*thread split* 360 Warranty/Repair experiences

Obviously the only reason to patch them up and send them back out is because it costs less than a complete replacement. And that cost would include the probability of it returning for another repair. So we can infer that the repair process is cost-effective.

 

Because in 6 months that process will begin to end, the question/risk for MS then is will these out-of warranty RROD's translate into replacement sales. To that end, do they declare victory and reduce the Falcon model warranty to 1 yr or continue offering a 3 yr? There pros and cons for both but the risks are huge for either too.

 

I got my 360 back from MS today (after a few days delay with the courier and a wrong address). It's not a new Falcon with HDMI or anything (manufactured in 2006), but the DVD drive is a lot quieter than my old one. I've been playing GTA4 online for a few hours without any problems, so all seems good so far.

 

A quieter drive is nice, BenQ? (See how to check here)
Can you tell if you got that extra GPU heatpipe/heatsink (looking underneath the console (for a vertical setup) or through the right side (for a horizontal setup)?


Oh that reminds me. My friend did indeed get the send-back packaging. He's just a little too lazy to send it back asap.

 

I see no reason for them to change that policy in mid stream... I think it speaks to their customer service and guarantees that the RROD will not impose on their 360 experience (at least from their wallets) if they purchase a system, no matter when they purchased.

 

It's still significantly cheaper to repair a 360 than it is to buy a new one.

 

It's the BenQ. I'm fairly certain that my old drive was the Samsung so I guess it's not my ears playing tricks.

What exactly am I looking for wrt the GPU heatsink?

 

The extra heatpipe + fins snake out of the GPU heatsink (image right) in the following photo. With a light shining through the grill (image left), you should be able to see two heat pipes (your perspective left is GPU, perspective right is CPU).

 

I believe that it's three years from initial purchase. After that, you'll pay for the repair, even if it's on a system that was repaired recently. One you pay for an out of warranty repair, though, there's a warranty (90 days, 1 year, or 3 years, I'm not sure) on that repair, so you shouldn't have to keep paying continuously. It will almost certainly be cheaper, in dollars, to repair an out of warranty system than to replace it with a new store bought one, but, based on my experience, it's a lot more "expensive" in terms of your time and patience dealing with MS support.

 

Well my xbox returned from it's travels yesterday, should have been last Friday but was help up by UPS with an 'unavoidable' error. Unfortunately it didn't get replaced with a brand new model, in fact the manufacturers date on the box was 08-2006 which means it was probably the same box I'd sent in. The repair sheet said they'd fixed issues with the dvd drive and the motherboard, not sure if that means replacements for both or not. Seems to run ok, maybe slightly quieter then before but not sure about that. They threw in one months XBL gold membership which I guess was nice but as I have a yearlong subscription I've just passed it on to a colleague. Ho hum.