I personally havn't seen any problems, but my son (aka Bad Mayonaise) swears that Oblivion is having problems with slow response. Of course, since he's on the damn thing ALL THE TIME I haven't gotten to test it one way or the other. I know it works great on all the other games we have so why should this one game be different?

From EGM's review page:

"Oblivion uses the Xbox 360's hard drive to cache game data for faster loads. Ironically, this can lead to long loads as data gets fragmented. If this happens, reset the console and hold the A button as the game boots until the Bethesda screen to safely clear your cache. That should get you cruising the hills and dales of Cyrodiil at top speed again."

My original unit started freezing after about 4.5 months of regular use, and up till that point it was rock solid. At first it started freezing on the demos, then it would freeze in regular games and display these vertical grey dashed lines all over the screen, sometimes it would be a grid pattern, and finally it started freezing up during the startup screen just after powering on the console (this sequence of problems all happened over a 2 day period).

My replacement experience was actually very good, but evidently that hasn't been the case for everyone.

I called about freezing issues on a Monday evening, received a return box on Wednesday, shipped it back on Thursday, and had a replacement (refurbished) unit at my door on Tuesday morning. My unit was also well past the 90 day warranty period, and even though I gave the CSR the purchase date from my receipt (December 14), he still agreed to send the return box no questions asked (I didn't have an extended warranty).

It's unfortunate that people have been having such bad experiences with returns lately, but mine was surprisingly quick and painless. Also, I'm in Canada, so maybe that has something to do with it?

It took the longest for me to get the box as well, in fact, it took so long, I almost called them back to see if the box had been lost in the mail. I'm sure they are pulling fixed units at random; however, in the time it took for the process (3 weeks) they could have fixed my unit. I have no problem getting a different unit, if it a) works and b) comes in a timely fashion, which in this case I think 1 week would be acceptible. Also, if the plan is just to pull a fixed unit off the shelf, then there is no reason why Microsoft should not go ahead and send you your replacement unit and then charge you a penalty if you do not send them the broken unit. That is how Directv works.

That is for sure what is going on.. Your not getting yours back.. Ask Beandip.. He definately didn't get the one he had. That is all fine and dandy if the one they send you is cosmetically in at least as good shape as the one you sent in but if mine broke and I ended up getting some smelly smoke ridden dirty arse case I would be TICKED!

This is what's scaring me.. I've had mine for almost 2 months with no problems.. It'd be nice to think you were in the clear if it has lasted that long but as you can see.. You can't!

They should be re-skinning these replacement boxes, I knew as soon as I opened the box that they had not fixed my unit, but instead sent a replacement, the thing just looked yellow.

ARE YOU SERIOUS!?!? They sent you a stained replacement!?? Man, that would put me through the roof!

I havent had any problems... Yet... I've had it for quite some time now and no problems. It never seems to run too hot either, when people say it runs hot, how hot is it? How can you tell the date of manufaccturing.

Are these units being replaced under warranty? Why wouldn't they just send a new one back?

Since they can barely keep them on the shelves what would they replace them with exactly?

The date is on the back of the console.

I'll have to inspect mine in more detail before I hook it up tonight.

I thought they were all over the place now? I've definitely seen them in stores on a regular basis.

If they are only dealing with low numbers of returns, I think they should be replacing units that crap out within the warranty period with a fresh new 360.

[QUOTE=Draven]

If they are only dealing with low numbers of returns QUOTE]

Exactly they are not dealing with low numbers of returns and even then, why would they send a new console at $400, when they can repair one for far less. I have no problem with receiving a reconditioned unit, except it better be in as good a condition as the one I sent in and it better work.

Got mine in April 06.

So far so good.

Sort of on topic...

Did anyone here purchase their 360 at a Circuit City or Best Buy and also purchased the stores extended warranty or whatever it's called?

To my understanding, if you bought the extended warranty along with the 360, you should be able to return your problematic console directly to the store and they simply hand you a new, unopened one. I could be wrong, however, as I never buy those extended warranties.

My experience with BB and an extended warranty is that they send your unit off to their repair center in NY. This was with a Sony DVD player, not a Microsoft game console.

They only replaced it with a new model after it was deemed a "lemon" by breaking for the same thing 3 times during the warranty period. At which point I was able to upgrade my original single-tray DVD player to a 5-disc DVD/SACD changer due to my $300 dollars in 2000 going farther in 2004.

Not I, but I did purchase one with my original Xbox. To me it is a joke. I had to have my Xbox replaced. It is a one shot deal. Replace it once and your warranty is void. You have to buy a new warranty for the new system. Total BS.

OK, I see. Thanks for the replys to both of you.

I knew there was a reason I didn't buy those things.

I was also told these stores make a lot of money from selling these lame warranties that are more of a hassle when the time comes to actually utilize it.

Does anyone know if the extended warranty from M$FT is the same way?

I wonder how many of the people without problems have consoles that are over 4 months old?

My original unit lasted close to 5 months of daily use with no issues, and then over a 2 day period it started locking up, and finally wouldn't even boot to the dashboard...

I thought I was home free after 4 months, but unlike most consumer electonics the 360 seems to take a while to develop problems.

Consoles are completely different than normal consumer electronics. The problems of the first Playstation, Dreamcast, PS2, and Xbox took at least six months to develop.

Assuming that all the 360's eventual widespread problems actually show up this quickly, that's actually a unique, and positive, thing. Nobody's actually had to pay for one replacement (or more) yet, unlike those other four with deservedly bad reputations.

I've had occasional freezes in Oblivion, Full Auto and Need for Speed.
The most being in Oblivion.

Not sure if it's really a hardware problem or just software glitches as all my other games have played fine.

-Jason

I've had mine since January with no major problems. Sometimes when I watch a DVD I get that black System Error screen, but I simply reset the console and it's fine.

Does anyone use a cooling unit or something similar to the cooling unit in this link? http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=802205

It claims that by keeping the 360 cooler, it prolongs the life of the 360. Obviously, they couldn't have done any real long term tests, but would something like this actually work or is it just a load of bullshit? All these stories about 360s breaking within 4-5 months has me worried. I don't want to have to keep getting it replaced every half-year for the next 5-6 years.

Are the 360 problems people are running into due to the fact that people have the 360's with the hard drive attached?

Or are people with the core systems experiencing this, too?