Xbox 360 total cost after only 7 months = 679$, Cheaper than a PS3 ? I think not.
Cory Maddox @ 4:22 pm August 4th, 2006I guess I could blame myself for this, for trusting that Microsoft would actually release a reliable piece of hardware. During the first three months of the Xbox 360 release, when all the problems were cropping up and people were getting their replacement units quickly from Microsoft, I guess I felt kinda lucky that I did not have any issues, and that I had a unit which was running flawlessly. But today I learnt that I would have been better off having a problem then. Then I would have actually got my issue taken care of in a reasonable manner and mabey got a unit that was not from the first batch of trash.
While a friend was over last night I decided to toss in Fight Night Round 3 and start up a game, but as soon as the game loaded my sound system started screaming and the video went out of synch then locked up. About 4 seconds later the screen went black and I got three lovely red LED’s on the front of my Xbox 360.
I thought, damn, that is a new one for me. I have had it lock up one or two times in the past while playing Burnout, but nothing like this. I figured I would just turn the unit off then back on and it would be good to go, being that I have treated this thing like the holy grail. The condition of the unit is almost brand new, never suffering a single jolt, drop, or spill. But as soon as it started up it did not even display the dashboard, it just flashed the LEDs, their blinking red brillance, mocking me. At this point I decided I did not want to deal with this right now, and put on some Guitar Hero and played that for a while.
About an hour and a half later we turned the 360 back on and low and behold it started up the dashboard, to my great relief. But alas, it was but another way for the unit to taunt me. As soon as a game was inserted and loaded the speakers repeated their Banshee’s wail, and the projector screen went wild, followed by the return of my three red friends.
That was when I decided it was time to get ahold of support and get this taken care of. They would be more than willing to address this problem on a unit that was so new, and had been treated so well. A unit barely half a year old, that has failed due to THEIR faulty hardware. The first thing I did was send an email to support, but then I decided that would take a bit too long, so I connected to their online chat. I got greeted by Danica Rodregiez, who let me know she was sorry about my inconvience and asked how I could help. I spent about 10 seconds typing up my issues and then stated that I believe I had completed all of the steps to try to fix the problem on their web page. She then told me, “So your unit has three blinking red LEDs.” Followed by three paragraphs that were copied and pasted, and all appeared in the chat room in a period of about 3 seconds, which stated that the customer has tried all of these issues. About 2 more seconds after that was another copy and paste of the support number and the question, “Can I help you with anything else today?” to which I replied, I guess I will call that number, but could you please tell me the hours on the number. Fast-forward three seconds———->She disconnected the chat. Thanks Danica, you were a fabulous customers service agent, it was nice to have someone so responsive willing to help me with my problems caused by YOUR faulty hardware. The entire chat session lasted mabey 40 seconds from the time I connected. I would have actually posted the entire conversaton but about 20 seconds after she disconnected the chat session showed a Server Not Found Page, and refreshing would just show that.
Now, I know people online cannot always help with issues, but even so, I could write a BOT that is more helpful and friendly than she was in only slightly more time than the entire conversation took. To follow that up I went ahead and called up Microsoft, which is when I came to learn that my Xbox 360 was now going to cost me almost 100$ more than the Premium PS3 system that people keep complaining is beyond a reasonable price, and as far as I am concerned there is still NO true next gen titles I even truly want that are avaliable yet. To follow this up I went ahead and called and, I was informed by the friendly phone support, after I went through the enitre testing process on the unit again, that the unit will have to be repaired and to repair it is going to take 12-16 buisness days including shipping. Sounded good so far, because I was not even going to have to pay for shipping. How lucky. I dont have to pay for shipping since I will be paying $130 for the repair process. So for buying a first generation Xbox 360 and supporting the company with their outing into the next generation battle I get rewareded with beyond shoddy online technical support, and repair bills for a console that is still virtually new and is having issues because of THEIR faulty hardware. But, lucky for me, after it is repaired I get another 90 day warranty. So 120 days from now when it goes bad again I can spend another $130.
So at this point, with my calculations based on the actual reality of a purchase of a Xbox 360 and not just online numbers I am going to compare the cost of the PS3 to the Cost of “My” Xbox 360. What I consider the cost of “My” Xbox 360 is trying to get it as close to the PS3 as possible (aka the addition of a wireless adapter and xbox live).
Xbox 360 - Year One
Premium Console = $399
Wireless Adapter = $100
Xbox Live Account = 50$ (per year)
Xbox Repair = $130
Knowing that Microsoft Support team will be SUPPORTIVE = PRICELESS
Total Cost not including tax = $679
Lets look ahead a few years if we are going by a short 5 year console lifespan. I am even going to be generous and make a huge assumption that the hardware will never fail again.
Xbox 360 - Year Five
Premium Console = $399
Wireless Adapter = $100
Xbox Live Account = $50×5 = $250
Xbox One Time Repair (YEAH RIGHT) = $130
HD-Drive to match PS3 Blue Ray (Minus actual game support) = $100
Time spent with online tech support = PRICELESS
Total Cost not including tax = $979
PS3 - Year One
Premium Console = $599
Wireless Adapter = Free
Xbox Live Equivelant Account = Free
DVD To Blueray Upgrade = Free
Knowing that I will have a plethora of RPG and Japanese-centric games = PRICELESS
Total Cost not including tax = $599
I am going to make a huge assumption here also that the hardware will not fail.
PS3 - Year Five
Five Years worth of Role-playing games with no other console matching the quantity = Priceless
Total Cost not including tax = $599
Even if(most likely when) my PS3 has failed hardware, and if repair is on par with the PS2, it will still only cost $599 + $80 which is, you guess it, $679.
The exact same cost, plus I still have free online matchmaking, non-wmv locked media playback capabilities, a Blueray player, and an almost %100 assurity of crazy Japanese games the likes of which Microsoft will never release.
Now. I enjoy my 360 as well, and am no fanboy of any console, but this whole situation with the cost to repair a almost brand new console, as well as the constant online complaining about the “Oh so horrible” prices of the PS3 triggered me into writing this. The reality of it is that feature for feature, if you match them, the prices are virtually the same. Especially if the PS3 online service even comes close to matching Live. The gap will only widen over time due to Microsoft still charging.
The lesson I learned is always buy expensive purchases from Costco, because game console support and repair is horrible at best, and rape at worst. I heart Costco, if it goes bad 2 years later, or hell, if you do not even like it anymore just take it back and get your money back.
Outlook on the lifespan of future consoles if history tells us anything.
Currnet owner of:
1 Broken Xbox 360
2 Broken PS2 systems
1 Working PS2 system
3 Broken Gamecubes
1 WORKING Dreamcast
1 Working Pong Machine
1 Working SNES
1 Working NES
1 Working Atari 2600
1 Working Nintendo DS Lite
August 4th, 2006 at 4:43 pm
Man I feel for you, but I can beat your tale of Woe, only difference is due to consumer rights laws here in the UK I’ve not had to pay for a repair or shipping yet.
Like yourself I purchased a first generation piece of kit (on release day here in the uk), and for 6 months it was a whgirlwind of gaming on live then the dreaded ring of death appeared back in May, since then I’ve had 6 replacement units all of them either locking up on the dashboard repeatedly or having GFX errors when playing games (had a good one in pgr3 where I had a green line spin around in the direction the car was pointing in relation to the track)
I think I’ve got to your total for your 5year expectancy already ;)
August 4th, 2006 at 4:52 pm
We shall see if I have the same experience as time goes on with the unit. The only reason I even have the 360 right now is for the prospective games Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey. Some good games for it, but man, if its going to keep costing me this much money just to upkeep it, it is not even close to worth it. i wish we had such good consumer rights laws here. Its all about the corperations here though. Everything is set up to bend us over backwards.
August 5th, 2006 at 3:13 pm
I think, you are a laughable idiot. If you believe the PS3, which wants to shove more technology into a console then ever before, is not going to be ridden with issues, and horrible customer service, then I need to point out the most recent console launch by Sony.
The PSP.
Not exaggerating, the PSP was a nightmare at launch, dead pixels, firmware upgrades, shitty media, load time disasters, horrible titles, and the worst was the customer service. Having had to return THREE PSP’s due to dead pixels on 2, and an inability to load umd discs on a third, I know the nightmare of dealing with Sony’s Support. Paying for my own shipping, having to get reprints of my receipt.
Microsoft’s on the other hand was amazing to deal with, within 90 days my 360 had an issue, same as yours had by the way RRoD (by the way, try laying your 360 down, it’s a 400 dollar piece of hardware, not a kids toy), they took it for about 2 weeks, and sent me back a brand new one, which works to this day.
The PS3 is going to be a disaster, besides the limited number of consoles we’ll get stateside, besides the huge list of cancelled titles, besides the fact that it’s going to need more power then an Air Conditioner, besides all that is the fact that Sony is trying TOO much, TOO soon, for TOO little.
Sony needs to take a step back, before they end up like Sega.
August 5th, 2006 at 4:10 pm
[…] A coworker of mine, howver, has had a major hardware problem. That is when we discovered that the manufacturer’s warranty is only for a period of 90 days. Even the original Xbox had a warranty of 1 year. His problem appears to be related to the audio/video cards. It cost him $130 to have it fixed. You can read his post here. […]
August 7th, 2006 at 2:58 pm
I also think that you are a laughable idiot but for much different reasons of course! haha
“and an inability to load umd discs on a third”
Isn’t that what a screw driver is for?
August 8th, 2006 at 3:09 pm
The folks leaving negative comments are full of s#IT. I had the same problem as well as thousands of others. A 90 day warrenty speaks for itself. It’s too bad. I too will have mine repaird.
August 12th, 2006 at 4:22 pm
I had almost the exact same thing happen. I bought my 360 on 1-3-06, pretty soon after the release. I never had a problem until the other day, when it wouldn’t turn on just three red lights. It worked fine for 6 months.
I followed online instructions and unplugged everything and turned it on, and it WORKED. I continued playing Prey.
I returned later and when I tried to turn my 360 back on, three red lights again. tried unplugging everything, this time all I got was the lights again.
I called customer support, they said they’re mailing me a box to send the 360 in to get repaired.
Don’t know how expensive it will be yet. I originally signed up for the “extended service”, I didn’t hear anything from Microsoft till May. Four months after I sent it in. by then I figured my Xbox was ok. so I cancelled the service plan.
When I called the support number the lady seemed to think I still have the service plan, so I’m hoping I don’t get charged, but I’m not really planning on it.
September 19th, 2006 at 5:02 pm
i boughtr a 360 it broke
September 19th, 2006 at 5:05 pm
i want to buy a xbox 360 but if it keeps breaking like that i dont think its worth it do anyone of you on this page have on that did,nt break if so tell me
September 19th, 2006 at 7:29 pm
Just to update. Microsoft did fix my 360 for free. They thought I still had the service contract. Took about 19 days altogether, but at least it was free.
November 20th, 2006 at 8:16 pm
Yeah man xbox 360 was fun until it broke and i found out i was 25 days over warranty. The only differance is that i do have to pay shipping so that brings my total up to $200 just so that i can use what should have never broken.
November 20th, 2006 at 8:30 pm
Ahh, wonderful news in relation to this here post. The second Xbox 360 I received died one month after receiving it. :) So three cheers to the wonderful Quality Control at Microsoft. To replace the first one that was bad they ended up sending me a second “brand new” console, from the same bad batch made in 2005.
November 21st, 2006 at 5:02 pm
My question is is when is something going to be done about this huge problem. To me it is a bunch of shit to sell something for 400 dollars and then only include a 3 month warranty in the package price.
November 28th, 2006 at 4:25 pm
HI I’M POSTING THIS HERE BECAUSE I HAVE A FUCKED UP XBOX AND MICROSOFT IS TRYING TO RAPE ME MINE JUST BROKE THIS MORNING FOR SOME ODD REASON I TURNED IT ON AND GOT THREE RED LIGHTS BUT YESTERDAY IT WAS JUST FINE BUT TO NON OPERATIONAL THIS SUCKS CAN ANYONE HELP ME I MISS MY XBOX AND ITS ONLY BEEN BROKEN FOR 12 HOURS
January 23rd, 2007 at 11:53 pm
Same crap happened to me! This is crazy..The rich get richer…..
February 26th, 2007 at 8:35 pm
Don’t know if anyone is still looking here, but same thing. 3 Red Lights and $200 to fix a $300 console - ain’t that sweet.
February 28th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
You can fix it on your own. I mean it might only work for a few hours, or it might work for a few days. When I tried this on mine it worked until I was done playing the game then turned it off and it gave me the trblod. What you do is wrap your 360 in a towl or 2 and leave it running for 10 minutes. This overheats the 360 just alittle bit. Take the towl off and turn off the 360 and turn it back on again. Your 360 should now be running. If you don’t wanna do this everytime send your 360 back but this is what im going to do until I completely ruin it and have to buy a new one. I couldn’t believe it worked but apparently it has been working for numerous people, well good luck to all of you.
June 20th, 2007 at 5:07 pm
It happened to me too! im not going to pay $120 to get it fixed, im going to sell it to gamestop and try to recover some of my losses.
December 31st, 2007 at 5:16 pm
Further Update. My Third Console finally died and Microsoft Received it on December 22nd. I was told over the phone I would receive new hardware back this time.
December 26th, I received my new console from them, it was in fact ANOTHER old refurbished console, from March of 2006. The VERY first game I played on it caused the console to lock up.
It crashed twice while playing Eternal Sonata and twice while playing Beautiful Katamari, it has also Red Ringed twice. Once while gaming, and a second time when plugging in a Zune. The entire blade navigation is slower than the console that was returned as well, while the loading of blades taking up to 15 seconds sometimes. I am contacting MS again.
January 31st, 2008 at 2:39 pm
MS Support is a disaster at best. I was given a direct extension to an “Elite” support agent. Over a period of a month I have tried to contact him nearing 100 times and have not been able to get through a single time. When I set up the replacement for my fourth console, which I had only had for a week, I was told AGAIN, that this console will be sent to the elite team who will put brand new hardware in it.
The manager told me flat out it would essentially be an elite console, but in a standard case, and without a 120gb hd. He said they will send it to the quick repair people so I can get a turn around of 3 or so days. They received my console on the 14th of January at which point the Serial number vanished from my account and I did not hear from them for over two weeks. I called my agent “Lois” about 25 times over a few days and could not get ahold of him. He finally returned my call and said he had no idea why there was no update on my console and that he would try to find out. The following day, 01-31-08, I received a email from MS finally telling me the repair was complete and the console would ship back soon.
Based on the serial number now attached to my account though it looks as if they just grabbed a random Refurb that was repaired July of 2006 in China and shipped it to me. At this point I do not know what to do. The CS agents are flat out lieing to me about what will be done. Hopefully it will not die. The stupid thing only gets a 90 day warranty.