360-watchdog

geordie10 · 7 Feb 2007 at 18:33

BBC Watchdog

After reading about so many xbox consoles having to be sent back to MS and having read a thread regarding a live member contacting watching to look in to the situation, I decided to do the same myself.

I contacted Watchdog who were very interested in the story. They are interviewing xbox 360 users who are having trouble and the item will be on next weeks Watchdog!

They are still looking for people to interview regarding the matter, so contact them on [email protected] if you have issues to discuss

Obviously this is for people who have had problems with their console. I do know that there are people who are still on their first and have had no problems- thats great. I'm sure that there will be people posting that this uncalled for- I don't think so. However, there are now far to many peolpe having to pay £84 to send their console back to MS to get it fixed. Some people have posted that they are their 3rd and 4th console!!!!!

There are obvious issues here that need looking into and hopefully something will be done

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I think this will be on watchdog next tuesday at 7pm.

Zefan · 7 Feb 2007 at 18:48

I don't really see the problem, Microsoft replace/repair consoles that are within warranty.

geordie10 · 7 Feb 2007 at 18:56

Zefan said:
I don't really see the problem, Microsoft replace/repair consoles that are within warranty.

I did not contact watchdog this was posted on another xbox forum.
People on that forum have had three or four 360s repaired and are still having problems.
All they want is an answer from microsoft.

McDaniel · 7 Feb 2007 at 18:58

ian flowers said:
I did not contact watchdog this was posted on another xbox forum.
People on that forum have had three or four 360s repaired and are still having problems.
All they want is an answer from microsoft.

I think some people must be sexually abusing there xbox's.

I dont see how you could go through 3-4 in a year, im on my 2nd the first died after about 8 months but it did get lugged about a lot and was poorly cooled during the time of its death!

dannyjo22 · 7 Feb 2007 at 19:06

Zefan said:
I don't really see the problem, Microsoft replace/repair consoles that are within warranty.

Balls. I wouldn't be happy to be on my 3rd washing machine in a year. Or third TV etc. So what if they replace it. Then damn well should its not a favour and we are lucky.

I'm on my 3rd and I don't sexually abuse mine. It sits, never moving, well ventialted.

Its a pile of **** build quality and i'm glad watchdog are nailing the lieing gits.

rp2000 · 7 Feb 2007 at 19:21

dannyjo22 said:
Balls. I wouldn't be happy to be on my 3rd washing machine in a year. Or third TV etc. So what if they replace it. Then damn well should its not a favour and we are lucky.

I'm on my 3rd and I don't sexually abuse mine. It sits, never moving, well ventialted.

Its a pile of **** build quality and i'm glad watchdog are nailing the lieing gits.

Amen, MS seem to have convinced half of these 10million users that it is "normal" to have to replace a machine in the 1st year. I have one, when it broke I got free new replacement from the shop. I'm not thankful tbh, I expect this of any product that breaks in the 1st year.

Like dannyjo says,why should it breaking in year 2 be acceptable? Or year 3? Whilst the software (LIVE and games) are very good, they are let down by what clearly has to be one of the worst built pieces of consumer electronics ever.

These things are designed to play games. They should not break by you playing just games full stop. Sadly at some point in this thread someone will mention that PS2 had issues (with the laser?) when it was first released!! Who cares? It was released 5 years ago. Should a new console have problems worse than one 5 years ago?

You buy a brand new TV, will easily last you 5 years. I have not even considered that in even 2 years I will be on the same console, it's gonna break again, I'm certain!!

btw, my console is in a ventilated room and nothing is obscuring it or the PSU and they are not in a cupboard or on a Carpet.

rp2000

Demon · 7 Feb 2007 at 19:22

It will be interesting to see what happens..

The failure rate is definitely above the standard for electronics goods, which no doubt is due to the emerging technology etc..

I'd love to see MS say they will extend warranties to 2 years, and get this new V2 hardware out (rumoured to be available in april in Australia)...

btw, my console is in a ventilated room and nothing is obscuring it or the PSU and they are not in a cupboard or on a Carpet.

Having opened quite a few 360's lately, I do see plenty that are caked in dust, even units kept in ventilated conditions, in AV racks etc... and after 2-3 mins of use are physically hotter then a good clean unit.. since one of the common failure modes has been thermal cycling leading to a mechanical stress/fatigue failure of a track/joint, I can't help think this is a large contributing factor..

roboffer · 7 Feb 2007 at 19:24

Ive not had a problem but I dont have a problem with anyone persuing the matter if they have had a few go wrong, there obviously is a problem with them and it should be addressed. Hopefully this will result in MS providing an official statement about returning early models so that everyone knows where they stand.

rp2000 · 7 Feb 2007 at 19:26

Demon said:
It will be interesting to see what happens..

The failure rate is definitely above the standard for electronics goods, which no doubt is due to the emerging technology etc..

I'd love to see MS say they will extend warranties to 2 years, and get this new V2 hardware out (rumoured to be available in april in Australia)...

But how will this V2 help the 10 million existing users?

Also I find it strange they are releasing a "special" version with HDMI as they always stated that HDMI is possible on the "normal" version, they just didn't implement it as there were many customers didn't have HDMI TVs etc. I am willing to bet money that the only way those 10 million users could ever get HDMI will be by buying the new one.

rp2000

Edit:

roboffer said:
Ive not had a problem but I dont have a problem with anyone persuing the matter if they have had a few go wrong, there obviously is a problem with them and it should be addressed. Hopefully this will result in MS providing an official statement about returning early models so that everyone knows where they stand.

I think most people would be happy if MS identified the earlier crappier build machines and just said like serial number xxxx to xxxx will be replaced free if they break within 2-3 years of manufacturing date. I don't think this is unreasonable seeing as MS have admitted they have a larger than average failure rate (despite claiming the opposite during initial launch).

rp2000

Baine · 7 Feb 2007 at 19:29

Watchdog is nothing but a bias witch hunt of a so called consumer show that show has no credibility

Richdog · 7 Feb 2007 at 19:33

Baine said:
Watchdog is nothing but a bias witch hunt of a so called consumer show that show has no credibility

According to...?

"andy" · 7 Feb 2007 at 19:42

they should do some safety tests and come to the conclusion that noise the drive makes could kill a small child while theyre at it

Demon · 7 Feb 2007 at 19:42

rp2000 said:
But how will this V2 help the 10 million existing users?

By making sure 10 million doesn't turn into 20 million.. i.e. put a stop to the rot..

The thing I said that would help the 10 million you've already picked up on, extending the warranty..

rp2000 said:
Also I find it strange they are releasing a "special" version with HDMI as they always stated that HDMI is possible on the "normal" version, they just didn't implement it as there were many customers didn't have HDMI TVs etc. I am willing to bet money that the only way those 10 million users could ever get HDMI will be by buying the new one.

AFAIK MS have never ever said it was possible, there has been plenty of rumour, technical analysis etc, but no definitive statements, they always say the very open "We are always looking at what the market wants"... but that doesn't imply anything.. so I agree with you, I am pretty sure the V1 will never have HDMI,
if I 'must have' HDMI, then I'd consider buying a 2nd 360 (trade the old one in or something), but being an early adopter of HiDef stuff, I am aware of just how small the differences can be between Component/VGA and HDMI are, and how it boils down to the model/manufacturer of the display it's being used on..

McManicMan · 7 Feb 2007 at 19:44

don't see what watchdog can really do, after all MS is replacing any faulty consoles within its 1 year warrenty period just like any other manufactor would. I wonder how many various PC components get sent back every year yet you don't hear about this on such a program, too me just sounds like a bunch of whinging kids or young adults who just wanna grab some headlines and try to make MS seem the big bad wolf

"andy" · 7 Feb 2007 at 19:53

yes but a 1 year warranty obviously isnt enough if so many are breaking just outside of it

what people are trying to say is modern electrical goods at such a price should be expected to last allot longer than a year

they need to either get there act together on the production line or give a longer warranty

.one. · 7 Feb 2007 at 20:01

Im getting sick of hearing the bad news on 360s im starting to hate mine at the moment,bill gates and his dogey crew.
I feel if iv'e been ripped off and mines ok at the present,and want todo so much with it but dear not open it up.

Memphis · 7 Feb 2007 at 20:13

McManicMan said:
don't see what watchdog can really do, after all MS is replacing any faulty consoles within its 1 year warrenty period just like any other manufactor would. I wonder how many various PC components get sent back every year yet you don't hear about this on such a program, too me just sounds like a bunch of whinging kids or young adults who just wanna grab some headlines and try to make MS seem the big bad wolf

Yeah I'll go with that.

This board is getting like a broken record.
I'll stand by my original point. If you are on your 4th or 5th 360... well work it out!

jimmyjimmyo · 7 Feb 2007 at 23:04

.one. said:
Im getting sick of hearing the bad news on 360s im starting to hate mine at the moment,bill gates and his dogey crew.
I feel if iv'e been ripped off and mines ok at the present,and want todo so much with it but dear not open it up.

If you open the machine up and it dies withing 1 year or 10 years MS will not help you out so why stress about it.

If you want to mod the case (the only legal reason to open it IMO) then go for it any extra cooling you choose to stick inside will help to prolong the life of the machine.

I'm still on my launch machine ( 1 of the lucky ones I guess) and I play it most evenings without any problems but the returns are high and I don't think anyone in their right mind could dispute that and microsoft should extend the warrenty to 2 years or offer users the V2 upgrade when it is released

Zefan · 7 Feb 2007 at 23:33

I honestly can't see the problem. You choose to risk this when you buy a product, that's why things such as extended warranties can be very valuable at times. If MS is willing to refund those who have had several iffy 360's then there is no problem.

Kmodo · 7 Feb 2007 at 23:43

I had my ps2 for 5years and it is still working perfect to this day

lil bro is still playing gta and tony hawks on it.

The 360 rocks and I am not disputing that BUT I do feel sorry for the many people who have had their machines die

and then have to go through all the trouble of getting it replaced.

Of course this happens with all new console BUT this problem is still happening and seems to be on a really big scale.