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Xbox 360, "red ring of death", any ideas?

Hi, hope someone who knows about the xbox unlike me who wouldn't even know how to turn one on, can help me :)

I am posting on behalf of a mate at work who bought an Xbox 360 off another bloke at work about a month ago. The machine is one of the first xbox 360's made so is well out of warranty. All has been fine until yesterday, he was playing FIFA, had just loaded the game, and the screen froze completely, and the dreaded "red ring of death" appeared on the front of it. It will now not function at all. The guy at work has offered to refund him the £70 he paid him for the machine, but it would be great if it can be an easy fix, again which he has offered to pay for as well. Hope someone can help. Many thanks.

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Almost debt free feeling, priceless.

Ex money nightmare, learnt from my mistakes and never going back there again, in control of my finances for the first time in my adult life and it feels amazing. 

Comments

  • I would take the refund from the mate and put the money into a new xbox, as then you would get one with the uprated innards which has less chance of RROD on you, plus you get the warranty if anything does go wrong;)

    I only say this as I've had a few mates who tried cheap fixes for older xboxes and they died again soon after, so imo its not worth it especially as MS offer good warranty on new consoles:D
  • My other half had the 'ring of death' on xmas eve - he was not happy. He called he Xbox customer service - they said in order for it to be fixed, he would have to send it to Germany, pay postage and also £82 as it was out of warranty. He decided it was not worth sending it. We went to Sainsburys yesterday and managed to find a 4gb one for £149.99 which has wi-fi built in and comes with an extra controller.
    I would recommend your mate to take the refund and invest in a new one.
    Make £2012 in 2012 #115: £919.86 / £2012
    1% at a time #39:
  • Hammyman
    Hammyman Posts: 9,913 Forumite
    It is not an easy fix. There are a few different causes, all of them require soldering. One of the faults is voltage regulators failing in the console which needs to be identified, removed and replaced. Another is dry joints on the GPU which needs it reflowing.

    Take the refund, buy a slim 360. All that nonsense is sorted.
  • diable
    diable Posts: 5,258 Forumite
    The old trick was to wrap a towel around it, do a search for RROD.

    I would take the refund and put it towards the price of a new one as already suggested by other posters.
  • Whatever you do don't tell your mate to wrap a towel around it - that will only further damage the console.

    Either find a local repair place to sort it out or take the refund and get a new one. Probably best to go the refund route.
  • thing is rrod fix tends not to be a permanant fix and can last from weeks to months, if its not covered by ms i wouldn't risk a fix because it will go again, best bet would be to get the refund and buy a refurb from game , they come with 12 months guarantee with them.
  • Thanks for all your replies guys, I have passed them on and he is having a refund from the guy who sold it to him and buying a new one. Thanks again.

    CC limits £26000


    Long term CC debt £0

    Total low rate loan debt £3000

    Almost debt free feeling, priceless.

    Ex money nightmare, learnt from my mistakes and never going back there again, in control of my finances for the first time in my adult life and it feels amazing. 
  • DCFC79
    DCFC79 Posts: 40,614 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    My other half had the 'ring of death' on xmas eve - he was not happy. He called he Xbox customer service - they said in order for it to be fixed, he would have to send it to Germany, pay postage and also £82 as it was out of warranty. He decided it was not worth sending it. We went to Sainsburys yesterday and managed to find a 4gb one for £149.99 which has wi-fi built in and comes with an extra controller.
    I would recommend your mate to take the refund and invest in a new one.

    i hope your oh understands that with the 4gb comes lack of space for downloads etc
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