How reliable is the 360

Kashkai

I had a PS2 for 3 years and had no problems with it whatsoever and I was planning on getting the PS3 but with all the messing around with the launch dates and availability I've given up on it.

I've been toying with the idea of buying a 360 but there are a lot of threads on here about problems with reliability. I mean after forking out €400 on a machine, I'd be mental if it broke down on me. However, there are several games that I'd love to have such as COD3, GOW and Dead Rising. So are the problems reported in these threads related to early releases of the 360 or is Microsoft throwing hardware onto the market without resolving all the bugs (as they do:rolleyes: )?

BTW, is there an updated version of the 360 comingto the market shortly that will include the HDDVD and a bigger hard drive???

~Marky~

I think there is a new updated version of the 360 comming out I read about it somewhere and if I where you I would wait for that.
I have had three 360's that have broke on me so far and my warranty is up next month so I am a bit worried about that and it is very painfull ringing them to try and get it fixed..
If I where you I would wait for a while until X-box fixes all these problems with the machines because hundreds of them are still breaking down.
But the 360 is brilliant when its working ok.
Hope this was a bit of help for you

mickoneill30

~Marky~ wrote:

I think there is a new updated version of the 360 comming out I read about it somewhere and if I where you I would wait for that.
I have had three 360's that have broke on me so far and my warranty is up next month so I am a bit worried about that and it is very painfull ringing them to try and get it fixed..
If I where you I would wait for a while until X-box fixes all these problems with the machines because hundreds of them are still breaking down.
But the 360 is brilliant when its working ok.
Hope this was a bit of help for you

Those were rumours about a new version which MS have denied so you could be waiting a while.
There was a thread here a while ago asking who had problems with their Xbox. You can scroll down to find it. Most people were positive I think.

Kashkai

mickoneill30 wrote:

Those were rumours about a new version which MS have denied so you could be waiting a while.
There was a thread here a while ago asking who had problems with their Xbox. You can scroll down to find it. Most people were positive I think.

No offence Mick but the previous poster stated that he had 3 360's break on him and everyday I look at this board someone else is freaking that their 360 had died.

Now it seems like a great system, with brilliant games but €400 is a lot of money to fork out on a Bill Gates gizmo that may or may not die before the warranty is up. How long have you had yours and how reliable is it?

robinph

The new version will be functionally exactly the same as the existing one, just they will be using a different size process on the chips inside the machine so that it will be cheaper for them to produce, and might also run cooler. There is unlikely to be a version coming out with a HD-DVD drive built in, there might be different bundle offers though.

When reading threads about all the problems that people have had with their xboxes, remember that the people who have never had any problems don't tend to then complain about the console on message boards. Mine has been running fine since I got it last March and there are plenty of people who still have consoles they got a launch which are running OK.

Moojuice

I bought one off a guy on boards a few months ago and it works fine. No problems with it.

Vegeta

have mine about 6 months and never a problem. thank god, touch wood, fingers crossed

*Vegeta blesses himself and counts his lucky stars

quarryman

Mine (launch box)runs fine too. Its true, how many threads have you seen with people telling the world about how great their xbox works?

Its people that are having problems that post.

Having said that though i haven't heard too much about Nintendo Wii's becoming bricks.

muckwarrior

360 failure rates are about 3-4% AFAIK. That doesn't seem like much but considering there's over ten million out there now that'd explain why you'd hear so many stories of failures.

I haven't heard many bad stories about nintendo either. But then remember that their hardware is quite conservative. It's easier to be more reliable when you're not on the cutting edge.

I have both and never had a single problem.

Kashkai

So the general view is that ignore the horror stories, and go buy the 360. Ok I think I will so I can finally get to see what the fuss is all about.

Thanks for the replies guys

Vegeta

yeah i'd get one, chances are if it is going to break, it will in the first year under warranty.

Get Rainbow 6 Las Vegas, online multiplayer is awesome, up til 2 o clock last night even though I had work this morning. great game

robinph

quarryman wrote:

Having said that though i haven't heard too much about Nintendo Wii's becoming bricks.

It's not the Wii itself that is in danger of breaking though, it's anything else that happens to be in the same room that is liable to get smashed by stray controllers flying about the place.

Furp

True you don't hear a lot form the people with consoles that have worked since launch.

I have mine since launch and have not had any problems with it apart from it eating into the amount of free time I have.:)

astrofool

Had a 360 since launch here without problems, you also have to remember, that those with broke 360's will be more visible than those without, I think a poll was done here, and it bore out the 3-4% numbers.

The HD-DVD can never go internal. HD-DVD 1x (which is what the drives are), reads at 4.5mbps, whereas a 12x DVD reads at about 15mbps, to put it internal, they'd have to use a 4x HD-DVD player to match this speed, which would cost alot more to make. The PS3 uses a 2x BD player, and reads at about 9mbps, leading to slow loading times and games loading themselves onto the HD for better performance (taking up multiple gigabytes at the same time).

At most a revised Xbox would include a HDMI output, and come with a bigger HD (that'll be available seperately).

Fingleberries

Vegeta wrote:

Get Rainbow 6 Las Vegas, online multiplayer is awesome, up til 2 o clock last night even though I had work this morning. great game

I'd agree. Go for it. Some of the games are phenomenal.

My mate got his xbox the same time as me. He mailed me last week to tell me that his died. I felt sorry for the lad as he loves it like i do.
Now in the last 10 minutes my xbox 360 has died !! and i know 2 other people it has happened to . So thats 4 . I have never heard of a PS2 dying

jcoote

i'm just about to send back my 2nd 360.

so to answer the original question not very reliable at all

Clover

i had no problems with my 360 until i bought the HD-DVD drive and set it up and on the first power up with it attached it died and since it was a launch console and is 14 months old it will take €128 to get fixed .

now i'm not going to pay it as i don't think you should be classed as lucky if your 360 lasts more than 12 months and if it fails soon after that you have to pay to get some other poor gits 360 instead of your own back.

i can say one thing and that is that they have lost more that €128 quids worth of sales as i am selling all my 360 stuff now and buying more wii games and a ps3 .

i might pick up a core 360 when it drops in price but all i can say is keep hold of your receipt and if you have any trouble take it back to the shop you bought it from ( within the 12 months ) and get a new one .

i can say that the 360 is an outstanding console , the best i'v played in fact but there are problems with it and don't let it get out of warranty without getting it replaced for a new one as all microsoft care about is getting your credit card detils for the repair fee :mad:

Tank Top Fever!

My launch console is still running fine, touch wood

although I do have some display issues from time to time, but it's nothing major, just requires a restart

mcgovern

Dre as in Dray wrote:

I have never heard of a PS2 dying

Why not ask people who bought launch PS2's how many problems they had?
And then ask them how big of a deal it was to get those problems fixed.

You'll be suprised.

PixelTrawler

Im on my second 360 ( 3 red lights ) and i also got a refund on the hd dvd drive due to excessive motor noise ( lawnmower ish )...

So to answer the OP not very it seems but that can depend who you ask I guess.

god's toy

As I've said many times before on boards: I've had mine from day one and not had any probs with it at all. No touch wood or anything!

thebman

It very much depends on who you ask. My brothers launch PS2 broke and other than that, I have a GC and we both have 360's and never had a problem with any of them.

You have to be unlucky to get a bad console. The reason people who have problems tend to continue having problems (and this is a guess but I wouldn't be surprised) is that stores give them refurbished models instead of brand new ones so they are more likely to break again.

I know Ms don't give you a new one if they are replacing them unless you break like 4 of them but thats in the US. If it does break within the first year, you are entitled to demand your money back anyway and get a new model with a cooler processor coming out at some stage in the near future.

Helix

not a bother on mine either and its launch day too

it seems that the amound of launch day machines that have bricked is pretty small, maybe they were better built

Smoggy

My launch console died, but I have friends whose machines run perfectly.

My take on it is, MS must be sorting these issues that are causing the console's to fail, as it will be costing them the earth to services these consoles that are already being sold at a loss.

They have had a year to iron out these flaws, all machines IMO should be running smooth thou.

Limerick Dude

My launch console is working perfectly smooth, I have never had one problem with it

Dave!

I've had a 360 for almost a month and it's frozen more times than my PS2 in the 2 years or so that I've had that.

I haven't had any major problems with it, but thought I'd point out the freezing thing!

Helix

mine froze once since launch day

mcgovern

DaveMcG wrote:

I've had a 360 for almost a month and it's frozen more times than my PS2 in the 2 years or so that I've had that.

I haven't had any major problems with it, but thought I'd point out the freezing thing!

Yes, but the PS2 was an established piece of hardware 2 years ago.
If that was having problems still it would be a bigger issue than a relatively new piece of kit having problems.

Kenny_D

Mine just got the 3 red lights now and wont start. It's a launch console and have had no problems with it prior to this

Clover

sorry to hear that man .

Xbox 360 support info

1 800 509 186
Hours of operation:
Monday-Friday: 09:00-22:00
Saturday: 09:00-20:00
Sunday: 09:00-17:00

Mine is working again ? ? I got the 3 red lights , i tried it the next day and it started working. I still do think its only going to be a matter of time before it goes again.

AthAnRi

I've had my XBox 360 for almost a week and it has frozen once already. I have tried to pretend it didn't happen but it has. It has worked well since then.

I never owned an Xbox prior to this but I did have a PS2. The first one I bought lasted a year and then it just gave up. In fairness though it got a massive amount of use. But I brought it into the shop and they replaced it there and then. The second one I got never gave me any issues and i've had that for about 3 years(chipped for about 1 :eek: )

Consoles breaking don't really concern me provided the support is good. That's why I was reluctant to buy an Xbox cause Microsoft are a bunch of cowboys. Sony on the other hand I found to be excellent. My mate had a slimline PS2 that broke (because he tried to get it chipped). He rang the sony help desk and they sent somone out the next day. The guy that came out just gave him a brand new one there and then and took the old one away. No questions asked. This was in the UK btw.

quinnd6

When I was playing Halo 2 last night and was on the boss on level 9 - the one thats flying around I was right up next to him frantically shooting him quickly and my xbox 360 crashed( screen paused and sound stopped- I had to press power button on console to turn it off as media button on the controller wouldn't work).

The same thing happened with Fear a couple of times aswell when I got onto the big robotic machine thingy.

Of course when I reset the console everythings ok and I go back to playing normally.
Ive since finished Fear ( though the crash happened bout 3 times on that same part I managed to get past it).
Halo 2 then worked fine after (I turned it off and went back to it later).

So I guess crashes are normal anyway my 360 is still working ok.

Blackdragon

Dre as in Dray wrote:

I have never heard of a PS2 dying

Now you have -
I had gone through two ps2's - one normal one and one slimline - first one lasted 14 months and second one six months