Dissecting My XBox 360 - Valdarez's Blog

Valdarez's Blog

Dissecting My XBox 360

Posted on March 24, 2010 at 08:47 AM.

The XBox 360 has been the worst console I have ever owned in 30 years of gaming. That in and of itself speaks volumes, but the fact that I'm having to take it apart in order to fix it screams either inferior design or corporate greed. Greed you say? Yes. Greed. In their zest to get to market first, MicroSoft released their XBox 360 to the public knowing full well they had 50+% failure rates. Dumping a product that consistently fails within a year of the sale would typically lead to a ****action lawsuit, but somehow MicroSoft managed to avoid it with a 3 year extension for the red ring and e74 error.

Unfortunately the red ring and e74 errors do not account for all of the errors of the console. The 3rd, or perhaps even 2nd most common error is the 'Open Tray' error. This occurs when your DVD drive cannot read the disk. This can occur from the laser eye being dirty, or from the laser malfunctioning. My 2nd XBox 360 just encountered this problem. Microsoft would not repair it unless I paid them $99. The drive, only costs $14, so theoretically they want me to pay them $85 to remove the drive and replace it with a new one.

It seems taking advantage of the consumer at the point of sale, and then not to extending the warranty to cover ALL the problems that occur with it, esepcially the more common ones, was not enough for MicroSoft. Now they are making money off the failures that THEY caused on the console. They are effectively taking advantage of the consumer at the point of sale, and then after it. They seriously need to be sued for every penny they made off of the DVD Drive repairs.

Anyhow, instead of paying M$ to fix my 360, I decided to fix it myself. I ordered the new drive which should be here shortly. It's going to cost me roughly $20 to fix it complete. Major props to http://www.xboxslave.com for providing excellent vidoes on how to identify the problem and fix it yourself.

Here's what the inside of an XBox 360 looks like, and if you have ever been afraid to take it apart, don't be. It's just as easy, if not easier to take apart and work on than a standard computer. Hope you enjoy the pics!

Comments

# 1 boxboy99 @ Mar 24

You always have quality postings Valdarez. This may be your best! I agree once again with 100% of your posting. I turn 30 this year and have seen many a gaming system in my years and it isn't even in terms of quality the 360 has the worst. I am on unit number 4 myself. I purchased two and the first unit was replaced by M$ twice. I never got RRoD. The first 3 failures were freezing or no video. Now my 4th unit which is just under two years old and never replaced from my second purchase is starting to have the issues that you have shown how to fix. My drive very loud and then I can tell it isn't going to read the disc or will freeze. Putting the unit in verticle orientation has help for now but I am sure failure is upon me.

I called M$ and spoke with a nice rep over the phone. He got to listen to be explain all of my issues very clamly. I requested they fix this unit for free and if they were willing to do that, then I was willing to go to my local retail store and purchase a new 360 Elite. I mentioned I just wanted the old unit as a second backup for when my Elite goes out or I have a friend over. I also stated I wanted a new controller and 120 gb HD and it really only made sense for me to get those items through the purchase of an Elite. I also told the guy that if they were not going to take care of a loyal customer that I would be purchasing a PS3. To my dismay all this guy would do is read a script, string me along, and question if I have really had all the issues I told him I have had with the 360 even after he combined my account for my two 360s I have in my house. I guess M$'s record keeping sucks because he said he can't just see it on my account. In the end it was $100 bucks or go to hell. I was told not to get a PS3 because Xbox has better games and not to go buy and Elite because this replacement is cheaper. Wait let me check I purchased a $120 120 gb hdd, new controller $50, and replacement xbox $100 for a total of $270 or I go get an Elite for $299. This guy wasn't listening to what I really wanted.

In the end I did what I said and finally found a PS3 this morning. Who know when I would finally want one there would be a shortage. I got the Show and GOW III and they are both pretty sweet and you can't get then on Xbox so I guess that guy at M$ was wrong. I was planning on still sending my 360 in for repair just to play NCAA and Madden with people I play with in the community but now I may just save myself the $85 bucks and use your repair method. Corporate greed is getting way out of control. The company I work for was aquired by a very large corporation in the last year and I have a good look first hand how bad the greed is in this age. Greed has always been bad but in the last 3-5 years it seems to have gone way over the top. Anyways thanks for the tip!