I am a firm believer that the Intercooler (or any third-party cooling device) is nothing more than the placebo effect. A lot of people that use them still have had their 360 die.

Just get the extended warranty. If your 360 dies, then Microsoft will replace it. There is no need to waste money on a device that may or may not prevent an untimely death.

The 360 sounds like a turbine already. I wonder what it's like with that thing added on.

I shut the door on my 360 and the sound is managable. I dont care about airflow, its been fine.

So how hot DOES the 360 get? Wanna find out? Click Here

I wonder if he will send that 360 back to Microsoft to get it fixed. I would love to see Microsoft's reaction when they open the case and see pieces of a fried egg in there.

Dont most CPUs get over 100 degrees without the fan on?

You could probably fry an egg on any cpu

The issue I have is the fact its three processors and a high end video card in a very compact area. I just don't see anyway this console can be properly cooled if a game is using 2 or 3 of the processors.
You look at the way gaming PCs are built with cooling in mind and you see the problems with this tight console design.

I see consoles like the 360 and PS3 having fairly short lifespans for anyone that is a heavy user.

My original system, purchased in February 2006, has died, 3 flashing lights.

Just an update on my post a while back about getting a replacement.
My new unit seems to run faster with the load times. Fight Night 3 used to take ages to load and I'd say it's twice as fast to load now. Have the systems been optimised since launch or did my old one more than likely have some heating problem?

Also, certain gameplay seems faster going through component out compared to rca out. I've got mine setup to either play through the projector (component) or my CRT TV (rca) and I flick the HD switch on the AV cable when I want to choose one display device or the other. When playing Fight Night 3, the players move faster on component, and the little analogue stick indicator that you follow to reduce swelling between rounds moves faster as well.
Is this a known issue? It's not a big problem, I'd just like my gameplay to be consistant.

I looked for this answer (it's probably here somewhere), but couldn't find it (sorry it I overlooked the obvious):

If I buy a 360 from BestBuy.com, how can I get the extended warranty from MS? And how much is that warranty?

Wow. I'm going to stick with getting a Wii.

There is a form inside the box to fill out and send in to Microsoft directly. If I remember correctly for the 2 years I paid about $56.90. I bought mine from a BestBuy store, but it was still the same. Just don't take the BestBuy warranty because that's one replacement and you're done.

1-800-4MY-XBOX

The MS warranty covers your system for as many times as it takes to get you a functional system. If it takes 10 times, there is no extra charge. The drawback is you get a refurb system that may not be the one you send in.

The store specific warranty is only good once but you get a new system off the shelf. Problem is, you have to buy a new warranty for the new system.

Choices.

I've nearly bought a 360 about 10 times already, but this thread and many others out on the net have stopped me. There are just too many people having issues for me to be convinced that Microsoft has fully worked this stuff out. The fact you have to buy an extended warranty just turns the 360 into a more expensive console and who knows how long it will last past the time that runs out.

I'm going to end up buying the Wii as well since I know I won't need an extended warranty with a Nintendo system.

The warranty is no more expensive than a game really. But you're right, if you cant afford something like that, then the 360 probably isnt for you.

but lets be honest, you buy the console with the games you want--$50 for peace of mind shouldnt factor in to it.

darkside, we get it....you're afraid to buy a 360. I picture you surfing all the "Ef MS my 360 broke!!" sites and feeding into your fears. Don't get me wrong, you may have a point on this issue and it sucks that this new product has some "issues". Either way, by the time you get bored playing with your Wii the 360 will be redesigned and kicking even more ass.

And on another topic, who cares if it's not working 10 years from now. By then the latest and greatest things will be out and most will have probably traded their 360s, PS3s, and Wiis by then anyway.

I'll say it again, I go all the way back to Atari 2600 and EVERY system I've had...including the Mighty Nintendo systems...have never lasted longer than 5 or 6 years.

Agreed

And Microsoft probably learned their lesson this time around with the backwards compatibility thing, so hopefully their next system will be fully BC. If that happens, then who cares if the 360 dies in 5 years, when the next-next-gen Xbox will play all 360 games plus next-next-gen games.

Afford has nothing to do with it. I spend ten times that on my Home Theater hardware and just spent $1200 building a PC. Its a matter of value. A console that breaks less than a year after purchase is not worth $400. I went through this crap with the PS2 several times and will not do it again with the 360.

Like I said, I know some people that have 360s with no issues so far and I know that the problems are the minority of people. Next year I may finally jump in and get a 360. I'm mostly curious to see if them changing to more power efficient chips makes any difference in temperature. Believe me I want a 360, but I am not okay with this idea that you should have to buy an extended warranty. CE products should easily last a decade.

To be honest, this is pretty much what I would have expected from Microsoft. They don't really know this market. Nintendo has been doing this for a looong time.

Uhm...I think there's already a Wii Thread for all the "Wii/Nintendo Rulez!" Fanboy Comments....

You must have bad luck. My NES is still going strong, and it's pushing 20.

what does it matter if it breaks when they replace it for you? You can salvage all your game saves.

Do you feel ripped off? You know Microsoft is selling these consoles at a loss and having to honor the replacement plan costs them even more.

Of course I would feel ripped off. First of all they only give a 90 day waranty which is crap so you pretty much have to spring for the extended. Then you have no idea what kind of condition the refurbished replacement will be in or if it will even last very long.

Why is it okay for MS to make a console with a higher than normal defect rate? Because they sell it at a loss? I'm not asking them to sell things at a loss. If they can't build them properly at the current cost then either raise the retail price or lose more money. It is not exceptable though to knowingly put something on the market that has quality problems. They had to follow that up by bricking quite a few more consoles with their latest dashboard update.

I honestly believe Microsoft is working on this and it seems the launch units were the biggest offenders and things are improving, but it doesn't mean I excuse MS for it and I think I have a very valid reason not to spend $400 on a 360.

I do love the snob attitude that MS makes a product with quality issues and anyone that avoids it is cheap. Big thumbs up for that analysis.

Cant you think of it as a $450 console with a 2 year unconditional warranty? Will you not be satisfied until it comes with a 10 year warranty? How much would you expect to pay for something like that? nothing?

Maybe you dont want a warranty, you just want to recapture how you FEEL about consoles in the old days?

I think at some point you have to evaluate if you have realistic expectations for a computer console. You cant treat them the same--They are nothing like what they were in the 80's.