BUYING AN XBOX 360? HERE ARE SOME TIPS…

So, your planning on buying an XBOX 360 to play games…Before you do, here are some tips to help you protect yourself

Never buy a used XBOX360…EVER!! Why? Obviously, you don’t know how the previous owner has been treating the XBOX360. Who knows, he/she/it could have been abusing it. Another thing is, most used XBOX360s available are probably the older models with the older motherboards. You most definitely don’t want those.

Make sure you bet the right model for you. There are currently 3 XBOX360 models available.

Elite – the top of the line XBOX 360, comes with a 120gig hard drive and has a black finish. It wouldn’t hurt to get one of these if you have the money. But since its like priced at over $300, I wouldn’t recommend this

Pro – this is the mid range model and comes with a 60gig hard drive. Like all XBOX360s, its color white. This is the model that I would recommend as it has enough disk drive space for downloadable content and what ever you feel like downloading from XBOX Live. This is priced at &$299.99

Arcade – this is the bare bone model and only has 256mb of memory. Just enough for game saves. If downloadable content doesn’t mean anything to you and you could care less about going on-line then this model would be just fine as this is only priced at $199.99. Not bad if I do say so myself.

Make sure you buy your XBOX360 from a store that offers warranty. This is especially true for people living in places wherein MICROSOFT has zero support for the XBOX360. If you live in a country with MICROSOFT then their warranty should be enough. But for those of us who live in countries with no support, the next best thing is to get warranty from the stores. Better yet if you can get a replacement warranty.

Make sure you get one of the new XBOX360s with the new Jasper motherboard. These new models were released around October 2008 and are packed with the new 65nm GPU and CPU. The XBOX360 with the Jasper motherboards now generates lesser heat and is now (or should be) less prone to the infamous RROD (red ring of death) or 3RL. To those who don’t know, in a nut shell, the first XBOX360s had a flaw in their design which causes them to break down causing a general hardware failure popularly known as RROD or #RL. You can find many articles about this in the net so I wont go into detail. How do you find a Japser? Peak into the hole on the XBOX360’s box found at the lower left. Look at the barcode sticker and see if the power detail say’s 12.1A. if it does then it’s a jasper.

Lastly, and I know many of you don’t consider this, but make sure that there is actually somewhere where you can easily buy new games for your XBOX360. For example, I have a PS3 and damn its hard finding games being sold at reasonable prices.

So, happy buying and when you get your XBOX360, don’t forget to enjoy and have fun playing.

XBOX 360: Third times a charm...I hope..

Having gone through two XBOX360s which both experienced the red ring of death (RROD) or three red lights (3RL), I have since then been reluctant to buy a third XBOX360 in fear that it would again succumb to the infamous RROD.

My first XBOX360, which I got around April 2007, experienced the RROD just one month after I got it. Since the warranty was useless, due to my country of residence, I had to rely on the many RROD fixes available on the net. I managed to revive it for a week but alas; the RROD just kept coming back. I gave up on my first XBOX360 and was able to sell it for a few bucks.

My second XBOX360 I bought just last December 2008. This one lasted a whole week . before the RROD showed its ugly face. I don’t need to tell you that I was devastated. Two XBOX360s and two RRODS! How unlucky could you get!

This was almost enough to make me swear to never buy another Microsoft product ever again. But I enjoy playing video games and right now, the XOBX360 is the console with the most games available in the market. And by most games I mean most RPG games as I am an RPG gamer.

And so, even though I’ve had two nasty experiences with the XBOX360, yesterday, April 6, 2009, I went out and got a third XOBX360. This time I made sure that I got one of the newer models with the Jasper motherboard. With the 65nm CPU and GPU, this should generate less heat and make it less susceptible to the RROD.

Right now I’m keeping my fingers crossed and praying that this time, it lasts more than 2 months…and hopefully this would be the last XBOX360 I buy…

MICROSOFT’S XBOX360, A DREAM MACHINE, OR A STEROID PUMPED NIGHTMARE FROM HELL… A DISGRUNTED GAMER’S TALE

As a gaming console, you can’t go wrong with an XBOX360. It has a large library of games available and whatever genre you prefer or like playing, chances are, you’ll find some available for the XBOX360 for you to enjoy.

I personally had fun with my XBOX360, I was able to play great games such as but not limited to the following

Grand Theft Auto 4
Golden Axe
Soul Caliber 4
Gears of War
Mortal Kombat VS DC Universe
Eternal Sonata

This was like one of the best game console I owned probably just second to my Playstation2. With Final Fantasy XIII being announced for release for the XBOX360 and lots of RPG games in the horizon, I thought that this is the best time to be an XOBX360 gamer. Or so I thought…

Now here’s where it gets ugly. The first XBOX360 I owned back in 2007 lasted a whole month. Yup, you read it right, a whole freaking month before it succumbed to the RROD or red ring of death or 3RL three red lights as others call it.

So, what is the RROD/3RL? In a nutshell, it means your XBOX360 is dead. Sure, many would argue that I could always send it in for repair as it comes with warranty. But I live in a country where in the XBOX360 is not covered by warranty so it’s not an option. The second option is trying to revive it using the various fix methods available on the net. But these fixes don’t always work, and if it does, it’s just a temporary fix.

Anyway, I got mine to work again using one of the repair procedures available. But it didn’t last long; about a week, then the RROD would come back again and again and again. The good news is, I was able to sell it for a few bucks. The bad news was, that’s like $200 or so down the drain. I was so frustrated that I went the NINTENDO way and bought a Wii, but that’s another story…

Well, fast forward to December 2008, it was the Christmas season and I had some extra cash to burn so I decided to once again take the plunge and bought another XBOX360. Now this second console of mine lasted a good 2 weeks! 2 damn weeks! I don’t know, but I felt like I was the unluckiest SOB in the world (and I still do)! This time, the damn thing couldn’t be revived and I was stuck with an expensive piece of trash. I was even more frustrated and angry than the last time and I almost threw the damn thing into a wall. Sucks to be me…

With no way to have it repaired, all I could do was sell it for parts. I managed to sell the hard drive, the controller and the power brick to at least get back some of the money I spent on it. I was also able to sell the dead console itself for some spare change….

So here ends my tale. The XBOX360 is one great gaming console but its crappy hardware just killed the joy.
For new would be buyers of the XOBX360 all I can say is good luck!