| Estimates vary as to the exact rate of failure of the | | | | complex product with a lot of components and there |
| Xbox 360 but it is certainly at an unacceptable level. | | | | are many things that can go wrong. A Microsoft |
| It has been reported that some UK based repair | | | | statement said: "There is no single root cause or |
| centres are now turning them away as they can no | | | | systemic issue with any of the Xbox 360 consoles." |
| longer cope with the demand. There are also | | | | Isn't the fact that they fail a single issue? I would say |
| unconfirmed reports that machines are being sent | | | | that this Microsoft ducking the issue. They should be |
| abroad for repair. This leads to delay and frustration | | | | accepting responsibility and pulling out all the stops to |
| for the end user. | | | | solve this problem. |
| Why do we put up with it? If you bought a kettle | | | | In the mean time what can we do for ourselves? |
| and it didn't boil water, you would take it back and | | | | Instead of spending money and accepting delays, |
| demand a refund. Yet, when it comes to computers, | | | | what about going back to the good old days and |
| software and the like, there is a tradition dating from | | | | breaking out the tool kit. One UK repairer that is still |
| the early years, that we accept problems. It may be | | | | offering repairs reports only a 70% success rate. |
| bug ridden, it may not do what it is supposed to do | | | | And yet, many of the problems are easily dealt with. |
| and we may have to battle for hours to get to | | | | Dry joints between the main Xbox components, the |
| perform, but we just do it. | | | | CPU and GPU, and the motherboard are a major |
| Maybe a few years ago there was a macho element | | | | cause of failure. After long periods of play, expansion |
| to it. We were pioneers in the brave new world of | | | | due to overheating causes these electrical |
| computing. If there was a problem, you didn't run | | | | connections to fail. |
| crying to your mother, you got under the hood and | | | | Some people have tried to overcome this by what is |
| fixed it or worked around it. We used to try to out | | | | known as the towel trick. This involves wrapping the |
| do each other with the size of the problems we had | | | | unit in a towel and leaving it switched on for a while. |
| overcome. It was a badge of honour. We laughed at | | | | This causes extreme overheating which may be |
| the fact that we had spent big money on something | | | | enough to slightly melt the solder and remake the |
| that didn't work. | | | | connection. While this may work in the short term, |
| But shouldn't things have moved on by now? We are | | | | the end result will be the destruction of some of the |
| talking about a piece of consumer electronics, a | | | | delicate electronics and the death of your Xbox. |
| game, and not a cheap one at that. Isn't it reasonable | | | | But if you are willing to take the lid off your Xbox |
| to expect it to work? If it fails due to a | | | | and wield a soldering iron, you could save yourself |
| manufacturing fault, you should be able to get a | | | | money, time and frustration. You can even boast to |
| replacement unit or your money back and in a | | | | your friends about how you overcame the beast. |
| reasonable time. The problem has been highlighted | | | | With a little bit of guidance, you can have your Xbox |
| now, as early machines, just out of warranty, begin | | | | up and running in less than an hour. You could end up |
| to fail. | | | | being the go to guy for Xbox repairs in your area. |
| The response from Microsoft is that the Xbox is a | | | | |