Buy a used Xbox 360?

Tim

I have had an Xbox for a couple years, and the only game I ever play on it is Halo 2. Maybe 3 times a year I'll play the Forza Motorsports game that came with it when I bought it new, but other than that it's only Halo 2. The CD tray has been opened maybe 20-25 times since I bought it.

I want to play Halo 3, and you have to have the 360 for that.

But I'm just too darn cheap to pay $450.00 to play ONE VIDEO GAME. Even if it does come from the tax refund, it's still $450.00!!!

My tv for gaming is a $200 10 year old 19 inch K mart special, so graphics aren't the issue for me. I spend far more time in front of the computer than the TV. The TV is lucky to be turned on 1 hour a day, unless I'm playing Halo 2, where it might be on for 2 hours.

I looked on eBay, and I see a lot of 360's for sale, but given the problems they had, I'm not sure I want to risk it, even if I do find one relatively cheap.

Since I've heard a lot about 360's overheating, if I were to find one that was out of warranty and worked great except for overheating after a while, I wouldn't have a problem with going to work on it with a Dremel grinder and an extra computer fan and greatly improving its cooling system.

Is buying a 360 from eBay a bad idea? I saw a lot of auctions that were advertised as "used but in good condition".

If someone here had a 360 for sale I'd feel better about that.

primesuspect

You could just wait until Halo 3 PC comes out. It might be a couple of years, though.

Maybe you misunderstand the "overheating" issue - if a 360 has overheated, it's done.. Fried. You have to return it to MS to get a replacement. You can't fix it if it's done it even one time - they call it the "red ring of death".

There is no such thing as a 360 out of warranty right now, since MS extended the warranty to 3 years.

I wouldn't buy a used 360 from ebay, I've seen too many scam horror stories, but that's just me. Find one on a forum site you trust.

kryyst

There are people that can fix the Red Ring of Death - they typically charge about $150 to do it though.

I concur though I wouldn't buy one off ebay, way to sketchy.

Tim

I see. I thought a 360 overheat was like a PC overheat. A PC will either throttle back the CPU or shut down, and then once it cools off, everything is cool (so to speak).:bigggrin:

But this, on top of buying from eBay being questionable in the first place, means no 360 from eBay for me! No way!

If anyone here has a 360 that is in good condition they might want to sell, let me know. I don't want any games other than Halo 3. 95% chance it'll have to wait until my tax refund, which should be late January / early February this year.

I wonder why Microsoft would release the 360 with known overheating problems. Surely they tested it. Instead of trying to make the case small and neat and aesthetically pleasing, they should have given it a case with enough airflow and fans to keep it cooled off under any circumstances. Who cares if it's pretty if it can't do its job?

I'm gonna have to look for a 360 forum and read up on them some more, I've never done that yet.

erichblas2005

The 360 only overheats when you place it inside an entertainment cabinet. If you have no decent airflow it will overheat. Like a pc place it where it will have lots of air flow.