Several Forum members have reported problems with their Xboxes (everthing from overheating to freezing up).

Unfortunately there's a history in the Console marketplace of a small number of many first generation releases having issues.

This thread is dedicated to discussing the problems that XBOX owners have with their systems, the steps that they've taken to help resolve it and experience with MSoft customer service and/or Store Returns/Exchanges.

I WILL NOT TOLERATE ANY CONSOLE BASHING IN THIS THREAD. If you post anything like 'S***Box' or jabs at people posting in this thread YOU WILL BE SUSPENDED FROM DVD TALK. It's that simple and you've all been warned.

My Xbox warranty was 39.99 for 2 years at best buy. I would highly recommend getting one. My Break Room Xbox is Working Perfectly

loadzone, I'm glad to hear Best Buy is making good on their warranty. Those extended warranties always seem like gambling to me. Most of the times you don't use it so it feels like a waste of money. But the instant that thing breaks, man, it pays for itself in a hurry.

There was a post about the XBox way back in Sept. that's purportedly an insider's report on how XBox production was going. I didn't give it a lot of credence at the time, but given that XBox is known to have encountered production delays/troubles and this new slew of reports about defects; it may make for interesting reading for some people.

http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...hreadid=146163

Yes, I have heard about problems with Xbox. I rather to avoid to buy the launched console. I bought my PS2 on their second shipment and it's doing great.

I haven't had any problems yet.

But what bums me out is this time I didn't get an extended warranty.

I am in the same boat. I have played pretty extensively with my Xbox for the past month & have had not even a hiccup. I think i even threw away the Microsoft extended warranty card. You get 90 days but after that...hmmm?

Should I buy the extended warranty? What does everyone think?

I bought mine at Sam Goody at the mall (only place I could find one at the time) & I do not recall if they offered an extended warranty. What is the price for Microsoft's extended warranty?

Many stores will sell you and EXTENDED WARRENTY up to the point that the manufactuer's expires. So some of you who are sweating it, can call the store you bought it from and ask if you can add an extended warrenty (they love to sell them).

I think it's important to note that the problem has been found with less than 1% of the units right now (according to an AP report), so there may not be a big reason to freak out. I think a lot of the stress comes from reports that Microsoft isn't being tops about quickly resolving the problems.

Also think about getting Personal Articles insurance (not as a replacement to the warranty but as an extension). I have it through State Farm, and I have my Canon G2 digital camera ($900), my Dell notebook computer ($1500), and my Sone Clie ($400) in the policy. It costs me $30 a year.

This is insurance, which is different from warranty. This covers things like theft, accidents (like if you spill water onto your XBOX or if you're wrestling your brother and you guys crash into the XBOX), power surge, etc. This has $0 deductible. See your insurance agent for more details.

Are there any first-hand vouchers of Microftsoft actually dragging their ass on the customer service side of things? Other than that article, I haven't heard anyone say peep regarding this. Thanks.

I've had my Xbox since launch and have not experienced any problems. The thing plays flawlessly.

I don't plan on purchasing an extended warranty for it. I figured, if I've got one of the faulty units, it would break-down, overheat, freeze, etc. during the 90-days the manufacturer is giving for free.

thanks Geoff

Lets just say I will be calling Circuit City very soon I know they have some sort of warranty when buying with their credit card, but with my luck, the minute it expires, so will my X-Box

All this reminds me of the PANASONIC 110 DVD PLAYER mess from a few years back

dvdtalk veterans know what I'm talkin' 'bout

Speaking of which, my Panasonic 110 finally went kaput after 2 years, but luckily I had bought the 3 year extended warranty at circuit city, and I was able to get the laser replaced free of charge. The manager there told me that if I have any other problems with my player, they'll give me a new one. Extended warranties get a lot of grief, but if you have these kinds of problems, they're definitely worth it.

Yeah, in the past I ALWAYS purchased EXT WARRANTIES but my wife and others had conviced me they were a waste....so hearing about these problems with XBOX freaked me out because in this case I didn't get one. I also didn't get one for my PSX2 which had a problem with the little "Standby/on and off button" popping out.... I fixed it but at first I thought it was a serious problem.

I purchased a dvd player for a good friend of mine and I DID get an 2year EW for that gift...

I was saved by EW's at least 2 times I can remember:

I bought a friend a VCR that was a lemon...Good Guys gave her a new one no charge

Panasonic 110...Sears fixed the laser no charge

she bought it from compusa and got thier 2yr warrenty...she also packaged it with an extra controller and dvd remote..What a sweetie)anyway, I turned it on right away and this thing made a very Loud whirling sound! so loud that when I went downstairs to call a friend that had one, I could still hear it!! I called a friend that got one for his kids and he told me that his did not make a sound! so I took it right back to COMPUSA and they switched it out and even switched the s/n in the computer so that my extended warrenty is still good without any hassles. got the new one home and it has run without incident. I have been using this thing day and night. I'll play games on it and then my kid watches dvd's on it...sometimes I have left it on all day and it is still running great!! I am very pleased with mine.

That's what alot of PS2 owners said... and were wrong.

I was at Toys R Us today and the guy there told me that he had 2 XBOXs come back because of problems and one gamecube since launch. Sounds like both systems are about equal since there is a lot less gamecubes on the market. While I was there, a Microsoft rep was in the store. I asked him about the problems and he said so far it's been about 1.8% having problems which every system is expected to average about. I think people need to ease up on the XBOX horror stories. My friend's XBOX which drive broke, Microsoft was very quick to react to it. He called Microsoft last night and first thing this morning Airbourne was there with a return box. Sounds like good customer service to me.

I guess a lot of PS2 owners don't take care of their things the way I do.

speaking of "taking care"...

I wonder how people who had problems with their systems stored their machines? What about other systems?

I have my Xbox sitting on it's box on my floor with NOTHING blocking airflow. There's something about XBOX that makes me not want to move it to much so I don't.

Maybe it's the hard drive or maybe it's the size and weight. I mean when I first lifted the box in the store I was shocked by how heavy it was. I was also shocked by how big it was. I really thought the XBOX display at the store was a "Larger than actual size" situation

I bought an XBox two weeks ago. I set it up, turned it on and I got a message saying "Your XBox requires service please contact Microsoft" (or something like that). So I take it back to Best Buy and exchange it for another. I take that one home and set it up and "Your Xbox requires service......"

Now I'm pissed. So I go back to Best Buy and pick up another one and have them test it. Finally one works. But here's the kicker. On every XBox packaging there are Lot #s representing what product run the XBox was made in. The first two were from the same lot # 0150. The third was from Lot #0151. I told them that I thought that there may have been a bad run and intentionally picked one from another Lot. Turns out that apparently there was a bad batch made from Lot 0150, because several others from that Lot were not working and they pulled all the ones off the floor with Lot 0150 on them.

Anyway, if you are going to buy an XBox, check the lot # and make sure that you don't get one from Lot 0150.

Hmmm...mine is Lot #0148. Maybe I am safe.

I wonder also. I made a point about this in a different thread. That customer use/abuse is a variable that can cause the console to have problems and/or fail.
Anything that is not considered a portable device (i.e. walkman, laptop) I handle with extra care because they're not built with that extra "ruggedness" (did I just create a word here ) in mind.

My box reads LOT #0142.

"Tiny" was part of lot 145, and I have not had a problem yet with it.