretty reliable right now. It really has a great games line up so if you are thinking about getting one go ahead. You can even pick up Bioshock or Assassins Creed this week from Best Buy for $40. Their sale on these games ends this coming Saturday though.

[Post edited by chemteam on Jan 20, 2008]

spenc7798 said -

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"...except my samsung bd-p1200. Total piece of junk. Will never buy another Samsung product again."

Don't worry Spenc, as Samsung is issuing a new firmware update for there Blu-ray players in early February (delayed from Dec for more fine-tuning). That model #1200 player has great standard DVD upconversion, and decent Blu-ray playback, but at the moment reportedly cannot play some of the latest Blu-ray titles, like: The Fly, Live Free or Die Hard, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Ratatouille, and a few others.

I don't know why some of the Bu-ray studios are releasing newer discs that won't play on every Blu-ray player without having to apply a firmware update. They totally need to remedy this situation, and have the discs play fine on all players, otherwise bad word-of-mouth will result, and player returns, and the market potential and growth of Blu-ray will move slowly.

-LH (The Loverboy)

Hendrix,

Just curious but where did you get the info that the firmware isn't coming until Feb? And will it fix all of the movie issue?

Spenc,

A friend of mine bought this unit a few weeks ago, and discovered it wouldn't play some of the newer BD discs, as I've been lending him some out of my collection (about 40 titles). He's called Samsung twice, received one CD firmware update recently (the earlier update from last year), and was told they are now promising to release the long-awaited 2nd update on February 2, both for online updates, and the mailed CDs. So, he's waiting until then, and hoping it's not delayed again.

So far, his unit cannot play: FF4: Silver Surfer, The Fly, and probably a few of the others (which I don't own). I also have Ratatouille, and Cars, but he hasn't tried those yet. I've hardly ever purchased a "new release" Blu-ray (except for the Music Concert discs), so usually wait until a BOGO sale, discounted sale, etc to add to my collection.

Note: I haven't had any problems playing Blu-ray movies/concerts on my 60GB PS3. Also, have any of the WARNER BLU-RAY titles been unplayable on latest gen players?

-LH (The Loverboy)

[Post edited by Love Hendrix! on Jan 20, 2008]

More info.. my friend wanted this player for it's DVD upconversion quality mainly. And he could only find one in local stores, at a Sears mall store, since other retailers are now selling the later model. He told me the back of the unit said it was assembled in March 2007.

-LH (The Loverboy)

I love how this thread went to an Xbox 360 thread to a HD-DVD/BR-DVD thread.

It is strange that you friend can't play Rise of the silver surfer after the st update. It playes terrific in my player. Steer him clear of Yuma, POTC3, hairspray, pixar shorts, live free of die hard, and sunshine. Just an FYI.

Spenc, so you're friend can't even play the movie itself? I thought you could play the movies but not the extras?

Falcon01,

I'm not up on all the background, but some of the newer Blu-ray movie discs [feature film, extras, etc] won't play at all on various Samsung players. It's currently a "black eye" for both Samsung (and the studios?), and is really disappointing to those now adopting Blu-ray. Hopefully the situation will be worked out soon, with a proper/correct firmware update.

-LH (The Loverboy)

Falcon,

My samsung player won't play those movies at all. I wish I could just play the movies and not the extras. Stay away from samsung Blu-ray players.

New REPORT (about Blu-ray issues being addressed) on EngadgetHD's website.

-LH (The Loverboy)

Falcon just pick up the 360, theres a long list of things i like about it. now that i have my ps3, I apreciate the 360 even more believe it or not.

The failure rate is covering all consoles, and the elites are the most solid. built to last.


EDIT- another thing i hate about the ps3 is having to install demos??? if im downloading a demo thats for the ps3, shouldnt this be ready to go instantly after download. like the 360? and download speed is terrible.

[Post edited by kucoloco on Jan 20, 2008]

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now that i have my ps3, I apreciate the 360 even more believe it or not.

A mate I work with found the same thing. He baught a 360, then afew months later sold it as he needed some holiday money. After his holiday he used his next pay to buy a PS3, next pay after that he was buying a 360! Said the PS3 can't match up to the 360. He kept the PS3 but apparently it's just collecting dust.

I was low on money so I bought a pre-owned 360, 9 months on had a red ring of death. I just got a new one when my first pre owned unit failed. I've had the new one since september and haven't had a single problem.

I love the XBox 360, I think they have some fantastic exclusive titles. I also love the achievements in the games, gives the games that little extra to play for, I know some people love the achievements and will play till they get them all. I don't but I try to get as many as I can! And the xBox live is fantastic, pretty reasonably priced and what you get is amazing!
I can't live without my 360 (I'm such a nerd )

My 360 ship to return time table was about 2 weeks.

Just make sure when you call in, ask for a new system rather than a refurb.

me and 5 of my friends all bought a 360 in the fall of 2006, and we were all on are 2nd console by the fall of 2007, all of are systems seemed to break done one month apart lol, i bought mine at sams club so i just toke mine back and exchanged it, but all of my friends had to go threw the warrenty and toke about a month to get there 360 back. Ive been playing video games since i was 5 years old and never had one system ever break, i still have nintendo that i got 19 years ago and it stll works. I thnk microsoft must of rushed the 360 to beat sony out of the gate and the failure rates they are having is a result of that.

If you haven't bought a 360 yet, make sure you get one with a Falcon motherboard. It is the latest version and isn't suppose to have the RROD problems the older Xbox's had.
Check out these links so you can make sure the one you buy has a Falcon motherboard:
http://forums.xbox.com/ShowPost.aspx?PageIndex=1&PostID=15804553
http://www.anandtech.com/gadgets/showdoc.aspx?i=3152&p=3

Hope this helps.