So our XBox 360 decided that last night was its last night. After locking up a few times, it went kaput. Yes, the infamous Red Ring of Death has visited us. Again. Argh!!
The tally so far is three years, two failed XBoxes. The good news is that this XBox lasted just over two years (and died just outside of our Best Buy warranty period, boo!) where our last one lasted about a year. Assuming this trend continues, we can expect four years from the refurb Microsoft sends us. Hopefully.
This is a huge PITA for us because it means our XBox will now have to be sent into the void that is Microsoft. The current estimate for repair time on their site is fourteen to twenty-one days. Are you kidding me? While this is better than the six weeks it was going to take back in 2007, it’s still crazy.
I’ve read the failure rate is something like fifty percent. FIFTY PERCENT! They should have this down to an art at this point. If you include shipping time, it means we’ll be without an XBox for a month, right when we want to play Halo ODST.
It’s just so damn frustrating. We love the XBox–the games, online play, and extras are fantastic. However, we HATE the hardware. Last time it was a freaking nightmare to get it setup so I could still play the games and expansions we had bought with Dustin’s account. This time that won’t be the issue, but I’m sure something else will come up. It’s bad enough that we’re about ready to jump ship and buy a PS3.
A picture for posterity:
Well, if your HALO ODST needs a temporary home, my XBox is still working, and I’m about to be off work for a week…
Oh, I’d be wary of a PS3. I’ve got one and every time I turn it on, it seems that I have to wait for an update. Installing games takes a long time (45 minutes or so) which is crazy when I come home with a new game disc, I want to pop it into my dedicated console and play, not wait for it to install for 45 minutes before I can play.
Maybe my experience is unique, but I’ve been less than impressed with my PS3. It’s a nice Blu-Ray player, but not a great game console.