David Hingtgen Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 "New simplified heatsink". Am I the only who's thinking it's still going to be too hot, and 3-6 months from now they're going to have to go back to the bigger, improved heatsink seen recently on non-Falcon chips? Sigh. Cooling something down, but then shrinking down its cooling system---pretty much puts you back where you were to start with. PS--any news on drives on the Halo edition? Ben-Q? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beltane70 Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 Finally joined the 360 family this past weekend! Add my gamertag to the the list. It's Beltane0070 (I can't believe that there's apparently another Beltane70 out there!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chowser Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 How would I check the drive on the Halo edition? The Halo edition is noiser than my 08/15/07 Premium, but much quieter than the original 02/06/06 version. I am tempted to just swap 360s with my son so I can have the quieter drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishimaru Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 How would I check the drive on the Halo edition? The Halo edition is noiser than my 08/15/07 Premium, but much quieter than the original 02/06/06 version. I am tempted to just swap 360s with my son so I can have the quieter drive. Waah...? I'd just keep the Halo edition for looks, but the "Halo 3" signs on it are keeping me away from it. None the less it does look tight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLoneWolf Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 Here is an Xbox question that I have not heard an answer to: Let's say you have one of the new Xboxes with HDMI or an Elite with HDMI... is the audio output only via HDMI? Or can you output audio using the optical jack or the RCA jacks from the other output port at the same time? I ask because a friend of mine just bought an Xbox (and it supposedly is one of the ones with HDMI) and his HDTV is an older CRT model that has only one HDMI port and he wants to connect to his HTiB for audio, but the HTiB he has doesn't support HDMI throughput. Can you have both Xbox outputs connected and running at the same time? Yes, the 360 will output video from the HDMI cable and output audio from optical cable simultaneously if both are plugged in. But the problem is that both cables won't physically fit when plugged into the back of the 360. You can buy a specialized cable from MS for an extra $49.99, or... http://www.chadledford.com/?p=50 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fly4victory Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 Has anyone seen this problem before when the colors are "faded" on screen and there is a odd pattern? Microsoft's answer is go without my X360 for another month and if the repair fails again then the next repair will be personally supervised. The flaw in that plan is that they took my X360 and then sent out a "reconditioned" non-functioning system. So how can that qualify as a second attempt to repair?...when my system is long gone and I have no idea what the history on the replacement is???? An additional insult was how dirty the CD tray was. The top and edges of the tray were filled with dust and the silver face had a kind of oily dirty film... about the same that appears on the bottom of an uncleaned mouse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLoneWolf Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 Has anyone seen this problem before when the colors are "faded" on screen and there is a odd pattern? This is usually a sign that the GPU is about to go belly-up. You can try the X-clamp method or send it back to MS if your 1 yr warranty is still good. You can also try resetting the display settings to its factory defaults by holding the "Y" button and right-trigger down during the startup. Or, if you're very lucky, it's just a bad cable. Borrow a friends cable and try your 360 on another tv set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JsARCLIGHT Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 I'd shove that back up their ass if I were you. That is kind of the "problem" with MS'es daisy chain repair replace system they have going. It's a crap shoot that your system will break down and then it's a crap shoot that the replacement system you get wasn't owned by some greasy slob who left it next to his hair collection on a pee stained rug while blowing cigarette smoke into it the whole time. When mine breaks I plan to buy a new one with the 65nm chip and the HDMI, send the broken one in and sell it when I get it back. I figure the break will be a good chance to upgrade when it happens. Speaking of that... if I buy a new system and just swap hard drives the new one will just start up thinking it's my old one, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha OTS Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 When mine breaks I plan to buy a new one with the 65nm chip and the HDMI, send the broken one in and sell it when I get it back. I figure the break will be a good chance to upgrade when it happens. I have similar plans. I'm just hoping my system holds out long enough until the next price drop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dax415 Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 oh man, guys...i've got a dilemna on purchasing the xbox360...Earlier i mentioned i got a 10% off coupon at target, but i forgot i also earned a $50.00 gift check on amazon.com . Additionally amazon.com gives free shipping and there is no sales tax since they are out of state. If i go with target then i got to pay 7.325% tax as well. The problem is amazon.com does not offer an additional warranty plan, but target does at 29.99 for 3 additional years. So the plan is to either buy the console at amazon.com or buy the console at target with the extended warranty and get my additonal controllers and play and charge kit at amazon.com opinions aprreciated....and yes, i find it hard to keep my Halo addiction in check everyday now that everyone else has Halo 3 but me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hingtgen Posted October 2, 2007 Share Posted October 2, 2007 I'm still going to hold off for a month or two. Or three. I want to make sure any bugs are out on 65nm chips. And I don't want fugly olive green. Waiting for white ones. I may very well have a 360 for sale in the upcoming months. Doubt I'll be able to swap by the time Mass Effect is out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dax415 Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 funny you mention mass effect, i'm waiting for that one too!......if i wait longer like you i'll also have another gift certificate for $25 at amazon.com..... man decisions decisions..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoryHolmes Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 (edited) I may very well have a 360 for sale in the upcoming months. Doubt I'll be able to swap by the time Mass Effect is out. Six weeks, six days, two hours, twenty-five minutes Any idea if there'll be a collectors edition? Edited October 3, 2007 by CoryHolmes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishimaru Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 I'm still going to hold off for a month or two. Or three. I want to make sure any bugs are out on 65nm chips. And I don't want fugly olive green. Waiting for white ones. I may very well have a 360 for sale in the upcoming months. Doubt I'll be able to swap by the time Mass Effect is out. I don't see the reason for switching over besides HDMI, I mean come on if your system works then it works. No reason to switch over for something new because of the hype or anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hingtgen Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 I want a quiet one. That's my main reason for upgrading. If I could get one for not too much out-of-pocket expense that was JUST quieter, and wasn't any cooler and didn't have HDMI--I'd do it in a second. But if I'm just going to have to sell mine and buy a new one anyways---might as well get the best version out there. So long as it's not fugly green. (Ironically, if I could have any color 360, it'd probably be green---just not THAT green. Clear green or something--and I've also considered white+green skins) PS---I kinda wonder why they made the Elite BLACK, and not dark dark dark green like the original Xbox. Or is the Elite actually "Xbox dark green" and most people just don't notice it's not really black? It took years before I realized what color my Xbox really was. I've never actually seen an Elite, just the box in stores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chowser Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 #*(&&^#*$*( Microsoft!! Ok, finally got around to opening the free limited edition Halo 3 my brother gave me (he got in on that best buy deal for a free 360 and halo 3), and both these discs are scratched to he!! checked the net, of course, it's common. Was at GS yesterday and they were told by MS, we know the discs are falling out and getting scratched, sell them anyway and tell your customers to contact us for replacement. what a load of BS!!!! At least replacements are free other than having to mail your discs in sheesh. another bad move Microsoft! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fly4victory Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 No news is...... Microsoft called me back today. Told them want my old 360 repaired and sent back or a new system not a reconditioned piece of equipment with an unknown history that doesn't work out of the box. The lady said it has to be forwarded to her supervisor but that the request will be disapproved. Either way the next man behind the curtain will be calling. Funny that the editor of Gamesfirst.com got a NEW X360 from his Microsoft PR rep when his system went down. While, We, the general population gets second hand trash. Unlike the last person on the phone, there were no offers of free stuff just a quick "No" and to be forwarded to the next supervisor. It is amazing that the origional Xbox has survived deployments and some awful conditions only to keep working without failure while X360's crash and burn in clean air conditioned environments. ....is well still no news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hingtgen Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 Part of the reason I always shake a DVD/game case a little before buying it, to listen for loose discs. Doesn't happen often, but it has saved me from buying potentially scratched discs a few time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishimaru Posted October 3, 2007 Share Posted October 3, 2007 (edited) #*(&&^#*$*( Microsoft!! Ok, finally got around to opening the free limited edition Halo 3 my brother gave me (he got in on that best buy deal for a free 360 and halo 3), and both these discs are scratched to he!! checked the net, of course, it's common. Was at GS yesterday and they were told by MS, we know the discs are falling out and getting scratched, sell them anyway and tell your customers to contact us for replacement. what a load of BS!!!! At least replacements are free other than having to mail your discs in sheesh. another bad move Microsoft! Dude it was free man, I wouldn't complain if the disc was broken in half... Edited October 3, 2007 by Ishimaru Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 You'd honestly think that since they were going through the effort to replace the heatsinks & whatever other defective components necessary during refurb, that they'd give each system a quick diagnostic & clean up while they were at it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JsARCLIGHT Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Not when the company is probably hemorrhaging money like a pumping artery over this issue. It's terrible to say but if I was MS I'd be spending as little as possible on the refurb repairs. I imagine the "repair center" is probably more like a chop shop than an actual honest to god technical repair center... the place is probably a bunch of minimum wage grunts with screwdrivers all in a row... one set of them taking the boxes apart, another set throwing away the broken parts, another set bolting in new parts and yet another set screwing them back together. And probably like any assembly line the "quality control" testing is probably just one special station staffed by a fat guy who just shoves the console into some jacks, flips it on, waits for a series of lights on his panel to light up signifying the deck is "working" then he shuts it off, yanks the leads and puts it in the "done" pile. I mean, by all accounts MS is losing money on each unit sold... then guess that each unit sold has to be repaired at least once. That is even more money lost. The redesign of the system can be seen as a proactive cost effective measure as it will be cheaper to produce and potentially cost the company less in the long run from fewer returns for service... but the "repair process" is most likely subbed out to the lowest bidder staffing the cheapest cost people doing the fastest job possible. There is no way they have a room full of lab-coated certified computer electricians in clean rooms gingerly inserting and repairing these things with the utmost care and respect then wiping them off with lemon pledge and a chamois, giving each a little gentle kiss on it's lid as they carefully pack it with love into it's little box to go back to you. If anything those systems probably get dirtier being fixed... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chowser Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 i know it's free, but i'm complaining for the ones that actually went out and bought the limited edition and wanted to play, they're stuck with waiting for replacement discs. You'd think whoever designed the case would make sure it holds the discs in. The Gears Collector's Edition had standard holders built in, they should've done that with Halo 3 instead of trying to be fancy. My first 360 scratched my Gears disc and MS wanted $20 to replace it. No way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hingtgen Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Part of the problem is that most people, frankly, are slobs and treat their systems and games with no respect. They're filthy when MS gets them. (Part of the reason I RARELY buy used stuff---I think 3 games in my life, and never a system or accessory). I always marvel at 10-day-old games being traded in, that are all scratched to hell like a 2-year-old rental disc. I wonder WTF these people do to their games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLoneWolf Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 If you think that's bad then you should see some of the systems that come through my store for repairs. I've seen a number of systems that died because there were too many dead cockroaches in them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha OTS Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Part of the problem is that most people, frankly, are slobs and treat their systems and games with no respect. They're filthy when MS gets them. (Part of the reason I RARELY buy used stuff---I think 3 games in my life, and never a system or accessory). I always marvel at 10-day-old games being traded in, that are all scratched to hell like a 2-year-old rental disc. I wonder WTF these people do to their games. I buy used games all the time, BUT, I always demand to see the back of the disc before I'll buy it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hingtgen Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Still usually have ripped and wrinkled instructions, dirty cases, etc---all on rather new games! Again--WTF do these people do? If you gave them a new car, would it be rusting in 2 months with bald tires and a primer fender? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beltane70 Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Yes, David, yes they would. PS: I hope everyone doesn't mind if I add everyone to my Xbox live list! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apollo Leader Posted October 5, 2007 Author Share Posted October 5, 2007 Part of the problem is that most people, frankly, are slobs and treat their systems and games with no respect. They're filthy when MS gets them. (Part of the reason I RARELY buy used stuff---I think 3 games in my life, and never a system or accessory). I always marvel at 10-day-old games being traded in, that are all scratched to hell like a 2-year-old rental disc. I wonder WTF these people do to their games. Whenever I've traded off games (cartidge, CD, or DVD) or even movies regardless of how long I've had them it usually gets commented on how immaculate my stuff is. The reason why these games get all scratched up is because of kids or just people who could care less. All my 360 games so far have been new in box (either at release or clearance). I think all of my PS2 purchases were new in box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apollo Leader Posted October 5, 2007 Author Share Posted October 5, 2007 BTW, for those who's dashboards and blades have been either acting funny and/or very slow, try doing some of the things mention in this link: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/907586/en-us I had been having some issues with my dashboard's blades for almost a week now (I think this was linked to some problems I was having reestabling my wireless connection). I went through the steps of disconnecting EVERYTHING and then I went through the memory cache clear/maintanance routine. From what I can tell it not only cleared up my problem, but it also gave me at least another 100 MB to play with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hingtgen Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 Doesn't maintenance clear all the game updates? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apollo Leader Posted October 5, 2007 Author Share Posted October 5, 2007 I want a quiet one. That's my main reason for upgrading. If I could get one for not too much out-of-pocket expense that was JUST quieter, and wasn't any cooler and didn't have HDMI--I'd do it in a second. But if I'm just going to have to sell mine and buy a new one anyways---might as well get the best version out there. So long as it's not fugly green. (Ironically, if I could have any color 360, it'd probably be green---just not THAT green. Clear green or something--and I've also considered white+green skins) PS---I kinda wonder why they made the Elite BLACK, and not dark dark dark green like the original Xbox. Or is the Elite actually "Xbox dark green" and most people just don't notice it's not really black? It took years before I realized what color my Xbox really was. I've never actually seen an Elite, just the box in stores. My friend has an Elite and I thought it was black, but next time I see it I'll take a closer look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mechafan Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 Doesn't maintenance clear all the game updates? Yes it does. You would also have to redownload any map packs as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishimaru Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 Not when the company is probably hemorrhaging money like a pumping artery over this issue. It's terrible to say but if I was MS I'd be spending as little as possible on the refurb repairs. I imagine the "repair center" is probably more like a chop shop than an actual honest to god technical repair center... the place is probably a bunch of minimum wage grunts with screwdrivers all in a row... one set of them taking the boxes apart, another set throwing away the broken parts, another set bolting in new parts and yet another set screwing them back together. And probably like any assembly line the "quality control" testing is probably just one special station staffed by a fat guy who just shoves the console into some jacks, flips it on, waits for a series of lights on his panel to light up signifying the deck is "working" then he shuts it off, yanks the leads and puts it in the "done" pile. I mean, by all accounts MS is losing money on each unit sold... then guess that each unit sold has to be repaired at least once. That is even more money lost. The redesign of the system can be seen as a proactive cost effective measure as it will be cheaper to produce and potentially cost the company less in the long run from fewer returns for service... but the "repair process" is most likely subbed out to the lowest bidder staffing the cheapest cost people doing the fastest job possible. There is no way they have a room full of lab-coated certified computer electricians in clean rooms gingerly inserting and repairing these things with the utmost care and respect then wiping them off with lemon pledge and a chamois, giving each a little gentle kiss on it's lid as they carefully pack it with love into it's little box to go back to you. If anything those systems probably get dirtier being fixed... Microsoft is at a point in which they are starting to make money for each console. Technology has improved over the past 2 years for the 360's and parts then have become inexpensive for Microsoft. And right now with 65nm coming out they will be losing some money since it is newer. Halo 3 is making up for all of the losses up to now which a profit can hopefully made soon. The Halo 3 edition is with out a doubt making money due to it's price since it's $50 less then the Elite. It's an obnoxious rip off but with the Halo hype what kind of kid wouldn't want it with the "fancy" Halo designs on it. As for the billions spent in the RROD repairs, I'm guessing thats just a way to compensate people to not abandon the system. But it's Microsoft thats barely a scratch... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JsARCLIGHT Posted October 5, 2007 Share Posted October 5, 2007 Actually Microsoft's "business plan" with the 360 was to "eventually break even" some time in 07... but that did not factor in the loss of repairing so many consoles, plus the shipping for those consoles. If Microsoft is "making money" on the 360 hardware at this point it's almost moot because they are still trying to dig themselves out of the galactic hole of it's initial release loss PLUS the repair replace loss they are continually sustaining. One single game doing boffo business is more of a band aid on broken revenue stream rather than some kind of "miracle" profit turnaround. Figure it this way, on release it was rumored that MS was losing $125 per console they sold. As of Mid '06 before the design changes MS had reportedly sold 3.3 million units. That is a sustained loss over a few months of a little over $412 million dollars. You don't just "bounce back" from that kind of loss... not even Microsoft. Even if you calculate an appreciable decrease in manufacturing costs of 50% per quarter with an eventual "break even" point achieved in '07 as MS predicted that still puts them hundreds of millions in the hole. Add to that the cost of repairs which let's estimate at a generous $50 per broken unit (which is probably much lower than reality, heck shipping alone is most likely 75% of that price), and let's also estimate a generous failure rate of 30% (also which is much lower than reality) of the 3.3 million installed base as of the mid '06es and you have a potential failure pool of nearly a million units costing MS nearly $50 million alone. And when you compute advertising and all the other myriad of press and merchandising costs for just the hardware the hole starts to get deeper and deeper. Any forward progress in this is almost going to be drops in a lake at this point. MS'es overall strategy from day one was "lose on the hardware, gain on the software" but that is a very, very long term strategy that will only balance out years from now. If left to just it's Hardware numbers MS will most likely be in the hole until the Xbox 1080 (or whatever they call the next one) comes out, and then the "in the hole" starts all over again. MS is no doubt making money somewhere, but my guess would be it's not in it's games division. I'd like to see their books for recent fiscal years just to see how many red pens they went through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apollo Leader Posted October 5, 2007 Author Share Posted October 5, 2007 Yes it does. You would also have to redownload any map packs as well. It didn't specify that was a drawback and with all the stuff I have downloaded that is well beyond 100 MB... guess I'll have to fire up all my games tonight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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