Xbox 360 hardware approval/information questionaire.

[Saturos]

Need some more questions about the 360. I prefer the below format, but feel free to answer any way you like if it's not your fancy. I'm new to the next-gen console scene obviously. Sure I can Google these questions, but It's much more fun to hear what HL2.net people think because I don't feel like I'm talking to bots. /sarcasm

Also note that opinions about which system's exclusive titles/games/internet service is better does not count. This is purely a hardware approval/information questionaire for my own knowledge.
About the 360 hardware/design's competence only.

1.What other issues has anyone had with the 360 other than RRoD?

2.How long do you play in one sitting?

3.Do you have trouble with overheating?

4.Do you keep the 360 in a well ventilated area?

5.Do you clean your 360 often? (canned air)

6.How many times have you sent your 360 to Microsoft for repairs?

7. How many times has Microsoft's customer service wrongfully snubbed you?

8.How long does the warranty cover free repairs for burn-in factory mishaps?

9.What's the latest 360 model and did Microsoft resolve many of the issues earlier models had?

10. Are you sick of Microsoft's incompetent hardware engineers?

Bonus question: If so, why?

Nothings wrong with the 360 I have....yet. It's not even mine anyways, I borrowed it from my cousin. :E He's sent it off once already too.
I don't know much about it other than the obvious. (model version etc.)

I might buy one for myself if I like what I hear from this questionaire, as it has a great online service and great games.

 

[Stigmata]

1. None.
2. Usually an hour or more.
3. Nope.
4. Reasonably so. Sometimes it sits on shallow carpeting.
5. Twice, but each time was for a different Xbox. The one I have now has been fine for at least a year and a half.
6. None.
6. Three years, if I recall correctly.
7. I'm not sure, but it has resolved many issues with the earlier models.
8. The Microsoft, lol. But yes.
9. They seem to care more about the bottom line than creating better hardware, which (to be fair) can be said about pretty much any tech company. Aside from Nintendo, anyway.

 

[Saturos]

1. None.
2. Usually an hour or more.
3. Nope.
4. Reasonably so. Sometimes it sits on shallow carpeting.
5. Twice, but each time was for a different Xbox. The one I have now has been fine for at least a year and a half.
6. None.
6. Three years, if I recall correctly.
7. I'm not sure, but it has resolved many issues with the earlier models.
8. The Microsoft, lol. But yes.
9. They seem to care more about the bottom line than creating better hardware, which (to be fair) can be said about pretty much any tech company. Aside from Nintendo, anyway.

Could you be a gentleman and re-number you answers Stiggy? I added a question.

EDIT> Oops, nevermind. You've skipped #6 in your numbering.

 

[Shamrock]

1.What other issues has anyone had with the 360 other than RRoD? RRoD 3 times.

2.How long do you play in one sitting? It can range from 20 minutes to over 2 hours.

3.Do have trouble with overheating? Nope, but I'm pretty sure that was the cause of death for my 360s. However, the 3rd 360 had freezes and glitched plenty of times because of my drive. I think it was a BenQ, and it was a faulty drive as I'd play it up against my friend's Hitachi in GTA4, and we'd be driving in the same area, and mine would have the most pop in you could believe and then.. WHAM! It would freeze while my friend's 2.5 year old 360 still kicks and ROARS.

4.Do you keep the 360 in a well ventilated area? It's on a shelf in my entertainment unit with a rather large whole in the back. I wouldn't call it that ventilated, but it should be sufficient to be honest.

5.Do you clean your 360 often? (canned air) Not once.

6.How many times have you sent your 360 to Microsoft for repairs? Zero times. :naughty:

7. How many times has Microsoft's customer service wrongfully snubbed you? Zero times. :naughty:

8.How long does the warranty cover free repairs for burn-in factory mishaps? I think it is 3 years? I really have no idea to be honest.

9.What's the latest 360 model and did Microsoft resolve many of the issues earlier models had? Latest 360 model is the coolest of them all. They moved the memory chips from the bottom of the motherboard which caused plenty of overheating to the top of the board. Also, the cooling for the system is very, very efficient finally. The RRoD might not be solved, but it's pretty damn low now. I'd estimate that it dropped to under 5% with the newer systems.

10. Are you sick of the Microsoft's incompetent hardware engineers? Not really. If I enjoy the system and am able to get a new 360, I'm completely fine with Microsoft.

Hope this helped you, Dragon man!

 

[Iced_Eagle]

1. My launch unit has a noisy fan. I think they fixed that in the latest models though.

2. It can range from an hour to my roommate playing it for like 10 hours.

3. Nope.

4. Not as good as I would like. It's a little TV entertainment center. We always leave the front cabinet doors open, and we cut a big hole in the back though, so I guess it is pretty well ventilated.

5. Nope. I think I've done it maybe once a few years back.

6. Once, and that was a few years ago.

7. Never. Microsoft did everything very quick, very painless and I barely had to do anything except just send them my 360. They paid for shipping, the repair and all of that good stuff.

8. A year perhaps. Not sure. Google the 360's warranty. The RROD has a 3 year warranty on it though. So, if your 360 dies of a RROD within 3 years, it's free, or if it's any other defect (a hell of a lot more rare) outside of a year, you need to pay, just like any other console.

9. The latest one is the one with the 60 GB HDD I believe. I don't really keep up with it since in all honesty, it doesn't matter that much. It mattered a lot more originally when people didn't want RROD, but these later models have a lot better cooling solutions and use less power (thus run cooler).

10. No!

Bonus question: Why the hell would I be pissed at them? I haven't had a single issue on this awesome machine until a few weeks ago (it almost made it 3 years without issues), and even when I had an issue, MS paid for everything. Sure, it sucks it happens in the first place, but MS does a damn good job to make sure you're covered as a consumer.

 

[Shamrock]

Bonus question: Why the hell would I be pissed at them? I haven't had a single issue on this awesome machine until a few weeks ago (it almost made it 3 years without issues), and even when I had an issue, MS paid for everything. Sure, it sucks it happens in the first place, but MS does a damn good job to make sure you're covered as a consumer.

To be fair, MS lacked the competence at launch and during the 360's first year of production to actually supply good customer service. They'd force you to pay the 140$ to send it in for a repair. However, once they realized how widespread the problem was, they did everything they could to fix it instantaneously and without cost to the customer.

 

[Deleted member 56031]

1.What other issues has anyone had with the 360 other than RRoD? - I've had the one red light

2.How long do you play in one sitting? - anywhere from 10 minutes to 6 hours

3.Do have trouble with overheating? - no

4.Do you keep the 360 in a well ventilated area? - yes

5.Do you clean your 360 often? (canned air) - no

6.How many times have you sent your 360 to Microsoft for repairs? - once

7. How many times has Microsoft's customer service wrongfully snubbed you? - never

8.How long does the warranty cover free repairs for burn-in factory mishaps? - a year i would think

9.What's the latest 360 model and did Microsoft resolve many of the issues earlier models had? - 60GB premium and it just seems to run cooler i don't know the specifics

10. Are you sick of Microsoft's incompetent hardware engineers? - not really cos i enjoy the console extremely and if it breaks I can get another one from them

 

[Saturos]

I like what I hear so far! Thanks for answering my questionaire fellas.

If all the positive comments about Microsoft's customer service is true as well as a much less chance for a breakdown with later models (and I assume nobody would have any reason to lie about such things, unless your a MS sales executive) I might just consider buying one in the near future.

To be fair, MS lacked the competence at launch and during the 360's first year of production to actually supply good customer service. They'd force you to pay the 140$ to send it in for a repair. However, once they realized how widespread the problem was, they did everything they could to fix it instantaneously and without cost to the customer.

I'm sure alot of engineers lost their jobs for these "unforseen consequences". Serves them right for being incompetent.

 

[Shamrock]

I like what I hear so far! Thanks for answering my questionaire fellas.

If all the positive comments about Microsoft's customer service is true as well as a much less chance for a breakdown with later models (and I assume nobody would have any reason to lie about such things, unless your a MS executive) I might just consider buying one in the near future.

To be honest, you really should. The games that come out for it and PS3 are nearly identical give or take a few exclusives you could pass on. The system is reliable as all hell if properly kept. I barely take care of mine so it's basically the reason I've had mine die so many times.

Also, I love just playing my 360. I love the controller, and it just makes me happy to own it.

Get one now or get a PS3.

Or....

Go get an N64. Hell yes. Donkey Kong 64 is where it's at!

 

[Saturos]

To be honest, you really should. The games that come out for it and PS3 are nearly identical give or take a few exclusives you could pass on. The system is reliable as all hell if properly kept. I barely take care of mine so it's basically the reason I've had mine die so many times.

Also, I love just playing my 360. I love the controller, and it just makes me happy to own it.

Get one now or get a PS3.

Or....

Go get an N64. Hell yes. Donkey Kong 64 is where it's at!

Ahh....the N64. The waning moon of Nintendo's success. (The SNES was the zenith) I shall enjoy it.

Oh yeah, the 360's controller is an improvement over the old Xbox 180. No Xbox owner I knew even used the original Xbox controller as they complained it was too cumbersome. (They opted for third party "slimmer" alternatives.)

I just need to be sure to get a rechargable controller though. Batteries suck.

 

[joule]

1.What other issues has anyone had with the 360 other than RRoD? None.

2.How long do you play in one sitting? Average 2 hours.

3.Do you have trouble with overheating? Negative.

4.Do you keep the 360 in a well ventilated area? Room is normally at a comfortable 72?F to begin with.

5.Do you clean your 360 often? (canned air) Negative.

6.How many times have you sent your 360 to Microsoft for repairs? 0

7. How many times has Microsoft's customer service wrongfully snubbed you? 0

8.How long does the warranty cover free repairs for burn-in factory mishaps? No idea. Look it up.

9.What's the latest 360 model and did Microsoft resolve many of the issues earlier models had? Anything with the Falcon 65nm chipset is the latest in production. The new models addressed the issues of the past.

10. Are you sick of Microsoft's incompetent hardware engineers? I don't know what you're talking about.

Done.

Ahh....the N64. The waning moon of Nintendo's success. (The SNES was the zenith) I shall enjoy it.

Oh yeah, the 360's controller is an improvement over the old Xbox 180. No Xbox owner I knew even used the original Xbox controller as they complained it was too cumbersome. (They opted for third party "slimmer" alternatives.)

I just need to be sure to get a rechargable controller though. Batteries suck.

Actually, we opted for this.

 

[OmegaX]

1.What other issues has anyone had with the 360 other than RRoD? none

2.How long do you play in one sitting? 1-3 Hours

3.Do you have trouble with overheating? No

4.Do you keep the 360 in a well ventilated area? Yes

5.Do you clean your 360 often? (canned air) Never

6.How many times have you sent your 360 to Microsoft for repairs? Twice (Had since launch though)

7. How many times has Microsoft's customer service wrongfully snubbed you? None

8.How long does the warranty cover free repairs for burn-in factory mishaps? 3 Year warranty for RRoD (You get another 3 years if you send in for repairs)

9.What's the latest 360 model and did Microsoft resolve many of the issues earlier models had? The Elite I believe, don't have one so don't know.

10. Are you sick of Microsoft's incompetent hardware engineers? The RRoD shouldn't be happening, but at least they fix it for free.

.

There.

 

[Shamrock]

Ahh....the N64. The waning moon of Nintendo's success. (The SNES was the zenith) I shall enjoy it.

Oh yeah, the 360's controller is an improvement over the old Xbox 180. No Xbox owner I knew even used the original Xbox controller as they complained it was too cumbersome. (They opted for third party "slimmer" alternatives.)

I just need to be sure to get a rechargable controller though. Batteries suck.

The funny thing is I used the original Xbox controller for it's entire life cycle, and I never got sick of it. I loved that controller for reasons beyond fathomable imaginations. I remember my hands cramping and becoming insanely sore thanks to it.

Anyway, I have a play and charge kit with rechargeable packs for all three of my controllers. It works wonders, and the controllers last for a while before it really needs to be charged.

 

[Acepilotf14]

1. I once threw it and the optics broke, does that count?

2. Sometimes 10+ hours.

3. Never overheated once.

4. Yes.

5. No.

6. Never.

7. Never.

8. Never had to check.

9. The Elite, it has some special processor that stopped the RRoD, I think.

10. No, I love them. I hope they keep doing what they do best.

 

[Hectic Glenn]

1.What other issues has anyone had with the 360 other than RRoD? Frozen once or twice playing GTAIV, but so did my PS1 and PS2, nothing alarming

2.How long do you play in one sitting? 1-2 hours

3.Do you have trouble with overheating? None

4.Do you keep the 360 in a well ventilated area? Fairly, it's kept on carpet but I have mine standing up next to my subwoofer, plenty of air around it.

5.Do you clean your 360 often? (canned air) Nope, don't intend to either

6.How many times have you sent your 360 to Microsoft for repairs? None

7. How many times has Microsoft's customer service wrongfully snubbed you? Never spoke to them, everything is fine...I've heard they are helpful

8.How long does the warranty cover free repairs for burn-in factory mishaps? 3 years according to everyone else

9.What's the latest 360 model and did Microsoft resolve many of the issues earlier models had? I believe I have the new model with the Falcon 65nm chipset, as I can see the heatpipes through the back of the 360 grill which I understand is on newer models. I bought it with GTAIV so not too long ago. It's the premium verson 360.

10. Are you sick of Microsoft's incompetent hardware engineers? NEED A DISPENSER HERE

The reliability of 360s now isn't really a great concern from what I've seen, very much so an issue of last year or even before.

 

[Fliko]

1.What other issues has anyone had with the 360 other than RRoD?
None that I've heard of, but the RRoD is a way of identifying many problems in the 360, it's actually a really clever idea (Seeing as Sony and Nintendo adapted the idea).

2.How long do you play in one sitting?
Depends, sometimes ten minutes, sometimes hours on end

3.Do you have trouble with overheating?
Nope

4.Do you keep the 360 in a well ventilated area?
Nope, I don't keep in on carpet though (Instead I place it in a small box that probably doesn't help.)

5.Do you clean your 360 often? (canned air)
Never ever used cannd air on a console.

6.How many times have you sent your 360 to Microsoft for repairs?
Once

7. How many times has Microsoft's customer service wrongfully snubbed you?
Zero, they were super painless, and it took less then 5 minutes to get my warranty.

8.How long does the warranty cover free repairs for burn-in factory mishaps?
3 years on the RRoD

9.What's the latest 360 model and did Microsoft resolve many of the issues earlier models had?
The Xbox 360 Elite using.. Zephyr chips was it? I can't remember. They resolved practically every issue it had though, and with the feature of loading the game onto your hard-drive, I imagine the 360 will be pratically noiseless when running off of games on the hard-drive.

10. Are you sick of Microsoft's incompetent hardware engineers?
Incompetent? They're hardly incompetent, console problems are just a fact when consoles get released, it always happens to everyone. Microsoft is just the target to whiny haters, and religious fanboys (To other companies that is)

There you go

 

[Unfocused]

Shamrock, so you had RRoD three times and never sent it to Microsoft? Why?

 

[ríomhaire]

Questionaire seems rather biased.

 

[Saturos]

Questionaire seems rather biased.

The last few questions were meant to be somewhat funny and not boring, so laugh dammit.

While you do my questionaire of course.

Shamrock, so you had RRoD three times and never sent it to Microsoft? Why?

He probably murdered three other 360 gamers and stole their system's.

It's the only explaination. It HAS to be.

Shamrock, you heartless cad. :E

 

[Bakurei]

1.What other issues has anyone had with the 360 other than RRoD?
None

2.How long do you play in one sitting?
Usually, 10min to 3h. But now my roommate has stolen my Xbox so 0h:0min:0sec

3.Do you have trouble with overheating?
Nope, I think. Well my Xbox GPU fried althou it was in a well ventilated place.

4.Do you keep the 360 in a well ventilated area?
See above

5.Do you clean your 360 often? (canned air)
Nope

6.How many times have you sent your 360 to Microsoft for repairs?
Once. The waranty worked like a dream. Call support, next day they'll pick it up from my appartment and bring it back one month later.

7. How many times has Microsoft's customer service wrongfully snubbed you?
Zero?

8.How long does the warranty cover free repairs for burn-in factory mishaps?
Dunno :<

9.What's the latest 360 model and did Microsoft resolve many of the issues earlier models had?
The 60Gb one? They had issues?

10. Are you sick of Microsoft's incompetent hardware engineers?
Nope

There we go.

 

[VictimOfScience]

1.What other issues has anyone had with the 360 other than RRoD?
No major issues for me in terms of hardware (the disc drive is very loud though).

2.How long do you play in one sitting?
6-8 hours (potentially)

3.Do you have trouble with overheating?
Never (but I bought an HDMI Pro with better cooling when it first hit the market).

4.Do you keep the 360 in a well ventilated area?
Yes, vertical right next to my horizontal PS3 and vertical Wii.

5.Do you clean your 360 often? (canned air)
Never have yet.

6.How many times have you sent your 360 to Microsoft for repairs?
Never (I waited for the newer model so as to avoid the common issues).

7. How many times has Microsoft's customer service wrongfully snubbed you?
N/A.

8.How long does the warranty cover free repairs for burn-in factory mishaps?
Dunno.

9.What's the latest 360 model and did Microsoft resolve many of the issues earlier models had?
There are a bunch of them and they all should be much more reliable now, just make sure it has a HDD ffs!

10. Are you sick of Microsoft's incompetent hardware engineers?
Yes...

Bonus question: If so, why?...but I realize that it is not necessarily their fault that their product was rushed out of the door to beat Sony to market. If they would not have been in such a rush maybe the powers-that-be would have listened to their hardware engineers and done a proper job getting reliable hardware into the marketplace.

 

[Emporius]

1. I have had occasional freezes (maybe 1.5 per year). They've never really bothered me, much easier to handle than a PC freeze.


2. I can play anywhere from 30 minutes to 10 hours. It all depends on where I am, who I'm with, and what we're doing.

3. Not to my knowledge.

4. On top of a small table in front of my TV (lying down)

5. I have never really cleaned my 360, but on occasion if I'm vacuuming nearby I will do the vents once-over.

6. Once

7. None

8.I'm not sure, but I believe the warranty has been slightly extended. You'd need to contact Microsoft to be sure.

9. There has been news of a Microsoft beginning production of 360s with a new processor to run quicker, more efficiently and cooler. If you can confirm this I would wait a while to get the new ones, or not, it's your choice.

10. Nope, life is full of problems, I'm not going to get mad because a company's product has some flaws. The pros have outweighed the cons.

it has a great online service and great games.

Indeed

 

[Shamrock]

Shamrock, so you had RRoD three times and never sent it to Microsoft? Why?

He probably murdered three other 360 gamers and stole their system's.

It's the only explaination. It HAS to be.

Shamrock, you heartless cad. :E

Well, you're close, Saturos. However, the first time my 360 RRoD'd on me, I called MS, and they told me I'd have to spend 140$ to get it repaired so being me, I chose an alternate route instead of actually paying for the repair.

I pulled the ol' switcheroo at Walmart. I did it for my 2 RRoDs and the 3rd faulty one. The very last system I had never RRoD'd but the symptoms were there, and I knew it would have in due time cause of the faulty disc drive anyway.

 

[TCfromBN]

1.What other issues has anyone had with the 360 other than RRoD?

None

2.How long do you play in one sitting?

10 mins to 4 or 5 hours

3.Do you have trouble with overheating?

one time

4.Do you keep the 360 in a well ventilated area?

Somewhat

5.Do you clean your 360 often? (canned air)

no

6.How many times have you sent your 360 to Microsoft for repairs?

Returned one near-launch console

7. How many times has Microsoft's customer service wrongfully snubbed you?

none

10. Are you sick of Microsoft's incompetent hardware engineers?

no

 

[Saturos]

The reliability of 360s now isn't really a great concern from what I've seen, very much so an issue of last year or even before.

What do the heatpipes look like? Where did you say it was located? (Front/back/side grill?) Sorry, just want to make sure.

Also, I had the (same issue?) with GTA IV for the first time the other day where the loading screen would come up after retrying a mission, only the game never resumed. Not the same as a complete lock-up/freeze like you had though is it?

Thank you everyone who participated in my questionaire! :E Now assume the party escort position before cake will be served.