FanPost

Xbox 360 Hardware Problem Advice

Xbox-failure-red-ring-of-death_medium

 

I believe the above image largely sums it all up. Nevertheless, here is the back story if it helps you in helping me:

My 360 was purchased roughly three and one-half years ago (i.e. no longer covered by warranty), and for the most part it has never been used. About two months ago, however, the girl and I discovered the wonders of Netflix Instant and have used it accordingly since then. We've watched a ton of movies, shows, I've downloaded game demos, etc., and all is well.

About two weeks ago, however, I noticed that a couple of demos froze up, as did Netflix a time or two. Then, days later, we get three red rings. I disassemble the thing, follow some instructions on the Microsoft website, and it unfucked itself. Since then, however, it keeps acting up, and now I'm getting the three red rights again. I've browsed the Microsoft site and cleared the cache and detached the hard drive, but neither have rectified the issue. To my knowledge I've exhausted all self-support options they have listed on their support website.

As a result, it looks inevitable that I need a hardware repair. The console isn't being heavily used and it is located in a well-ventilated area in an air-conditioned apartment located in a moderate climate, so I don't think overheating is an issue here. Again, it looks like I have a hardware failure somewhere, though I haven't received any specific error messages or codes (the console always freezes up and has to be turned off manually).

The Xbox tech support rep told me it would be $100, which includes shipping and handling, to have it repaired and it would take two or three weeks for processing (don't really give a shit about that).

My questions: Should I just ship it off to Xbox support, or should I try an independent repair shop? What is generally the cost / quality differential between the two? Is there anything else I could possibly do to fix this on my own? Considering the age of the machine would it just be worth it for me to wait a bit and just buy a new console, i.e. am I just wasting good money chasing bad, or can I reasonably expect this repair to provide an operational machine moving forward?

Many thanks in advance for the input.

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