Dead 360 - repair or replace?

[Tony Greyfox]

So I've got a lovely doorstop in the shape of a first-gen 360 Arcade, as of Friday night. It locked up, and when I restarted it, got the RRoD. I've done all the troubleshooting tips I've been able to find, and got it to tell me an error code, which is the "durrr... I dunno" version, of course. Basically, it appears to be terminal.

The options I see are: send it to Microsoft and pay the repair fee; pop the case and try some of the fixes I've seen online to see if it comes together; and saying "screw this" and buying a new machine. Especially considering Best Buy's got the Arcade on for $149 right now, and that's all I need (I can pull the HD off of this thing - it's got all my DLC on it).

So. Has anyone had any experience with dealing a RRoD? My machine is second-hand, so definitely out of warranty. Is it worth it to yank it open and beat on it to see if I can do repairs at home? Or should I just go with the new machine?

[Kithop]

So I've got a lovely doorstop in the shape of a first-gen 360 Arcade, as of Friday night. It locked up, and when I restarted it, got the RRoD. I've done all the troubleshooting tips I've been able to find, and got it to tell me an error code, which is the "durrr... I dunno" version, of course. Basically, it appears to be terminal.

The options I see are: send it to Microsoft and pay the repair fee; pop the case and try some of the fixes I've seen online to see if it comes together; and saying "screw this" and buying a new machine. Especially considering Best Buy's got the Arcade on for $149 right now, and that's all I need (I can pull the HD off of this thing - it's got all my DLC on it).

So. Has anyone had any experience with dealing a RRoD? My machine is second-hand, so definitely out of warranty. Is it worth it to yank it open and beat on it to see if I can do repairs at home? Or should I just go with the new machine?

My Elite RRoDed within the first year; got a shipping box and they fixed it under warranty just fine.  I don't know how old that machine is, but I know they extended the warranty for all RRoDs to 3 years - it can't hurt to call and ask if you haven't already.  Just give them the serial # and tell them it's an RRoD and see if they'll fix it for you anyway. :)  I don't remember having to send a receipt or anything to them..

If they won't fix it, or it'll cost more than it's worth, then yeah - I'd personally just go with getting one of the new ones.  Try and get as late of a manufacturing date as possible so you can get one of the newer boards that is supposed to 'fix' (well, reduce) the issue.  If I remember right, the RRoD is typically caused by solder joints breaking/cracking under stress, especially from overheating, though the real issue that EVERYONE is having trouble with is the asinine 'RoHS' (Reduction of Harmful Substances, I think?) standard for lead-free solder the EU is pushing on manufacturers.  They don't have a suitable replacement for the lead, yet, so the solder downright sucks and is wrecking every sort of electronic good it's made with. :D