XBOX 360 Beware of buying second hand. My true story

3 Rings of death.Common problem in early 360's (source:wikipedia)

Beware, my real story of buying a Second hand 360

I initially bought a 360, second hand, because it was cheaper than new, and thought it was more value for the money.Unfortunately I bought a dud.The fan was noisy as, and in no time I was subjected to the dreaded '3 rings of death', which rendered the machine unusable.

Some warning signs to look for is to always check the date it was built.I bought my unit without checking the date, it was built in 2006, when they first rolled out the 360.This is shown at the back of the machine.It was these initial units that showed up with the most problems.Another sign is to check the memory to see how many games are saved, if there a lot of games saved, you know the machine was used a lot.A machine subjected to heavy use, has a lot more wear and tear, avoid.

Xbox 360 Beautiful but faulty?

Like the mythical Pandora's box, xbox 360 is full of surprises, some not pleasant.We will examine some of the problems encountered by the famous xbox.

The common 3 red light that light up many 360's in the early days, was due to Microsoft trying to release their model earlier than their most direct competitor, the Playstation 3.This is maybe the reason it was having problems, as it wasn't probably tested thoroughly for issues.Released in 2005, the most problematic problem of the 360 was the tendency to overheat, resulting in hardware failure and the dreaded 3 rings of death, as it's most famously called.

XBox 360.I fell in Love with the white colour and the shape, it looked well designed.( Source : Wikipedia)

I know this for myself.Having bought a second hand 360 dated the year 2006, It died on me with these 3 rings, a few months later.I thought that it was way too soon for the machine to die, having an original xbox myself, this early machine by microsoft, is still going strong, so I was wondering what made the 360 die so soon.I even own an original playstation, and this is still going, and a commodore 64, and its still going after 2 decades.

The basic problem was that the 360 is a very powerful machine, and such power comes at a cost, a lot of HEAT.Microsoft extended the warranty to 3 years to rectify the situation.I thought, well, it had to be designed first time around to cope with this problem in the first place.

Having bought a newer 360 with the jasper configuration, I have to report that I haven't had any problems at all.So, avoid second hand and go for the newest 360 for the best reliability, as the issues with overheating have been revised.

360 and NOISE.

Noise and the 360 are almost synonymous. When I first got a 360 I couldn't believe how noisy the console was.It was the noisiest console I have ever bought.Nothing come closer.I thought I was turning on a vacuum cleaner or something. THank God, that there is an aftermarket fan you can buy, called WhisperMax, which is a godsend. The source of the noise is the 2 fans at the back of the 360, and the dvdrom drive, which you can't even replace with a quieter one.

These aftermarket fans were a godsend.They both cool and reduce the noise levels of the 360.

Watch this You Tube video and hear the noise.

YouTube video

Cost of Playing Online with the 360

Another disadvantage of the 360 is the ongoing cost of XBOX live.You have to pay for it every month for the 'gold' service, which allows you to play online against other players.What's the point of having an online service if you can't play online against others? You are forced to pay for it.Compare this to the Playstation 3 where this service is completely free, and the 360 will cost you a lot more than PS3's initial purchase price, which is higuer than the 360's.The table below shows the difference between the silver 'free' service and the gold 'paying' service.

Comparison of
Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Live Silver

Pricing

XBOX SILVER

Free

XBOX GOLD

COST INVOLVED

Voice chat Yes1 Yes Video chat No Yes Avatars Yes Yes Downloadable content Yes2 Yes Multiplayer gaming No Yes Parties No Yes Netflix movie streaming3 No Yes

(Source: Wikipedia)

Xbox 360 controller. Good Design.

Despite what I believe, are big costs with owning the 360 due to the online content, the one thing I really like about the 360 is its controller.It's really good. It fits well in the hand, the ergonomics are second to none.It looks good in white and has a really top design. It's where functionality crosses design.A true masterpiece in the history of gaming.

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