Crippled Xbox 360s covered by Microsoft warranty
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First, there was the Red Ring of Death (RRoD) epidemic. It struck thousands of early Xbox 360s and led Microsoft to announce in 2007 that it would repair all afflicted consoles free of charge and offer an extended three-year warranty on those machines.
The latest XBox 360 bug? The "E74 error," which has become enough of problem that Microsoft has had to announce that it will repair all consoles affected by it--and extend its three-year warranty to cover any potential E74 problems.
Like the Red Ring of Death, it's not hard to figure out whether you have an E74 error. Instead of your console displaying three red lights, death comes swiftly in the form of an E74 on-screen error message that appears along with instructions to contact Xbox 360 support.
According to Gamezine.co.uk, the E74 error is "either related to the AV cable, or the more fatal occurrence of a burnt-out scaler chip or even the death of the console's GPU." (Apparently, the error isn't 100 percent fatal, and while there are some suggested fixes up on YouTube, they don't always work--or they work only temporarily).
Here is Microsoft's official statement:
While the majority of Xbox 360 owners continue to have a great experience with their console, we are aware that a very small percentage of our customers have reported receiving an error that displays "E74" on their screen.
After investigating the issue, we have determined that the E74 error message can indicate the general hardware failure that is associated with three-flashing-red-lights error on the console. As a result, we have decided to cover repairs related to the E74 error message under our three-year warranty program for certain general hardware failures that was announced in July 2007.
Microsoft also said it will refund anyone who paid to have an E74 error-afflicted console fixed. If you fall into this group, you should automatically receive a refund within the next 4 to 12 weeks. However, if you don't get your money back, you should go to the Xbox support page before November to get info on how to place a claim.
Gamemagazine notes that for now, the announcement covers only Xbox 360s in the United States. But it expects the warranty and refund to be rolled out around the world soon.
Comments? Anybody had their Xbox 360 offed by error E74? Is the console destined to be plagued by reliability problems, or is this just an isolated incident?
(Source: Gamezine.co.uk via Engadget)
Hunkered down in New York City, Executive Editor David Carnoy covers the gamut of gadgets and writes his Fully Equipped column, which carries the tag line "The electronics you lust for." He's also the author of "Knife Music," a novel. E-mail David. Follow David on Twitter. 
Stuff happens though
I remember when PS2's would damage the optical cables for the laser resulting in the PS2's failing to read.
Mistakes happen.
I tried to find the link. But MS was investigated regarding their testing practices. Before launch it was known that over 70% of the units shipped in Nov of 2005 were defective and MS new about it. Ill try to post the link once I find it.
Everyone knows that Microsoft never releases a final product, all they do is let the public beta test for them.
1st) Same thing happened 2 my xbox, they were very quick and efficient.
2nd) What the hell does the MacBook problem have 2 do with the xbox problem?! I see what your trying to say, but your gonna turn this into an Apple vs. Microsoft argument when I can smell a PS3 vs. xbox argument brewing...
prolly a cheap snipe at apple
if its going to be ps3 vs xbox, I choose PC
1. Apple doesn't make a game console, so of course M$ has them beat in this department.
2. Show me even one instance of those Macbook cracks causing the machine to brick itself or stop functioning in any way. Admit it, they're cosmetic. I'm not apologizing or defending that, but to try to compare it against the RROD or E74 shows who picked you up from the street corner.
Imagine, I thought prostitution was illegal ...
personally, I think xbox is the better console when it comes to gaming, the online is phenomenal, games are great, etc. But the PS3 has some pretty cool features. I have all 3 consoles, and my PS3 (I have mostly the same games for all my consoles) collects more dust than my Wii.... I was a PS only person when the PS2 was out, and now I was disappointed. My xbox is my most used console. And, if I must add, my iMac with windows (For gaming) gets some play time, too. I've only had an xbox break once, and I don't care now, because my new xbox is covered by Best Buy (I get a new one every time it breaks for 2 years, and then I'll renew the warranty).
Every time there is an issue like this, the first thing I see is "at least they are taking care of it". You act like the company is doing you a favor. Taking care of their defect is the LEAST that they could do.
I don't have a 360, not because I don't think it's a great system, or even because of the hardware failures, I just went with the PS3 because it was better suited to what my needs were (ie games, Blu-ray, streaming) and since I work FT during the day and go to school FT at night, I don't have time to play as many games as I'd like and can't justify having 2 systems. Having said that, that doesn't mean that I turn a blind eye to Sony when they mess up.
I have a Panasonic plasma, and also a Sony SXRD RPTV. For those that may not know, there is a defect with the Optical Block in the SXRD's that cause them to fail at around the two year mark. Long story short, mine has gone bad. Sony extended the warranty to 5yrs for these sets, but I am not jumping up and down saying hooray for Sony, I'm pissed that I was sold a defective product that needs a 5yr warranty because it is likely to fail, and probably fail again. I actually joined a class action lawsuit against them.
For some reason many people want to hail Microsoft as some champion because they are fixing a product that they sold with inherent hardware issues, and for the life of me I can't understand why. They aren't heroes anymore than Sony is! They are both just trying to cover their ***** for huge mistakes that should never have been. The sooner you understand this, the better off you will be.
I hope more PS3s start having this problem. I would love to get my $150 back. Perhaps it's my fault because I use the console on a regular basis. Oops, my bad.
Oh, and what's more, I ended up having to call Sony the day after I got the refurb console to have part of my account reset because they didn't warn me about "deactivating" the old console from my account. Technically I had to call them twice because only a special group has access to that part, general help desk couldn't do it.
And what did I get for their failing product? A 90 day guarantee. Gee whiz, thanks a bunch.
"How was Sony supposed to know that there would be a problem with the Optical Block in that TV after 2 years?"
Very simply. They had the exact same issue with the original SXRD TVs, the XBR1, and they had said that they had fixed the design flaw in the next generation models. Ummm.... NO!
Next.
My point isn't that no hardware should fail. Defects happen and I don't expect the manufacturing process to be perfect. My point is that when there are massive defects in a product line, the fact that the manufacturer extends the warranty on said line, shouldn't earn them a parade down the canyon of heroes.
Stop thinking that Microsoft, or any other company is some altruistic entity because they are taking responsibility for fixing a screw up and that they deserve kudos or something. There are only two options:
Fix the screw up or
Don't screw up
That's it. You should not settle for anything less.
Far too often, sealed units, short warranty periods and planned obsolescence (ie iPod batteries) screw the consumer over. Everyone appreciates when the manufacturer stands behind the product. I've sent to Wii's in for repairs. Once on warranty, once not. In both cases the one year warranty was re-upped from the date of repair, not some 90-day BS. I appreciate that.
Would I like everything to last forever, without problems, and be available for sale when I want to replace it? Sure, but that never happens--especially in consumer electronics! (think DVD players, VCR's, walkmans and the like) Heck, at one time Compaq was only offering 90 day warranty on Presario desktops. MS is standing behind the Xbox360--good on them!
"MS is standing behind the Xbox360--good on them!"
Lol. Again, it is not "good on them" it is the LEAST they can do. Maybe you think MS should be taking a bow for fixing a situation that THEY caused, but i do not.
Or better yet read this out loud. "I just bought a brand new television. It's broken three times and each time, I had to ship it off for repair. I know some people would be put out by the fact that the same thing has keeps breaking, but not me. I've been very impressed by their williness to correct the problem over and over and will gladly purchase from them again."
Or try this one, "I just bought a new car. It's been in the shop on three separate occasions, but the company has covered it under warrantee so I'm very happy with them."
You my friend are a manufacturer's dream customer.
Try "Thank you sir, may I have another!"
Low consumer expectations are the only thing keeping Microsoft alive these days. Mind boggling.
@ edbogus" "Thank You Microsoft???" Really? For providing you 3 consoles, only one of which worked?
Try "Thank you sir, may I have another!"
Low consumer expectations are the only thing keeping Microsoft alive these days. Mind boggling.
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And again, it isn't low customer expectations. It's just that most customers are smart and realize that with high-tech ****..... there are going to be some unforeseen problems! You just cannot avoid them.
Of course NO HIGH TECH PRODUCT will be 100% bug proof or perfect all the time ...
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Of course not. NO ONE has made that claim. But when the problem is this common, this well known (hello? You've admitted to suffering it TWICE so far!), it's no longer in the "100% bug proof" category. It's now approaching the "100% bug INFESTED" category!
But hey, go cash that check Ballmer sent to you for being his little prostitute. You earned it.
The new issue a.k.a. E 7 warning is not 100% fatal. I received that funky screen when I'd popped in an older, scrateched up game and then tried a new game with the same screen. Since I had a spare HD A/V cable (compliments of the 2nd RROD) I simply shut down, swapped out my cable and rebooted. I haven't had any other problems since then.
I believe it would be better for MS to proactively send out a spare HD A/V cable and MS approved rear fan for all it's GOLD members (active accound for 1 full year). Also, they could allow anyone else to apply for a free AV / Cooling kit based on qty.1 set per serial number.
Just one guy's opinion.
I think you should try to get rid of the xbox 360 and get a PS3.
Besides, you should call them every day, email them, complain and complain. Like you wrote, you bought a lot of stuff, and now 4 MACHINES IS A ROW WITH FAILURES!
Call Ralph Nader! Call to costumer rights organizations!
I told Gateway that when a key busted off the laptop keyboard and it took nearly a MONTH for the thing to get back to me when I sent it in for repair. I was telling them "Why don't you just take out my hard drive.... and stick it into a new chassis! That would have been quicker!"
The man who I talked to actually said that was a better idea and that he would put that into their suggestions thing.
Transferring my "gamertag" wasn't too big of a deal, but I STILL don't access to my XBLA games unless I'm connected to XBL, which is BS...
oh well.
However, MS has been very good at supporting the product. I have a Sony TV with an intentional design flaw that requires $3000 in uncovered maintenance every year. This is the main reason I buy nothing with Sony on it anymore.
Also, deciding between the systems has more to do with the type of games you like, not customer service. Not to say customer service doesn't matter, but the discrepancy between Sony and Microsoft's customer service is probably minimal, when you take the average experience. And this type of product should be bought based on the type of games you enjoy. But a rabid fanboy like yourself wouldn't understand what really enjoying games means, since it appears that you're the type who buys your systems and games based on blind product loyalty.
The other 2 are units are ones that I just went ahead and bought new hardware on.
The first of these is a 2nd generation Elite 360 (1st units to offer HDMI output), it burned out after about 96 months (MS has repaired for free).
When the Elite burned up, I sent it to MS to get fixed, but also bought a BRAND NEW Jasper unit to have in my bedroom. The Jasper got the E74 after 3 days of use, and at most 5 hours of use.
MS has fixed both of these, but they are now sitting unused..
I have since gotten a PS3 and also went ahead and sold off / traded-in about 50% of my existing 360 games and replaced them with the same game on PS3 (Street Fighter 4, Prince of Persia, Lost Planet, Fallout 3, GTA 4, Bioshock, etc).
This has been VERY EXPENSIVE and VERY FRUSTRATING. I'm tired of dealing with the 360 hardware problems.
The only 360 games that I have kept are the exclusives that are not on PS3 or PC.
I am hoping that one day MS will get their act together and fix the hardware issues, but until that day I will not buy another XBOX game or peripheral.
I'm sure Xbox fan boys would get off if they would report of a high failure rate on the PS3. However they?re not are they, huh must be sony just thinks quality over anything ells. Well at least as far as the PS3 goes.
Oh well keep the dream alive I?m sure they'll get it right this time or at least in time for the 720. LOL
Consider yourselves lucky that you haven't (yet) experienced the wonders of the RRoD or E74. I've been through *FIVE* dead 360's since launch. In that same period of time, my original Xbox, PS3, Gamecube and Wii are all still trucking along just fine.
There are a number of factors involved in the aforementioned errors, and very few of them involve the end user. Poor design (lack of adequate cooling and the worthless x-clamps) and the Microsoft service center refurb dead pool are to blame for the vast majority of those two errors.
Google it; these are not isolated incidents...
Since my 3 year warranty extension was several months out-of-date, and because I didn't relish spending $150 on a dead pool refurb, I purchased a new Jasper Arcade unit. Now I've spent a month trying to get Microsoft transfer my XBLA licenses from the dead 360 to the new one. The tech told me that they would have actually covered the RRoDed 360 if I hadn't tossed it out; I told him that yet another refurb wouldn't have been worth the effort.
Heck, my Playstation 1from 1995 still works most of the time (sometimes the drive stopps spinning though)
Heck, my Playstation 1from 1995 still works most of the time (sometimes the drive stopps spinning though)
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I inherited one of those from a friend of mine years ago and it was suffering a similar or the same problem. It might sound crazy, but try running the old PS 1 on it's side (mine liked being on it's left side, or the right side as you're looking at it), leaned up against something. I kept playing mine that way for years after it wouldn't spin up a disk lying down.
I wouldn't waste a penny on one of those disposable junk consoles today. My PC is far more powerful, upgradeable AND reliable. Plus I can do other things besides gaming on it!
Thousands? THOUSANDS??? Wow, sounds like a line from Microsoft PR.
My brother is on his third. There are users on their 5th or 6th. My bet is Microsoft has had to repair/replace HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of these things. At least.
I'm happy with my rock-solid Wii, but my next console will be a PS3. Apparently Microsoft's gaming hardware is about as robust as its desktop software.
RHSC, there is your evidence.
Leraianis3, you are partially right, but there are other factors that come into play. Some are the x clamps, cheap components, and some others, but size is definitely an issue.
If this new one breaks down, and as much as I love XBOX Live, I will no longer be supporting any XBOX systems, EVER.
hell, i replaced the hard drive in my PS3 with a 320 gig drive for 80 bucks and it didn't even void my warranty. they even give directions in the owners manual on how to backup and swap the drive. good luck pulling that off with the xbox.
not to mention xbox nickle and dimes you to death. want to download a theme, pay up, want a wallpaper, pay up, want a new buddy icon, pay up..... all of that is free on PS3.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360_technical_problems
Not only is the hardware failure a huge obsticle for me buying one, The price they ask is too much. They say it has the best value in a console, but is that really true? only plays DVD's, no built in Wi-fi, $100 for a wi-fi adapter? are you kidding me?, no internet broswer, no optical output for digital sound, cannot not upgrade the hard drive your self, doesnt have true HD gaming, only an upscaler chip that burns out (, part of the E74 error)and causes screen tearing. the Elite model is 400 bucks and only comes with the console, DVD capabilites and a 160g hard drive and one controller. The Cheapest PS3 comes with built in Wi-fi, built in optical out put, true HD gaming, internet brower, free Playstation Network, Blu Ray player, and an easy to upgrade hard drive. I have a 500g hard drive in mine now. only cost me 90 bucks, thats after years of use of the hard drive it came with.
PS3 online service is lacking, and its game selection is not as great. If you're a 360 user who has 10 games, thats alot of money invested in a system, and therefore to just switch to a PS3 is not a financially sound option.
Plus 360 controller is much more comfortable.
I mean, I don't think someone would post something like "I bought a xbox 360 and it's an overpriced piece of crap. It breaks down every time and their games are not really that exclusive or unique." They better rant and say that their system is the best and ignore all the defects while praising MS for being so nice (like a woman beaten by her alcoholic husband praising him for taking her to the emergency room).
I think that for what you get, the price of the xbox 360 elite should be $250, but I guess you pay more for an "elite" unit because you are paying for a system that does not break down so often.
So, it seems that for MS, "elite" means something that works like it should work. That would be "average" for other companies like Dell or Sony. But for MS is "elite". I guess we should wait for "Windows Elite" for a OS that actually works.
As far as games go, it is also a personal preference. Fable II is a great game in my opinion, and you can only play it on 360. CoD series feel better on 360 than they do on PS3. I don't know why, and maybe its just my mind playing tricks on me. Same goes for Fallout 3 (can you get DLC for PS3 version?).
"The Cheapest PS3 comes with built in Wi-fi, built in optical out put, true HD gaming, internet brower, free Playstation Network, Blu Ray player, and an easy to upgrade hard drive"
I give you the BR player, thats a great feature of PS3. But wifi? I don't care about it, I don't trust wi-fi for anything, plus its much slower, and I have most of my internet devices going through a switch to connecto to the internet. Optical out for true HD gaming? Sorry but I'm running my 360 at 1080p and it is very, tryllu HD. Broweser? Serisouly? If I want to browse the internet in front of my computer I hook up my netbook through HDMI to my TV and browse with an actual keyboard. And hard drive isnt something I need much in 360. I use it to play games, and 20 gigs is more than enough.
If I am right though, using WEP leaves your home network vulnerable to any kid with an atheros wifi card and a cheap laptop
Im glad that you have not had any problems, and im mean that, im not trying to be sarcastic. but just cause you havent had problems doesnt mean that the console MS is building is worth the money, not to at least 30% of their buyers anyways. a 30% failure rate is too much for a company to keep doing what their doing. Just shows the shady business ethics of MS and people like you keep supporting them, giving them no incentive to change. I would buy one tomorrow if these problems were cleaned up but thats not likely to happen. The RROD was thought to be something of the past, now its this E74. whats next?
"Oh and isnt it true that PS3 only supports WEP for wireless connection? Please correct me if I'm wrong.
If I am right though, using WEP leaves your home network vulnerable to any kid with an atheros wifi card and a cheap laptop"
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You are incorrect. PS3 supports both WPA and WPA2 as well as WEP. I have two PS3's and I have one on a WPA network and the other one is on a WPA 2 network.
black_burn: My brother has a 360 elite, and it is no different from the other iterations of the system (in terms of reliability.) His has had 2 red rings of death so far.
Gaming over WiFi sucks and lags hard, I would never play games over WiFi. The 360 is the same as the PS3, scales just about everything. PS3 have just as many jaggies all over the place as PS3 games, you can barely tell the difference between games like GTA and CoD4.
Finally, Sony's controller design is not a good fit for my hands, and is too old. It's too small and has about zero ergonomic design, my hands hurt after a short time playing it. The 360 controller has a crap D-pad but at least I can hold it comfortably.
Yes I do own both a 360 and PS3.
By that I mean I keep it COOL.
I do not place the power pack on carpet so it can cook.
I do not keep the device in an enclosed space where no cool air can get to it.
I do not place the xbox ontop of another electronic device.
I do not have the unit near a heat source such as the heating vent on the floor.
I do not have the xbox in direct sunlight.
I am a happy camper
- by abcd9009 April 14, 2009 1:26 PM PDT
- Don't know if it's just me but notice the difference between how Microsoft handles issues related to Xbox 360 vs issues related to Windows.
- Like this Reply to this comment
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Showing 1 of 4 pages (142 Comments)This is just my theory as to why Microsoft is so friendly to Xbox 360 users vs Windows users.
Windows accounts for approx 80-90% of the PC market so even if a few complain who cares because they still own the majority + their primary audience is Corporate users which is where they get most of the revenue from.
Xbox 360 on the other hand is primarily for consumers and most importantly Microsoft is not #1 when it comes to Games consoles. So they have to be good in order to keep their customers satisfied.
Funny how a market share and target audience can make one company react differently.