People,
Today I had the pleasure of having my second x-box 360 die on me.
I originally purchased my 360 in March of 06 and it broke down in 02/26/07, Microsoft replaced that unit with a refurb which I have had since the middle of March. Today, while trying to watch a movie, the unit locked up. Upon reboot of the system, I was presented with the red ring of death. (hardware failure).
After spending about 45 min on the phone with Microsoft, I was informed that I could have my broken-replacement unit fixed for the grand total of $175.00. I basically told the CSR that I would not accept that, the CSR and Supervisor advised me that was the best they could do. The problem with their answer is; X-Box 360's have major thermal issues, which is a design problem, not general wear and tear.
After getting no where with customer support, I decided I would test my thermal theory on my brokewn 360, my self. I dismantled my 360 down to the motherboard, GPU, CPU etc. Even with the system uncovered from the tight confines of the case, touching the heat sinks attached to the GPU or CPU resulted in near scalding, you could literally cook something on it... (which I am going to do). After noticing the immense heat coming off the heat sinks, I powered down the system, removed the heat sinks, removed the thermal compounds and replaced it with Artic Silver compound (used for high end CPU heat transfer). Even this, had minimal effect, the system still would not post.
After tonight, I will never purchase a product from Microsoft again. Microsoft refuses to acknowledge that the 360 has thermal issues(google it) which is unacceptable, they have lost a customer for good, which I doubt they care, but that's how they operate I suppose?
Over the next couple days, I plan to perform an experiment on my broken 360... I am going to cook bacon and eggs on it... it is that hot. You will see the video soon.
Today I had the pleasure of having my second x-box 360 die on me.
I originally purchased my 360 in March of 06 and it broke down in 02/26/07, Microsoft replaced that unit with a refurb which I have had since the middle of March. Today, while trying to watch a movie, the unit locked up. Upon reboot of the system, I was presented with the red ring of death. (hardware failure).
After spending about 45 min on the phone with Microsoft, I was informed that I could have my broken-replacement unit fixed for the grand total of $175.00. I basically told the CSR that I would not accept that, the CSR and Supervisor advised me that was the best they could do. The problem with their answer is; X-Box 360's have major thermal issues, which is a design problem, not general wear and tear.
After getting no where with customer support, I decided I would test my thermal theory on my brokewn 360, my self. I dismantled my 360 down to the motherboard, GPU, CPU etc. Even with the system uncovered from the tight confines of the case, touching the heat sinks attached to the GPU or CPU resulted in near scalding, you could literally cook something on it... (which I am going to do). After noticing the immense heat coming off the heat sinks, I powered down the system, removed the heat sinks, removed the thermal compounds and replaced it with Artic Silver compound (used for high end CPU heat transfer). Even this, had minimal effect, the system still would not post.
After tonight, I will never purchase a product from Microsoft again. Microsoft refuses to acknowledge that the 360 has thermal issues(google it) which is unacceptable, they have lost a customer for good, which I doubt they care, but that's how they operate I suppose?
Over the next couple days, I plan to perform an experiment on my broken 360... I am going to cook bacon and eggs on it... it is that hot. You will see the video soon.
